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TriTone
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[*] posted on 1-21-2011 at 07:35 PM
Godin MultiOud


Has anyone played or heard these in person yet?

http://www.godinguitars.com/godinmultioudp.htm

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[*] posted on 1-21-2011 at 08:10 PM


http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=11452
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[*] posted on 1-21-2011 at 09:09 PM


Thanks and sorry. I actually did a search for Godin in the forums and that did not come up for me for some reason. Can I delete this thread somehow?
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[*] posted on 1-30-2011 at 07:51 PM


Well I have had one for about three days now and find it very hard to put down.

I am loving it- I am talking about the multi-oud not to be confused with the glissentar (did not like it) and the fretless classical guitar (have not tried it).

I am going to write a a full review for you shortly (early this coming week) and post it here.

It short I think there are some wonderful innovations and so far I thoroughly enjoy playing it. I also have a Godin multiac nylon and the LG-SA electric guitar . I think they are all exceptional instruments.

http://www.jaffaroad.com
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[*] posted on 1-31-2011 at 09:44 PM


Thanks Jaffa. I look forward to your review. How did you get yours so quick? I am still waiting on my dealer to get back to me with a price and arrival date?
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[*] posted on 2-7-2011 at 09:01 PM


Hey TriTone

I am not sure when they will be available, I got mine through an endorsement deal with the Godin Guitar Company.
see
http://jaffaroadmusic.squarespace.com/news/

I hope you can get one soon.

I started writing the review.

Here is the summary - I love it! The only thing I dont like about it is that it does not look like an oud, *but it does look pretty cool) just does not look like an oud. Does not have any Middle-Eastern visual aesthetic. As a musical isntrument it is great
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[*] posted on 2-7-2011 at 10:49 PM


I don't want to be too critical of Godin's design, but I've listened carefully to the available examples, and for some reason the timbre seems more nasal and inert than even on "toilet seat" electric ouds, not to speak of standard acoustic ouds with soundboard-mounted piezos. It's as if it lacked doubled courses (which obviously it does not), or only the bridge played any role in the sound. Is this strictly a matter of the player's choice at the controls, or does the instrument have this specific "dry personality"?
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[*] posted on 2-20-2011 at 09:40 PM


Does anyone can tell us the full weight of the instrument?
Also if it comes in seven courses?
and is it included hardshel case?
Thank you all




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[*] posted on 3-13-2011 at 05:53 PM


Hi

I have finally gotten around to writing and publishing my review of the Godin Multi-Oud

If you go to http://www.jaffaroad.com and click on the "blog" tab in the top right corner under the banner then you will get there.

Feedback welcome.

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[*] posted on 3-13-2011 at 09:01 PM


Thanks for taking the time to post that review and to share your videos. Very helpful blog/review! Enjoy your multi oud in good health!
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[*] posted on 3-14-2011 at 06:44 AM


Hello my friend,
First of all I would like to thank you for the report,
I would like to ask you if its is possible the weight of the instrument.
Nowhere it is officially announced.
the thickness of the fingerboard also?You know,for an oud player the neck of the guitar thickness is not the best possible...;)
and also I would like to ask you if you did play the instrument with your amplifier with the equaliser to be all flat,and what type of amplifier did you used?What Brand ,or model,so we can have an idea about the sound that would be the most probable.
Thank you for your time
Warmest Regards
Spyros




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[*] posted on 3-14-2011 at 09:09 AM


Hi Spyros

I will try to make some measurements and post this week. (weight and neck thickness)

The amp used in the three videos:

Live performance with the band = SWR California Blond.
I dont remember the EQ settings but I probably tweaked it to get a good sound.
When ever I plug an oud into am amp I always start by rolling off the mids, that is usually my starting point.

The acoustic sound-- in the home studio is just straight into my DAW with a rode Nt2a microphone.

The amplified sound --the rode nt2a is a few feet back from the amp and the amp is set flat. The amp used is a Yorkville KB 50 (it only has a two band EQ - bass and treble) . I also have a Fishman loudbox 100 which is a better amp for this sort of thing, but it was not in the studio when I was shooting the video and I figured it would be good to hear the oud through a decent but less ideal amplifier.

