MIDI Koa Godin Multiuke

No longer available.

It is a shame you are in the US. I would love this!

Kevs-the-name said:

It is a shame you are in the US. I would love this!

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Pay the difference in shipping ... no biggie.

Liquidayno said:

Plugged it in with my Boss GP-10 to test all the different sounds - THIS. UKE. SOUNDS. AMAZING!

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Sound sample?

I gather your electronics are an upgrade ... but how does it improve over the OEM stuff?

Liquidayno said:

I don't have sounds samples of this particular uke, but I have previously done this exact same mod to another Godin Multiuke, and there are several videos on youtube (meant more to show the variety of sounds, they aren't professional recordings at all):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_oBdtv3Rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=631DVoUUdts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLDZ3DbCSO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_TwTtGAgPA

What the mod is/does:

The stock RMC preamp is removed, and the RMC pickups are attached to a new custom 8-pin jack. You use the 8-pin cable to go to the new outboard preamp box, which is an upgraded preamp over the BMT. Better acoustic sound, as well as it sends a signal for each string to be processed separately via the 13-pin output on the preamp box. This can be connected to a Boss GP-10, Roland GR-55 or VG-99, or several other effects processors.

Acoustic and electric instrument modeling, alternate tunings, and synth and sound effects, as well as superior piezo signal EQ and processing are the result of this upgrade.

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How does one do alternative tunings ... I have a LR Baggs Venue DI, and for an Amp a Fishman Loudbox Artist.

Sounds really great ... will have to think on it ... not sure I am ready for it ... but it will give it some thought.

"it is likely that 99% of the UU members have no idea what MIDI is or what it is used for"

I think you're underestimating people.

sam13 said:

How does one do alternative tunings ... I have a LR Baggs Venue DI, and for an Amp a Fishman Loudbox Artist.

Sounds really great ... will have to think on it ... not sure I am ready for it ... but it will give it some thought.

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Hi Simon,

At the risk of repeating myself here in the forum, I have this previous explanation that I posted from another thread (quoted below), that might shed some light on WHAT exactly the RMC preamp does for you that is simply not available for ukulele in any form now, and why this is a very custom and very special instrument as the OP has upgraded it.

However, there is more to be said about this instrument offered here for sale...and no Liquidayno did not ask me to write this nor am I compensated as a shill for the sale, I am merely just trying to help out on what is a somewhat technical and rarely discussed topic here on UU, to help educate other folks like I always strive to, and have always done in the past, in any situation where my decades of experience might be helpful....

If I had the cash myself I would buy it in a heartbeat (but I am living at the poverty line right now), NOT for the ability to trigger other sounds with MIDI into a synthesizer or the computer or tablet or iPhone, but INSTEAD for feeding into notation software on the computer for the purpose of creating sheet music based upon the recognition of the ACTUAL notes that I am playing, and with the exact timing and everything of MY PLAYING, without my own brain and poor transcription skills getting the way.

For the purposes of ALTERNATE tunings, you would use software that can read the MIDI output (of which there are TONS) to re-map the notes you are playing into alternate pitches, say maybe down 6 or 7 semitones if you wanted to make a C6 tuned uke to play in G6 like a baritone (12 semitones is a full octave). Maybe you want to check out mandolin fifths tuning, and with the right software you can pitch shift each string individually - all been done before and YouTube has many demos, but you will have to look for things with 'MIDI GUITAR' since MIDI ukulele is not something you can buy premade from but maybe 2 manufacturers, if even that many.

Also, this RMC preamp would likely obviate the need for any other preamp, including such a high-end one like the LR Baggs or Fishman Aura, since this preamp is specifically designed for these exact piezo saddles for these saddle's electrical response (impedance) as well as EQ and gain structure.

Most other preamps are a crap-shoot unless their input stage is well matched to the output and near infinite impedance of the piezo saddles, with the exception being a preamp that allows for you to adjust the impedance of the input stage, such as the ART MP Project MPC, which is about $90, and thena fter that you are looking at something from Radial Engineering or WhisperOne-CloudLifter starting at about $400.

Quoted text below taken from http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...fect-for-Blackbird-or-other-RMC-equipped-uke:

Booli from thread linked above said:

... this is a preamp specially made for the very special RMC piezo pickup saddles, which are one saddle per string, which isolates the sound from each string as a discrete signal, as opposed to all other pickups for acoustic instruments, where the sound from all four strings are just mashed together.

