The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: Chris P. on September 13, 2010, 04:56:59 AM
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I've got quite a nice bass at home to review:
(http://www.themusiczoo.com/images/6-21-10/Godin_Shifter_Bass_Transparent_Cream_10332146_a.jpg)
It's called the Godin Shifter. Canadian made. There's also a rosewood board sunburst one. I really like the looks of it. A bit slab P bass, a bit Jazz without the chrome control plate. Also a bit Mustang/Musicmaster and the three pick ups make it nice. It has a five way switch and a push/pull for a total of six pick up configurations.
Three pick ups seem to be a new trend? Music Man has the Reflex and Big Al. Fret King has the Ventura 80 Bass:
(http://www.fret-king.com/Full%20Guitar%20Images/Blue%20Label%20%20Guitars/venturasup80_car.jpg)
Of course nothing special about three pick up basses. My '64 Burns has three.
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They both look ugly as sin but still highly interesting, a bit of a return to the space-days ?
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That Godin appears to have a LOT of Mustang and Tele DNA in it. I like it.
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The Fret King is very strabge, but the Godin is a real good looker in real life too! Nice colour, very nice build.
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The Fret King looks like a cubist interpretation of a Vox Phantom. I'm undecided as to whether that's a bug or a feature.
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That Godin is very nice!
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The really odd thing about the pickups on that Godin is that they're neither symmetrical nor consistent in their angles. Odd, veddy odd.
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Is the Godin long scale?
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Looks like Italian accordian makers design values are making a comeback. If you hadn't said they were new I'd be looking for them on Fetishguitars. I love that site.
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Looks like Italian accordian makers design values are making a comeback. If you hadn't said they were new I'd be looking for them on Fetishguitars. I love that site.
Wow! I was unaware of Fetishguitars. Great stuff. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Yep, the Godin is longscale and quite a big bass.
And I love fetishguitars!
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I like it. And Godins are usually priced right.
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I like it. And Godins are usually priced right.
And well built too!
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I see it's available here for $895.
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I see it's available here for $895.
Where? Is that the street price?
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Where? Is that the street price?
That's the street price on the cream finish with either maple or rosewood board (list is $1095), there's a vintage burst that's $100 higher. MF, Sweetwater, Music Zoo and Cream City Music were listed on Google Shopping, no doubt there are local Godin retail stores who will match that or better.
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The RRP in Holland is something like that. A bit above 1.000 dollars.
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:mrgreen: Euro Dollars ? :mrgreen:
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If three pickups is a new bass standard, for once, I'm ahead of the curve:
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/PsychoBassGuy/IMG_2044.jpg)
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/PsychoBassGuy/IMG_2045.jpg)
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close up... pretty please... what a fin... 8)
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(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/PsychoBassGuy/IMG_2034.jpg)
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/PsychoBassGuy/IMG_2037.jpg)
Believe it or not, the back looks better, but I don't have any shots of it. I started out wanting a G&L swirl finish, but this turned out more like a bowling ball, much better. I didn't make the finish. It was a local auto-finish place that did some guitar work on the side a few years ago. It's an ESP body I got off eBay.
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That's a cool finish, it does look better than the G&L swirl finish.
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(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/PsychoBassGuy/IMG_2034.jpg)
Guess what? There's enough space for a Mudbucker! :D :D :D
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Nice, looks like black marble. How's the electronic? 3 volume and 1 tone knob? is the P PU. usefull combined with the Jazz PU's that close?
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That looks like they "rag-rolled" with crinkled plastic over a silver base - gorgeous...
If you have no objections could I pm for a jpg...?
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Guess what? There's enough space for a Mudbucker! :D :D :D
..not on the control plate. It was already routed when I got it and cutting through that finish would crack it. I know you're just kidding, but I had thought about doing that.
How's the electronic? 3 volume and 1 tone knob?
Affirmative.
is the P PU. usefull combined with the Jazz PU's that close?