My guess is that it will sound great through any of the common acoustic guitar amps.
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[*] posted on 3-14-2011 at 09:23 AM


Thank you my friend for your quick response,
Warmest Regards
Spyros




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[*] posted on 5-17-2011 at 08:15 PM


Hi,

I was invited today by a Godin sales rep in NYC to try out the Multioud and give him my comments/feedback.

I was happy to do it especially since I was curious about the instrument, especially how it sounds and plays.

As it is now, I would not recommend it, though I think they are on to a pretty good start. It seems that Godin is very open to suggestions and perhaps with some needed improvements it will come closer to an acoustic oud sound and feel. I think if they can achieve this, it will be a viable option for oud players who work in generally loud circumstances. The price of around $1500 including a case seems reasonable, as long as they work on the design some more.

What I liked:

- Cutaway
- Onboard preamp w/ lots of cool features - tone seems to stay consistent even as you turn up the volume
- Tuning machines worked pretty well
- Low action
- Will come with a hard case

What I didn't like:

- Treble strings very tinny/piercing, like a floating bridge oud - did not sound natural to me
- High tension on all the strings, even playing near the nut (even though the action is low)
- Tuning machines are spaced much too closely together, uncomfortable to use
- Suggested tuning was strange, but then I realized they were using Daddario strings and they simply believed the wrong labeling of the strings on Daddario's packaging to be correct. You could tune it in either of the standard tunings without any problems.
- VERY heavy - the weight is manageable with a good strap, but will be very noticeable to most oud players
- The pickup and onboard preamp, regardless of the combination of settings used, do not really sound like an oud, at least not like a fixed bridge oud. They need to figure out how to lower the string tension significantly.
- The finish of the Multioud is very plasticky. I suggested they use a more natural finish (which they do on some of their guitars) to highlight the wood grains, which I think would be more enticing to an oud player.

These are my comments regarding the Godin Multioud. It was a pleasure to try it out, and I hope they take my feedback along with what they are hearing from other players to improve on their design. At the moment, my hollow body electric oud by Drew Bradshaw with a simple K&K pickup installed sounds much more like an oud, especially with some extra EQ.

:)


Thanks,

Mavrothi




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[*] posted on 5-17-2011 at 08:42 PM


Thanks for the heads up Mav. much as I expected, the weight of the Godin guitar I tried was really excessive too, imo.

What eq are you using with your k&k equipped oud? (I used a k&k pre, but sold it, wasn't impressed.)

For those that may not know, the tuning on the D'addario's is written as in Turkish notation, a 4th higher than actual pitch.
No wonder it was tight.




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[*] posted on 5-17-2011 at 08:51 PM


Hi,

I did tune the strings down to EABead at the start, so it was not the tuning that made the high tension. It's the design - the bridge is probably causing the tension.

For EQ on my Bradshaw hollow body I've been using a Fishman preamp, b/c I already own it. I've found that with my placement of the pickup inside, I need to cut the mids a little to balance the sound. There are a bunch EQ pedals out there that would work fine too.

I also have not been impressed with the K&K preamp I own - it does not seem user friendly at all, and the sound is not that impressive either, in my opinion.

Thanks,

Mavrothi




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[*] posted on 5-18-2011 at 04:04 AM


Thanks bro;).
So my suspitions about the weight were true.3,2 Kg??????
Thanks again,I hope to see you soon.
Spyros




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[*] posted on 6-13-2011 at 04:22 AM


Hi everybody,

interesting instrument, though there are a few things which make me shudder ;)

I especially don't like the headstock, which reminds me of a mandolin ... further thoughts about this later.

First I would like to thank Aaron (Jaffa Road) for his detailled review and videos ... I saw, he made a further one, which can be found HERE.

