Godin Club

[mattpnolan]

Thanks for posting Phil! Your bass is the one that inspired me to put Dark Stars in my BG-V, though I can't do it until the 5 string Dark Stars are released.

Saxofunk - You can post if you wanna I am not being a dictator about this thread. The intention is mainly to show Godin basses, since this is a bass forum, but whatevs

 

[saxofunk]

I's jes playin. I'll leave the thread clear for basses... they deserve the recognition.

 

[Feel my bottom]

I have a BG4 starburst. I only paid $600 brand new last year (sat in the store for a few years - nobody picked it up, go figure).

I recently changed the strings to DR's coated Black Beauties. The BG4 looks fantastic with these black strings to match the knobs & hardware. However, I'm not crazy about the sound. They have a 'twang' and I'm more of a 'thump' kind of a guy.

Anybody wants to recommend strings for the Godin BG's? Wondering if anybody used flatwounds or semi-rounds and what you thought.

 

[roadkill2309]

Honestly I used Blue Steels on mine for most of my time with it. I recently switched to Elixir nanowebs (or whatever they're called), and it sounds great: still a little wody, but not at the cost of definition. Not the best solution for guys looking for that warm, upright sound, but it's fine for me.

 

[Hughsie]

I have a Godin Freeway 4. The 'P' pup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Quarter pounder and I've sanded/reshaped/oil finished the neck. It's rather spiffy, all in.

One gripe though. No; two. First: the neck is very noisy (buzzy/rattly) acoustically and a lowish action is almost impossible to achieve. I had a Godin guitar a few years ago which had a similar if somewhat worse problem, which makes me wander if there's an issue with their fret materials or whatever? Particularly odd given their emphasis on the necks being hand built.

The other one is: the bridges on these things are great; you have a standard stringing option or a through-body option. Not much of a gripe so far, right? Well ... this bass was a gift from a friend and he had it strung with some pretty beefy wire, through the body. It sounded great, big bright and clangy (in a good way). But the strings were way to heavy for me, so I got my usual Roto Swing Bass long scales and went about replacing the old strings ... only to find the the Rotos aren't long enough for the through-body option! There's nothing that I could see on Godin's website to warn you of this, but it looks like exra-long scale strings are needed for stringing through the back.

Of course, maybe that's always been the case with through-body strung basses, and I'm just being ignorant. Not that that would stop me bitching!!

Anyway, an otherwise excellent bass - and these things are insanely good value for money to boot.

 

[Figjam]

I played a godin sd4 for a year and a half as my main bass. I put bartolini pickups in it and it had an excellent vintage tone. I would have kept it if i stayed with that sort of time but my tastes changed, or more so i realized that the tone in my head was a music man.

great company though.

 

[22pauld22]

hey guys first upgrade complete on my godin bg 5 .. I put the SD basslines in it the ssb 5's .. it sounds killer now .. the B string was always a little wooly with the emgs p5 at the neck and cs at the bridge ... the B now has an amazing presence .. a great upgrade as far as I'm concerned .. very happy .. sounds like a killer jazz bass now ..

anyone changed the bridge on a bg 5 .. I can't quite get the intonation right on the B string I can't wind the saddle back far enough on the schaller bridge and there are so many options .. i'd love to be able to find a bridge where I didn't have to drill the bass .. as drilling for my bridge earth wire put about 10 years on me as it was

the problem is that the bg 5 has such a narrow string spacing .. i think it ends up being about 16.25 and most bridges start at about 17 I realise I could get a badass and then shape the saddles (again scarey) but people don't seem to rave about badass bridges like they used too .. its all hipshot this hipshot that these days

anyone changed out their bridge ?

 

[kraigo]

I just got my fretless A4 today. It's fun. My question is: Is everyone's gain this hot? Mine has a really hot output and is very susceptible to feedback. It's fun to play with the feedback and all, but this doesn't seem quite right. I'm guessing there's a trim pot in one of the cavities - I haven't opened it up to look.

