Sometime around 2006 I happened to drive by Guitar Center in Indianapolis. I usually try to stay far away from that place. Don’t like to be called “Buddy” by some sales guy.
But that day I had a little time to kill and nowehere else to go. Just because it was tremendously loud on the main sales floor with several young customers wanking away on electric guitars at various skill levels, I stepped into the acoustic guitar room. This is where this Godin Glissentar stood lonely in a far corner. Once I had it tuned up it was such a joy to play that I looked at the price tag. Used, and for sale at a fraction of a new Glissentar.
Like all the Godin guitars I have played this one is well made and has a nice, easy neck. The electronics work as they should and the instrument stays in tune (as much as can be expected of 11 nylon strings). So, yeah, it’s a single low E string but all the others A to high E are double strung. Not in octaves like on a steel 12 string but both strings at the same pitch. So there you have your natural chorus. I think this instrument is somehow a modern version of a North African oud. Forget playing chords without frets! But blues is lots of fun. While I think Pat Metheny has a custom made fretless guitar, there are a few recordings he uses it on and that’s what the Glissentar sounds like.
On my ‘solo’ recording Peter’s Money (track 9) I use the Glissentar in a ‘middle eastern’ flavored setting called ‘The Tonic (is blown in the wind).’