Godin Freeway-4

Canada/USA manufacture. 2005, I think. 3 piece body, Nice bookmatched flame lam on top. V/V/T controls, cheap little mini-pots. Passive electronics, noisy as hell. Combo bridge, string thru or thru back, cheap looking. Cheap proprietary tuners. Came with a very good quality gig bag, adjustment tools.

I hate the tone of this thing with a band. It cuts thru for Sh%t. I play Eden, Hartke, THUNDERFUNK. Drive bass w/ sansamp (gotta with this weakling). Tone is too bright IMHO, not enough solid bass or low mid. I replaced the noisy bridge p/u with a seymour jazz hot stack 2, put a usa fender on it, too. I also put a FATFINGER on the headstock, to clean up the attack a little. I am still not satisfied. The pickups and the electronics that come stock in this thing are a joke. I will redo this myself. I hope it was worth the ten bucks they saved in parts to piss off a customer.

No complaints here. I will give credit where due. with the exception of the atrocious electronics and hardware, it really is a good instrument. Playing it unplugged is a joyful experience.

I have used it for gigs, was not satisfied. I like the way it looks, plays, but the tone/sound is for sh%t. hardware is chintzy, at best. Used it with no backup, that was a mistake. when I'm done w/ mods, this thing will be a professional grade instrument. it does seem sturdy.

These guys SUCK, they do not return calls/messages, and they hung the phone up on me while I was waiting to speak to the dude I needed to talk to about finding a part number to replace a bad pot. It was like trying to call your mother in a bar. They succeeded in pissing me off, and assured I will never buy anything from them again. These folk obviously don't need my money, or maybe yours either....

I have been at it 20+ yrs. I own 5 basses, and too much other stuff to list. I play a lot of paying gigs. Fundamentally, it is a good instrument. If you can get one for 3 bills or less, do it, cuz you will need extra dough to replace all the stock crap with real stuff. I would never buy one again, but I will make this one nice. They retail at 650-something usd, so I got some wiggle room in terms of spending money to make a real bass out of this thing....

If you are into project basses, buy one, but don't pay more than 3 bills for it.

Rock Maple neck. Rosewood Fingerboard. 16" fingerboard radius. 34" Scale. 1 1/2" nut width. 4-string. String through body.
Body: Silver Leaf Maple
Pickups: Godin Passive PJ
Color: Natural Satin - amazing flames

Nice thick warm sound. At least that's where I've settled in on it. I play all kinds of rock, alternative, rock-pop, hard rock. Running it through a Yorkville XM200 BassMaster. No I'm not from Canada, but funny that it just kinda worked out that my entire bass rig is. I love the sound this gets. I can dial in a variety of sounds, and all of them fit in the mix very well in a band setting. Basically, I'm loving it.

My model was perfect. No flaws. Components fit together snugly. The action is just right. It looks amazing, feels amazing. Ready to go right out of the box. Just needed to tune it. And the wood grain on this is beautiful.

I've only had it for a few months, but it feels solid and I haven't had a bit of problem with anything. Finish looks and feels like it will last. Strap buttons have held on well, but I also have a very good strap.

Haven't needed to use it.

New, these things often go for about $500. I got it new for $280, and for that money, man I feel like I stole it. Fantastic value. I'd buy it again if I lost it.

This is a follow-up of my previous review.

After a while you realize the pickup lack definition in a major way..you can`t possibly be heard by anyone if you play with a guitarist that uses a stack (I play on an Ampeg 400 watt and 6*10 cab). I changed the pickups to Lace Sensors P/J...another bass all together. I found the missing mids and the missing definition.

A marvelous bass for the price, just change the pickups.

1 volume for P-pickup
1 volume for J-pickup
1 tone

Maple neck with rosewood fretboard

The best feature is the choice to have the strings through body or stringed at the bridge.

Sounds wonderfull, you can get any sound you want with this bass, jazz or precision.

Pretty good for slap also.

I am using DR Black .045 - .100 strings to get a warm sound suitable for any style.

On gripe, the J-pickup can be noisy as hell, might be a problem live on a stage. But other than that, I am very happy about this bass.

That were I was a little disapointed.

-Strings were ridiculously high
-Intonation was way off
-Pickups were MUCH too low
-The first 3 frets were VERY uneven...the person who did the crowning of the frets on this bass must have been sleeping on gass.
-The nut was not cut properly which rose even more the strings.

120$ CDN of professional repairs later, the bass was A1.

The bass itself was very well assembled but who ever did the setup on my bass at the factory should be out of a job. I was expecting a little more from Godin.

