# Garrison, Norman, Seagull? Opinions please



## Vack (May 28, 2010)

In Europe is most known Seagull. However, I would like to see your opinions about these three brands, Norman, Garrison, Seagull: Quality, sound, construction....

Thanx


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## Gazoo (May 3, 2010)

I know for a fact that Garrison and Seagull are extremely well built guitars and they sound great. Garrison was purchased by Gibson in July of 2007 so any guitar made before then may have a tendancy to climb in value and anything built after Gibson toook over may not be a "Garrison" guitar. However its important to add that shopping for guitars by brand is hit and miss, as many great guitars as they make they also end up producing the occasional lemon from time to time. You really just need to play EVERYTHING you can get your hands on and let the guitar pick you. I know that sounds kind of wierd but I have found many times I go into a store with a plan to buy a particular brand of guitar and then cannot find for example a Taylor in the store that I like, but I find a Cedar and Mahogany Simon and Patrick (which at the time I had never heard of before) that I love and buy on the spot.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

Just so you know Gazoo that when Gibson took over Garrison they stopped all production of Garrisons and started to make a Canadian Gibson that didn't generate as much as they had hoped the factory was closed recently and they no longer make any guitars there from what I understand. 
As for Garrisons climbing in value well thats just usually not going to happen. When they haven't been around long enough to know what they will be like say in another 20 years, and they didn't make a big splash in Canada, so its hard to say where they will be on the market.
And Vack you can't go wrong with either a Seagull or a Norman both are well made instruments but because they make so many models its hard to tell you which model would be better.Ship


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## Vack (May 28, 2010)

My question is about the general level of these guitars only; obviously different qualities in different models make a difference. By the way, Garrison then is out of market?


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

The Garrison i can't really speculate on.As for Norman and Seagull,the seagull will retain it's value and people will be happy to pay for it,within reason of a second hand guitar.When you get to the Norman guitars,their not very well known,not so much as seagull,so if you plan on selling on in the future you will most likely take a loss on the sale or have it sitting in store/classifieds a long time before anyone familiar with the brand comes along.In my opinion Norman guitars are as good as seagull's depending on what you want out of a guitar.Not much attention is paid towards Norman at Godin,which is a shame,i would like to see them come out with their version of the seagull SWS series.They do offer solid wood models in their line up,just not as much variety,their all dreads.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

Hi Vack yes they stopped making the Garrison as soon as Gibson bought them out. Me I would try to stick with the Seagull line they can make from very basic to some very nice mid-level guitars they are well built instruments and come in a variety of woods. To be honest with you the few Garrisons that I had tried in the past did not impress me very much for the amount of money, where as the Seagulls you pay for what you get ( very good value for the money and a good re-sale value also ), from their basic to some very decent instruments and the Normans are pretty good, kind of like the Fg series of Yamaha's just not as much choices but still nice guitars.Ship


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I've played some old and new Seagulls that were simply wonderful sounding, and great bang for the buck. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I didn't already own some nice acoustics.

Peace, Mooh.


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## jammers5 (Mar 26, 2010)

Garrison was bought out by Gibson, a while back. The factory was in Mount Pearl , Newfoundland just under 2 km from my house. They then started producing Canadian made Gibsons. There were quality issues and the guitars did not sell very well so Gibson shut down the factory in 2009.

Garrisons sound great but they have had quality issues. Their unique bracing system - all the binding on the body and up through the neck is a one piece composite unit. the real benefit of this is a more uniform resonance of the guitar. That's what makes these guitars sound so good.

Here's the issue - this same composite bracing system that make sit sound so great also wrecks havoc with the set up. Some of these guitars have had necks that would not stay still. My brother had one that buzzed like crazy and when he brought it back to the shop they adjusted the truss rod, and that jacked the action up so high it was almost unplayable. My brother ended up bringing the truss rod back to where it was and checking the frets and found a high fret. He filed the fret down and it was good for a month and it started buzzing again. Now he adjusts the truss rod every month or so to fix buzzing issues. I spoke to one of the techs who used to work for Garrison and he admitted to me there were problems with the guitars.

I have a Garrison as well, and have had no issues with it. It sounds good too. However I would stay away from them as there is no Factory Warranty on them. IMHO the Seagull don't sound as good for the money but at least you will have a good guitar with warranty.

J5


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Mooh said:


> I've played some old and new Seagulls that were simply wonderful sounding, and great bang for the buck. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I didn't already own some nice acoustics.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


I didn't hesitate to buy a Simon & Patrick (One of the Godin brands along with Seagull) when I was looking for a 12 string.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another, and probably will when I finally get an acoustic 6 string.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Norman was bought out by Godin a few years back so now a Seagull and Norman are the same guitar with a different headstock. I have a Simon & Patrick, another Godin brand and a associate has a Norman. They are the same guitar. By the way, they are both very good guitars. For the money, they are best out there and better than many that sell for way more.


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