# Norman guitar history



## zguitz

Hi all (sorry for my not so good english)
Following yesterdays thread regarding an old C-20 Norman, 
Maybe I can add some informations on the history of Norman guitars.
This was also posted on AGF.
I’m trying to be as accurate as possible, so here we go...
Robert Godin met Normand Boucher on a hunting trip to La Patrie around 1969-70, maybe 71. Robert was then a salesman at La Tosca music store in Montreal.
Normand guitar no1 was completed in 1967, the guitar still exist today and still owned by the Boucher family. 
Nomand Boucher was than a carpenter, door and windows and cabinet maker in La Patrie. 
Building / designing guitars took more and more of is spare time.
He wanted to design an adjustable angle neck so that musicians could adjust their guitars as needed in a few minutes.
Normand also played guitar since is youth, owning a 00-40H Martin converted to spanish.
Normand Boucher and Robert Godin both started working together in 1972, Normand running his shop, Robert being the exclusive distibutor through his company Sibécor.
In fact even before that Robert started to sell Norman guitars through La Tosca.
Norman guitars were a smash hit in the province of Quebec, every player wanted one, tons of artists using them.
Robert Godin started to build is own guitars in 1979 with Claude Boucher son of Normand : Kamouraska and Lys which later became LA Patrie and Seagull. 
Claude designed and ran the shop, Robert on the road selling.
Now we had in La Patrie the Unisonic shop up the hill (Robert Godin/Claude Boucher) and the Norman shop down the hill (Normand Boucher),
All distributed by Sibécor (Robert Godin).
The shop up the hill was suppose to produce only classicals but when they started the acoustics, Normand Boucher ended the distribution contract to start is own network
Through « Les Instruments de musique Norman inc »
Also originally, Normand wanted mostly high end quality, Robert wanted to sell high volume, different visions, so they went each their own way. 
When you go to todays Norman web site, it says « It all started in 1982 », in a way it is true.
The early 80’s were tough times for the acoustic guitar industry.
In 1982 the Unisonic / Sibécor companies were shut down, Claude Boucher left and Robert with fresh investors restarted under a new company structure :
Guitabec (the shop) / Lasido (distribution), that is when the Kamouraska / Lys lines changed names to La Patrie / Seagull.
Meanwhile down the hill in september 1980 the Norman shop burned down to the ground completely.
This here a message for all eBayers trying to sell a « salvage from the fire » Godin guitrar : there are none and there was no other guitar shop fire in the village!!!
Normand Boucher rebuilt the shop and tooling, and tried to restructure a decent distribution network.
Claude Boucher came back to the Norman shop in 1983.
Times were hard as there was also an general economic recession.
Eventually Normand Boucher lost control of his shop around 1986 and the new management who had no experience in the making of musical instruments
Struggled trying to survive, eventualy, Robert Godin ended up bying Norman in 1989.
Claude left Norman in 1986 and bought the village’s restaurant.
Richard Boucher (Normand’s other son) stayed at the Norman shop till the end.
Richard and Claude would years later start up the « Boucher » line of guitars, run today by Robin Boucher, Normand’s nephew.
So is the story of those two pioneer :
Normand Boucher, guitar maker and brilliant tooling inventor.
Robert Godin, guitar nuts and brilliant business man.

Dan


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## greco

Thank you! Very interesting. 

I tried a Boucher acoustic at Mojo Music in Oakville and was VERY impressed. 
I wish I could psychologically permit myself to pay that much for a guitar. Maybe someday.


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## Guest

I enjoyed reading that.
Beats trying to piece together bit's here and there through google as I was researching my '90 B20 cutaway.


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## Lord-Humongous

This is really great. Thank-you!


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## fredyfreeloader

Very interesting and enlightening, I always wondered about the how, why and who of the Godin, Norman, Seagull, La Patrie connection. Thanks for posting.


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## jayoldschool

My acoustic is my Norman B-30, late 1970s, bought new by my father as a present for my mother at International Musicland in Ottawa. Sounds incredible.


