Godin xtSA Electric Guitar: Unboxing, Demo and Review

I got my Godin xtSA Electric last week, and decided to share the unboxing process and my initial impressions in a quick review.
This is my 7th Godin, and 2nd Godin electric guitar. In this video, I give a demo of all 5 pickup positions with both clean and distorted tones, and a demo and review of the acoustic simulation feature.
Amps: Spark amp by Positive Grid, Fishman Loudbox Mini
#godinxtsa #godinguitarreview #unboxing
Other Godin video reviews and demos:
xtSA // String Changing and Locking Tuner Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epW0c42nmLV5bbM
xtSA // Getting a Semi Hollowbody Jazz Tone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4auh4eCr89-i7c
Overview: Ultra A6, Encore nylon, 12 string, Oud, Inuk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKHPqZR6rrmDeKs
Ultra A6 Acoustic - Electric // Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqu1l2iboJKDlbM
A12 12-String Acoustic - Electric // Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKOyk5qDZtGpeqM
Inuk // Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnuciHude5Z7nck
12 String vs. Inuk // Comparison on 4 songs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ganGgHeDa6-WsNk
Holly and the Ivy // played on the Inuk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nICnZnulm7drma8
A6 Ultra Baritone // Unbagging and Review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mX_EeaKloNqEiZI
MultiAc Nylon Encore // Review and Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4nboatpgsl4qJI
TC Electric // Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y16kmpJthbd9Zpo
Other guitar and equipment demos:
Gretsch Tennessee Rose Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpCyeqVuj82Aobs
Cigar Box Guitar Demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJK1lJyfl9yIbtk
From our Rock Academy program, in downtown Issaquah, Washington, the area's oldest teen and adult rock band program
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[@muzemusic9565]

Bought mine used several years ago. It is my go-to guitar for everything. A true swiss-army knife of tones. I can get almost any sound on this guitar.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

good to hear. Thanks for watching the vid!

[@FalconProductionsus]

Buying one of these for a general use electric/acoustic and synth guitar. Thanks for the nice demonstration! Having mine pleked at Sweetwater before shipping. Hopefully the last electric guitar I’ll ever need to buy.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

it is truly a great guitar. I've been meaning to make some follow up videos, one demo'ing the synth pickup, one giving a general "storytime" update on my experiences using the guitar. I will mention this: I've had issues with both the synth capability and the acoustic pickups. the synth module, when I finally got around to using it, didnt track 2 strings properly. a local repair guy couldnt fix it, even with a module sent by Godin, so I sent it back to Godin. They fixed everything, but then about a month after I got it back from Canada the acoustic functionality wasn't working right. it finally got fixed for good by Ross Guitars (luthier here in the Seattle area, shout out to Darren) but he ordered piezo stuff independently of dealing with Godin. So it's been a bumpy road. Buying from Sweetwater is smart because they commit themselves to taking care of issues for customers.

[@Podcastforthewin]

That 4th position really sounds great. Classic fender telle/ strat tone

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

thanks for watching and commenting!!!!

[@alankennedy5842]

Fantastic guitars. I have two Godin XTsa guitars. Unbelievable quality compared to the Gibsons and Fenders I've owned. Basically a Swiss army guitar that can do anything. Use them both with a Roland GR20 and Boss GP10. The tracking is spot on too.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

do you have any tips for maintaining the tuning on xtSAs? It was super frustrating at first. I did some lubrication at the nut and bridge and that has helped. I've used mine for a couple shows and gotten by, but I still feel like it's squirrelly with regard to maintaining tuning through aggressive bends, etc, compared to my other electrics.

