What's Up with Seagull???

[Dbone]

There are lots of other guitar companies out there to fail before the likes of Godin.

I keep hearing that guitar sales are up 700%, or something crazy like that, due to the effects of the pandemic, and that most, if not all, companies are having a hard time keeping up.

With this said, I’m not even sure failing guitar companies is even a thing right now. There are lots of times to have failing companies but I don’t think this is one of them.

[Martin_F]

Having seen Godin and the varied brands under Godin over the years, they can be pretty aggressive in changing up their lineup. Any changes now are likely just switching things up as tastes change. Sometimes dread sized guitars are flying off the shelves, sometimes 00 and 000 sized, sometimes other shapes/sizes in-between. Keeping up with these changes means varying the lineup. You will notice that a few standards stick around in the brand and the others vary here and there as things come in and out of fashion.

Martin

[Steve DeRosa]

Sorry I didn't grab an Entourage mini-jumbo while I had the chance...

[emtsteve]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

Having seen Godin and the varied brands under Godin over the years, they can be pretty aggressive in changing up their lineup. Any changes now are likely just switching things up as tastes change. Sometimes dread sized guitars are flying off the shelves, sometimes 00 and 000 sized, sometimes other shapes/sizes in-between. Keeping up with these changes means varying the lineup. You will notice that a few standards stick around in the brand and the others vary here and there as things come in and out of fashion.

Martin

Sounds like a company who is responsive to the wants of their customer base and responds quickly to adapt. Both good traits for continued success.

I'm a late comer to Seagulls. Played them a few time in the past at stores and thought, hey those are pretty nice. Bought 2 last year - a Folk cedar and an S6. I am smitten with the Folk and the S6 is a very solid workhorse. Both are very well built and the new setups were very good.

I like their products and hope they prosper. Plus, it's nice to buy from a Canadian company as opposed to China.

[personatech]

FWIW, Godin recently EXPANDED their Norman line with several new models, including mini-jumbos. This all-solid mini-jumbo looks particularly enticing:



Trimming product lines is common in any industry. One of the first things Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple was to slash anything that wasn't a core product to focus on those things that were - gone were Apple printers, the Claris software division, the Newton, and lots of Macintosh models with anemic sales. It worked out pretty well for them, I'd say.

Seagull has moved away from the 1.8" nut because they weren't selling as well as the 1.72" slim necks. They have moved away from the mini-jumbo because the S6 dread is doing so well. There is limited capacity in any factory, so what do you produce - guitars that sit unsold in inventory for longer than you would like or guitars you know will move?

[Ed66]

I've been a huge Seagull fan for years. They have trimmed the options available on the Seagull line (limiting cedar and some tone woods on lines, reducing availability of the 1.80 nut, etc) with the addition/expansion of their Godin acoustic brand. I haven't heard any knocks on quality and I continue to hear great reviews. I know the Seagull's I have aren't going anywhere.

[mawmow]

I do not know what issue that triggered this thread...

Quite sure Godin co has made some market analysis and believe in where they now aim at.

Name a guitar company that never changed the way they used to build guitars :
for the good or worse they all did and still do with good and not so good results.

[Maryc-k]

Originally Posted by takamineGD93

That is actually illegal (china does it anyway).

I can live without the Seagull headstock.

So, what is the PPP program about? Subsidizing comes in many different forms.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by mawmow

I do not know what issue that triggered this thread...



Quite sure Godin co has made some market analysis and believe in where they now aim at.



Name a guitar company that never changed the way they used to build guitars :

for the good or worse they all did and still do with good and not so good results.

No NAAM presents, reduce models/body shapes, reduced cedar topped options, nothing new on their web site
But I will look into the Norman line for the mini jumbo

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by takamineGD93

.....I can live without the Seagull headstock.

For those that don't like the headstock shape for aesthetic reasons, were you aware that they do it on purpose to maintain straighter string pull to the tuners? It isn't just an affectation - there is a reason.

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Sorry I didn't grab an Entourage mini-jumbo while I had the chance...

Same here. For a long time, that was the guitar that I recommended for new beginners. Good quality, good sound, and came decently set up. But they dropped that model a few years ago. It is unlikely that I will ever part with my mahogany/cedar M6 (precursor to the S6) that I bought used more than 25 years ago.