Godin Multiac Grand Concert SA

It is supposed to be a Synth Access guitar. Well, do NOT buy for synth access! I plugged it in a Roland GR-33 guitar synth and I noticed that whenever I played a C note, the synth was producing exremely harsh sounds (severe pitch bending messages were happening here).

After I contacted Godin, I learned that the guitar is tuned in construction in C note. That means that the guitar self vibrates in C note. That is good for the acoustic sound but makes the guitar useless for midi usage!

Godin suggested to put foam padding inside the cavity of the body or open the back plates. Well, if you fill the guitar with foam it stops doing that, but all the acoustic sound is degrading unacceptably!

Great acoustic sound. Much piezo like sound, but what else could it be?

I am used playing classical guitar and I love the playability of this guitar.

No issues after 5 years.

I should admit that I exchanged several emails with the international sales manager, who was extremely kind and helpful. Of course, the SA issue is not possible to be solved, it is a design issue for me. I finally told him that the SA title in the description is completely misleading and should not me marketed as such. Of course he couldn't admit that.

Great guitar for the acoustic part, useless for SA.

you can get all this information at google.com

the sound is basically aceptable. i use my godin either with a yamaha P.A. conected to a pair of a three way yamaha speakers, wich give a really tick and round sound, or a roland AC-60 amp.
with my yamaha P.A. i plug the godin with a Monster acoustic cable to a black finger's pre amp, then to a yamaha stomp box wich is set just to use the natural condenser feature (no EQ or reverb or anything else, 'cause i dont want to mess with the purity of the signal), then to a Ephex exiter, that i use as a D.I out and also to give a little more thickness to my sound.
the P.A is set up with zero E.Q. and a good amount of hall reverb. the parametric just a hint of mid's.
It sounds great.

the fingerborad is the best feature. i can play whatever i want to play with this lovely guitar: flamenco, classical (even barrios, lauro or bach), jazz, ecc...it is so sweet and soft. as someone said, it is not harmonically sensitive...but you woulden't ever be able to plug and amplify an acoustic guitar and make it sound like this godin sound. maybe the limited gibson electro acoustic guitar is better than the grand concert.

i haven't had any problem yet with this baby. i tried it at any enviroment and she haven't gave me any problem. only just remember to carry in your guitar bag a pair of new batteries just in case.

well, i don't care.

i have played the guitar for 10 years. i have studied classical and folk music in peru. and now i am studiying jazz at florida international university. i love to mix and express all my musical influences. for me is very important to take out of the guitar (and from the amplifier) all the possible micro tones and colors and sensations and feelings.

This is a nylon string electric guitar that has the neck width of a classical guitar. Mine was made in 2004. I had to order it thru a local distributor and it took me 4 months to get.
It has a solid cedar top and a mahogany body. The fretboard is ebony.

The electronics are active, requiring a 9 volt battery. There is a volume and 3 tone controls for the RMC bridge pickups. There is a separate volume control for the 13 pin Roland midi connection. The midi output is not affected by the tone controls.

Tunners are of a good quality. They keep the guitar in tune pretty well once the strings have settled.

Finish is gloss ? I wanted a semi-gloss finish as advertised on the Godin website but was told that it was not available for my model. Since I had to order the guitar, I do not understand why they could not have given me a semi-gloss finish ? perhaps the vendor ordered it wrong and would not fess-up.

The body joins at the 12th fret, but the cutaway gives easy access to the upper frets. Like a classical guitar, there are only 19 frets. There is no reason why this guitar could not have had 21 frets ? that would have been killer. As it is, there are some pieces that can not be played on this guitar due to the lack of upper frets.

It came with a very nice padded gig bag, but I opted to also purchase a hardshell case, as I felt this gave more protection. I was a little disappointed in the lack of stiffness of the case, but I still think that it offers more protection than the gig bag.

I find that the treble needs to be turned all the way down else the guitar sounds to plinky and you can really hear the sounds from your fingernails striking the strings ? they should fix it so that when at its brightest it has the sound of a flamenco guitar. I typically play with the treble all the way down, the mid-range in the middle, and the bass all the way up. This gives me the best sound when played thru my Crate CA-125 acoustic amp.

Unplugged the guitar is very audible, but has a thin sound. It is much like playing an electric Archtop unplugged.

The triggering of MIDI leaves a little to be desired ? but it triggers much better than when I was using a GK-2A pickup. I use a Roland GI-20 (and have used a GR-30 in the past) and I find that I have to have the sensitivity set to about 3 or 4 and the fingerstyle to ?Hard?. I have experimented with all types of settings and find that this works the best for getting the cleanest MIDI signal. I also find that I have to play with firm intent ? the softness that I can play on a real classical guitar just does not cut the mustard when doing MIDI. I also have to make sure that I use a back and forward plucking motion with my fingers instead of a pulling up motion. This is sometimes difficult, depending on the piece being performed, especially for my ?a? finger.

Using the VG-8 and VG-88 is an entirely different story (I have both). I love it. The VG?s are what the Roland system is meant for. There are no tracking issues and no weird false triggers ? just the sound of what you play. I can get a great variety of sounds from acoustic to distorted electric all while keeping my classical playing style. If you get a Godin, do yourself a favor and at least test drive one of the VG systems.

The down side to the VG?s is that when used in conjunction with the native Godin sound is that there is a strong tendency for feedback. When playing thru the VG?s, I typically turn the native sound all the way down.

Another down side to this guitar is that it does not pick up body nises, such as striking the body or the bridge. This makes it difficult for use in flamenco styles. Hopefully Godin will follow Taylor and add a pickup to the underside of the soundboard.

The action at the 12th fret is between 3/32? and 4/32? ? acceptable for any classical guitar.