[@alankennedy5842]

@@kaleidoscopeschool Apologies for the delay. I just noticed your comment. I have to say I have had no problems with keeping the guitar in tune. The tremelo bar is not one for crazy divebombs, etc. Have you thought about perhaps changing strings. I use 10s. Can't remember the make but they have the coloured ball ends.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

@@alankennedy5842 I actually do use 010s. the guitar is performing well tuning wise nowadays

[@antonyreale7969]

Has the tuning gotten any more stable since you made the video? The guitar represents a really attractive package, but if it doesn't hold its tune, I'd really like to know before investing. Thanks very much in advance.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

it's doing great now. check out my video about string changing on the xtSA. I had to talk to Godin and do some research but by following the steps in that video, it's reliable now. It does have the usual floating bridges "issues"... you cant jump into Drop D without adjusting the other strings because the bridge floats, and when you do licks where you bend the 3rd string, say, and have your pinky on an unbent on the 2nd string, say, the pitch of the unbent note changes slightly, but again that's just a floating bridge thing. I think both the electric pickups and the acoustic simulation sound awesome on the xtSA. I didnt try the 13 pin MIDI output for almost a year, and when I did, it was unreliable tracking on the 5th string, but Godin sent me a new MIDI board free of charge and it's about to be installed by my local luthier, so I'll make a video about the MIDI capability after that.

[@antonyreale7969]

@@kaleidoscopeschool Thanks very much for your prompt and detailed response. I had a look at your other video, and while changing the strings that way for optimal tuning stability seems a bit of a faff, it does seem doable. I would really appreciate an update on the new midi board, as the synth tracking issues are another aspect of the guitar that have made me hold fire. It's got a beautiful sound though.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

@@antonyreale7969 I have 8 Godin guitars and 6 have never presented any issues, and sound amazing. My A12 had a faulty battery system when it first arrived (it never shut off and drained batteries overnight) and the online retailer I got it from exchanged the whole guitar for me. The xtSA seems to have a MIDI tracking issue, but Godin is always super helpful, and I assume the new board will fix that and it was just one of those flukes that happens. Aside from the board, I love playing this guitar. I teach about 25 hours of private students every week, and the xtSA has been my guitar of choice recently. It's just so great to plug the acoustic output into my Fishman and the electric output into my Spark, and just flip back and forth all day between acoustic and electric oriented lessons without having to change guitars.

[@antonyreale7969]

@@kaleidoscopeschool It certainly does look like a versatile guitar, which is what attracted me to it, but I've seen a lot of folks complain about ghost notes being played when using a synth, and that it was the fault of the piezo bridge. Could you let me know what Godin specifically said about the board and how it fixes things?

[@carlosbecerra-medina4963]

beautiful guitar, it sounds amazing, congratulations. has a maple top?

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

The stats say it is silver leaf maple with Poplar. thanks so much for watching and commenting

[@magmil66]

Beautiful guitar!

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

Thanks! and thanks for watching. do you have any Godin guitars?

[@magmil66]

@@kaleidoscopeschool I’m sorry for the late response but I didn’t notice your question. I’m playing Godin Passion Custom Classic Limited. I play this guitar since 2018 and I not going back to the Fender anymore. I hope to have some more from the Godin but not sure when. Have a fun playing xtSA👌🇨🇦🥇

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

@@magmil66 no problem on the late response. I have two Fenders, one is a novelty guitar (Hello Kitty) and one is a mexi strat. I enjoy them both but only because my friend Chris at Hart Handcrafted Instruments worked them over and made them really playable and sweet. Generally Godin gives you WAY more value for your money than Fender....

[@m_z_momo]

Can you give me a recommended pickup distance for the HSH pickups on the Godin xtSA? Thanks a lot in advance.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

are you looking for something other than stock distance? I don't think I've adjusted mine since I bought it... I can check what it is at though

[@jacksprat1124]

Can't tell if it's the guitar, amp or mic, but the sounds come across my computer rather tinny, almost like it's coming through a can. Beautiful guitar though.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

curious whether you felt that way about both the electric and acoustic outputs? I'm listening to it on a Harmon Kardon bluetooth speaker right now and I wouldnt say it sounds tinny. I do notice that there's a bit a silvery tinniness when I'm playing it through distortion from the actual string noise because the camera was close enough to pick that up. I *think* on this one I just used the native Canon mirrorless camera mic for all the audio (I have records...I could look it up), so that probably made the sound less robust than my guitar covers where I'm recording direct lines to the computer. Thanks for watching and commenting. If you check out this live stream you can hear this guitar in action driving a Fishman acoustic amp, a HeadRush pedal and a Roland GR 55 synth pedal at the same time: instagram.com/tv/CfFu4eBFxB8/?

