Seagull and Art & Lutherie are both made by the Godin guitar company. What is the difference between Seagull and Art & Lutherie? Why does Godin market two different brands? Why not just call everything they make "Godin" instead of having different brand names? Is one brand better than the other? Is the craftsmanship better on one? Basically explain to me why the Godin guitar company markets Seagull and A&L and what the differences between the two are.
Also, word of advice to people reading this topic thinking about buying their very first guitar.... USE EXTREEM CAUTION, THE SALESPEOPLE WILL GET YOU! I don't know if it was just a huge fluke in manufacturing or common with A&L but I had to take my Art and Lutherie to get a 60 dollar fret job from a trusted repair shop after I bought it b/c the 5th fret was super high, which screwed everything up. Being totally new to guitar at the time, and never have played before I didn't notice this problem when i bought it. As I could not play any actual songs, I could only finger frets and see how it sounded. The absolute worst part is after I bought it the salesman that sold it to me (whom was also the store manager) screwed me over bad when i realized it was messed up and wouldn't help me with the problem. Even though he promised me before I bought it that he would take care of any problems I found free of charge. He refused to acknowledge that it was broken. To prove that "all guitars buzz when you play them" he took down a 2,000 dollar guitar and beat the life out of it until it buzzed and said "see it buzzes, now go away" So I took it to my city's most trusted repair shop (in business 100+ years) and they came to the same conclusion I had. They called the manager whom told me to go away and told him it was broken. He didn't argue with them and immediately agreed to fix it for free. I wasn't about to go back to him though, so I paid the repair shop to level the frets. (it doesn't buzz anymore)
Anyway, overall I'm quite happy with my A&L as a starter guitar, now that the frets are level. And would recommend it to a beginner looking for a "descent" guitar.
You should drop the Lasido people a line with the dealer name.
no that isn't common in A&L
A&L is just a lower end model, usually with laminates instead of solid wood.
I used to play a solid top Ami Pro when I traveled. It was a good little guitar.
Norman and Seagull have different neck widths and the Norman is a little more traditionally built.
I don't know why the multiple names, marketing I suppose.
Hey Pilot7,
Sorry to hear about your troubles with your A&L Guitar. Nick is right on all accounts. The A&L is an entry level brand from the Grodin Family. It's just a marketing ploy is all, and also the guitars are all laminate (therefore less expensive to make).
However, no matter how inexpensive a guitar is, it shouldn't be like what you bought. The salesperson should have just pulled it off the rack and sent it back to the factory. The problem is that large guitar stores tend to be this way, no service, don't care about your concerns, etc....
I bought my Art & Lutherie (Wild Cherry) a year and half ago. I've been very happy with it so far. However, I just had the guts to sand down the saddle to make the action lower, now it's even better. Eventually I would like to get a better guitar, but it's a money issue. So the A&L is fine guitar to learn on and play for a while.
The only time I go back to the large stores is too buy strings as they tend to be cheaper, because they buy in so much bulk. If I needed to ask adviced on anything, go the smaller stores they tend to be more helpful.
Yeah every guitar maker has duds, even Gibson and PRS. You prolly just got a bad one. Thats the reason you should always play all the guitars in your price range, and at diffrent stores.
Stairway to Freebird!