...when I get the right one it will be. That bass has had two complete pickups exchanges. The first Jazz set I had in it was a NOS set of Jacksons with a Lace Sensor P-pickup. I have a set of Jacksons in my main gigging Jazz and they are magic, but pretty low output. I hunted high and low for some old Jacksons on eBay for months, but could never find them. The ones I used ended up coming (ironically) from the asshole who owns the local vintage shop. I paid $130 for the set, but they were NOS, leads untouched and still in their original boxes. My plan was to use the Lace Sensor with them, all passive, since even though they are passive, they are very low output. Trouble was, all of them were seriously thin and nasal.
Since I don't want a preamp, I swapped the Jacksons for a set of Fender Custom Shop 63's Jazz pu's and the old pickup from my Mexi P-bass. The Jazz pickups sound killer. The Mexi sounds exactly like it did in the bass it came out of; very thin. There's no weird phasing, and there are few useful combinations, but only at low volume on the knobs. I'm thinking of trying an old Ken Smith P or one of the new Alumitones, which are supposed to be very top shy and beefy. The body wood is very soft, probably basswood or some other cheap wood, but the extremely hard finish and Baddass bridge make the bass very bright, even with flatwounds.
That looks like they "rag-rolled" with crinkled plastic over a silver base - gorgeous...
If you have no objections could I pm for a jpg...?
Sure.
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That fin is purdy. Even on a Fender!
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That fin is purdy. Even on a Fender!
The only things "Fender" on that bass are the pickups and the neckplate. It's an ESP body with a Mighty Mite Neck that came with the decal already. I got the neck new really cheap on eBay. The decal was incidental. I just wanted a bound/block/rosewood Fender Jazz-style neck. The profile is much more Precision-like than Jazz. There is defintely a baseball bat quality you don't find with Jazzes. Since I got the neck so cheap and I hate to waste anything, and didn't have the time to flip it, I just used it.
The bass is probably 4-5 years old now and the finish was 1-2 year wait; the shop only did big batches of guitars and I had just missed the previous one. I wasn't in any hurry, and of all the finishes that came out of there, mine was, by far, the best. Most of the others were metalflake or total flat metallics. The finish shop was working with the local Fender dealer, who took new Squier guitars (mine may have been the only bass) and gave them custom finishes and hardware and sold them for the same price as Mexi-Fenders. They all sold very quickly, but it didn't prove as profitable as they hoped since the on-the fly-designed finshes ate up so much paint and were very easy to mess up.
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If three pickups is a new bass standard, for once, I'm ahead of the curve:
The Jazz pickups are in the standard position (or '60s) and the P is almost there, right?
I have a three pickup Jazz too:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4322198/bass%20008.jpg)
A Japanese Hosco alder body and a Ville Tyyster neck. Ville also did the finish and the pickups and put it all together. The neck pickup has it's own ouput but the bass can be used in mono too. It's a single coil, only in a mudbucker cover.:) Better balanced that way and sounds great with flats. The inspiration was this guy, though I didn't know then (2006) that Mr. Rauch's Fender had a P-pickup in the place of the front Jazz PU.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4322198/Kuva%20002.jpg)
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Been there, done that with the Gibson G-3:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/g3/20090605/07_pickupsnbridge.jpg)
Also I had for a short while a Danelectro Hodad:
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5234140097_ccd7e8ff38_b.jpg)
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Been there, done that with the Gibson G-3:
...which I would love to hear with a 'hog body. Maple really limited the tones to what I like to call "the JBL tone." IOW, what flavor of too bright would you like?
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my threesomes....
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac102/desantisjn/other%20brands%20-/cortbcox.jpg)
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac102/desantisjn/DP%20BASSES/dpzeb3.jpg)
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac102/desantisjn/DANOS/DANOHODAD2.jpg)
(http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac102/desantisjn/Gibson/gibg3-1.jpg)
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Also I had for a short while a Danelectro Hodad:
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5234140097_ccd7e8ff38_b.jpg)
Any comments about the Hodad? Evidently its performance didn't persuade you to hang on to it....
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My only 3 pup, 32" scale
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/STRATOBASTER/DSC02167.jpg)
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Any comments about the Hodad? Evidently its performance didn't persuade you to hang on to it....
I actually really like mine a lot. Best/ most versatile sounding of my 5 danos. A litlle noisey 60 cycle wise but manageable. Need to put some flats on it. still have the original RW from when i got it 8-10 years ago... But they only have a few hours on them..
