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Just Bought a Godin A4 Fretless

#5
NG51 said:
I believe that's used only with the 13 pin plug for the synth-it changes the sound settings from patch to patch. If you're only using the 1/4" plug, just ignore it and use the sliders.
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Let us know how you like the A5 Ultra. Is it fretless as well? Here is what I posted earlier today:

"Got my new bass! Godin A4 ultra fretless. It plays differently than any of the others I own. Very expressive with a lot of tonal options dependent on how it is fretted and plucked. Like a new girlfriend, I need to discover what she likes. So far so good."
 
#8
Well heck. I have been messing with my new A4 and it seems that the piezo pickup does not work at all. If I turn down the electromagnetic pickup all the way I get zero sound. The guitar slider volume control seems to do nothing at all and it is supposed to control volume of the piezo, which is presently producing nothing. I put a new 9V battery in it and still nothing. Tried both audio jacks and still nothing. What a disappointment.
 
#9
Randy Howard said:
Well heck. I have been messing with my new A4 and it seems that the piezo pickup does not work at all. If I turn down the electromagnetic pickup all the way I get zero sound. The guitar slider volume control seems to do nothing at all and it is supposed to control volume of the piezo, which is presently producing nothing. I put a new 9V battery in it and still nothing. Tried both audio jacks and still nothing. What a disappointment.
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Okay, here is the deal. the information from Godin is unreliable as one brochure describes the controls differently than a printed sheet that Godin just sent me. So there is some confusion as to what the slider furthest from the E string does.

At any rate I really cannot hear much if any difference between the mag pickup and the bridge pickup. Does anyone out there play one of these?
 
#11
Godin's documentation is notoriously unreliable.
And their control layouts are often different from the defacto standard of other manufacturers.
In particular having the low/mid/high sliders in the opposite orientation from the low/mid/high pitch of the strings.

Are you trying to figure out how the controls work by playing normally, or tapping on the pickups?

Turn the mag volume off, put all the sliders all the way up and tap on the bridge saddle. Then do the same with the sliders all the way down. That should tell you if the piezo is putting out any signal.
 
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#12
NG51 said:
Mine should be here in a day or two. Did you buy yours online? I bought mine from a store. I'll play it at the store when I get it. The guys there should be helpful.
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I bought mine from Guitar Center but no one there plays one of these or knows much about them. I called Bass Northwest in Seattle and they had no experience with Godin either. Somebody out there must play one of these!
 
#13
lz4005 said:
Godin's documentation is notoriously unreliable.
And their control layouts are often different from the defacto standard of other manufacturers.
In particular having the low/mid/high sliders in the opposite orientation from the low/mid/high pitch of the strings.

Are you trying to figure out how the controls work by playing normally, or tapping on the pickups?

Turn the mag volume off, put all the sliders all the way up and tap on the bridge saddle. Then do the same with the sliders all the way down. That should tell you if the piezo is putting out any signal.
Click to expand...

Just tried that and could discern no difference what so ever. Part of the problem is that the body is hollow under the mag pickup and the bridge is very close by. Any tapping on either pickup is transmitted through the guitar top. It still sounds like the bridge pickup isn't working.
 
#18
NG51 said:
I will for sure, Randy. It is a fretless- I'm very curious about (1) the sound palette, and (2) whether or not I get a manual!
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Pretty sure that you will not get anything even resembling a decent manual or guarantee either. I have contacted Godin with my problems and they are agreeable to send me a new guitar. I will hold off until I get your input and impressions. Even with just the mag pickup working the tonal possibilities are enormous. It seems to be all in the hands of the player. I think you could spend years exploring this instrument. IMHO of course. :-)
 
#19
I have an A5 fretless and I find that there's very little happening with the slider controls. Putting LaBella nylon tape wound strings on it helped, but I am having a difficult time finding a musical situation that it works in.

GodinA5fretless.jpg
 
#20
Sounds like I really need to make a vid - I have an A4 Ultra fretless and I get a LOT of "action" out of the various controls. It depends on which 1/4" jack you're plugged into and how the sliders are set. I'm at work, but if I recall correctly one jack bypasses the pre-amp and only uses the magnetic pickup. The sliders do nothing in this mode, and only the volume/tone control knobs on the edge of the bass work. The other 1/4" jack goes through the pre-amp and the bass/mid/treble sliders work, as does the piezo volume slider. I *think* it's a volume control for the piezo and not a balance control...but I'd have to confirm that.

The primary danger of me making a vid is that you guys would find out how badly I play. :D
 

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