# Norman solid body electric



## tuck'n'roll (Mar 28, 2010)

Hi everyone, new member here. I was walking in downtown Toronto the other day and noticed this guitar sitting in a pawn shop window. Having owned a Norman B30 acoustic for many years, I was stunned to see "Norman" printed on the headstock of this solid body electric! I had no idea Norman had ever produced anything other than acoustic guitars!
Anyway, I slapped the two hundred bucks down that they were asking and went on my merry way.
Through a couple of emails to Godin and Boucher Guitars I have learned that this guitar is a Norman E-50 made between 1984 and 1986. It has a maple body and neck. There were only 350 of these made in the mid-eighties (mine has 232 stamped on the back).
Has anyone ever come across such a beast before? It's heavier than hell, but sounds great!
Here's a link to some pics if anyone is interested



































Cheers, Tuck!


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Wow, cool score. No, I had no idea there was ever a line of Norman electrics. Funky body shape! I'd be tempted to strip off that black and have a nice, natural finish... but seeing as it's a fairly rare guitar, might be an idea to just keep it as is... you never know, it might be more valuable that way. Still, if it was mine, I'd strip it.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Never heard of them, but what a great find! Killer price!

Peace, Mooh.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I think I saw a Norman electric before I ever saw an acoustic.

But seeing as how they are better known as acoustics--this is kind of cool, just for that reason alone.


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## Axevictim (May 27, 2010)

I have the same guitar!

I googled Norman electric and this site came up. I've been trying to find info on these guitars as well. I bought mine from ebay. I know the quality of a Norman acoustic and bought this electric on a flier. It paid off. Sweet guitar.
I'll take some pics and post them later.


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## hookedonphonics (Jan 17, 2010)

I have read online that these were made before Godin's acquisition of Norman, but that's all I can really offer here though . Looks great though!


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

It' a surprise to me too. I had no idea there were Norman Electric guitars out there. I wonder if Godin had ever thought about bringing out a line of Norman electric guitars?


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## zebolik (Sep 17, 2011)

Heya ! I've been owning this guitar (number 253) for about 16 years now. This guitar is a TANK, and it is the one I use the most often because it has unique feeling. I got a 1800$ Ibanez S540-LTD but she doesn't match the power of the Norman. I'm tuning this mammoth in B with baritone strings 14-68. I've replaced the Gotoh pick-ups with Gibson pickups and damn it is a beast !! Also replaced the bridge and the keys because they were too rusty. I can tell that this guitar is a masterpiece.


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## Tele Thinline (Sep 11, 2011)

Hiya,

Just picked one up myself. Although, mine is natural wood finish. So the Norman expert says it's an e-15. Very cool guitar.


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## Norman231 (May 5, 2014)

Hi all

Reviving this old thread just to post a couple pics of my Norman electric, serial number 231, in hopes that others who have documentation on the history of these things will share.

I bought it from a friend roughly 20 years ago, who had purchased it to learn on, but gave up.
I played it a couple times, gave up. 
Just pulled it out of storage, and am starting to learn again.


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## Norman231 (May 5, 2014)

Got some information from the kind people at Boucher Guitars (guitareboucher.com). 

Posting for the next person whose Google search brings them here in their search for info on these rare (but not especially valuable) guitars.

Guitar is a "Norman E-50" electric solid body guitar.
With serial number 231, I guess the guitar was made in early 1985.
It has a hard maple body and neck, east Indian rosewood fingerboard. 
Dimarzio pickups (I don't remember which particular model) Grover or Ping 3+3 machine head tuners. It's seems to be Grover in your case. 
Around 350 of these E-series have been made between 1984 & 1986.

After that, Norman started a production of another electric solid body guitar series called "Illegal" in 1987 until 1988.
250 "Illegal" model guitars were made.


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## Ernie Dubeau Jr (Dec 17, 2020)

tuck'n'roll said:


> Hi everyone, new member here. I was walking in downtown Toronto the other day and noticed this guitar sitting in a pawn shop window. Having owned a Norman B30 acoustic for many years, I was stunned to see "Norman" printed on the headstock of this solid body electric! I had no idea Norman had ever produced anything other than acoustic guitars!
> Anyway, I slapped the two hundred bucks down that they were asking and went on my merry way.
> Through a couple of emails to Godin and Boucher Guitars I have learned that this guitar is a Norman E-50 made between 1984 and 1986. It has a maple body and neck. There were only 350 of these made in the mid-eighties (mine has 232 stamped on the back).
> Has anyone ever come across such a beast before? It's heavier than hell, but sounds great!
> ...


I Used to work at Gutabec (the place where Godin and Normans are made ) my dad was GM there at the time your guitar was made, before Robert Godin bought the company. I had both models the Illegal and the gx and loved them both. the most common pickups were EMG. Some models came with a builtin distortion effects my GX had this. I liked it so much that I made my own Godin version with all the fixins as some GX models had. I have some work todo on the distortion effects now (PNP transistor fried ) but regular mode still works great. anyways enjoy.


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

I had one of these recently which I sold-mine had the Barcus Berry pickups

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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Posting @rollingdam ’s photo...


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## NealfromMTL (Apr 15, 2021)

I am considering buying this


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Just do it, that’s a cool part of Canadian history!


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Never heard of it before, but I wouldn't even think twice.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

You needed to ask?! Scoop immediately if it plays well. What a prize!


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## NealfromMTL (Apr 15, 2021)

So I bought it... and it is unbelievably nice. NOS
It is definitely a very high-end guitar. If you ever see another one, buy it!


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