-
This thread made me get off my a$$ and swap out the neck pick-up. The Gibson classic 57 sounds so much better than the stock Korean G&B pickup it came with. It took me a few minutes to figure out the original 4 conductor wiring vs the 2 conductor of the 57. I cheated and spliced into the existing lead. Now it has a fat and rich sound that is not dark or muddy. The 57 didn't sound so good in my Les Paul but it sounds great in the Godin. I weighed it on a digital kitchen scale and it weighs 6lbs 4oz. My lightest electric.
-
12-24-2016 04:06 PM
-
Mine stays in tune. The tuners are fine.
-
Most of the time when a guitar won't start in tune the culprit is the nut. Strings binding in the slots.
Originally Posted by DRS
-
The Godin Montreal Premier arrive today. I don't trust UPS to find my home so I had the guitar held at their dispatch office (which also caused a great deal of unnecessary drama). My wife and I drove over to pick it up along with our usual errands and when I got there they handed me a box with a substantial hole. A quick inspection showed me the the brilliant Godin Tric case had saved the day. Absolutely my all time favourite cases. Super light weight and brilliant protection of the instrument.
We came straight home from UPS and I had it plugged in and playing within a few minutes (None of this waiting for climate adjustment for me. I had been waiting for 10 weeks. That was long enough.)
A few quick thoughts (and I'll add some photos later)
First, it's a pretty serious step up from the Kingpin series in a lot of ways. Better tuners, better finish, better pickups (this one is from first batch shipping with Duncans). The neck is still three pieces but the joint lines are not nearly as obvious.
Tonally, it's not a hollowbody arch top. It's a semi-hollow and they've managed to give it a bit more air with the way they've ported the center block but it doesn't have a lot of acoustic volume and plugged in at low volume you don't get that nice mix of the guitar and the amp. On the other hand it has better sustain, no feedback issues at any volume I'm going to play at and I was able to dial in a really familiar tone in just a minute or two.
The number one reason I ordered the guitar was because of the size. Because of some quirks in my playing position I find a 16" arch top to be very awkward, especially with a full thickness body. This is about 15" at the lower bought and the rims are about 1 7/8". After playing it for an hour I'm thrilled with the size. It makes playing a much more comfortable experience for me. The neck meets the body at the 15th fret instead of the 14th but I don't even notice that when I'm playing. The center block makes it a bit heavier than the archtops, but not enough to be a serious problem, especially using my Dynarette cushion.
I've always valued playability over the fine points of tone and the playability and comfort of this guitar are superb. (Hats off to Godin for shipping it to me with my strings, tuning and setup. That helped make a great first impression). My plan is to spend as much time with it as I can over the next few days and hopefully get some recording and a video done over the weekend. I'll post the results as I get things complete.
As for the shock from my wife ... as we pulled out of UPS she turned to me as said ... "now you get to have a happy NGD". Apparently all these years of looking over my shoulder, she's finally become fluent in guitar forumese.
EDIT 3 ... Here's the first video.
EDIT 2 ... Recording replaced by video.
EDIT 1 ... And here are the promised photos. Clips/videos later.
Last edited by Jim Soloway; 03-17-2017 at 12:52 AM.
-
I am glad to hear this is work for you.
For reason's not clear to me I find myself looking at options other than a hollow body archtop. I believe my playing style has changed and I now love the ability to find a chord I really like and just hang on to it for a while. Perhaps now I am looking for it, but I have been noticing resonances in my archtops at certain frequencies that just seem to really annoy me these days.
For most of the past 40 years I have been playing flattops and hollow body archtops. It seems there's a whole range of semi-hollow / solid body guitars out there to look at and compare.
-
That's a real nice post Jim.
Your wife sounds like a sweet lady.
I love the mix of acoustic and electric sound too. But it is a good trade off to get better sustain and no feedback.
Looking forward to hearin your guitar some day soon.
Thanks for sharing!
Joe D
-
Happy NGD! Is it the same neck profile as the Kingpins?
-
Congrats on the new horn, Jim. You deserve it. I'm looking forward to seeing that video.
-
Thanks to all. I've added a mess of photos and now I'm going back to playing.
-
Happy NGD Jim and kudos to your wife.
My main play at home guitar is a telecaster. And in deference to she-who-must-be-obeyed, I play unplugged. And I love the sound of the instrument. It has some wonderful qualities, especially in bottom voice resonance and nuance. The sonority is somehow lost amplified and I would kill (well not that) to be able to capture that subtle articulation through an amplifier. I deem it it not to be.
I guess my general intent is to say that the expressive aspects of an instrument are to be found in the instrument itself - whether solid-body, semi-hollow body, electric-archtop or unadulterated acoustic. There are guitars that speak to me, read that as us, and others that don't despite their pedigree.
A comment about size. I love the sound of a 17" but am no longer able to deal with it. The ergonomics of age dictate their own demands. My principal play out instrument is a 15" archtop. The main factor I think sacrificed with a smaller body is not in its soloing sound but rather in its rhythmic definition.
This, another diatribe from another self opinionated contributor and gear-head but with sincerity from a self that appreciates your contributions and insights. And again, a compliment to your wife to a guy who I think well merits her approbation.
p.s. I think me better at phrasing on instrument than in posts but the sentiment is meant well.Last edited by deselby; 03-11-2017 at 08:49 PM.
-
That is absolutely gorgeous. I love the simple 2 control setup as well. Thanks for the pics and HNGD!
-
Congrats Jim ! Build quality looks very impressive. Their is a Godin Tuck Andress model in the works. I can tell you now it will have a neck like his 53 Gibby......Enjoy.
