What kind of guitar does LC play?

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
confetti
Posts: 415
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2006 11:59 pm
Location: northern ireland
Contact:

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by confetti »

excellent reply patyou
"I needed so much, to have nothing to touch - I've always been greedy that way"
Ron_Rude
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 7:55 am

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by Ron_Rude »

Correct me if I'm wrong. It's a black Chet Atkins Studio made by Gibson Montana 2003 or later. I think it has a custom bridge. Leonard astutely chooses this model because it is a solid body classical guitar, eliminating the problem of acoustic feedback on a large concert stage. When Chet Atkins first proposed the guitar to Gibson, he was very insistent that there should be no compromise on tonal definition, so that every note in fast fingerstyle playing would be crystal clear. The innovative craftsmen at Gibson didn't dissapoint Chet, and Leonard is simarly able to give full expression to his wonderful fingerstyle playing with this fine instrument. Another innovation is that it has a soundhole at the back, so that the performer gets some acoustic foldback.
http://www.guitar.com.au/guitars/acoust ... cecec.html
http://pro-music-news.com/html/03/e40712gi.htm
Patyou
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:31 pm
Location: Paris (FRANCE)

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by Patyou »

Hi

I think Leonard didn't play (in the 1985 and 1988 tours) this recent model but the former model of this Chet Atkins Gibson guitar (black color).

Patyou
Attachments
GibsonChetAtkinsCE.jpg
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
adrian1658
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:20 am

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by adrian1658 »

If anybody is interested, you can find on Conde Hermanos website ("Artists" section) that Leonard Cohen played FC 26 model. And also Paco de Lucia played this one.
zanart21
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:49 pm

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by zanart21 »

Not boring Patyou, any information gained about Leonard is more than welcome particularly now that he has gone from this world.
User avatar
nycandre
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 8:01 pm
Location: New York City USA
Contact:

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by nycandre »

From Goldin guitars:

Leonard Cohen played an ACS-SA.

https://godinguitars.com/product/acs-nylon-black-hg/



You can easily recognize it in the videos and DVD's of that time ca 2008



Image
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NYCandre -jack of all trades, master of none except the ones I've had an interest in at some point in time.
vladimiro
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 14, 2020 5:12 pm

Re: What kind of guitar does LC play?

Post by vladimiro »

I'm lucky enough to own a beautiful Multiac! it is a wonderful instrument, not too expensive for its great value and sound!

I am very curious about some of Leonard's choices: on the 1994 tour he plays the first model (just relased) of the Godin Multiac (still had a different name: Tele Classic Nylon). On the 2008 tour he play the new model (Godin Multiac), but from 2012 it is clearly seen that it returns to the previous model, the 1994 Tele Classic Nylon (distinguishable by the absence of the Godin logo and by the different mixer design on the preamp).

Any idea why he preferred to go back to the previous model?


Also: he played that guitar on very low tunings.
In the 1994 tour his guitar was tuned: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb (standard, three full steps down)
From 2008: C F A# D# G C (standard, two full steps down).
But the Godin is not a Baritone Guitar, so I guess he used some Extra Hard Tension Strings.
Maybe d'addario pro arte exp44?
So I guess those Godin went from a luthier to a "custom" setup for that type of tuning.
Post Reply

Return to “Leonard Cohen's music”