RICHMOND GUITARS
EMPIRE MAHOGANY
BY CHARLES SAUFLEY
Godin bridge
humbucker
3-way pickup
selector
Wraparound
tailpiece
Godin
single-coil
2-piece mahogany body
For years, the Godin family of guitar companies—Godin, Seagull, Simon
& Patrick, and Art & Lutherie—has built
unique and often great guitars at prices
that are competitive with just about any
manufacturer in the world. It’s a trick the
Canadian company pulls off with an inarguable regularity. So when Godin created
the Richmond brand a few years back as
a vehicle for more traditional ’50s- and
’60s-inspired electrics, few were surprised
at how stylish, well built, and sweet
sounding guitars like the Dorchester and
Belmont were for the price.
Richmond’s latest, the Empire, is more
of the same goodness. It rocks with a no-frills, budget-lux combination of appointments and playability that’s the stuff of
pawnshop sleepers and minor classics like
the Gibson Melody Maker.
Built for Business—on a Budget
With its chocolaty mahogany finish and
compact heft, the Empire made it impossible not to reminisce about the 1971 SG
that was one of the first electric guitars
I spent any real time with as a lad. But
though the beautiful grain, bass-bout
carve, and sense of solidity in the Empire
are very SG-ish, there’s a lot of cool design
inspiration from less likely sources. There’s