-
If you're going to play amplified, a full-depth huge archtop makes no sense. I have an Epi ES175 and a 50s Epi archtop with a 16.5" bout, and I get a louder acoustic sound from my Eastman thinline, because it has a carved solid spruce top. And it's much more comfortable to play, being thin and light, 4.5 lb. and a 15" bout. Hollow thinlines aren't that common, but they're my current preference. My main playing guitar now is my Benedetto Bambino, 14.5", 2 1/4" thick, also with one volume, one tone, one switch. That's a good setup. But if I want to play acoustic, it's the little Eastman. I play the others now and then, just so they don't feel completely left out, but they're too big to hold for long.
-
Congrats Jim on your NGD, only yesterday I viewed the NAMM 2017 video displaying
the new Godin range, their innovations are interesting, and I know from having owned
a couple of them the build quality is extremely good. Looking forward to your video in
due course.
-
Oh those tuners! And the engraved 'Godin' reads the right way up when the guitar is in the playing position as you look at it! Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
The design and detail! BIG WOW!
I will say that Godin have made themselves _the_ guitar brand of the new millennium. Using established designs and putting a fresh twist on the instrument!
But those tuners!
-
Nice guitar Jim. And photos. These 15" pieces are gaining such popularity now. Wish I had kept my early Eastman 803. Good luck with her. That's quite a climate change you're talking about doing!
-
Climate has a lot to do with it too. This has been a genuinely miserable winter ... worst for me since 1987-88. Seriously. Originally Posted by Archtop Guy
-
Make sure you don't "jump out of the frying pan into the fire". Spend some time at your target location in the summertime before you make your decision. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
I grew up on the southern shore of Lake Erie and moved to Texas after grad school - the heat was awful from around April to October, and I left for a cooler area after three years there. I learned that I tolerate cold a lot better than I tolerate heat.
-
Very nice. Love Duncan pickups and I think Godin have the most comfortable necks (at least for my hands). Enjoy.
-
Jim - I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the pickups in your Montreal.
My Montreal has SDs also, but a modified Jazz in the neck and a Custom Custom at the bridge. They are what made me buy the Supreme version over the standard Montreal, when the standard just had Godin pickups as stock. The neck had far greater clarity than the stock Godin; any brightness is well-tamed by the tone control when necessary. The bridge had a far greater overtone content - a much bigger tone - than the standard. So, for me the Supreme covers all bases well, from clean jazz tone, thru' blues to fusion.
It is interesting that Godin have decided that the the two Montreal versions will both have SD pickups, - but different ones, (I believe the current Supreme still has the Jazz and Custom Custom). I wonder if there is a design philosophy which differentiates these two (other than the extra bling on the Supreme).
-
Congrats on the wonderful looking guitar. I am now a firm believer in small archtops. My Schaefer Freddy is so comfortable at 14 inches and 2 inches deep. Even my ES175 feels large and my 17 inchers are just so uncomfortable now. Bye to shoulder and arm pains.
Regards,
Rick
-
Nice, Jim! Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
Mine is exactly the same colour but it came with some no name Kluson style tuners and those weak Godin humbuckers. It was one of the early models. It also came with a gig bag, not a Tric case. I have since put a Gibson 57 in the neck and will put the same in the bridge next long weekend.
What happened to the blue Montreal premiere with the bigsby?
-
The silver 5th Avenue got the Bigsby and the Blue one got the stop tail piece. As pretty as it was, I decided to stick with my original order (but I did drive them crazy a bit at the end trying to make up my mind). I finally came to my senses when I realized that I really don't like neck binding. Now what I'd really like to see them do is build a true hollow body with the body construction, tail piece and bridge from the Composer but the body dimensions of the Montreal Premiere. I think that would be just an amazing guitar. Originally Posted by DRS
-
The recording sounds pretty good, very chimey but full at the same time. Jim, you said "it sounds good" in your edit to the OP. Are you happy with the purchase? How do you compare the Montreal Premiere to your 5th Avenue 2xP90 and to your 5A 2xHB?
-
Like most guitars it's got pluses and minuses. Originally Posted by dconeill
The big plus is the size. Like I've said, I struggle with a full depth 16" guitar. My theory was that the Montreal at just under 15" and 1 7/8 at the rims would be a much better fit for me. This part has worked out beautifully. It is a much more comfortable guitar for me to play. The weight is a bit much, especially after the light weight of the Kingpin and Composer but since I now use a Dynarette cushion instead of a strap, that really doesn't mean what it once did for me.
The over all quality (fit, finish and electronics) is definitely an improvement on both the Kingpin II and the Composer. Not even close.
Tonally, it's very different than the archtops and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the acoustic content a bit. With the added sustain and fewer overtones, it also calls for a very different touch than the archtops. I let myself play the archtops a little harder and that doesn't really work with the Montreal so there's been an adjustment.
My comments on the recording were because it records VERY differently than the archtops. There is a great danger of the low end wiping out the high end with this guitar and my first few attempts at recording did not go well. I was a little concerned at that point but I made some changes in my recording methods. This is the first attempt with it after those changes and as a first attempt I'm really pleased with this result. It certainly removes some of my doubts.
I think my ideal Godin is something that doesn't really exist: a full hollow body using the build methods of the Kingpin II with the tailpiece from the Composer and the body dimensions of the Montreal. I think that would probably be a great guitar but barring that making a miraculous appearance, I think the Montreal Premiere will probably do the job.Last edited by Jim Soloway; 03-14-2017 at 08:59 PM.
Reply With Quote
Questions for you Barry Harris disciples /...
Today, 07:49 AM in Improvisation