Godin MultiUke Review

haole

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Didn't think there would be a NUD in my future for a long time, but my folks surprised me with this baby for Christmas!

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Review time.

The gig bag

First thing I noticed was how nice the gig bag is. There's lots of padding and reinforcement, a little cushion for the neck with a velcro strap, a mesh outer pocket for strings and small items, and an enclosed inner pocket with a zipper. The sides are rigid and solid. The handle is soft. The shoulder strap and hardware are high quality. There's also a hard rubber piece on the very end so it can stand up on without getting scuffed, and even a little clear vinyl pocket with a button for your luggage tag. A gig bag with a $600 uke might sound like a cop-out, but honestly it's much better quality than the generic foam zip cases that have become the standard, and probably at least as durable.


Let's take a look at the uke itself. Superficial details first!

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I usually don't like this kind of sunburst on Gibsons and such, but it works on the MultiUke and it's got a nice warm appearance to it. The finish on the body is glossy and glasslike all over. There's some cream-colored binding around the whole body, which is roughly Telecaster-shaped. The top is spruce and well bookmatched. The most noticeable feature is the "Godin" logo on the upper bout right where the fretboard meets it. I could take it or leave it. The volume and tone control sliders blend in with the black sunburst finish. There's a little cut-out under the end of the fretboard so you can adjust the truss rod with the included hex key. The bridge is rosewood, with 4 individual saddles made of brass. More on that later.

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The back and sides are made of a single piece of chambered mahogany, which makes it solid in some parts and hollow in others. The finish is glossy and adds a nice redness. The body's nearly as deep as an acoustic tenor uke, and quite heavy. The back is contoured nicely, with a belly contour on the upper waist borrowed from Fender electric guitars. The body tapers in dramatically at the cutaway, making access to the upper frets easy. There are two plastic covers on the back hiding the electronic bits: a round one behind the volume and tone controls, and a rectangular one behind the bridge that houses the 9V battery. The plastic covers fit nicely with no rough edges, and the battery cover is spring-loaded and feels solid. There are two black strap pins. The input jack is off to the corner like an electric guitar as opposed to built into the endpin.

The mahogany neck is held on by three hex bolts. It has a very well-executed satin finish, which is VERY comfortable and fast-feeling. The rosewood fretboard has some nice grain, and the 19 frets are finished well with no sharp edges. There are white side dots at positions 5, 7, 10, 12, and 15, and the dots on the face of the fretboard are pearl-ish. The fretboard has a 24" radius, which doesn't really make any difference for me, but is uncommon outside of the custom price range. The nut width is 1.375". The neck profile is a happy medium; not too clunky but not too skinny either.

Headstock - Front

Headstock - Back
The headstock is a nice shape and size, so it doesn't look or feel off-balance. It looks like it's black and bound, but close up it's actually two pieces of veneer: a natural layer covered up with a slightly smaller layer that's finished in translucent black with some clear gloss over it. It's a nice touch, and Godin pulled it off really well. The script "Godin" logo looks better on the headstock than it does on the body. I'm still not sure how I feel about the "MultiUke" label on there. The headstock also reminds us that the uke was made in Canada, making it one of the only dedicated electric ukes made in North America for under $1k. It's nearly impossible to see the scarf joint on the headstock. The chrome open-back geared tuners are unbranded, but look like Grover Sta-Tites with some extra design flourish on the plates. They're good quality and work fine. The nut is made of Tusq, a synthetic material that approximates ivory.

The only issues I noticed with fit and finish are a little piece of red fuzz over the binding on the upper bout, and a tiny indentation in the gloss on the headstock at the bottom of the letter "d" in "Godin." Minor. I didn't notice them until today when I started the review. Otherwise, the build quality is excellent.

But how does it play and sound? And what about that crazy pickup system?

Picking it up, it's unexpectedly heavy. But the body feels nicely balanced and comfortable to hold. The neck is a joy. Everyone loves shiny, glossy finishes on their ukes, but I'm really glad that Godin went with a satin finish for the neck. It feels smooth and fast all the way up the neck, and doesn't get sticky after playing for a while. The frets feel bigger than those on the average uke, but they're comfortable and finished well. It came equipped with D'Addario T2 strings, which are a nice silvery-purple color and are on the thick side. I always liked these strings on my other ukes, and this one was set up for them, so they're staying. The action is right in the middle. Some might find it a little high, but it works.

