Last year, many people voiced considerable criticism of the Godin 5th Avenue and expressed major disappointment.  However, most of the negative comments were based on the acoustic version.  What are people's opinion of the 5th Avenue plugged in with a custom pickup or the Kingpin version with a P90?  For those that installed a custom pickup, what make and model did you install?

I'm looking for an inexpensive archtop to concentrate on jazz and was thinking the 5th Avenue equipped with a Kent Armstrong or Lindy Fralin side mount mini humbucker, or even the stock Kingpin model with P90 might be just the ticket?

Thanks for any comments!

I've installed both the Armstrong and the Fralin's on archtops.The Armstrongs are GREAT pickups smooth even responce.The Fralin was just a stronger pickup with even better responce.If you decide to install controls try a .033 tone cap and make sure that you match the 500k pots as close as possible this will give you more vol control and more tonal variance.Stay away from the small side mounted pots as they are not very reliable.A good set of mini's mounted thru the pickguard will do the job nicely.By the way I had no problem with the tone of the acoustic version og the 5th ave.

have you played The Loar yet?
more money, but IMHO well worth it.
or maybe a used Eastman for a whole lot better guitar.
I sent my 5th Avenue back 2 days after it arrived. (yes, the acoustic; no pickup model)
If you do end up getting one, replace the bridge with the StewMac model (includes a bone saddle).

I've set up 3 Loar's and yes there very nice.With most archtops that are produced today oversea's do need a few thing done to them.I prefer standard ebony bridge's only slightly notched to fix the string and not deep notched that seems to be the way most set them up.I will also remind most people that there is a major tonal difference between the tone of an archtop and a flattop that,most archtops sound a bit thinner there suppose to.You should use fairly heavy strings.I find that flatwounds have a more ole' timmey sound wear 80/20 bronze have a more modern sound.I use the bronze on my Gibson L7 and have put them on a Hagstrum lameted mahogany archtop with a floating pickup with fair results.

Unclrob and Queequeg, thanks for the advice and comments.   

I like that the 5th Ave. is made in Canada, and the build quality seems really good, especially for the price.   I was just talking to my tech, and he was telling me that it's difficult to install an output jack in the body of the 5th Ave. and the easiest thing to do is to mount the whole works (pup, pots, and jack) on the pickguard.  However, with the controls mounted on the pickguard, wouldn't your hand be brushing the controls given the close proximity of the guard?

I'm going to check out the Loars:  thanks for the tip!  My local shop should be receiving a Kingpin in natural finish pretty soon, so I can also check out the stock P90.  Too bad it's not going to be the cognac burst.  The burst looks pretty sweet.

Your tech is right.Mounting everthing on the guard is the best way to go.I mount on the bottom back of te guard,felt off the bottom of the controls so when you rest your pinky on it you don't damage the top.With the mounting done there you don't hit the controls,the jack should also be side mounted.If you hunt you can find some really nice small control knobs,I think alparts has some fax wood knobs that are fairly small.You get use to it very fast.

Thanks for the info Unclrob.

I tested out the Kingpin the other day and was a bit disappointed.  The tone was a bit more modern than jazz and the Kingpin I played had a defect in the back where there was a flat spot (only on one side) rather than a consistent concave-out arch.  The cognac burst looked great, however.

Tested an Epi Joe Pass.  It wasn't bad but didn't jump out at me to buy.  I was impressed with a Made in China Eastman, model unknown.  Nice fat, warm, jazzy tone from a relatively small body (seemed like a 15" lower bout).   I think I'm going test an Ibanez AF105NT next.

Am I heading in the right direction?

16" to 17" bouts are best for acoustic archtops.

I bought a Godin Kingpin and had some inital concerns about the tone (compared to my OMv50.   Of course I had to remind myself that I bought this guitar to paly a different style of music and after some experimentation with strings and amplification, I'm really thrilled with it.    I brought it over to my jazz group the other day (FYI I'm the keyboard player) and the guitar player was very impressed.  My one criticism is that the p90 is noisier than a humbucker but it is also quite versatile.   In addition to a nice jazz tone it is also possible to coax a nice twang out of this guitar for more rockabilly/country tunes.

On the question of strings, I tried:

Stock strings? - too light
Daddario EJ11 - yuk,  too bright and made the guitar sound metallic
Thomatik flatwounds - good , but only for jazz.  Very quiet
Daddario EJ21 Jazz light - These were the best all around.   Can be played either acoutic or electric