Godin A5... what's it good for?

[Jonathan Couper]

Early in my bass-ing career, I impulse-purchased a Godin A5 because it looked great and had a lovely sustain and tone.

But it just sits in my bass-closet now! My working bass is a 5-string Brubaker Brute, my fretless is a lovely 5-string GWB from Ibanez. Both of those get played all the time. But I just never seem to find the right song/band/venue/sound to use my A5.

The A5 has a pretty high action that isn't easily adjustable. It's bulky (and heavy). So... Godin fans out there, tell me what the A5 is good for please!

[Also, how the hell do I get the Synth sounds to do anything, and why is one output jack so much louder than the others].

 

[Dave Roberts]

I just bought a Godin A4 Ultra. I agree that it looks great, has a lovely sustain and tone and is heavy like many basses. I don't have a problem with the action, but you can probably get your high action adjusted by a tech.

The thing that drew me to it is that I already had a Godin synth-ready guitar, the LG-SA AA, which I love. I hook it into a Roland GR-55 synth processor and am enjoying the sound world this opens up -- it's like going from black and white to color. I'm just starting to explore the synth with the A4 bass and am similarly impressed so far.

My next step is to use the Roland's MIDI through connection to hook the bass and guitar into a Behringer analog synthesizer (Model D) and the Omnisphere software synthesizer, which should open up even crazier soundscapes.

So the Godin bass is very good if you just want a nice sounding bass that allows you to sculpt the sound by mixing the two built-in sound sources: electric pickups and saddle transducers. But it becomes great with unlimited possibilities when you add in a third sound source: the synth.

 

[Dave Roberts]

I just bought a Godin A4 Ultra. I agree that it looks great, has a lovely sustain and tone and is heavy like many basses. I don't have a problem with the action, but you can probably get your high action adjusted by a tech.

The thing that drew me to it is that I already had a Godin synth-ready guitar, the LG-SA AA, which I love. I hook it into a Roland GR-55 synth processor and am enjoying the sound world this opens up -- it's like going from black and white to color. I'm just starting to explore the synth with the A4 bass and am similarly impressed so far.

My next step is to use the Roland's MIDI through connection to hook the bass and guitar into a Behringer analog synthesizer (Model D) and the Omnisphere software synthesizer, which should open up even crazier soundscapes.

So the Godin bass is very good if you just want a nice sounding bass that allows you to sculpt the sound by mixing the two built-in sound sources: electric pickups and saddle transducers. But it becomes great with unlimited possibilities when you add in a third sound source: the synth.