"I've tried out the Godin, and at the discount price ($500–600) I think it's the best acoustic/electric you can get, delivering a very pleasing acoustic mandolin tone at a high volume while offering great playability. The major drawback: It has no soundholes and therefore no volume to speak of when it's not plugged in."—Martin Stillion

"Bought my A8 for $600. It think it's pretty reasonable based on the value I think this nice little instrument has. Though decidedly one-dimensional, as it is only viable as an electric instrument, it's a damn fine one for the money.
    "I received this in the mail last Friday. Spent the afternoon in a digital recording studio laying down basic tracks for a new CD (with my band, the Chazz Cats) and was more than pleasantly surprised by the tonal character and playability of this instrument. My other main axe—a Flatiron Performer F—has OK tone when amplified via a Fishman bridge transducer, but the Godin is much steadier with full bottom and sparkling highs, thanks to the onboard EQ and volume controls. The output provides a nice clean signal and there's a ton of ringing resonance when plugged in. The neck is super thin and very comfortable and the fretwork is great. It's finished with a non-waxy coating that makes it very easy to cruise from low to high positions and it's just a real pleasure to play.
     "I have yet to play a gig with this—but it is bound to be able to help me cut through a horn section and loud amplified swing band. The onboard controls are easy to use and it looks good too.
     "I give it a thumbs up as it's got a lot of bang for the buck. It's no Rigel—but it gives a lot of value for the price. This electric mandolinist thinks highly of the Godin A8."—Ted Silverman

"I have owned and played my Godin A8 mandolin for one month now and votes are in. This thing is very cool. I play with drummers and horn players a lot and feedback has always been a problem. Not with the A8. It has a great active pickup system that has separate pickups for each course of strings. It also has a three-band EQ (on the mando) that sounds good and is very responsive. It is quite strange, with its bolt-on neck and nonadjustable bridge, but once you set it up right it plays like 'butta.'
     "The sound is also very good. In a recorded comparison between the A8 and my '23 snakehead with two Pickup-the-World ribbon pickups, the snakehead won by a small margin, but in a loud band the Godin wins. With the A8 you can play very light and yet cut through the sound of a full band."—Don Julin