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I actually really like mine a lot. Best/ most versatile sounding of my 5 danos. A litlle noisey 60 cycle wise but manageable. Need to put some flats on it. still have the original RW from when i got it 8-10 years ago... But they only have a few hours on them..
I think they're extremely cool looking.
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I've always wanted one of those Hodads. One turned up on the local Craigslist recently for $150. It was gone almost immediately. :sad:
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That FKV is the Quasimodo of the bass world...
There was/is that white Craig Gruber NR T'Bird with four pickups... anyone care to raise...? ;D
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Any comments about the Hodad? Evidently its performance didn't persuade you to hang on to it....
I really liked it, it had a nice neck on it (fairly wide but not too chunky) and having the full seven combinations available was fun. The tone control was a bit all or nothing, if I must offer a criticism. It was light, quite a lot of neck dive (only mitigated to a degree with a wide suede-y strap). I did a gig with it and it went well. Love the looks, that deep blue sparkle finish coupled with the lipstick pickups looked amazing in real life. Bridge was a bit dubious (being only screwed down with 1 screw and resting on another 2), but at least it can intonate strings individually and I didn't have any problems with it while I had it.
Contrary to what you might think I got rid of it because I had an opportunity to augment my Gibson collection soon after its arrival and I had to sell something to raise funds. This decision had little to do with its performance and more to do with the fact that it was the odd ball in an otherwise pretty focused collection. I wasn't willing to sell one of my Gibsons to get the other Gibson, I didn't want to part with my Epi Les Paul Standard because that's vaguely related to the Gibson theme, and my G&L L-2000 is the one bass I would keep if everything hit the skids as it's sensible, reliable and frankly bloody awesome.
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Very helpful! Thanks.
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The tone control was a bit all or nothing, if I must offer a criticism.
That would be a cheap and easy fix with a better quality pot and/or possibly a different value tone cap, pot value and taper.
I didn't want to part with my Epi Les Paul Standard because that's vaguely related to the Gibson theme,
What color is yours? I have a black one that got the last set of Fralin Thunderbuckers from RS Guitars that is rapidly becoming my favorite bass. Mine also seems to have a MUCH slimmer neck/headstock joint, as the three others I have ever held all had baseball bat necks on par with the worst Gibson ever put on their RD's, while mine has an almost Fender Jazz-like first position.
It must have been fate for that particular bass and myself because I bought her online from a Guitar Center in Chicago last year. I had never adjusted a three-point before, but the simplicity and aethestic of that big hunk of metal coupled with a kickass set of pickups, pots, caps and wiring and nice set of flatwounds make my Paul sing, sustain, and growl in ways a Fender style bass could never begin to replicate.
I had played and HATED the Bartolini equipped, Fender syle-bridged Gibson LP Studios and Customs when they were new, and had it not been for Eddie from the Supersuckers, I would have written off the entire line.
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The Jazz pickups are in the standard position (or '60s) and the P is almost there, right?
Sorry; I missed this question earlier. The Jazz routes are correct for 60's Jazz basses, like all the early ESP Jazz copies but the Precision route was homemade and slightly skewed. The excess cavity was filled/ straightened with auto-body filler and there are several clear coats of polyester as the underlying colors are VERY fragile, as anyone who has ever owned a G&L with a swirl finish can attest. I saw a matched Strat/Precision Fender Custom Shop pair in a similar bowling ball finish but with black and white with no gray when I worked for Guitar Center years ago and even they had a polyester 'candy shell.' IMO it does make the bass brighter overall, but she's more of a looker than a worker right now. ;)
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i never understood why a jazz bass didnt have a neck pickup as well for actual bass frequencies.3 pickups makes sense for a bit of tonal variety i guess.i tried one of those fret kings, i was a bit disapointed with the mudbucker type pickup on it,the idea is heading in the right direction though.i wonder when you start to lose tone through magnetic string pull-3 pickups 4?5? i know, lets have a split p pickup on 2 rails and call it a grapper.
