Leonards guitars

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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Sanverp
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Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2012 3:44 pm

Leonards guitars

Post by Sanverp »

Hey,

I was wondering what guitars Leonard is playing on.
As far as I know, he's favourite is 'Godin' - nylon string, but I can be wrong.

Any idea if he also plays other guitars?

Kind regards,
Sanverp
Kind Regards,
Peter
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LisaLCFan
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Location: Canada

Re: Leonards guitars

Post by LisaLCFan »

Hi Sanverp,

This is from an older post about Leonard's guitars (somebody else did the research, not me):

"From 1967 (See the pictures from Newport) to 1970 tours (included IOW) : a Ramirez flamenco guitar (this one was the most difficult to identify because nothing looks more like a flamenco guitar as another flamenco guitar)

In the 1972 and 1974 tours (see the pictures in the Concert Pictures section) : a Conde Hermanos flamenco guitar

In the 1976 and 1979 tours : an Ovation Classic model (the recent models are easier to find out because each brand is now very recognizable and there are more pictures on stage)

In 1985 and 1988 : the Gibson Chet Atkins model

In 1993 to present : the Godin Multiac ACS

I am quite sure the guitars used for studio albums are corresponding to the ones used in tours."

I will add that, on Old Ideas, Leonard plays an acoustic flamenco guitar (on Crazy to Love You), which may be his Conde Hermanos.

Cheers!
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Sanverp
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Re: Leonards guitars

Post by Sanverp »

Hey Lisa,

Thank you so much for your answer.
Now I finally know what guitar to buy ;)


Kind regards,
Sanverp
Kind Regards,
Peter
vladimiro
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2020 5:12 pm

Re: Leonards guitars

Post by vladimiro »

On the last tours he played several models of godin, not just the multiac. It always looks the same because they are very similar.
On "the future" tour (1993) he played a Godin TeleClassic Nylon (it can be recognized by the absence of a logo, and by the different buttons design)
On "Live in London" (recorded 2008) he played a Godin Multiac.
On "Songs from the Road" (recorded 2008-2009) booklet the guitars in the photos are not the Multiac but the Godin Teleclassic Nylon (same model of 1993) and the Godin GrandConcert (easy to recognized: you can read "GrandConcert" on the guitar on the back photo).
On "Live in Dublin" (recorded 2013) he played the Godin Teleclassic Nylan.
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Checking the videos on youtube you can see that the guitars he plays are not always the same (in addition to the 3 different types, you can also rarely see guitars of the same models but other colors).
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Watching the videos of various concerts on youtube I am quite certain that in the Multiac and GrandConcert guitars he only played them in 2008/2009, and from 2010 on he returned back to TeleClassic Nylon like the Future Tour.
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LisaLCFan
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Re: Leonards guitars

Post by LisaLCFan »

vladimiro wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 7:45 pm On the last tours he played several models of godin, not just the multiac. It always looks the same because they are very similar...
Thanks for the detailed info. I had noticed that he played different Godin guitars at different times in the tour from 2008-2013 -- as you note, the visual differences are slight, but apparent. It looks like Godin no longer offers those guitars with a black finish.
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