New from the Godin stable is a Seagull mini-jumbo - Richard Thomas takes a closer look. Was the MJM6 a high flyer or did it fail to get off the ground?

It’s been quite some time since Seagull guitars first appeared here in the UK. Since that time they’ve sold steadily, and have been joined by their fellow brands Norman and Art and Lutherie – all of which come from the Robert Godin stable. Godin, of course, is one of North America’s largest guitar makers, producing a wide range of instruments across different price brands. Best known for dreadnoughts and, to a lesser extent, for small ‘folk’ sized guitars, this is Seagull’s first venture into the increasingly popular mini-jumbo style.
   
This style of instrument has, in recent years, established itself as a popular alternative to the dreadnought, being a little more comfortable to play and, perhaps, a little more balanced in sound. It’s also, arguably, more aesthetically pleasing than the rather rectangular profile of the traditional dreadnought. At 16” wide, the mini-jumbo is actually slightly wider than Martin’s dreadnought, but the narrower waist makes it more comfortable to play, particularly when seated. The inspiration for this style of guitar is Gibson’s J185. A little smaller and less ostentatious than its cousin, the J200, the J185 had limited success when it was introduced in the 1950s, but was the inspiration for Gibson’s Everly Brothers model. Subsequently it’s become quite a highly regarded guitar and has been reintroduced by Gibson. It has also inspired highly spec’d instruments by boutique guitar makers like Bourgeois, Collings and Santa Cruz, and more modest, but still excellent guitars, such as those from Czech maker Furch/ Stanford.

Construction
As with most Seagull guitars, the MJM6 occupies a price point in the low-mid end of the acoustic market. It’s clearly inspired by the Gibson J185 in its body profile and similarly dimensioned. The 406mm wide, 125mm deep body is comparable in size with most dreadnoughts, but its decidedly curvier outline makes it appear a little smaller.        
As mentioned above, I certainly found it more comfortable to hold. The top is a fairly plain piece of solid Sitka spruce, bound in ivoroid with a single black purfling line around the edge. A herringbone pattern wood rosette circles the soundhole, which I thought was a nice aesthetic touch. Below the rosette is a small burgundy-coloured tortoiseshell scratchplate.
   
The bridge is a fairly chunky bottom-belly design, made from a reddish rosewood. It’s not the smoothest finish I’ve seen, to be honest. The compensated bridge saddle is seated in a well-cut slot. Inside, the guitar is pretty cleanly finished. Back and sides are made from nicely grained laminated mahogany and the whole body is finished in high gloss. There’s a little sinking of the finish into the surface which provides some reassurance that it’s not excessively thick, as is the case on some budget instruments.
   
The mahogany neck is one piece, with a separate heel. The neck’s satin finish is, like the bridge, not especially smooth. It is, however, consistent with the finish I’ve seen on other Seagulls over the years. The unbound rosewood fingerboard matches the bridge and carries simple mother-of-pearl dot markers between the 3rd and 12th frets.

The headstock is, of course, Seagull’s distinctive narrow, tapering design and carries its trademark logo. It’s certainly original and helps to create a straighter path from the strings between nut and tuners. The tuners themselves are Seagull-branded sealed affairs which seem to perform adequately, if unexceptionally. The headstock is faced in rosewood and gloss finished. It’s also bound in what appears to be maple. This creates a slightly odd visual effect – the combination of a bound headstock and an unbound fingerboard just doesn’t look right to me.

In Use
The Seagull’s neck took a little getting used to. It’s a wide, shallow design – 46mm (1.8”) wide at the nut. Still, this makes for pretty airy string spacing, which is a real boon for fingerpicking. The shorter scale length (63 mm) gives this guitar a very Gibsonish feel and the consequent lower string tension makes it easy to play. I’m used to playing 650mm scale length guitars, but I must say that I enjoyed the feel of this shorter scale guitar. I can see just what Doyle Dykes was getting at in his article on shorter scale lengths a few issues ago.
   
When I first took this guitar out of its box I couldn’t get on with it at all as far as the sound was concerned - brash and lacking in subtlety, it suffered from a seriously over-excited treble that dominated everything. However after acclimatising for a few days and after a bit of playing the sound calmed down considerably. Despite the size of the body the bass is not particularly strong. It’s quite a nice, thrummy sound though - an approximation of the Gibson sound and pleasant for strumming. The treble’s still a bit bright, but I think with some ageing and regular playing the sound will round out a little. Fingerpicking is certainly possible, though you might want to wear a thumbpick to add more emphasis to the bass.

Conclusion
It’s gratifying to see makers like Seagull producing alternatives to the dreadnought designs that tend to dominate this end of the market. If anything, Gibson-inspired designs are decidedly under-represented in this price range. I think this Seagull would make a decent general purpose guitar. It’s not a sophisticated-sounding instrument, but it plays well enough. There are a few competing instruments out there, often discounted to not much more than the £448 that is the RRP for this guitar. However, this is the only mini-jumbo I’ve come across with a shorter scale length. So if you fancy an alternative to a dreadnought and appreciate the playability a shorter scale brings, then this Seagull is well worth a look.