This thing is alive. It has a dead-ish spot on the low D on the G string, but I don't really think that matters too much. It's just another facet of its character. It's got a lot of it.

It's really got a lot of voices depending on whether you pluck at the neck or at the bridge, use a pick or fingers or the meat of your thumb. It's pretty amazing.

I blame this one on the Talk Bass community, BTW: I was browsing the site two weeks ago Saturday and there was a thread about acoustic basses. I've been dreaming of an A4 fretless for quite a while. I knew It'd be quite a while before I could buy a new one and I've never seen one used, so I hit eBay and there it was.

Honestly it's not exactly what I expected. It's sort of like meeting a pen pal face to face or honeymoon night in an arranged marriage. I hadn't played one before and I'm going to have to take a bit of time to get to know it.

KO

 

[22pauld22]

So whats happening in the world of Godin ? I have since put an Audere classic 4 band in my BG5 and I have a hipshot b bridge to put on it if and when I ever get around to it ..
although its not the bass I play all the time it always seems to be my goto bass when it counts and I need frets

 

[kraigo]

I've got a separate thread up about this but haven't gotten a nibble yet, so I'll ask here in case there are subscribers:

>>
I've got a Godin A4 fretless. I like it - I'd rather love it. There are three things I don't like about it.

1) The stock strings - too twangy. Easily solved, never mind.

2) The side dot markers are on every "fret", of slightly different sizes. They _WILL_ cause a person to make mistakes, trust me on this. Moderately easily solved, so never mind.

3) The lack of a place to anchor your thumb. This is the reason I'm posting at all. It does cause issues for me and it's a deal breaker. Again and again it seems that Robert Godin says that a thumb rest is essentially another brace. I'm about to the point where it doesn't matter. I have seen pictures of some of the A series basses with an Acoustibass-style thumb rest, so somthing like this is being done.

Has anyone added a thumb rest to their A4? How and how much did it diminish the quality of the bass?
<<

KO

 

[fresnorich]

Sold my Godin. I'll miss it.

 

[4Mal]

Man I like Rich's old Acoustibass! My J's are all looking over their shoulder - well not all of them but a few...

I offed a very nice MIA J Deluxe and snagged an A4 with SA. What do you all like for strings on there. I'm after more fundamental and less 'boingy'.

The Acoustibass has Jazz Flats on it. The A is a litle weak but I've adjusted to it. I'll stay with flats on the A4. Is there a tape wound that is a good choice ?

Who is using the Synth Access ? What interfaces work well. there's of course the various Roland units GR-30/20/09 and the Axon 100/500.

If the older Roland GR30's work well that would be cool as they go for a song these days. The GR20 tracks guitar really well but it's also boring as heck ... great samples but no programming.

So what are you using ?

 

[4Mal]

and there is a now an A4 fretted with Synth Access to compliment Rich's old Acoustibass.

Initial impressions are
1. Godin round would strings suck - there is no other way to describe it. Oh maybe (~(~(~B*O*I*N*G~)~)~) <-ZING -> !!!Sizzle!!!

2. TI Jazz Flats cure that little problem pronto. Thank the heavens ...

3. The A4 does not have as much of the pleasant woody sound of the Acoustibass. Not bad but when it comes to emulating an Acoustic bass the A4 with the Baggs system is in a league of it's own. At least in my experience.

4. String to string balance the A4 wins - near perfect with the TI's.

5. Ergonomics - the Acoustibass's thinner and longer body is more comfortable. Hands down.

The A4 is pretty cool instrument - It's only been a couple of days and so I reserve the right to change my opinion at some point. At this point in time, I really prefer the Acoustibass - Godin hit it out of the park with that one IMO - The SA portion of the A4 set's it apart though. Tonally they are different and it may turn out to be a good kind of different. I bought the A4 hoping that it would be a good compliment to the Acoustibass - not a replacement for it. So far I'd say that's about where I'm at.

I need to land a fretless Acoustibass...

