6feet7 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) Having just got my hands on a Godin Acoustibass I decided that what it needed was Fender Cabronita'ising to add to the LR Baggs piezo pickup system (basically to change it into a sort of Fender Japan A/E precision, of which I've had two. They were great but the Godin is a much better quality instrument IMO. First things first was to get a Fender Fideli'tron bridge pickup from the USA. Once the pickup arrived it was off to Simon Farmer at GUS Guitars for him to start the work. The photos are following this: 1 Machining custom perspex template for pickup 2 Routing pickup hole 3 Pickup hole 4 Test fitting pickup 5&6 Rout for Pickup volume pot 7 Drilling control plate for pot 8 Test fitting pot and knob 9 Machining Ebony thumb rail to fit around pickup Simon is sending off to Canada to get a special Graphtech jack which will allow me to have either piezo, magnetic, together into one amp or separate into different amps (with a stereo 'Y' lead). Because the volume pot is going where the piezo battery went, he'll be routing out a hole in the back of the bass for a flip opening battery compartment. I'm not bothering with a tone pot as I can dial in different tones for the piezo system instead. Edited March 21, 2015 by 6feet7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I have the very same bass... wouldn't be brave enough to do that! What was the deciding factor for pup placement and did you know what was under the top in that location before you started routing (what is it that gives it that 'resonator' sound)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Godin make some fantastic instruments. They contract build for other makers as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6feet7 Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) [quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1424283554' post='2694754'] I have the very same bass... wouldn't be brave enough to do that! What was the deciding factor for pup placement and did you know what was under the top in that location before you started routing (what is it that gives it that 'resonator' sound)? [/quote] Pickup placement - I left it up to Simon at GUS to find the 'sweetspot'. As it's basically a Precision I don't think it was too hard for him to work that bit out. If you take off the control plate you can see there is a centre block so he's just cutting into that (but thats another reason I went for the Fender Fideli'tron pickup. I didn't want anything too wide like a P or J pickup that would go into the acoustic hollow of the bass and from what I could see of the Gretsch and TV Jones pickups they had a bit of a dogear for screw placement which also made them wider. The Fender version was the narrowest pickup I could find. Edited March 21, 2015 by 6feet7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6feet7 Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) Just got this back from Simon at GUS Guitars. I think he's done a wonderful job. I've now got a bass that weighs only 6 pounds. Has piezo and magnetic pickups and looks (IMO) wonderful. Here's what Simon had to do with the electrics to make everything work: 'The mods to the electronics included installing a volume control for the magnetic pickup which incorporates a push/pull switch. In the down position the output to the 9 pin stereo jack is mono with a blend of magnetic and piezo pickups; pulled up it splits the signals which can be sent to separate amps via a Y cable. To allow the magnetic pickup signal to be blended with the Piezo pickup signal it was necessary to convert it to low impedance using a little EMG preamp, which was wired up to match the piezo output for volume. Both circuits share a common battery, which was installed in a flip-top box on the rear of the bass. With the new electronics and controls housed in the original cavity the installation has been kept quite discreet and the look of the bass as tidy and original as possible'. And here's some pictures: 1. Modded circuit board (taken before magnetic preamp install) 2. Thumb rail with additional pins for stability. 3,4,5 Completed bass Edited February 28, 2015 by 6feet7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Just seen your bass on ebay! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Godin-A4-LR-Baggs-electric-acoustic-lightweight-hybrid-bass-hard-case-MODDED/303004822118?epid=17027311638&hash=item468c7eaa66:g:pggAAOSwPWtcHQ9r:rk:37:pf:0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 18/02/2015 at 18:33, Kiwi said: Godin make some fantastic instruments. They contract build for other makers as well. I didn't know that - can you say who they build for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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