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## Guest

fredyfreeloader said:


> I always wondered about the how, why and who of the Godin, Norman, Seagull, La Patrie connection.


Godin line of acoustics ... which sort of resembles a guitar version of General Motors.
You can buy a Buick (Seagull), or an Oldsmobile (Simon & Patrick) or a Pontiac (Norman) or a Chevy (Art & Lutherie).


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## Wardo

laristotle said:


> ... which sort of resembles a guitar version of General Motors.


Yeah, pretty much. 

And the GM mansion dude in Oshawa started off making axe handles before he got into cars so there's a conection for sure ... lol


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## zguitz

Happy to share !
Yeah the idea being, quoting M. Godin here "Any guitar sold in a city has to be one of mine"
Clever, spreading the lines across different dealers in each markets.
Dan


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## Hammertone

laristotle said:


> Godin line of acoustics ... which sort of resembles a guitar version of General Motors. You can buy a Buick (Seagull), or an Oldsmobile (Simon & Patrick) or a Pontiac (Norman) or a Chevy (Art & Lutherie).


Sign me up for a new Oldsmobile!


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## rollingdam

jayoldschool said:


> My acoustic is my Norman B-30, late 1970s, bought new by my father as a present for my mother at International Musicland in Ottawa. Sounds incredible.


Nice guitar,I have been looking for a B30 for a long time.


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## Scotty

Great & informative read, thanks for sharing that


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## Vinny valentine

zguitz said:


> Hi all (sorry for my not so good english)
> Following yesterdays thread regarding an old C-20 Norman,
> Maybe I can add some informations on the history of Norman guitars.
> This was also posted on AGF.
> I’m trying to be as accurate as possible, so here we go...
> Robert Godin met Normand Boucher on a hunting trip to La Patrie around 1969-70, maybe 71. Robert was then a salesman at La Tosca music store in Montreal.
> Normand guitar no1 was completed in 1967, the guitar still exist today and still owned by the Boucher family.
> Nomand Boucher was than a carpenter, door and windows and cabinet maker in La Patrie.
> Building / designing guitars took more and more of is spare time.
> He wanted to design an adjustable angle neck so that musicians could adjust their guitars as needed in a few minutes.
> Normand also played guitar since is youth, owning a 00-40H Martin converted to spanish.
> Normand Boucher and Robert Godin both started working together in 1972, Normand running his shop, Robert being the exclusive distibutor through his company Sibécor.
> In fact even before that Robert started to sell Norman guitars through La Tosca.
> Norman guitars were a smash hit in the province of Quebec, every player wanted one, tons of artists using them.
> Robert Godin started to build is own guitars in 1979 with Claude Boucher son of Normand : Kamouraska and Lys which later became LA Patrie and Seagull.
> Claude designed and ran the shop, Robert on the road selling.
> Now we had in La Patrie the Unisonic shop up the hill (Robert Godin/Claude Boucher) and the Norman shop down the hill (Normand Boucher),
> All distributed by Sibécor (Robert Godin).
> The shop up the hill was suppose to produce only classicals but when they started the acoustics, Normand Boucher ended the distribution contract to start is own network
> Through « Les Instruments de musique Norman inc »
> Also originally, Normand wanted mostly high end quality, Robert wanted to sell high volume, different visions, so they went each their own way.
> When you go to todays Norman web site, it says « It all started in 1982 », in a way it is true.
> The early 80’s were tough times for the acoustic guitar industry.
> In 1982 the Unisonic / Sibécor companies were shut down, Claude Boucher left and Robert with fresh investors restarted under a new company structure :
> Guitabec (the shop) / Lasido (distribution), that is when the Kamouraska / Lys lines changed names to La Patrie / Seagull.
> Meanwhile down the hill in september 1980 the Norman shop burned down to the ground completely.
> This here a message for all eBayers trying to sell a « salvage from the fire » Godin guitrar : there are none and there was no other guitar shop fire in the village!!!
> Normand Boucher rebuilt the shop and tooling, and tried to restructure a decent distribution network.
> Claude Boucher came back to the Norman shop in 1983.
> Times were hard as there was also an general economic recession.
> Eventually Normand Boucher lost control of his shop around 1986 and the new management who had no experience in the making of musical instruments
> Struggled trying to survive, eventualy, Robert Godin ended up bying Norman in 1989.
> Claude left Norman in 1986 and bought the village’s restaurant.
> Richard Boucher (Normand’s other son) stayed at the Norman shop till the end.
> Richard and Claude would years later start up the « Boucher » line of guitars, run today by Robin Boucher, Normand’s nephew.
> So is the story of those two pioneer :
> Normand Boucher, guitar maker and brilliant to
> 
> 
> zguitz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi all (sorry for my not so good english)
> Following yesterdays thread regarding an old C-20 Norman,
> Maybe I can add some informations on the history of Norman guitars.
> This was also posted on AGF.
> I’m trying to be as accurate as possible, so here we go...
> Robert Godin met Normand Boucher on a hunting trip to La Patrie around 1969-70, maybe 71. Robert was then a salesman at La Tosca music store in Montreal.
> Normand guitar no1 was completed in 1967, the guitar still exist today and still owned by the Boucher family.
> Nomand Boucher was than a carpenter, door and windows and cabinet maker in La Patrie.
> Building / designing guitars took more and more of is spare time.
> He wanted to design an adjustable angle neck so that musicians could adjust their guitars as needed in a few minutes.
> Normand also played guitar since is youth, owning a 00-40H Martin converted to spanish.
> Normand Boucher and Robert Godin both started working together in 1972, Normand running his shop, Robert being the exclusive distibutor through his company Sibécor.
> In fact even before that Robert started to sell Norman guitars through La Tosca.
> Norman guitars were a smash hit in the province of Quebec, every player wanted one, tons of artists using them.
> Robert Godin started to build is own guitars in 1979 with Claude Boucher son of Normand : Kamouraska and Lys which later became LA Patrie and Seagull.
> Claude designed and ran the shop, Robert on the road selling.
> Now we had in La Patrie the Unisonic shop up the hill (Robert Godin/Claude Boucher) and the Norman shop down the hill (Normand Boucher),
> All distributed by Sibécor (Robert Godin).
> The shop up the hill was suppose to produce only classicals but when they started the acoustics, Normand Boucher ended the distribution contract to start is own network
> Through « Les Instruments de musique Norman inc »
> Also originally, Normand wanted mostly high end quality, Robert wanted to sell high volume, different visions, so they went each their own way.
> When you go to todays Norman web site, it says « It all started in 1982 », in a way it is true.
> The early 80’s were tough times for the acoustic guitar industry.
> In 1982 the Unisonic / Sibécor companies were shut down, Claude Boucher left and Robert with fresh investors restarted under a new company structure :
> Guitabec (the shop) / Lasido (distribution), that is when the Kamouraska / Lys lines changed names to La Patrie / Seagull.
> Meanwhile down the hill in september 1980 the Norman shop burned down to the ground completely.
> This here a message for all eBayers trying to sell a « salvage from the fire » Godin guitrar : there are none and there was no other guitar shop fire in the village!!!
> Normand Boucher rebuilt the shop and tooling, and tried to restructure a decent distribution network.
> Claude Boucher came back to the Norman shop in 1983.
> Times were hard as there was also an general economic recession.
> Eventually Normand Boucher lost control of his shop around 1986 and the new management who had no experience in the making of musical instruments
> Struggled trying to survive, eventualy, Robert Godin ended up bying Norman in 1989.
> Claude left Norman in 1986 and bought the village’s restaurant.
> Richard Boucher (Normand’s other son) stayed at the Norman shop till the end.
> Richard and Claude would years later start up the « Boucher » line of guitars, run today by Robin Boucher, Normand’s nephew.
> So is the story of those two pioneer :
> Normand Boucher, guitar maker and brilliant tooling inventor.
> Robert Godin, guitar nuts and brilliant business man.
> 
> Dan
> 
> 
> 
> oling inventor.
> Robert Godin, guitar nuts and brilliant business man.
> 
> Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks for the interesting info.I have a B-30.serial number in the 3 thousands , just wondering what year was it made


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## MarkM

zguitz said:


> Happy to share !
> Yeah the idea being, quoting M. Godin here "Any guitar sold in a city has to be one of mine"
> Clever, spreading the lines across different dealers in each markets.
> Dan


Anyone Know where to find Dan (@zguitz ) or if he is even around after 4 years?