The finish is very well done, but is kind of thick. Since it is not an acoustic instrument, I guess this is OK. It looks as if there was a scratch in the cedar top that did not get properly sanded prior to the finish being applied. It looks like a scratch and is very noticeable, but it is in the wood, not the finish. I waited 4 months for this guitar, so I decided that I could live with it rather than return it and have to wait another 4 months. It is my only real complaint about the guitar.

I have had the guitar for over a year now with no issues, other than adjusting the truss rod. I believe that this is a solid instrument that was made to take on the road.

I have had sent them several E-mails and have always gotten a response within a few days. I wish that they were a little more up on using the different synth systems, as this is what their guitars are designed for, but they do their best with what they know. They are always courteous and polite in the responses.

I love this guitar and all of the Roland gadgets that go with it. If this guitar were stolen or broken, I would replace it without question. If I could have only one guitar, this would be it ? providing of course that all the goodies came with it.

I have studied classical guitar for several years. I started playing classical as a teen, put it down for 18 years, and picked it up again a few years ago. I also play steel string acoustics and square-neck Dobro. I play all guitars classical style except the Dobro on which I use fingerpicks.

I bouight this one in 1999 at Eastcoast Music in Danbury CT. The guy who ordered it took a powder and it hung there for 4 months. I saw it and recognized a very, very unique guitar. I did not, nor do I see it now, as only a Classical guitar. It is an all purpose everyman tool. I use it for folk, blues, country, etc. I use it in a bare two finger picking style as well as with a pick. I use it for accompaniment and lead work. It has one hell of a great sound system (RMC). Acoustically is sings and beats out many trad classicals and plugged in...well, it is awesome. The sound is pristine via the RMC system. The woods are all solid and the workmanship is of high marks. It is one hell of a comfy guitar to play both seated and standing. I like the extra string spacing as it makes my trumped up two finger picking style a whole lot easier to pull off. You can see quality in this guitar. I paid a little over cost as the dealere wanted to get rid of it...as it has limited appeal, that is, it is not a Fender or any kind of rocker's axe. So I paied a little over $700 and bought the case extra. These usually net retail for over $1000. So, it was a real deal. It has the RMC system as well as the synth driver capacity, which I have never used.

as I said, the sound is VERY VERY REALISTIC.

IT PLAYS VERY SMOOTHLY IN ALL STYLES AND GENRES.

IT IS SOLID, TO SAY THE LEAST

NEVER DEALT WITH THEM IN THAT LIGHT. I EMAILED A FEW QUESTIONS TO THEM WHEN I FIRST GOT IT..AND THEY EVENTUALLY....GOT BACK TO ME....THEY DID NOT RUSH TO GET BACK TO ME...BUT THEY DID....
SO SO....WHO KNOWS....
THEY COULD BE A LITTLE MORE EFFICIENT....BUT I LIKE THEIR STUFF.

I AM GLAD I GOT THIS GUITAR......I HAVE HAD IT FOR JUST ABOUT 5 YEARS NOW...AND I STILL USE IT...FOR RECORDING AND LIVE WORK.

Made about 2000 - USA parts assembled in Canada.
-Mahogany neck
-Ebony Fingerboard
-16" fingerboard radius
-25.59" (650mm) Scale
-2" nut width
-Chambered Mahogany body
-Solid Cedar Top
-Custom RMC electronics with 13-pin connector for direct control of Roland GR Series and Axon AX100 guitar synths.
-Godin hard case

Generally the concept of this guitar is making a classical guitar sound good on stage, delivering no feedback problems. There is no sound hole, only the chambers in a thin body. The neck has a classical width and the scale is classical.

The MIDI output is a great feature. The electronics allows You also to control the MIDI programs. The instrument combines features of a classical, electric, and MIDI guitar.

And the guitar is simply beautiful.

Superb sound.Unplugged it is surpisingly loud.The tone is balanced and quite selective. After plugging it into my Torque T100AR acoustic amp (which is not a high-end device) the guitar sounds like a quite good classical guitar. Plugging it in does not kill the acoustic quality of the tone. Just sounds like a huge guitar.
The guitar is great for jazz playing, world music etc. Strumming sounds really good - it is fine for accompanying.
Though You can play classical music on it, I would not recommend it to "serious" classical players. It is not as harmonically sensitive as a really good classical guitar and it is not supposed to be. For every other person looking for nylon sound and feel on stage - the sound is perfect. Not to mention the possibilites the Synth Access gives You.

I purchased it used, so I want make any remarks here, except for one - the shop, from which I purchased it was able to setup it perfectly.

The top does look fragile a bit - when You knock on wood over the chambers, it does not feel like sturdy. I think that's why it sounds so fine - it is not overbuilt.
The tuners are solid. The finish is good.
One thing that is not right for a guitar of that value are the electronics controls. They look, feel and work like cheap plastic.
However, I would gig with it without a backup. It is not a kind of guitar, that would fail You suddenly.

I contacted them with e-mail and they answered me quickly and nicely.
However, the warranty is really short for a (You could say) high-end guitar. I think it is one year only.

I have been playing for 6 years. Other gear is:
guitars:
an Admira Malaga classical guitar, Cort SJ5X acoustic, Mayones Tulip II electric;
amps:
Torque T100AR acoustic,
Laboga Raduli 50W all-tube electric

I play almost all kinds of music, but I am still more into jazz/world-music/folk stuff.

I really love this guitar. I would buy it again for sure, if it were stolen and if I could afford it. The thing that irritates me is the electronics controls - so poor in comparison to class of this guitar.
However, for me, it is the best nylon-electric available. And the MIDI feature - wow!