I learned the hard way that if you want a guitar that sounds like a strat, buy a strat....want a guitar that sounds like a Les Paul, buy a Les Paul.

I understand the desire to get a guitar that has some personality and is different from what you see all over the place. I've checked out Godin guitar before and heard great things about them, but I have never gotten to play one. So I can't comment on that.

You are right to be questioning how good the split coils on a humbucker guitar will sound. On my Les Pauls, the coil split just makes the guitar sound wimpy and I don't find the tone particularly useful. My PRS CE 24 actually has a useful coil split. On the bridge it can sound nice and brite with a bit of single coil bite. It's not quite strat bite, but it's close enough in most cases.