Think of four singers each in a separate room, each with their own microphone, going into a different CHANNEL on the mixer, which is like these RMC pickups and what this preamp can do, vs. All four singers with their hot, smelly breath on each others faces into a single microphone, into a single CHANNEL on the mixer, which is like, every other piezo-type pickup on the planet.

The reason for this is because the preamp via it's 13-pin output, sends the audio signal of each string INDEPENDENTLY to a MIDI converter, which takes the PITCH it receives and converts it to MIDI signal so that you can PLAY ukulele, but have the SOUND of a piano, or any other instrument, and ALSO with the use of computer or iPad software, have the software transcribe your playing to TABS or even standard notation, in REALTIME, and in addition to ALL that, this Polydrive preamp and similar systems from Fishman, Roland and GraphTech are really awesome preamps and will sound like night and day improvements from nearly EVERY other preamp on the market.

No, I am not endorsed by RMC, and the seller here has no idea I am posting this message.

Just sharing what I know about this technology,

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and also

Booli from same thread as quoted above said:

...most ukes have a saddle that is a single piece of material, whereas the RMC piezo saddle pickups (and associated wiring) which are NOT listed by the seller here are actually FOUR INDIVIDUAL saddles, one per string and the signal from each is carried on a discrete pair of wires for each saddle pickup, thus isolating the sound of each string.

One such use of these saddles can be seen in the Godin MultiUke below, picture taken from the Sweetwater web site:



Blackbird used to offer the RMC piezo saddle pickups as an upgrade for the Carbon Fiber BTU ukulele, but as of now I do not see it on the Blackbird web site, maybe it is a 'special order' item.

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Also - to the OP - it might help your sale if you post a video with a sound sample of JUST the uke sound coming out of the preamp, and not all the synthy sounds, since it that would serve the many many UU folks who will never use MIDI, and only use the preamp as a fine high-end acoustic preamp.

Otherwise, nobody here on UU, but you and I, can understand why this preamp on it's own WITHOUT all the MIDI connections is still one of the best preamps money can buy for use with an instrument that has the individual RMC piezo saddles - just a thought - no worries if not.

Also, for those folks that do not really know what 'MIDI' is all about, here are some links for getting the concepts under your belt:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI
https://www.midi.org/

I should mention that the RMC preamp has a 13-pin output cable for MIDI connection, and to do anything with MIDI, you then need a MIDI convertor, which reads the pitches of each note PLAYED and in REALTIME and converts it to packet of digital MIDI data, which can be connected to either USB for the computer, or to another piece of equipment like a synthesizer keyboard, digital piano or sound module using a standard 5-pin DIN cable.

Using the 'CCK' or 'USB Camera Connection Kit' from Apple, you can then takes this USB signal and route it directly into your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, etc) or with a dedicated iOS MIDI interface such as the 'iRig MIDI' which can take the same 5-pin DIN cable, which was standard for connection of MIDI devices long before USB or Firewire was created.

So, these 'MIDI CONVERTER' boxes - what are they - how much do they cost - lots of info here:

http://www.midiguitar.net/

but it is not current with all the LATEST hardware possible, and lately it seems like the Roland VG and GR hardware (larger 5-pedal effects-pedal type units) are the latest for even using with a nylon stringed instrument such as a uke or classical guitar, all of the other setups use custom saddles for a strat or tele guitar (like GraphTech) or a hexaphonic pickup that ONLY works with steel strings, made by Fishman (TriplePlay) or Roland (GK-3).

RMC and GraphTech are the ONLY companies that make piezo saddles for use with MIDI that I know of, but there may be more.

Hope this helps !

-Booli :music:

Liquidayno said:

Thanks Booli, a ton of useful info you shared with everyone!

The simple version: This uke can be used as a standard acoustic-electric ukulele, with world class amplified tone. Or, it can be used to make all sorts of sounds, record individual strings, do digital notation, etc. Or, you can do both at the same time.

An incredible uke for those that like to experiment with sounds.

I'd LOVE to sell it by this weekend - make an offer!

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You're most welcome.

I'm just trying to help out, since most folks might not realize the full potential of this instrument here.

Best of luck on finding a new home for it! :music:

Booli said:

You're most welcome.

I'm just trying to help out, since most folks might not realize the full potential of this instrument here.

Best of luck on finding a new home for it! :music:

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Many thanks, Brother Booli. This was a tremendous post you provided.

I have had a busy couple of days and need to sift through it.

Cheers.

Hi,

A couple of questions. What is the power source for the outboard preamp? Can it be used with an external adapter like the ones guitar effect pedals use? Also, are the control slots on the face of the Godin empty now?

Thanks!