5 Best Canadian Guitars Under $800 (2021) • Acoustic Tuesday 208

In this video, I’ll show you the 5 best Canadian acoustic guitars under $800. These are the top 5 acoustic guitar made by trusted and respectable brands from Canada that I think are worth checking out in 2021!

This list includes all of the brands that are inside the Godin Company. And, while I’m sure there are plenty of guitars out there that are also under $800, I’ll need your help to discover those. So be sure to leave a comment in the description about your favorite Canadian-made acoustic guitars that are under $800!

Now, back to our list! I chose each guitar on this list because they strike the perfect balance between quality, value, and sustainability. There are so many incredible things going on at each of these guitar builders, and I really hope you take a chance to check them out individually.

Once we’re done with the 5 best canadian guitar under $800, I want to take a moment and talk about how awesome the live guitar party at TAC was. What an incredible turnout, and it was so great talking with all of the TAC members and hearing about their experiences.

Last but not least, I want to recognize the incredible amount of work Santa Cruz Guitar Company has done for the industry over the last 45 years. In fact, to help recognize and celebrate it, SCGC actually made a video highlighting the challenges they’ve faced over the last few years. I highly recommend you check it out!

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  1. Hiya TPC! How’s it goin’ eh? Now that our standard Canadian greetings are out of the way, I thought that I’d point out something interesting that I discovered when looking at some acoustic guitars. I should start out by saying that I am by no means a lutherie expert so please pardon me if what I am about to say is wrong.

    I used to have a bit of a dilemma. I’ve always loved the sound of acoustic guitars but I find them unwieldy and uncomfortable to play compared to electrics. I have to admit though, I did want to get an acoustic and so I did a tonne of research and tried a few out at some local guitar shops. I loved the sound of the Seagull S6 and the Simon & Patrick Woodland Cedar, in fact, they sounded exactly the same to me. I wasn’t able to try them both together because the way Godin works is that a shop may carry Seagull or S&P but never both.

    This puzzled me because I have a pretty good ear and I could tell their sound by comparing them to Taylors, Martins, Fenders and Gibsons. I thought that I was going nutz but on Godin’s website, they list the dimensions and the woods used in each guitar’s construction. The Seagull S6 and the S&P Woodland Cedar had exactly the same dimensions and woods used; Cedar top with Canadian Wild Cherry sides and backs. Literally the only difference that I could see between them was that the Seagull had the arrowhead-shaped Seagull high-efficiency headstock and the S&P’s headstock looked more traditional, like a Taylor’s.

    It would appear that they’re the same guitar. That blew me away. Of course, I could be imagining it but the dimensions and materials are printed in black and white. They tend to be priced within $20 of each other so it’s a matter of whether or not you like the more efficient Seagull headstock.

    1. Oh, I should mention that I didn’t end up getting either of them because I fell in love with a Godin Solidac which has a piezo pickup and a second port for an acoustic amp. It produces great acoustic sounds without having the big body of a real acoustic guitar. It’s a great compliment to my Washburn Strat. 😀

  2. Hey Tony, I have had a La Patrie Etude now for over 10 yrs. It is the first guitar I have ever owned. I will never sell it. It has great tone and easy to play. It is also my travel guitar when I go camping. Thanks for your critique and praise of the guitar.

  3. Mr. Tony Polecastro
    Love your A T Shows. Am thinking of getting a classical guitar like Godin E-tube or the Arena Pro CW. My question
    is the arch Fret-board on that model is that common in Classical Guitar? Will that make some of string closer or are the string arch too? Thank you for being THE Guitar Teacher Holy Smokes

  4. I made a lucky choice of a Seagull S6 as my very first guitar in the early ’90’s, and even though I’ve obtained a few more expensive guitars since then, I could never part with my S6. The warmth of its sound has never diminished, and perhaps even gets better over time. I find it hard to believe you can still purchase one for $600 CDN or under; it’s an extraordinary value for the price !

  5. Hi Tony,

    Would you consider the Art & Lutherie CW12 in the same class as the Seagull S12? It is cedar as opposed to spruce top. I am pining for a 12 string ever since your episode but I like the bourbon burst, and lower price, of the A&L.

  6. I began TAC with a Seagull S6 as a beginner. It was a great choice. So much instrument and great tone for under $500.00. It will remain in my Arsenal forever.

  7. Very proud hearing Canadian guitars featured. My first and only guitar is a Simon and Patrick Songsmith and it was love at first strum!