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i never understood why a jazz bass didnt have a neck pickup as well for actual bass frequencies.3 pickups makes sense for a bit of tonal variety i guess.
The neck pickup (in my Jazz at least) works best own it's own (sounds like a Rickenbacker's neck PU soloed) or with all three on. With the bridge and neck it's boomy and honky, a bit like Ovation Magnum due to the PU locations but doesn't sound as good. Works with a pick-and-palm -style if you wanna make a good Lee Jackson (The Nice) impersonation.:)
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That would be a cheap and easy fix with a better quality pot and/or possibly a different value tone cap, pot value and taper.
I know, but that doesn't change the fact that it's how they appear on your doorstep in stock condition.
What color is yours? I have a black one that got the last set of Fralin Thunderbuckers from RS Guitars that is rapidly becoming my favorite bass. Mine also seems to have a MUCH slimmer neck joint, as the three others I have ever held all had baseball bat necks on par with the worst Gibson ever put on their RD's, while mine has an almost Fender Jazz-like first position.
It must have been fate for that particular bass and myself because I bought her online from a Guitar Center in Chicago last year. I had never adjusted a three-point before, but the simplicity and aethestic of that big hunk of metal coupled with a kickass set of pickups, pots, caps and wiring and nice set of flatwounds make my Paul sing, sustain, and growl in ways a Fender style bass could never begin to replicate.
I had played and HATED the Bartolini equipped, Fender syle-bridged Gibson LP Studios and Customs when they were new, and had it not been for Eddie from the Supersuckers, I would have written off the entire line.
My Epi was black with cream binding.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5233839441_99f3cf99e9_b.jpg)
Was? It had to go when I got my Guild B402-A. One in, one out. Now I really have nothing to trade, so I'm going to have to save up for my next one ;)
For what it's worth, I loved this bass, it had a chunky neck (which I like - Jazz necks feel like toys to me) and the fit and finish was excellent. Lovely flowerpot inlay on the headstock. I wasn't that impressed with the tone of the stock pickups so I gutted it and fitted EMG-HB pickups with an EMG-BQC control (3 band EQ with mid sweep). I also hated the fact that the Epi had no selector switch, so I fitted one. Drilling into a carved top, set neck instrument was an interesting challenge :)
I also dislike the 3 point bridge, but without major complicated surgery there wasn't much I could do about it.
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...which I would love to hear with a 'hog body. Maple really limited the tones to what I like to call "the JBL tone." IOW, what flavor of too bright would you like?
I think mine (1978) has an alder body.
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Does the Hodad have a 1 meg tone pot? That would explain the almost all or nothing effect.
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I know, but that doesn't change the fact that it's how they appear on your doorstep in stock condition.
No argument there. I tried them when they were new and didn't like them. The cheap hardware went hand-in-hand with their prices. I was never a tic-tac fan anyway.
I also hated the fact that the Epi had no selector switch, so I fitted one. Drilling into a carved top, set neck instrument was an interesting challenge :)
I also dislike the 3 point bridge, but without major complicated surgery there wasn't much I could do about it.
I have a selector on my TP 12'er and have found it superfluous. I like that the old standard basses lack one. I'm a fan of the three-point. Whomever owend my bass prior obviously did not understand how to adjust it or the neck. The minimal tweaking and ease and accuracy of adjustment required to get it in playing shape with proper intonation puts Fender-style bridges to shame, but it requires a little more thought. Mine arrived with a neck backbow and the bridge set much too high and pitched way too shallow. Loosening the trussrod and repitching the bridge went much easier than I thought it would.
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Does the Hodad have a 1 meg tone pot? That would explain the almost all or nothing effect.
It does - a 1Meg/100k stack pot. The most unusual pot values on a concentric I've come into contact with.
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I've read that vintage Danos have 1 meg tone pots too, at least some of them, and that it was done b/c the pickups were so bright.
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1 meg's would roll off less high end than 500 or 250K's.
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D'oh! You're right, of course. The 100k pot would roll off more.
My old 77 Tele Bass (humbucker edition) and the Tele Deluxe had 1 meg tone pots which rolled off less high end. Those had nearly an on/off switch effect. Not quite, though.
That still leaves me wondering about the Hodad.