Godin A-F Fretless

I just had an A5Godin fretless made fresh from scratch in June of 09 and received it Aug1st.It cxame with a thumb rest on top of the low B strin. I removed it it was more in the way.I had them put a ebony fingerboard, the rest was the stock spruce top and I believe an ash maple back.It came with a very nice tan gig bag with instructions and allen tool. One of the best balanced gig bags with lots of pockets. An ID wwindow on the back with a hanger access for Plane storage

i play smooth jazz,R&B,Funk,Gospel, and Traditional Jazz(New Orleans style. This bass covers about 60 percent of the styles of music I play.I use a GK 1001 RB amp with two 1-12 Neo GK cabs.I get no feedback on stage, which is a big plus! For smaller gigs I use a Roland Cube 30 watt combo with built in effects. The acoustic sound is more enhanced when I use a little delay and chorus. I get a really rich full bass sound without being muddy, also i can get a really funky fat mid sound for solos. To slur on this bass really sounds fantastic.Its great in the studio with the 13 pin connected to a Midi Convertor. makes the transition recording easier.The only thing I wish for is a longer neck for more high notes for solos.

My 5 string fretless came out the box ready to play no adjustments neccessary !! It was beautiful when I took it out of the gig bag. No scratches. The action is low so not much effort is needed to fly on this baby. My bass buddies here in New Orleans loved playing on it. The MIDI 13 pin connector cord hooked up with no problem with a Roland V99B synth unit. Tracking was great with every setting I used. I could play a slap bass on my fretless with this unit!!

This bass could stand playing live and is well built. The hardware is solid but still should be careful with the sliders and patch buttons. You will need a thick strap to feel confident that it will hold. I would also use the bass without backup. I usually bring a fretted 5 or 4 string for slap songs. I have not had this bass long enough to say anything about reliabilty. I'm not worried. I'm very happy with this bass. I think it is a steal with the MIDI hook up and the solid acoustic sounds.

I have been playing for 36 yrs. I have a Marcus Miller 4 string Fender Jazz, 5 string LakLand,a 12 string Dean Bass, a 4 string Crafter bass,an NS double upright bass, An acoustic upright, and a Stagg acoustic bass. If it was stolen or lost I would buy another one. I love the look and the feel. My favorite feature is the Midi pickup. I tried countless of other acoustic basses but the all feed back or were lacking in the sound area. This was the only bass that did not feed back and had a midi pickup! I just wish the neck was longer.

This bass was made sometime in the last few years and is still a current model. I think this one was an earlier issue because it has a finger rest on the top, parallel to the E string and I haven't seen that on any of the new ones.

Despite being acoustic looking, with a peizo pickup in a wooden bridge on a semi-hollow body with a solid spruce (cedar?) top, it's too quiet to play unplugged unless you're just practicing. It features an interesting interior resonating device formed from a set of metal tines. Plugged in, it sounds as acoustic as any electric bass I've heard. There is no sound hole and it is too quiet to play unplugged. Active electronics by L. R. Bags provide three bands of tone control and a volume control.

I play in a lot of different styles and can't think of one where I wouldn't use this bass. For jazz, you can get a pretty decent acoustic bass sound. I play it though a Line 6 Bass Pod into a Peavey amp, or from the Pod directly into a digital recording setup. It speaks well of the design and quality of the bass that I usually leave the three bands of tone control at their center detents and make only minor tone adjustments in the rest of the signal path

When I get a new (to me) instrument, I usually take it right to the workbench and adust the action and intonation. I haven't felt the need to do a thing to the Godin.

The A4 obviously won't take the kind of body blows a solid body instrument would, but I wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere.

I've had no dealings with Godin.

I started at age 12 (a long time ago) on mandolin and evolved into a general purpose string player. I'm probably best on guitar, but Since there are so many guitar players around, I usually get called to play mandolin, bass or pedal steel. For bass work, I like the A4 becuase between it and my Carvin LB76, I can get nearly any kind of bass sound.