  8. Hi Tony,
    You are so right, every guitar player should have a 12 string in their collection, channel their inner David Crosby!! I have two, a Martin and an Ovation but also have my eye now on a Seagull thanks to you!! My gas isn’t half as bad as yours but it’s bad enough that I have to limit my purchases to one every six months now for budgetary reasons and my house is too small for my current collection. I have five on the walls in my lounge, another five on the walls of the bedroom and another six still in cases awaiting wall space. So I think I’m going to need to move, just so I can build my dream music room. Hey, talking of which what does your dream music room contain, have you built it (cause I know you mentioned that you moved a year or so ago)?
    Anyway, please keep doing what you are doing, because music is therapy and in these trying times we all need a bit more music. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for helping to teach my hands to make the music I have heard in my head for so many years.

  9. Tony
    You struck a familiar note when you mentioned Godin not Godan Guitars. Twenty six years a go I started my guitar journey and from a piano store in Ottawa I took home my very first guitar, a Norman B20. One of The Norman brand of guitars that has been a part of the heritage and legacy of the Godin company since the very beginning. In fact, it was the first line of guitars that Robert Godin established back in 1972. Of the many guitars I have tried, owned, bought and sold that Norman still is my favourite in memory only as it has long since gone. Like ones first love you never forget him or her and a lot of us still wish we shouldn’t have let them get away. It was my understanding that Godin’s use of a satin finish was not impede the action of the Sitka Spruce. Made in Quebec!

  10. Hi Tony,
    Nice to see you review some of the Godin family of guitars. I am a big fan. I own a Seagull Performer Cutaway Mini-Jumbo (solid spruce top and flame maple back and side) and a Godin 5th Ave Kingpin. Both are beautiful to look at. I love the feel of the necks and the smaller body sizes are very comfortable to play.
    Thanks from John in London, Ontario.

  11. Nice piece on the canadian luthiers. I don’t own any but they will certainly be a consideration for my next purchase. BTW, Santa Cruz was offering a promo recently on their Parabolic Tension Strings so I tried them. They are great and your reviews of them are spot on. Thanks.

  12. Hi Tony,
    Thanks for talking about the Godin family of guitars. I own a Seagull Coastline S6 A/E Cedar Top since I 2010 and I will never ever sell this guitar! This guitar sounds warm with a bright sound across all six strings and usually louder than most acoustics. The Cedar top reverberates and sustain the sound quite nicely as it ages. As you stated in the video, Cedar is a very soft wood and dings very easy. I am extra careful of how I handle my Seagull and place in my guitar case in-between practices when I leave the room or done with my practice. I would bum out if I ever put a ding on the top.

    Bottom line…The Seagull Coastline S6 A/E has a warm sound with a bright tone. I’m waiting for Seagull to start building the Coastline S12 with a Cedar top A/E again. That guitar is fantastic to play!!

  13. Hi Tony — MANY thanks for featuring the Godin family of guitars. Entering semi retirement I decided to persue one of my long desired goals – to learn how play the guitar. (I am now approaching my first year with TAC) After much research — and renting various guitars to get a good feel for the differences – I settled on a Seagull Artist Mosaic. LOVE IT! Quality materials at a mid-range price. My second purchase was an electric — a Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin — to jam with my neighbour.

  14. The Seagull Maritime SWS (Solid Wood Series) is really hard to beat, maybe impossible to beat, in it’s price range. $799.00 without electronics and $999.00 with electronics.

  15. Eh Canada! I’m a proud Canuck, loving the spotlight shone today on our excellent high-value guitars. When on virtual meetings, I often put my fabulous Godin in the background – to enhance the view, and remind me to play it in the TAC way (out of sight tends to mean out of mind). Great episode, as always. Merci bien!

  16. MOstly I play Martins, but back in the 90s I got a Seagull Grand for my daughter who has small hands. It is a parlor size w/ Spruce top not cedar. If you can find one of these used, buy it!
    I own a early 2000 Seagull S6 – on loan to a friend, and a Seagull S6 Folk (bigger than a Grand, smaller than a Concert Hall) that I use quite a bit. Seagulls before 2006 have necks that can be reset, after that they changed design & glue. These guitars are generally pretty plain jane, but they got the important elements right at a low price point. I’m a fan – especially of the pre-2006 ones!
    Lots of good Seagull information on this forum:
    https://acousticguitarcabin.boards.net/board/1/seagull-spoken-fluent-godin

  17. Hi, I have a Simon & Patrick Woodland Cedar. It has a fantastic warm and mellow tone.
    When I was searching out a new acoustic i tried a number of guitars out priced well above this one, Martins, Taylors, & Gibson’s but there was something about the feel and the sound of the S&P that kept calling me back ,, It was also priced under 500.