Godin Acousticaster

[Croxford]

First post here folks. 8 months ago I bought a Godin Acousticaster. I first became aware of them 10 or 15 years ago and the one I bought was the first one I had seen in person. I love the feel and the sound - plugged in or just acoustically sitting on the couch. Last night I plugged in to my Yamaha THR amp (perfect living room/bedroom amp IMO) and the thing sound really 'farty'. I tried a new cable but the same thing. I plugged my Yamaha Silent Guitar in and it was fine... This morning I tried again just to see if the thing had healed itself overnight. This time it was completely dead. No sound at all. I removed the back plate to find the 18 'tines' that give it its unique tone but nothing else. Next I took the control plate off the front of the guitar. Much to my surprise there were two 9 volt batteries under the preamp. I replaced them and everything is good again.

As much as Iove this guitar I'm a little put off... first there was no mention in any of the literature that came with the guitar that there are batteries or how to replace them. There is also no mention on the Godin web site.

Second there is no ready access to the battery compartment. As I mentioned the entire control plate has to come off by removing four screws.

Third there is no led indicator to say the preamp is in use. This guitar went south without any warning. I'm not sure what I would do in a live situation. For the price I paid (~ $1000.00 CDN) I would expect a lot better access to something so crucial to its performance.

Great guitar but after being in production for all these years this should have been worked out long ago.

 

JC

 

[Michael Martin]

Wow. What a strange way to design a guitar. Thanks for the warning. Oddly enough, I was just becoming interested in the Godin Acousticaster, having found them by accident while trolling through ebay looking at Godin nylons. I was intrigued by the Acousticaster and followed links to some Youtube vids of people demonstrating them. I was very impressed by the plugged-in sound.

But lordy what a pain to have to remove the front cover! That could truly be a deal-killer. Good gawd, if a guitar has to have a battery, make it easily accessible and quickly-change-able!!! At a gig, you'd be dead in the water. 

Always nice to find info like this on particular guitar models. I just sold my Tak EF350, and one of things I didn't like about it was how often its batteries had to be replaced. It used 2 AAs rather than a 9v. My current stage guitar is a Martin 00CXAE, which uses a 9v. Those things can last for months.

[lz4005]

Did you think the preamp worked by magic?

 

Solution: replace the batteries every 6 months.

[k.guitars]

I've been playing Acousticasters for years. Not only are the batteries difficult to access, but once you're in the connection between the battery clips and the circuit board is very, very flimsy and I've torn them off several times, requiring a resolder. In the end my solution was to remove the preamp/EQ completely and wire the pickup passively to the output, then use an L.R. Baggs Para DI on the floor. 

[mark bass]

In 45 years of playing as a singer/songwriter single I've searched in vain for a go-to acoustic electric solution that was natural sounding & inspiring to play. Finally pulled the trigger on a mid-90's beater Godin Acousticaster on me-bay for $ 200usd which had apparently been dropped on its head as a child and still sported a poorly repaired large crack stretching from the bridge around the lower bout to the middle of the back. Once that issue was stabilized & epoxied to a fare-thee-well I've played the guitar at least 3 hours a day ever since.

 

Cutting to the chase (without repeating everything you've already read in the forums) This guitar usually sounds too bright & sizzly in live pro & semi pro settings, but au contrare, it is capable of very natural, warm acoustic goodness when treated like the lady she is, I put d'Addario Chromes 12-52 flatwounds on mine & run it through two Cube 30's in stereo, the best sound for me comes by keeping the L.R. Baggs EQ sliders in the bottom 25% of their possible range w/ treble & bass even & mids very slightly higher. The guitar responds best with a very light touch for fingerstyle or flatpicking, it is VERY sensitive to picking dynamics and the 18 tines under the bridge will sizzle like crazy if the guitar is played hard. But with the EQ on the amps set at a neutral 12 o'clock and the EQ on the guitar set low it compares favorably with my Martin OM28 EC & a very nice Everett OM. No kiddin', and it's lighter, more alive in the hands, records great and does just about everything but give head. REally. . . $ 200 bucks and a set of strings and I'm the happiest camper at home or at the gig. jes sayin'. . . . . .

[WT@]

I've  got a newer Godin Acousticaster it has a battery compartment just below the back plate for the tines, easy 9v battery replacement. Just a circuit board under the control back plate.

 

[Grant Harding]

Vintage thread!

I like how the OP is incensed that they don't mention that the onboard preamp uses batteries. "They never told me the car took gas, now I'm stranded!" 🤔