[@jacksprat1124]

@@kaleidoscopeschool - Both. Thinking it's your amp or mic.

[@popollo22]

Cool, I recently got a mint 2017 Koa top of that guitar. Loving it so far. I never realised the 2 and 4 might be a split rather than a blend. Manual says blend. I plugged it into a Boss GP10 pedal with the 13-pin. I’m getting some good sounds out of it but I’m just a beginner so I can’t really coax any tunes out of all that yet. The Spark also has some acoustic amps in it.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

thanks for watching! I hadn't heard of that Boss pedal. good to know....

[@jasonmilner760]

I'm actually listening to this with my spark amp. What setting?

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

are you asking what setting on the Spark? I primarily use four presets I made from scratch myself... I typically program modeling amps to my liking as opposed to using presets they come with.

[@Podcastforthewin]

Do you think that the godin sounds a little too thin?

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

if you mean as an electric, no. I like every one of the 5 pickup positions. The bridge humbucker is a little different than I expected, but that's good in my book because I have multiple other guitars with really hot bridge pickups. As an acoustic, maybe. I think the acoustic simulation is pretty good, but I suspect you can't totally get around the fact that 010 gauge strings sound "thin". Since I also have an Ultra A6, my bottom line would be: if it's a song that's mostly acoustic and you want to switch to an electric passage, use the A6. if it's a song that's mostly electric but has one acoustic passage, use the xtSA. overall though if it was a 50-50 split, I'd pick the xtSA because the electric sounds are way past what you can get out of the neck only pickup configuration in the A6, and the acoustic element of the xtSA is pretty awesome.

[@ParanormalResponse]

Man, Those are Duncans in that thing? I dont like the sound at all. I never thought I would say that about a Duncan pickup. Is it possible to change out the Bridge pick up as normal?

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

I'm pretty sure they are Godin pickups. I will be honest that I don't like the bridge pickup as much as my Tom Anderson pickups, i.e. don't like it as much when going for a powerhouse humbucker sound; it seems to have a slight twang that interrupts true smoothness. But I like the other 4 positions on the 5 way pretty well. I've played it for a bunch of styles and it's a great guitar overall, and the acoustic simulation is genius.

[@garycrouse1918]

hows the headstock? so something i would do man great

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

what's your specific question about the headstock?

[@espojespo5]

Tune that damn thing up!

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

oh, it was frustrating. that's literally my first interaction with the guitar filmed as was. I can say that it's a great guitar, including the tuning, now. I had to learn and apply the protocol I discuss in my xtSA string changing video

[@ronhoffman7941]

wheres the LIGHT ?

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

sorry! I'm learning how to shoot better video as I go... every one (hopefully) better than the last. My camera had some focus issues in just the very first part of the video

[@ronhoffman7941]

@@kaleidoscopeschool what’s the actual color ?

[@ronhoffman7941]

@@kaleidoscopeschool no apologies necessary

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

@@ronhoffman7941 it's funny, looking at it casually I would have said grey with a black burst trim, but when you get up close the grey is almost more a chocolate brown with ashy overtones, if that description makes any sense

[@garycrouse1918]

we should jam u play like mwah lol

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

where do you reside? thanks for watching!

[@lofidelphi]

slinkier feeling & high standards in same sentence.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

thanks for watching. is that a strange combo of comments?

[@MartinP5]

That tuner doesn’t seem to tune very well.

[@kaleidoscopeschool]

I can see why you'd say that. I've had the guitar about a week now and it has taken way longer than is typical, or I would expect, to break in the strings. I havent had a true floating bridge guitar for a while, so that could be a factor too. in the video I went through the strings with the Roadie one time, then played more demo bits before I tuned again, but with a pivot bridge tuning each string does to some extent affect all the others, especially if you change the heavier gauge strings a lot, so by the time the Roadie got the 1st string tuned, some of the others had been put out of tune slightly by the change in neighboring strings....