The unplugged sound is surprisingly good. It isn't particularly loud, and you're probably not going to buy it for its unplugged sound, but it's got a nice voice all its own.

I was a little confused by the individual saddles because they aren't movable at all, and they're made of brass so they'd be tricky to re-shape. But with these strings the intonation is very good, so I'm not going to screw with it. If any issues develop if/when I change strings, I'm guessing that some nut work and truss rod adjustment will get around the non-adjustable saddles.

The real magic happens with this uke when it's plugged in. It's absolutely the best-sounding uke with a pickup I've ever heard. Even with a pretty inexpensive cable and an amp made for electric guitars, there's no noise to speak of. With all the controls in the middle, the MultiUke has a surprisingly warm, complex tone, without the tinniness common to most acoustic-electric ukes. Even with the treble maxed, it doesn't get too tinny or shrill. With the bass cranked all the way up, it got a little boomy and noisy through my small Marshall combo, but backing it off cleared it up without taking away too much low end. It's pretty easy to dial in settings that will give you an authentically uke-ish sound, so you can avoid sounding like a frustrated classical guitarist. Each string is properly balanced so chords sound full and rich. Sustain is very good for a nylon-stringed uke, especially once you add a little more gain. It's chambered so it does feed back a little when pushed, but honestly the feedback isn't significantly worse than a 335 or similar semi-hollow electric.

This is my first dedicated electric uke, so I just had to plug it into my 100-watt Marshall JCM2000 2x12 combo and crank it up. On the lead channel, it sings. Standing closer to the amp, a pleasant amount of feedback creeps in, almost giving leads a Santana-ish quality (with a little less sustain). A lot of acoustic-electric ukes have kind of a "hollow" sound to them when they're cranked up, but you can eliminate most of that by playing with the tone controls a little. The MultiUke takes very well to effects, and doesn't add its own noise to the signal.

Some folks have been complaining about the lack of midi support, but I don't miss it because I plan on making this sound like a uke as much as possible. :B

As of now, the MultiUke only comes in tenor size, and there are only three (all gloss) finish options: natural (cedar top), sunburst (spruce top), and figured koa. Hopefully Godin adds some more sizes, finishes, and trim options in the future.

Overall, I really love this uke. It's very well made, plays great, and sounds fantastic plugged in. Godin could have jumped on the uke bandwagon earlier and just scaled down its Multiac guitars, but they wisely did their homework and made sure that the MultiUke was something that uke players and guitar players alike would actually want to play. It's designed for live performance, so I'm going to have to overcome my crippling social anxiety and play this thing live soon enough!


Other electric-ish choices:

Ko'olau CE: Way more expensive (but they show up pretty cheap used); more options and trim levels; more of a chambered solidbody than a semi-acoustic like the Godin; much quieter unplugged for nearly silent practice; no onboard tone controls; Baggs pickup is good, but not as good as the Godin's for acoustic sound.

Pono CE: Similar to the Ko'olau, but with a MiSi; about the same price as the Godin, but made in Asia; more options and trim levels.

Fluke Solidbody: Sounds at least as good as the Pono or Ko'olau (in my opinion); made in the US; unconventional looks; a few wood options and scales to choose from.

Eleuke/Teton: Cheaper; made in Asia; build quality has been all over the place; electronics are okay, but can't produce a convincing acoustic sound; much quieter unplugged so you don't wake anyone up; headphone and mp3 compatibility; lots of colors and shapes; thinner solid body for easier travel.

Electrifying your favorite acoustic uke: Cheaper than buying a whole 'nother uke; still the same look and feel you're used to; if you only have one main uke this is your best bet. But if you want something built for live performance, the Godin is going to sound better plugged in than putting any pickup in your $3000 custom ukulele.
 
Thanks for the review.

I'm so jealous! (j/k) no but seriously that sunburst finish looks great. I also like the way that the controls seem to become invisible where the black part of the sunburst color is on the top.

