Godin XTSA Review in 2023 – Before You Buy

Last Updated on April 29, 2023 by Teemu Suomala

How Godin XTSA sounds:

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Godin is a real gem. You don’t hear much about them but you know that they exist.

And Godin XTSA is a super-versatile guitar that might be worth your money. But it’s not the best option for everyone…let me tell you more.

Who crafted this review:

Author: Teemu Suomala

More About Teemu▼

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I love guitars and have played dozens and dozens of different guitars through different amps and pedals over the years, and also, building a website interested me, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website.

I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have also been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar.

I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog (I guess that went the right way…).

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Godin XTSA Review (Solid Body 3-Voice Electric Guitar)

Sound

Really versatile. 

I was going to leave it like that but I figured out that I should inform you more…

This guitar has a Flame maple leaf top and Silver leaf maple body with polar wings. Maple adds some brightness and crispiness to your tone.

XTSA has an HSH pickup configuration, 2 Godin humbuckers, and one Single-Coil, plus a 5-way switch. 

But this is no Start or Tele-sounding guitar. I noticed that. You can move close to these sound-wise with 1 single-coil, but these tones are not the strongest side of the XTSA in my opinion.

This axe also has RMC pickups.

This means that each individual string has sensors that pick vibration up. After that, the Custom preamp amplifies the signal. The purpose of this is to make the guitar sound more like an acoustic guitar.

And this one actually surprised me, because acoustic sounds are really good. For example, this doesn’t lose to plugged Yamaha APX-600 at all. 

Plus this one has built-in Bass, Middle, and Treble knobs for acoustics sounds(the fourth knob is volume). So you are far from limited with acoustic tones too.

But wait a minute. There is more. This guitar works with Synth too! 

XTSA uses a 13-pin system that converts the vibration of the strings to the hexaphonich synth signal.

(Check this Wikipedia article if you want a detailed guide about what Guitar Synthesizer is. And this article, if you want to know what Synthesizer in general is).

Simply put, you have access to hundreds of different sounds and features with Synthesizer. Usually, keyboards are known for this ability.

For example, with Guitar Synthesizer and Godin XTSA, you have access to hundreds of different amps and guitars. Also, you can access tones that other instruments provide! 

 The ability to connect with a guitar synthesizer is a cool bonus, but not really necessary for everybody.

Note: You will need to buy a guitar synthesizer to access these different tones. This guitar works with Roland GR-series synths and with most 13-pin devices. For example, this is a great choice Roland GR-55S Guitar Synthesizer if you are going to buy a guitar synth.

I think that at this point you agree with me. Versatile. That word comes to mind when thinking Godin XTSA. 

And the tremolo arm adds that versatility just a little bit more. It’s a one point more for Godin XTSA in my books.

But before we move on, hear how this axe sounds with the synth:

Playability

The neck is made of mahogany and for me that works fine, no need to complain about that.  

The fretboard is Richlite. Richlite is really similar to ebony, but it is slightly smoother and if you need to do refretting, Richlite will not cause you so much trouble. The difference in feel for these is non-existent for me.

So the materials look great on paper but how do the neck and fretboard feel when the guitar is played? 

They feel smooth, with no rough edges. The nut width is 1.72″ (43.68mm) and overall, the neck is slightly wider and thicker than I like, but not too bad. 

The fretboard radius is 16 inches, so the fretboard is almost flat, only a slight curve is noticeable. It’s smooth to move your fingers around the fretboard because of this and reaching the frets is easy

The neck is best suitable for crunchy and heavy riffs and for moody jazz or blues in my opinion. But thanks to the almost flat fretboard you can quite easily play pretty fast with this one too.

Again, this is common for single-cut guitars, but upper-fret access is not so good.

The single-cut shape is comfortable against your body. Your pick hand will not cause you too much trouble either with XTSA.

One thing that I should point out is the weight. This is heavier than most electric guitars. Closer to 15 pounds, when the average electric guitar weight is 12pounds. No game breaker for me, but good to know.

