-
Just thinking out loud but I look at these every 6 months or so and wonder how well they might cover "that" tone by blending the hum bucker and piezo, maybe with a good set of flats (and if I get really ambitious, a personal favorite hum bucker). Anyone own it or tried it?
-
04-22-2014 07:06 PM
-
A guy I teach with has an older model...might not be called the same, but same concept.
Instead of a perfect blend we all crave, it's kind of a new sound really...A very enjoyable one...it's a cool axe. Has the typical Godin "it's gonna look like a machine made it, but it's gonna work on the gig right out of the box so quit bitching" quality.
-
Thanks Jeff. At this point, I guess I get interested in anything that has a 25.5" scale length and might be able to do a credible clean tone with some acoustic presence. The price is also an attraction.
-
Yamaha AEX1500 is 25.25" and has piezo, Godin LGX(-SA) is 25.5" and also has piezo blend-in capability (in addition to synth access in LGX-SA) but more expensive and has two humbuckers which you may find unnecessary.
Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
-
I've posted about my experience with the A6 Ultra previously: https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...tml#post397744
The bridge is not user adjustable, so choosing the right gauge strings and having the guitar set up well is crucial, IMO. I doubt whether you could down it down to the lower tunings you favor, Jim, without some intonation problems.
-
Maybe this one looks a little better. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Limited Edition Godin Figured Koa A6 Ultra
-
I have one. Pretty nice overall. You can get a decent acoustic tone and decent "jazz" tone as well. Jack of several trades, not perfect at any. But it really is flexible.
Based upon your description of what you would be trying to get from it, I would say that it will do nicely. String choice is important. I'd like to put acoustic strings on it, but they wouldn't work with the traditional pickup, correct?
-
Those "zebra" strings might work. Originally Posted by djelley
-
There are not a lot of great demos of the A6 on YouTube but I quite like the sounds in the first minute of this that he describes as "semi-acoustic"
-
That video was useful. I realized the more HB (and the less piezo), the more I like the sound. I guess I'm not a piezo guy, but more power to y'all. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
-
My thought was not all that far from yours. Most of the demos stress the piezo and add a bit of humbucker for some meat. What I'd like to try is the exact opposite: lots of humbucker with just a touch of piezo. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
-
This is one of the reasons I've got a Parker Fly inbound...great blended tones.
The neck is way thinner than you like, though you might really like the weight/ergonomics.
One of the best hum/piezo combos I had was a gorgeous Carvin TL60.
-
Doesn't Jake Reichbart use his setup this way? Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
-
I just saw this on YouTube. Not an A6 but an Acousticaster and really well played.
-
I read threads like this and think I'd love to have one. I love my Godin nylon ACS SA, but then I realize I have a Parker Nightfly M. If I didn't, I'd be all over that Koa.
-
I've been doing a bunch of searching and I can get used one for about $400 US. For that price it seems like it's got a lot to offer as an alternative sound. I'm a little concerned about the intonation tuning down but I may give it a shot anyway just to find out.
-
long story short: i had something sort of similar once- a schecter c1 e/a. it was fine. sold it because it was too "neither/nor". not enough space/air for a real semi hollow sound, and in my estimation, piezo is just awful. always. blending the two lead to interesting (hi-fi?) sounds, which i liked, but i don't see them working in a "jazz" context, as it were. especially considering what you already have. you're just taking a decent humbucker sound and dialing in some quack; think of it that way. you can also pull of some cool and pretty sounds if you run the signals through separate chains/amps, but that doesn't sound like you.
my guess: the godin will be fine. merely that. i don't know if they are intended specifically for live use, but see them out there, and, like an ovation, i've never once said "wow, that sounds great". but they are cheap and easy and reasonably effective. i've picked up a godin or two and have only ever seen them as tools and not instruments, if that makes sense. their draw is the functionality and not the tone (mind you, those were my thoughts pertaining to their flat "acoustic" things, and not their solid bodies or archtops). unless you have a very specific use in mind, or want a knock around live guitar, i can see you moving from it pretty quickly, cheap though it may be.
just saw the last vid you posted- that isn't horrible. better than i've heard. still odd and boxy, but there is something to be said for ease of use, too. maybe if you had a preamp/modeler in the chain like a fishman or a mama bear it could help, but that's one more thing to buy and set up. keep adding gizmos and you're better off buying a better guitar in the first place. but in the right hands it could be something. guess it depends what you want from it, that you can't get from what you already have.
-
I'm not in the habit of responding to 6-year-old posts, but this seems like the best thread to add an initial review of my new Godin A6 Ultra - just in case anyone else on this forum is thinking about getting their hands on one.
First of all, I absolutely love it. The build and finish are outstanding. And this is the reaction of a guy who owns Fenders, Ibanez, Martin and other fine quality instruments for decades.
In fact, I've never before bought an instrument where there was NO SETUP required on my part whatsoever. I'm fairly picky about fret dressing, neck relief, nut slots, etc., and always need to tweak something or other to taste. Not with this Godin ... it was flawlessly adjusted with an extremely low/playable action... perhaps more than I would have even attempted... with no buzzing anywhere along the (beautifully finished) neck.
Truth is, I bought this instrument new from a dealer listed as a "B stock" blemish and got a jaw-dropping deal as a result. If the dealer didn't tell me in advance exactly where the blemish was, I could never have found it. Amazing. You have to hold it in the light "just so" in order to find this alleged blemish. This speaks volumes about what the Godin craftsmen in Canada consider to be a "flaw."