I've heard alot of good things about Godin and their factory setup, but I've not seen what I've heard on my bass.

And just to top it of, the gig bag had a deffective handle. I am curretly waiting for the new one to arrive at the dealer.

It's brand new but the assembly is jst ahs good as any custom shop bass.

If you do not take care of your gear like Kurt Cobain did, it will last a lifetime and more.

Never dealt with them.

I would buy again without any hesitation.

The only thing I wish this bass had was a tone volume for each pickup but, hey, at that price I can't complain.

In it's category, the Freeway 4 has no competitor. It smokes Peavey and Yamaha hands down. Once setup properly, this bass plays and sounds like a good old Fender American for 600$ CDN less.

Resell value is not there, so if you buy, plan to keep it. Peavey and Yamaha have a better resell value for some obscure reason since they are in most cases inferior products.

the previous post is very informative concerning the specs.

there is a finish on the maple neck although its very thin and satin, plays like butta!

I wish it had a blender knob and master vol instead of the 2 vol setup. thats why im giving it an 8.

It came w/a hardshell case that fits very well.

I mostly play classic rock and blues, the combination of p/j pups. rosewood board and snappy maple body gives me all those classic tones and more. I can get all the pbass sounds as well as the typical rear j bass sound by varying the vols and tone knob. I'm using d'addario nickel roundwounds but plan on using some flatwounds to get that percussive, round thump which I'm sure this bass will do real well.

The setup was very good from the factory, but of course good i've got my preferences and tweaked it to suit my needs.

same goes for the pups.

The neck fits real tight into the body and does not move. the frets are all very well finished and dressed w/no high or flat spots.

I can see the joints in the three piece body thru the black paint when I hold it up to the light. As well I can see lines running across the bass. The other finish offered has a flame top, can it be that they use the same body for each and just use a different finish? I hope so, I plan on sanding it and seeing for myself!!

It seems pretty solid but I haven't had a chance to gig it yet nor have I had it a long time.

n/a

I've been playing bass for 17 years and have owned a bunch off p basses and a jazz bass. this compares quiet nicely. In fact its a far superior instrument than an american standard p or j bass because of its bang for the buck. At half the price of a USA fender you are getting a great instrument w/money left over for and amp or effects, accessories......

I'm giving it an 10. At this price my issues with the 2 vols and finish an negligible. This is a USA/Candaian hand built instrument for under $600 CN. Unbeatable

2003 Made in USA of Canadian parts.
4 strings, 20 frets, 1 P and 1 J pickup with each having a separate volume, but the tone knob is combined for them.
Pickups are Godin Stock GBP1 and GBJ1. Passive.
All maple body (P bass style) and neck (J bass style) with a rosewood fingerboard
I have the black pearl finish which is excellent (although you get fingerprints.
Bridge is convertible (you can go through body or not)
Standard tuners.
fairly thin neck.

Sound is very thick. Very boomy with the P pickup but you can get some funk with the J pickup turned up. There is the single coil hum that can get bad with just the J pickup at full and no P. Turning the tone down or the J volume back helps.

I had a Fender P-bass Lyte before and that doesn't have the power of this bass. Very percussive and fat with the stock pickups. The only thing I would change is to get a reduced hum J type for that position as it can get noisy.

Factory set up was OK, but a bit high. Having a bit of fret buzz problem with one fret on the E string, but that will get resolved. Otherwise, it feels great and I found no other things to complain about. No finish on the neck so its smooth and not sticky.

It's actually a fairly light bass that's easy to play. Compared to my P-bass lyte its only slightly heavier and the neck is only slightly thicker. It's not like an old tree trunk 70's P bass with a baseball bat as a neck. I tried out Godin's older model the SD-4 and found that to be a heavy monster like an old P-bass. This model is much lighter and easier to play.

Haven't played live with it yet, but it feels solid. I replaced the strap buttons with locks. But that has to be done with almost any bass anyway.

Haven't dealt with Godin yet, except that I own 2 of their guitars besides this bass and am very satisfied. Quality for the money. I'd recommmend this over any MIM P or J bass any day since they are about the same price.

Been playing for 10 years. Had a 70's P bass, a P bass Lyte and now this. I'm very happy with this bass especially for the money. It's comfortable, sounds great, and is inexpensive. I wish it came with a hard case instead of the gig bag, but I'm sure if you shell out a few more bucks they will give you one.
Godin is one of the best values out there, I get compliments from everyone who sees and hears their products.