Godin Multiac Jazz SA

[christofferkvaal]

Any thoughts on the Godin Multiac SA for jazz? (Fusion, big band and traditional jazz)

[Archie]

Someone I know has one of the best Archtop collections in the UK and they use a Godin for all of their gigs. I’m not sure which one it is.

[mheton]

I like playing jazz with my Godin Multiac SA, but normally only for my practice. I never used it in a live situation...
I should do it, it sounds great.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

One of the guitar teachers at Settlement Music School in Philly plays one on most of his gigs, and it sounds wonderful on straight ahead jazz, bop, and some fusion. But you have to pick your tunes judiciously, eg it sounds weird playing Robben Ford lines over horns.

If by “traditional jazz” you mean Dixieland (aka trad jazz), I don’t think a Multiac is a good fit. As for big band, it’s not crisp enough for Green style comping IMO. It’s hard to be precise enough for tight comping in most styles because nylon strings don’t have the crisp attack of metal.

[christofferkvaal]

One of the guitar teachers at Settlement Music School in Philly plays one on most of his gigs, and it sounds wonderful on straight ahead jazz, bop, and some fusion. But you have to pick your tunes judiciously, eg it sounds weird playing Robben Ford lines over horns.

If by “traditional jazz” you mean Dixieland (aka trad jazz), I don’t think a Multiac is a good fit. As for big band, it’s not crisp enough for Green style comping IMO. It’s hard to be precise enough for tight comping in most styles because nylon strings don’t have the crisp attack of metal.

Do you think it would sound better if it had steel strings?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Do you think it would sound better if it had steel strings?

The A6 has a humbucker along with a piezo. They're marketed fo fingerstyle players, with a pretty flat fingerboard radius and a 1 3/4" nut IIRC It's probably the only Multiac that you could use easily and effectively for any style - big band, jazz, fusion, etc. I've never heard one through O/D, so I don't know what kind of a fusion tone it would produce. But I think it's the closest Multiac model to a conventional solid body or semihollow. You'd really have to try one to see what it'll do. But with so many more traditional choices, there'd have to be a pretty good reason to buy one. If you just love them, you could probably make the A6 work. But they're not cheap, and I can think of dozens of guitars I'd choose for a general purpose gigging guitar before I'd buy one.

The teacher I mentioned who uses one absolutely loves it and makes it work. It's fun to hear every once in a while, but it's really a novelty item on stage with a jazz band (especially with nylon strings). I never really liked hearing Charlie Byrd play everything on nylon - it's an acquired taste. If you're trying to create a niche for yourself, this'll help you do it. But if you want conventional gigs, I'd use a conventional guitar.

[Christian Miller]

The multiac nylons are very popular among players who do acoustic/world fusion stuff. I’m sure you could make it work for straightahead and big band stuff, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

My own perception is that all the solid body nylons sound rather piezo-ey even with the internal mikes. There’s not really a sense of body resonance to them for obvious reasons. People tend to stick a bunch of hall reverb on them, which might be nice for some stuff but not great for rhythm guitar for example.

A device like a Tonedexter might help?

Depends what you are hearing…

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rodney Gene]

I had a real love/hate with the Godin - I think that is fairly common. I kept it for a year and really struggled to get it to sound right or feel right.

No flame about Godin - but playing Devils advocate here a little, and to be clear I never played any traditional jazz with it.
Myself going for Lee Ritenour, Chuck Loeb, Earl Klugh style tones and for recording only, it was a challenge.

The two issues I had (outside of the 'right' sound) were the individual saddles and the action. Neither could be adjusted directly. Now for someone who has been setting up guitars for decades, it is not an issue, but as a player it is still part of the relationship. I think it just added to the lack of bond.

The action is often quite high from the factory, even unusable for many. Unlike a traditional bone, Micarta etc...bridge on a piezo, the individual string height could not be shaved, sanded or lowered (or raised in any way) Outside of basic truss adjustments which is quick, the necessary option is shimming the neck - and it worked fine until I changed string brands. Again, truss adjust but also a change in shim required.
All the while, it was only OK sounding for my needs, despite the LR baggs 'mic/piezo options which I often like. I ended up, in desperation buying a Yamaha Silent Nylon for 50% of the price and out of the box it was exceptional in tone and feel (albiet a wider neck) for my needs and a battery hog. I nearly gave away the Multiac, but still have the Yamaha.

My personally feeling about Godin, is they remind me alot of Carvin. Something about them makes them exceptional, some really great players use them and sound great, though all the while, simultaneously they feel budget to me. But I do have a couple of good buds, very good fingerstyle players who love them. It was because of them I even gave it a go... but that is the thing with gear, it is personal in the end.

[mheton]

I should add that I often have to adjust the truss rod when the weather gets very cold or very hot depending on the season. That's one reason why I don't use it regularly during live performances.

As mentioned above, the string action could be lower, but it's fine for practicing, and afterwards it feels great to switch to my other electric guitars.

I regularly think about selling it, but still like its look and feel.