But of more relevance here is that the ability to extract a wide range on tones through this lovely guitar is simply marvelous. From the humbucker to the piezo (and all the combinations in between) this is a true workhorse of a guitar. Being able to sculpt the tone in various combinations makes this instrument a genuine pleasure to play.
It's got a 12" radius electric-style neck that's just a joy to handle. The "richlite" fretboard material had me a bit concerned before it arrived. I'm partial to solid maple necks and prefer to see the black dots on blond wood when I play. Besides, I wasn't sure how a synthetic material would feel and handle against strings. But now I'm sold. It feels fantastic - smooth and slick - and supposedly this material is super stable (more so than wood). But only time will tell on that front.
Another pleasant surprise is the Godin's weight. I haven't gotten out a scale but I'm guessing it's between 6 and 7 lbs. Easy to handle (at my advanced age) without tiring. And while the unplugged tone is certainly not studio-worthy, I can happily play it without an amp and hear myself with just enough tone and volume to be able to quietly practice arpeggios/modes without bothering anyone else around.
It came shipped with acoustic 0.012" and I promptly swapped out to acoustic 0.010" to make it lighter on these aging hands. I also tune down 1/2 step on all my guitars. So in effect, I've got light strings on a 25.5" scale instrument tuned down to Db. You'd think I'd need to adjust the neck relief from its original setup. To my great surprise: no, not necessary. I measured all the essential specs beforehand and then again after the string exchange. No measurable difference in setup. Don't know if the Richlite neck is providing any super stability feature, but I've never been able to get away with that sort of stunt on my Fender tele, strat, or Ibanez artcore hollowbody.
TIP: I'll add a suggestion to anyone who finds those tiny little humbucker treble/bass knobs to be annoyingly small and perilously unmarked. After trying to add a dot of "white-out" to serve as a spot marker (which looked like crap and didn't address the tiny size of those little knobs), I then came across these perfectly-sized mini knobs that have a white stripe. These slip OVER the Godin knobs precisely without any modification to the stock knobs...
4 Small Mini Black Control Knobs Pedal Stompbox Mixer Projects Replacement Part | eBay
NOTE IN CASE THE EBAY LINK ABOVE GOES STALE: These knobs measure 3/8" (9.5mm) diameter of the base 1/2" (13 mm) height overall and fit onto standard 1/4" shafts (round variety...not the D-shaped shafts)
They make the knobs sufficiently larger to be easily grasped without getting in each others' way. And the white line lets you see exactly where in the rotational pot travel the knob currently sits.
Frankly, if Godin used these add-on knobs instead of just the stock plain black ones, I believe any owner complaints about those tiny little knobs would come to an end once and for all.
Of course I'd be glad to field any questions someone might have who comes along (in another 6 years?). Meanwhile, for a guitarist like me who enjoys playing a wide range of styles, I find this Godin hybrid acoustic/electric to be the one guitar that can comfortably sit in my lap for hours while I go from jazz to blues to fingerstyle to rock.
Lovin' it.
-
JIM: "What I'd like to try is the exact opposite: lots of humbucker with just a touch of piezo." Originally Posted by medblues
I don't own a Godin A6 Ultra, but I own an AEX-1500 (aka "the Martin Taylor model") and, IMO/IME, it does a great job especially in doing exactly what you're looking for. In fact, that is exactly how I like to use it, with a touch of the piezo adding in that special something. It's also got a really great floater HB, and IMO it sounds much more like a 'standard' mounted HB as opposed to what impressions I have of other floaters—thinking of the Jazzica I recently sold, being not so much a fan of that thinner-sounding (IMO) Hofner PU. But I love the sound of the AEX1500 floater, very warm and full when you want to dial it in like that. Add in a great neck and its visual appeal, and IMO, the AEX1500 is a real winner.
FWIW, I also recently sold my LGX-SA, having never quite bonded with it over many years. I thought the piezo on it was ok, but really, I think what I was looking for all along (for jazz) was exactly what I get out of the AEX1500. And that's a nice difference with this archtop: a different voicing ability that my other (wonderful) archtops cannot provide. Hope this helps.
EDIT NOTE: Oops. Just realized this was quite an old thread! My apologies, I suppose, but I'll leave my thoughts up anyway now for whomever is still looking for info on the topic.Last edited by ooglybong; 10-16-2020 at 10:50 AM.
-
It was quite an old thread ... then again, perhaps we resurrected it. ;-) Originally Posted by ooglybong
-
There’s an A6 baritone... anyone try that???
-
I’ve had an A6 for about a year with Thomastik 11s on which works great. I just tried some heavier George Benson 12-53s which seems to have raised the action, I was wondering if it’s actually possible to lower the action or maybe I should just revert back to lighter strings.
-
I never saw that thread..
I was considering buying a Godin A6 some years back, cause of touring with a band that needed me to carry electric, acoustic and classical, so i borrowed one to play it for a few days. Like most godins i found it very practical and to the point, it got the job done and all the sounds were very professional.
Don't even remember why i didn't buy one, probably it was the looks. Meaning sometimes you don't only need to have the sound of an acoustic live, but you need to "have" the acoustic onstage too. That and the compromise factor. Both the acoustic and the electric sounds are good, but not the real thing. If you like the sound though, it's a good, quality guitar. I much preferred it to the Taylor T5 i was also considering at the time, for versatility and price..
I would only buy one if i needed it for a multi guitar gig though.
-
I just picked up one of these for around $400. The price was too good to pass up. Any tips for dialing in the best sounds with only one amplifier? Basically my only equipment right now is a Boss Katana 50 amp, so how much does that limit me? I love the acoustic tones from the Piezo, but haven't really been able to get any good "electric guitar" or jazz sounds I like with the neck pickup.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos