In 1982 Robert Godin and a few friends built the first few Seagull guitars in the village of La Patrie Quebec. The idea for these guitars was to take the essential components of the best handcrafted acoustic guitars, work them into the instruments, and get them into the hands of working class musicians. All of these beautiful guitars have compound radiused solid wood tops, either spruce or cedar. The headstocks are ingeniously constructed. The wood is cut at a 45 degree angle after which the top piece - the Headstock - is glued back on with the grain reversed. This process allows these Seagull guitars to have incredibly stable necks. The necks themselves are reinforced with maple dowels allowing them to be a little thinner than others without compromising sound quality for comfort. With construction as masterful as this, Seagull steps up to deliver wonderful sounding instruments at a price that most anyone could work into their budget. The folks who live in La Patrie take a great deal of pride in the guitars they construct, pick one up for yourself and see why. Hawaii Music Supply keeps a good stock of the artist series guitars. These guitars have solid tops and backs, come with a hardshell case, and tonally rival any guitar twice its price.