I would not say that this is the easiest the play guitar, but it sure is really comfortable.

Quality

Quality is really solid. I researched the internet and found hardly any complaints about any issues. But I found some, and I will share those with you.

Some users have found that the cable jack comes loose once in a while. It’s easy to fix, but a minor flaw still.

In some rare cases, synthentizator patches can be a little bit noisy. I think that one reason could be the vibration of the other strings. Fix for this is: you need to mute strings that are not supposed to play (duh).  I wanted to tackle this because some people are complaining about noisy patches.

Or this could be some error in Synth patches or pickups. Either way, this seems to be rare, and I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

Looks

 

 

 

 

 

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And what about the looks? All the shapes and overall finish are really pleasing for my eyes. But the light burst body color isn’t exactly my piece of cake. But I absolutely love the slightly more expensive KOA- finish. So I recommend that you check that one out too.

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Summary

Pros:

• Versatile pickup configuration
• Great Acoustic guitar sounds
• Really warm and thick tones from humbuckers
• Single-Coil pickups add tons of tonal options
• Really comfortable to play
• High-quality
• Solid value for money
• Tremolo arm
• Synthesizer access gives you endless tone options

Cons:

• For some people(me), guitar synth access is not so important feature
• You need to buy a guitar synthesizer if you want to use the synth access
• Upper fret access is only OK
• Not the easiest guitar to play(still comfortable tho)
• Cable jack comes loose sometimes
• Single-coil sounds are not the strongest aspect of XTSA (IMO)

Godin XTSA is a super-versatile and comfortable guitar that offers lots of features and tones. Personally, some of the features are not so important for me(guitar synth). With a tight budget, paying for these features isn’t probably worth it if you don’t need those.

And the fact that you have to buy a guitar synthesizer to access these synth features reveals that tapping into the full potential of this guitar is not cheap.

But if you have room in your budget and you really need the features of this guitar, this is a great choice. It is worth the money and there is a high chance that you are not going to be disappointed. Plus this is a North-American-made guitar.

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Alternatives

Strong Competitor – PRS Se Custom 24-08

Pros

• High-quality pickups and tonewood deliver superb sound
• Separate coil-split for both humbuckers adds versatility
• Wide thin neck shape is comfortable
• The scale length of 25′ over 24 frets for extra-wide fret spacing(hitting wrong strings is made hard)

Cons

• High price, out of budget for many
• Quality control sometimes lets lemons slip through

Separate split coil switches for both humbuckers ensure 8 different pickup configurations. This ensures you with versatility that is really hard to beat.

You can check the full review of this guitar from this article: 5 Best Wide Neck Electric Guitars for Fat Fingers in 2022 – Buyer’s Guide

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Great Budget All-Rounder – Fender Player Telecaster HH

This one is an excellent all-rounder with one of the best split-coil tones I have heard. Modern C neck shape ensures easy playability, and the affordable price makes this guitar a really interesting choice.

I definitely recommend that you check this guitar out. Really high value for money.

You can read my full review of this guitar here: Fender Player Telecaster HH Review 2022 – Before You Buy.

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If You Want to Play Metal – ESP LTD Deluxe EC-1000

I tried this for the first time in a music store nearby, and it has been one of my favorite guitars since. This guitar is just gorgeous. It handles everything, but it’s made for heavy riffing. A pleasure to play and listen. It offers great value for money with high quality and stunning tones. 

You can read my full review of this guitar here: ESP LTD Deluxe EC-1000 Review 2022 – Before You Buy.

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Conclusion on Godin XTSA Review

Godin XTSA is definitely a nice guitar that offers you versatility. If you need a great all-arounder with access to guitar synth, I highly recommend this axe for you.

If your budget is limited or you don’t need a guitar synth at all, there are better options available for you.

I hope that this review helped you out! I wish you all the best and keep rocking!

Teemu Suomala

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