 

[topcat2069]

I have a Godin Z-Bass.. it has the Zeta Bridge pickup system, I guess Godin was making the Prism Bass for Zeta and had a few of the piezo bridge and preamps left over so they rolled they're own. Its kinda Jetson looking but with flats it sounds amazing!

 

[johhn smith]

Here's my 1997 Godin BG-V in cinnamon. It's a solid body, with great sounding EMG pickups. I like this bass a lot - I even bought a second identical one on ebay. I've always been surprised that there aren't more people playing these. Unfortunately Godin doesn't make this model anymore, which may have something to do with it.

Found some Invalid Link Removed

my godin is identical to this one only it's a 1996 and is a four string. i have a zon sonus, a musicman stingray, a warwick nt streamer stage 1 and a fender jazz , but my godin bg4 is my favorite. i haven't found a bass that i like better, only equals, and while i really like my other basses this is the bass that gets the most play by a long shot.

 

[4Mal]

Got the GR-20 - hey this thing is pretty cool! Tracking IS a little iffy in the lows. As an acquaintance put it - stay legato ... then it seems to work well. Up high you can rip... sax, flute, organ - what-evah!

A couple of days in, I lost the E string form the synth interface though ... Took the whole enchilada over to Passinwind's abode yesterday as he has a guitar with a GK-2 and a GR-09 setup. Wasn't the cable, wasn't the synth ... grrr...

I popped the jack - not it - that is a hard wire with ribbon cable - sensible choice in that location. I popped the control cavity cover and pulled the 4 screws holding the 2 board together, re-seated the top board in the socket and re-fastened the screws. That did the trick so now I'm back to banging on all 4 strings! Yippee!

I had a chance to play another A4 on Monday evening. It belongs to local bud, Ed. Right after I ordered up a set of the Fender 9120 Tape Wounds on sale at GC on line. They rock'ed! The TI's are a little bright on the RMC pickups through I like them a lot on the LR Baggs installed in the Acoustibass.

If you're rockin' an A4 and you want more of the big woody thing it does - try those 9120 tape wounds. I can't believe that I actually bought a set of strings from Fender - it's been years ...

 

[fullrangebass]

I own an A4 bass (fretted) as well as the midi equipped xtSA guitar. Great value for money instruments

 

[MNAirHead]

REceived an A4.. imploded.. then learned there are countless stories of the bracing having issues and the tops blowing in.

I'd still be in love with it if the company cared.. they basically called them a disposable guitar OR be dumb enough to bring it to a luthier when it's a bolt on body.

The Godin Companies make their resellers do stupid things (buy 18 months in advance etc)

We were ready to buy 6 ea A4s and 6 A6s.. only stiplulation we had was a color - would pay more.. didn't need rush delivery - the company once again told us to kiss off


Tim

 

[4Mal]

REceived an A4.. imploded.. then learned there are countless stories of the bracing having issues and the tops blowing in.

So far your's is the only one I've been able to find ANY information on. As for the top imploding, what would actually cause that ? Can't be atmospheric as the body is vented... External pressure is more likely - basically that still looks a lot more like it got crushed. Mine arived from NYC all the way over to the other side of hte country, strung to tension and in a gig bag, bubble wrapped in a box. The top survived just fine ... If there are countless stories out there, they certainly seem to be well hidden...

I can understand your frustration with Godin. They are in business as a manufacturer though and you've been presenting them with more or less 'custom shop' kinds of issues. That they choose not to play in that arean isn't really a good reason to slag them.

I am somewhat suprised at their unwillingness to provide you a replacement body at some reasonable cost. I'm also a little suprised that they don't have a manual for the A4/5 - not that I need one but it is a nice 'friendly' touch. I'm also suprised that nobody at Godin called me back or emailed me about the missing E string / synth issue I had. Clearly Godin is not a company with a strong bass player outreach effort... definately not points in their favor.

Still - the instruments speak for themselves and both of mine have earned their place in my stable.

 

[Gopher Bob]

Got it used a couple of months ago at Sam Ash. I picked it up and finally found the tone I was looking for.