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Preamp for Godin A4 Ultra

noi5emaker

noi5emaker

Jul 18, 2017
29
14
#1
A friend has a Godin A4 but the preamp has given up the ghost. It drained batteries for a while but not just distorts badly. I talked to the UK distributor but they could only recommend a replacement preamp that doesn't have MIDI. Has anyone else replaced these preamps with a third party one? Any help would be really welcome :)

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#3
noi5emaker said:
A friend has a Godin A4 but the preamp has given up the ghost. It drained batteries for a while but not just distorts badly. I talked to the UK distributor but they could only recommend a replacement preamp that doesn't have MIDI. Has anyone else replaced these preamps with a third party one? Any help would be really welcome :)

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...
I emailed Godin about my A4 Ultra a couple years ago when it also drained batteries and was able to buy a new ribbon cable from them that fixed the issue for me. They seemed quite helpful. The newer models use a different preamp and they no longer offer the Synth-Access model, but I would guess there would be some modular replacement option for just the preamp board if that is in fact the issue.
 
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#4
noi5emaker said:
A friend has a Godin A4 but the preamp has given up the ghost. It drained batteries for a while but not just distorts badly. I talked to the UK distributor but they could only recommend a replacement preamp that doesn't have MIDI. Has anyone else replaced these preamps with a third party one? Any help would be really welcome :)

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...
On the "doesn't have MIDI": there is no MIDI circuitry in MIDI-ready instruments with the 13-pin connector: the translation (rather than conversion) is done in the Roland (including Boss) device at the other end of that cable. Those "SA" models by Godin merely have a piëzo bridge pick-up with the signals of the individual strings fed separately to that 13-pin connector (using not all of them), and also to a familiar jack output.

To my knowledge (of having looked at the circuitry inside my Godin LGX-SA and not yet looking inside my Godin xtSA), the pre-amp works on the piëzo part only, while the magnetic pick-ups (just one on this bass) are passive.

The linked webpage links to two videos. The one with Tommy Lynn seems to address the instrument in the not-MIDI-ready version. So it doesn't seem helpful in this case.

To maintain the functionality of the 13-pin connection, the pre-amp must be able to handle the signals of the four strings separately. Such pre-amp may still be available, probably through AliExpress.

If the 13-pin connection isn't important, then a pre-amp handling the signals of the four strings together (like we're used to) may be an option after all.

I have coveted a MIDI-ready bass myself, but a discussion (here on TalkBass?) on the latency intrinsic to low frequencies has all but erased that desire. However, blending piëzo and magnetic still greatly appeals to me.

So, the above is not a solution. However, I hope that it may help that friend with the A4 in deciding how to proceed. :-)
 
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#5
The older Godins with synth access used RMC piezos and preamps. He still makes them but his website is atrocious and makes it challenging to actually find the right thing. Later Godins with synth access shifted to the Graphtech piezos and pres, which are also still available (much better website as well). I’ve had two basses built with Graphtech pres—one contains their piezos and the synth access; the other uses Schaller piezos (came built into a bridge they used to make) into the Graphtech pre and no synth access. It’s a good-sounding system, although the acoustic tone on the RMCs in my Godin is unbeatable. I toy with the idea of changing to RMC everything on one of the basses, but dang, that website…
 
#6
A Bass And Its Boy said:
The older Godins with synth access used RMC piezos and preamps. He still makes them but his website is atrocious and makes it challenging to actually find the right thing. Later Godins with synth access shifted to the Graphtech piezos and pres, which are also still available (much better website as well). I’ve had two basses built with Graphtech pres—one contains their piezos and the synth access; the other uses Schaller piezos (came built into a bridge they used to make) into the Graphtech pre and no synth access. It’s a good-sounding system, although the acoustic tone on the RMCs in my Godin is unbeatable. I toy with the idea of changing to RMC everything on one of the basses, but dang, that website…
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1) Interesting. Thank you! :-)

2) Well, the link to the Bass pre-amp points to the page of the Guitar pre-amp: RMC Pickup: Poly-Drive I. Nevertheless, there seems to be hope for the OP - assuming that an RMC pre-amp could replace a Graphtech one, if present.
 
#8
Chris Laarman said:
On the "doesn't have MIDI": there is no MIDI circuitry in MIDI-ready instruments with the 13-pin connector: the translation (rather than conversion) is done in the Roland (including Boss) device at the other end of that cable. Those "SA" models by Godin merely have a piëzo bridge pick-up with the signals of the individual strings fed separately to that 13-pin connector (using not all of them), and also to a familiar jack output.

To my knowledge (of having looked at the circuitry inside my Godin LGX-SA and not yet looking inside my Godin xtSA), the pre-amp works on the piëzo part only, while the magnetic pick-ups (just one on this bass) are passive.

The linked webpage links to two videos. The one with Tommy Lynn seems to address the instrument in the not-MIDI-ready version. So it doesn't seem helpful in this case.

To maintain the functionality of the 13-pin connection, the pre-amp must be able to handle the signals of the four strings separately. Such pre-amp may still be available, probably through AliExpress.

If the 13-pin connection isn't important, then a pre-amp handling the signals of the four strings together (like we're used to) may be an option after all.

I have coveted a MIDI-ready bass myself, but a discussion (here on TalkBass?) on the latency intrinsic to low frequencies has all but erased that desire. However, blending piëzo and magnetic still greatly appeals to me.

So, the above is not a solution. However, I hope that it may help that friend with the A4 in deciding how to proceed. :)
Click to expand...
This is really helpful - thank you!
 
#9
sunbeast said:
I emailed Godin about my A4 Ultra a couple years ago when it also drained batteries and was able to buy a new ribbon cable from them that fixed the issue for me. They seemed quite helpful. The newer models use a different preamp and they no longer offer the Synth-Access model, but I would guess there would be some modular replacement option for just the preamp board if that is in fact the issue.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I'll look into getting a new ribbon cable. Did you have other issues alongside the battery draining?
 
#10
noi5emaker said:
Thanks for this. I'll look into getting a new ribbon cable. Did you have other issues alongside the battery draining?
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I had distortion once the battery was drained fairly low (which occurred in a matter of days due to the faulty cable), but not during normal operation. I searched for the issue and came up with a few posts (I believe at least one on TB) that mentioned the cable as a potential issue, and fortunately that solved it for me. I wish I had thought to buy a couple replacements just in case the issue arrives again since it has since become one of my favorite instruments!
 
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