Meet 'Belle', my Godin Multiac Jazz SA acoustic electric guitar; demo video

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MY First EVER Gear Review!!!
She's been with me for over 2000 gigs, only recently been refretted and is still kicking like the thoroughbred she is! She's Belle and I can not imagine my career without her. I get lots of questions about this fantastic instrument. This video is a brief rundown/review of my favorite musical partner. But first, here's a short components list I missed while recording this video: Silverleaf Maple neck, Ebony fingerboard, 25 1/2" scale length, 16" radius, body has a Silverleaf Maple center with Poplar wings, AAA grade Flame Maple top. I hope this video answers many others, but please ask away if you have any more :) This is the first of a new type of video for me, and I am excited to begin gear reviews; hope you enjoy it too.
While we're at it, here are sites of the several companies I mention:
www.godinguitars.com
www.rmcpickup.com
www.thomastik-infeld.com
www.daddario.com
www.jbl.com
www.mikesharpsongs.com

[@stoufenatz3728]

thanks a lot Michael ! very good test !

[@ronniecraft3895]

NICE ALL THE WAY !! thanks for sharing .

[@brokenstring21]

Great Review!

[@Oklatucky_Guitarman]

Very detailed. Nice job.

[@1968Lawman]

Great review and I like your playing. The people who gave it a thumbs down maybe just didn't like your hat. I'm okay with the hat, it doesn't bother me.

[@kevinroberts4586]

Terrific explanation; enjoyed it greatly. Might like to hear at some point in the future a tune briefly played at the humbucker position, the piezo position and the intermediate position.

[@mikesharpsongs]

kevin roberts Will do! Great suggestion.

[@amanofhonour]

wow what a review :) thanks Mike! Btw could u advise me on what strings i should try with this? I don't have so many choices of flatwound strings here.. i usually use elixir nanoweb 0.010-0.046 on my electric guitars and elixir nanoweb phosphor bronze 0.011-0.052 on my acoustic guitar. I would like to use this multiac for strumming as well (not as a traditional jazz guitar). Thank you so much for your kind help :).

[@mikesharpsongs]

Antonius Kurniawan hey man, totally personal taste. It works great for strumming. I generally like heavier gauge strings (flat or wound round) just because I have a heavy right hand and with anything lighter than .012 the strings start rattling like crazy, plus they don't stay in tune as well.

[@razmusik]

Hi Michael, is the guitar (the piezo) also suitable for straight ahead camp fire strumming? Thank you!

[@mikesharpsongs]

Rasmus Nissen as long as you have an amp, yes. Or if you are just in a quiet room. As far as just a different style of play, no worries -it works great!

[@Sparrow_-rk2rd]

hey mike, I have been playing guitar for 8 years since my grandmother gave me one on my 8 year old birthday. recently that guitar broke and I have been trying to find a new acoustic guitar to continue playing, so I was wondering if the f holes had any diffrence on the sound of the guita or cold it still be used for songs like Wonderwall and sound of silence for example?

[@mikesharpsongs]

Sparrow_0210 Hey there! The f holes on this particular guitar do very little in terms of sound. But for many other electric hollowbody guitars with f holes and lighter, more resonant tops (like Gibson ES 335, Gretsch Country Gentleman, and the like) have a distinct tone and percussive quality that works great for the songs you mention.

[@Sparrow_-rk2rd]

ok, thanks man, I really apriciate it, but would it work well for songs more in the spiritof green day or red hot chillipeppers, the music I play tends to be a bit of everything so would it sound ok for most songs?

[@mikesharpsongs]

Sparrow_0210 should be fine, but realize that with any true hollowbody/semi-hollowbody guitar there can be feedback at higher volumes; which is sometimes useful :)

[@Sparrow_-rk2rd]

thanks man and keep up the good work. I hope to reach you're level of expertise at some point.

[@JoeGariano]

I just bought a used version of this guitar (made in 2003). I noticed that when I plug it into the mix port, the acoustic pickup is normally loud but the magnetic pickup is still audible but quiet. If I plug into the electric port, the magnetic port is normally loud and the acoustic pickup is off. I'm able to plug into both ports and get both pickups normally loud, but it would be nice to have both pickups normally loud using the single mix port. Do you have this same situation with your guitar?

[@mikesharpsongs]

Hey Joe! So, if you're willing to take the output jackplate out (just remove the four mounting screws and gently pull it loose), you will find a little internal trimpot on the circuit board mounted just inside. That trimpot adjusts the volume of the humbucker at the mix jack. I only know this from having opened it to clean it and then experimenting with it a bit. It only effects the humbucker level on the mix jack, so that's your most likely solution. Also, take the opportunity to blow out the chambers and electronics with a can of compressed air.

[@JoeGariano]

@@mikesharpsongs Thank you for that Michael. I went in and turned it both ways. Turning it up all the way (i.e. twisting it from the bottom to the top of the guitar) increases the mix volume of the magnetic pickup ever so slightly, but it's still orders of magnitude more quiet than the acoustic pickup or the sound of the magnetic pickup when plugged into the electric jack. I wonder if there is something faulty there in my unit. I can work around it using two cables, as everything else appears to work right, but it's a bit of a bummer. Otherwise I really like the guitar.