I am in the process of saving up to get one of these, but I am having trouble deciding between the Koa top or the Sunburst top.

My intent is for both recording, and live performance. With the live performance, I'd like to be able to bring just the instrument and not have to mess with inline preamps, pedals or other gear, to an open-mic night, and be able to plug in and get a consistent sound each time.

MIDI would be awesome, but I care not for triggering synths, but instead for the ability to easily transcribe to notation from the MIDI input.

Maybe they will soon have a version 2.0 that has MIDI? They already have the technology in hand and pretty mature in their Multiac ACS guitar line, so I would think it would be easier than starting from scratch.

Do you know where your parents bought it from?

I know that HMS and Elderly include a setup before shipping but Sweetwater offers only an 'inspection' and for price of this instrument, I would hope that it is really close to perfect from Godin, as this aint your FirstAct or Lyons cheapo twang-banger that you can buy from Walmart.

While I am saving up, my Epi Les Paul Concert will have to tide me over.

Have you checked the intonation with a tuner? How close is it?

Since getting my Flea, and getting used to the better intonation, I am bothered with intonation that is off more than 10 cents, and I would hope that Godin would set this up properly, especially since the saddles are both custom, and fixed.

I am so happy for you!

Enjoy it.

-Booli
 
Thanks for reading!

If it was up to me, I probably would've picked the koa one, but the sunburst is growing on me. The koa is a little more money, though, and since most of the sound depends on the electronics, I can't imagine there's a drastic difference in sound.

The MultiUke really shines if you just want to plug it into an amp or PA directly with one cable and skip all the boxes and adapters. Everyone at an open mic cringes when the guy with the pedal board and the big preamp box and the power strip shows up and spends 15 minutes setting up and dialing in tones for two songs. Unless you're plugging into an absolutely terrible PA, you should be able to find a great sound with the MultiUke just by tweaking the tone sliders.

I didn't know you could use MIDI for generating music notation! Shows how much I know about music technology D: That seems pretty practical for composing, actually, and now I can see why people would want that capability in a good uke like this one. I wouldn't rule it out since Godin has been using the same electronics for many years in guitars with good results. The only time I ever heard a MIDI-capable uke was a video of a very talented jazz musician who chose to use his instrument for evil by making it sound like a cheesy synth flute and playing smooth jazz with it. That should be banned.

My folks actually found this uke at a local store called All Music. The intonation on mine is a couple of cents sharp on some of the upper frets, but I don't notice it. The intonation is better than my KoAloha and about on par with my Flea. Andrew at HMS posted a while back that sometimes these show up with some back-bow in the neck and need to have the truss rod loosened a little (maybe the trip from Quebec to Hawaii has something to do with it! Mine didn't travel nearly as far) but mine seems fine. I wouldn't be too worried about buying from a local place that doesn't do setups because the factory setup is good enough.

Hope you're able to get a MultiUke of your own! You'll love it.
 
Hi haole,

If it was up to me, I probably would've picked the koa one, but the sunburst is growing on me. The koa is a little more money, though, and since most of the sound depends on the electronics, I can't imagine there's a drastic difference in sound..

That's kinda what I figured. Part of the interest in the Koa for me was as a sort of homage to the tradition of an original ukulele. It makes me cringe when I see amplified ukes plugged into something with massive distortion, as I tend to be wanting a much more pure and clean sound from an instrument with nylon-style strings.

However, the sunburst tone reminds me a bit of the look of the instruments played by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jaco Pastorious (just 2 musicians I have respect for, among many)

The MultiUke really shines if you just want to plug it into an amp or PA directly with one cable and skip all the boxes and adapters.... you should be able to find a great sound with the MultiUke just by tweaking the tone sliders.

That's kinda what I'm hoping for, and the natural 'room' acoustics to provide the reverb, and let the PA guy worry about compression, etc.