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## zguitz

MarkM said:


> Anyone Know where to find Dan (@zguitz ) or if he is even around after 4 years?


Hey, I'm stiil here !!
I visit once in a while, been busy transiting to retirement.
Please note my friend Martin Toussaint is now running the www.normandboucher.com 
You can send him questions


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## NealfromMTL

Thanks for this! Have you ever seen or heard of the Norman line of electrics called "Illegal"? I am looking into buying one in a natural finish with the 80s stripes down the middle of the body. Can't find anything on them online though.


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## laristotle

NealfromMTL said:


> Norman line of electrics called "Illegal"?


There's a coupla' black ones on Reverb.








Norman Illegal 1987 | Reverb Canada


Guitar was made in 1987-88 in Canada by Norman guitars prior to the takeover by Godin . Features the very rare Barcus Berry pickups and the Accutune bridge-sorry I do not have the whammy bar. Comes with a new gig bagShipping is an estimate only-please provide your zip code or postal code foran a...




reverb.com


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## Dru Edwards

Thanks! I always enjoy reading about the history of guitars. I heard some of this before but there's new tidbits as well. 

BTW, your English is great.


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## ronh

Bought a Boucher HG-56 last year, spectacular. Great to see a family/Canadian success story continue to evolve.


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## zguitz

Illegal by Norman, pretty scrase, serial starting in the 400s, never seen a number over 700 so far.
By the way, at age 77, Claude Boucher is still making guitars under "Claude Boucher Luthier"


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## NealfromMTL

I'm thinking of getting this one. Thoughts?


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## zguitz

Interesting, no 316, looks clean like a NOS


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## NealfromMTL

After speaking to a buddy who owned a music store and was a guitar insider in Quebec in the 80s, I learned that the entire Illégal by Norman guitar is a 1988 tribute to the style and music of 1979. The Illegal name is a tribute to the 1979 song "illégal" by les Corbeau, with the lead singer Marjo apparently being friends with Claude Boucher, son of Norman. The body's sandwich style is clearly a throwback to the Matsumoku era, with the body resembling a reversed Daion Savage. 
So it appears that the model was a first and only attempt by the company, after the dad's death, to make electrics. A year later they sold to Godin, and never made another production run. 
FYI, the pickups are super hot 15k output at the bridge. The finish is pure perfection. The neck is so easy to play. A real work of art. If you ever see one, don't hesitate the get it. They are collectors items AND amazing players. Not entry level as someone here has said. They were the only-level electric from Norman, and that level was very high!!


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## zguitz

Interesting story, I just may add, in 1987-89 the Boucher's were out of Norman's management, the company was bought by a casket maker from the city of Magog, they sold to Godin in february 1989. Claude designed the first run of Norman electrics in 1984 simply badge Norman. By 1986, Claude was out and bought the village's restaurant. Normand Boucher died in 1997 and made a few guitars in the '90s under the name NBoucher. So Illegal, casket and Rock and Roll, make sense to me


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## zguitz

Thinking about it, there might be a link. Nornnand Boucher well knew Willie Lamothe, a famous Quebec country singer. Willie's son Michel was the bass player for Corbeau. Claude and Michel are roughly the same age, thin link because Claude Boucher was out of Noman by 1986 and Corbeau disolved in 1984. Anyway for sure the whole Illegal album from Corbeau was a smash hit in Quebec, so there is some local logic in using the Illegal name in french Quebec territories.


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