[@mikesharpsongs]

Sorry that wasn't more effective, Joe. To be honest, I have only recently come to really enjoy the humbucker. I split the paths/cables and each goes through it's own signal chain with processing and effects. The acoustic side goes through compression, tremolo, boost, delay and reverb. The magnetic side goes through all kinds of pedals (filters/EQ/compression/boost/modulation/amp sims/delay/reverb/etc.), but I've built that up over the past few years. I always put the acoustic at a higher volume in the mix, as I just really love how full and percussive it sounds. I've only recently gotten a taste for light to mid overdive pedals and that has brought it to llife

[@JoeGariano]

@@mikesharpsongs Very cool, and no worries. I'm essentially doing the same thing only it's all being done with a Boss SY-1000. I've got not only the magnetic and acoustic going, but also the synth and guitar emulation using the 13 pin capabilities. I have several other Godin SA guitars and spent many hours configuring the SY-1000 to do all this. With my other guitars, I just use the 13 pin cable and it carries all signals, but it looks like I'm going to have to use a second cable in this setup.

[@partner348]

Godin has so many choices, SA 6, Multiacs etc. I do acoustic solo/singer songwriter performance, and would love to avoid inherent issues w/ plugged in acoustics. I want a pure as possible acoustic sound, but as prevalent as the Godin guitars seem to be, no one seems to stock them, (I live in the Tampa/Orlando market) and so, they are hugely unavailable to demo. I doubted that I would ever buy a guitar unseen and unplayed, but I've discovered that Guitar Center has Godins scattered around the country and they have a 45 day ship to, pickup, and return to your local store policy I believe. But the choices are too many, so to avoid as much choosing and rejecting as possible, I can only ask the internet, and put feelers out for recommendations. What do you recommend? Or do you only know the one you have? BTW I first became interested in Godin when I saw your awesome YT performance video of The Living Years, and so clicked on this vid when I recognized you. Would love to see more vids like this.

[@mikesharpsongs]

partner348 I will definitely do more vids, was just thinking of things I forgot to discuss. I have played an A6 at a gig; fantastic guitar, albeit a bit different. The A6 is lighter and has a more defined hollow sound. Different pickup, but similar output range and still handled my beating it very well. I have tried other models, one at GC (Multiac Nylon), and a few others at a local boutique acoustic joint (Multiac Spectrum, an Acousticaster and a Multiac Steel Duet). I loved the Duet, but the others were too different for me to get into; nylon requires such a different approach and the mag pickup systems are just not useful for what I do. All solid builds and surely great for someone. You bring up a great point though, not ubiquitous enough for easy sampling; hence the value of KZbin demos. Hopefully something will translate well given the obstacles. I will say that since buying this one, I am sold on instrument quality, gig readiness and the specific electronics employed. I hope that is additionally helpful :)

[@wipperwils2111]

For what it’s worth, I bought a Godin A6 Ultra recently and as expected, you’ve got to make tone adjustments to make use of the options the platform is capable of. It’s by far the best and favourite guitar of my collection and the go-to guitar for live acoustic-centered tones. Zero feedback and a great blend feature that permits a second sound chain to blend in electric tones. Electric sounds a little wooly as Michael stated, but still workable. Very unique and a source of creative inspiration for sure. Best neck in the business.

[@seanghannam9800]

Beautiful axe.. They stopped making the Godin Multiac Jazz SA in 2012 :(

[@mikesharpsongs]

I hope they revamp; they're great guitars!

[@seanghannam9800]

@@mikesharpsongs Yeah.. they sure are... the Jazz SA.. they're my #1 gigging guitars.. I love Godins. T✌️😎🕉 Belle is a beauty..

[@inspirationalguitar5316]

is he still related to CAPTAIN HADDOCK ?

[@jazzman1954]

Blithering blunderbus he is!

[@arcajazz]

Thundering Typhoons!

[@thegee-tahguy4877]

If the piezos ever fail, I have a lot of experience replacing them with original parts.

[@mikesharpsongs]

GUITARTEC DEAN much obliged! Have you ever done any modding?

[@thegee-tahguy4877]

What do you have in mind?

[@marka7519]

Dean - I just recently pickup one up and I would possibly be interested in adding a humbucker at the bridge, maybe swapping out the neck mini-humbucker for something else, and adding a 5 way selector switch. Do you think this could be done while still keeping all the other functionality for the acoustic blending and midi intact?

[@thegee-tahguy4877]

I thought about this long and hard... NOPE! It would probably be cheaper to buy the right guitar than to do what you're considering. Structurally, I'm not even sure if the guitar would accept all this routing and new electronics without having to rebrace it and move existing components. You may even need a Y cord to mix the active and passives, and yada, yada, yada.... No, it would be technically difficult for an unpredictable outcome, other than absolutely devaluating a cool guitar. You could always ask other Luthiers, but you're just asking for expensive trouble IMHO.

[@marka7519]

ok, makes sense. Thanks for the response.

[@richw.6296]

Why are you wearing a hat in the house?

[@mikesharpsongs]

Rich W. So I don't forget it when I leave for a gig

[@richw.6296]

Fair enough.

[@lushkordz6643]

You speak too much bRo o_O We dont wanna listen your voice but the guitar itself

[@mikesharpsongs]

Well then, I suggest you subscribe to this channel and listen to the several hundred videos in which the guitar is featured 😁

[@coleyounger3701]

Play the guitar, Nigga....quit talking.

[@mikesharpsongs]

@@coleyounger3701 check prior response, human.

[@doug9263]

way too much talking

[@mikesharpsongs]

Check my channel; hundreds of examples of nothing but playing and singing; but thanks for the input.