Everyone at an open mic cringes when the guy with the pedal board and the big preamp box and the power strip shows up and spends 15 minutes setting up and dialing in tones for two songs. Unless you're plugging into an absolutely terrible PA

Once upon a time I was that guy, and did that ONE time, and never want to go through that again. Now the only pedal I use for anything is a Zoom MS100-BT, which is the size of a single pedal and lets you run 6 effects at once, and can run off 2 AA batteries, so once you set your tones at home and save them, you dont have to mess with it, so a portable setup if you need some sound massaging would probably be that and a DI box to send a balanced line to the PA and make the sound guy happy. If you used these minimal items, you could be all plugged together before you walk onto the stage and just plug in the XLR cable, place your items on the floor, and start playing in under a minute, while also be able to get off the stage quickly when you are done. There is also a pedal made by Korg called the Pandora STOMP which is similar with 6 effects, and adds a headphone jack so you can practice without an amp, and a USB connection to manage tones from your computer, but lacks the Bluetooth function for loading new tones from your iOS device like the Zoom unit.

I didn't know you could use MIDI for generating music notation! Shows how much I know about music technology D: That seems pretty practical for composing, actually, and now I can see why people would want that capability in a good uke like this one.

Yea, MIDI input, once captured has been able to generate notation at least since I've had access to the software ca. 1993 or so. Some examples are programs like Digital Performer or Finale', and ProTools and LogicPro can both render notation, but do not have as much editing capability of the notation itself as the other two programs.

Since I write music all the time, MIDI input from the uke would be a great help to getting the notation even close to what I am playing. I have use many different MIDI guitar systems over the years and they all either had less than perfect tracking, or were more a keyboard shaped like a guitar, with sort of flat push-buttons on the frets and did not FEEL like a guitar, and the MIDI capture required lots of tweaking after, so much so that it would have been quicker to scribble out the tabs to the song.

I wouldn't rule it out since Godin has been using the same electronics for many years in guitars with good results.

Yes, the Multiac ACS technology. Blackbird Guitars also has a nylon string guitar with a pickup system that has the RMC piezo saddles, and offers MIDI output as well.

The only time I ever heard a MIDI-capable uke was a video of a very talented jazz musician who chose to use his instrument for evil by making it sound like a cheesy synth flute and playing smooth jazz with it. That should be banned.

I too would call that evil. :)

The intonation on mine is a couple of cents sharp on some of the upper frets, but I don't notice it. The intonation is better than my KoAloha and about on par with my Flea. Andrew at HMS posted a while back that sometimes these show up with some back-bow in the neck and need to have the truss rod loosened a little (maybe the trip from Quebec to Hawaii has something to do with it! Mine didn't travel nearly as far) but mine seems fine. I wouldn't be too worried about buying from a local place that doesn't do setups because the factory setup is good enough.

I am glad to hear that the factory setup is good. I'm not yet too concerned with anything past the 12th fret, other than for showing off and doing harmonics where there are no frets, i.e., sound-hole area.

I think that Sam Ash in NYC is probably the closest place to me in NJ that might have a MultiUke in stock that I can play hands-on to confirm that this is 'the one'. I just might have to buy it right when I play it - ha ha :)!

If you don't mind, after you've played it for a month or so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it's been over time, both to play and things like how long the battery for the preamp lasts before you have to replace it.

-Booli
 
Congrats on a sweet uke - your folks wouldn't be looking to adopt a balding fifty-something dude, would they? :)

One word of caution about those individual saddles - those are actually four individual pickups and you don't want to go yankin' on them and such because on the Godin guitars that use the same kind of saddles they have a reputation for being a little fragile. They work fine in normal use but if you're one of those folks (as I am) that likes to tinker with stuff you need to be extra cautious in handling them when they don't have a string holding them down.

Other than that I agree that these are a really nice choice for someone who is looking to play plugged in a lot. I played one at UWC and it had really nice feel and action, good intonation, etc.

John
 
I adore mine and it has become my workhorse for the band. I plug it in, and it is always just, kinda, perfect. Sounds great, takes effects great, looks great, plays great.

The trials of gigging though - already dinged it in several places...
 
Thanks for the review. I'm up for adoption as well, just in case your folks are looking.

Got to play one this past trip to Mexico. Very nice, heavier than I expected, but no problemo.

Enjoy.
 
Sorry to drag up an old thread an revive it, but thanks for the review. It helped me choose a Godin for myself... but then I have no self-control...
 
This one here is my dream uke. I just wish they made a lefty...
 
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