I think in this video this instrument sounds very oud-like, but I still find the bass response relatively week compared to a good arabic oud. But this might be caused by the microphones used. In my search for a good oud recording mic, I found the AKG C3000 to be the only large diaphragm condenser below 500€ being able to capture the warm bass of my rosewood oud naturally. But that's a different story ;)

I was very interested in this Multioud, because I have a Godin A5 fretless bass, which I really love. So I found especially Mav's critique very interesting and would like to find out more about his findings:

Quote: Originally posted by mavrothis  

What I didn't like:

- Treble strings very tinny/piercing, like a floating bridge oud - did not sound natural to me
- High tension on all the strings, even playing near the nut (even though the action is low)


I'd like to discuss this further.

Mav, you reported, that you used EABead tuning. Might it be, that the tension might be more comfortable with standard CFAdgc arabic tuning? I ask, because I use this tuning with D'Addario strings on my 58,5cm scale arabic oud and the tension is low.
How high is the tension compared to a Turkish oud? I never had the chance to play Turkish tuning. But theoretically using the higher tuning with the same D'Addarios should yield to much higher tension.

You also guessed, that the high tension might be caused by the bridge. I don't think so and ask myself, if the headstock might cause it. What do the others think? Might the angle of a standard pegbox compared to this flat headstock's angle play a role?

Regarding the trebble string's sound ... this might be caused by the ebony saddle in the bridge. Maybe it would have been a better choice by Godin to use a horn saddle? A further thought leads to the nut ... I expect it to be a Tusq nut as on my Godin bass. Might a bone nut improve the trebble sound?
Or maybe different strings would make a big difference? This idea is inspired by reports I read about the Glissentar, where some guitarists reported, that Thomastik-Infeld flatwound classic guitar strings made a big improvement to it's sound and playability.

I would be happy, if Aaron could tell us more about his experience with this instrument ... do you find the tension also very high? Which tuning did you use? And what do you think about my suspicion, that the bass response is sub-optimally captured by the mics in your videos?

PS: I found a further video with very good sound quality ... HERE ... it's from the music trade fair Frankfurt 2011. Don't get shocked, only the first 20 seconds are in German, the rest in English and the playing starts at 2:35.




Greetings from Germany

Chris
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[*] posted on 6-13-2011 at 07:29 AM


Hi, Chris,
What is your current setup as regards pickups and preamps? I just played a couple of gigs with my Sukar 212 fitted with the K&K classic dual head placed as per their recommendation. I fed the signal into a Roland ME-25 multi effects pedal, then into a submixer nearby then into the big house PA, and it was very usable, with feedback manageable by programming the ME-25 and using the pedal for volume. I actually loved using guitar type effects on the oud.
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[*] posted on 6-13-2011 at 07:40 AM


Hi Tony!

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud  
What is your current setup as regards pickups and preamps?


I still record with the AKG C3000 directly attached to my Tascam US-122 MkII audio interface. I use Reaper as my DAW with build-in effects mainly. For my Les Paul and the Godin bass I also use a Pocket Pod combined with a good heaphone for practicing.

Quote:
I actually loved using guitar type effects on the oud.


I very much like using delay for a special effect, which is called dotted 1/8th as far as I remember ... others just call it Trance Guitar ... can you imagine, how this would sound on oud :D
I developed a special guitar style in the late 80ies based on this effect. The guitarist of U2 got famous for using such effects too.

You might remember the MP3 I sent you last years, where combined this effect with a tapping technique on my bass.

Chorus is sometimes also a nice effect for the oud. If I get my crazy 5 minutes I also like distortion :D

I hope I don't get stoned by the traditionalists ;) ... no offence intended!




Greetings from Germany

Chris
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[*] posted on 10-18-2011 at 07:31 PM


Hi
I have been away from the forum for some time - I hope everyone is well.

Here is a video shot in May of me performing an oud solo with Jaffa Road in the context of jazz/middleeastern fusion.

Here you can get an idea of what the multioud sounds like on a medium size rock and roll stage (Center Stage in Atlanta GA)

The DI was plugged into a small Genz Ben Acoustic guitar amp AND the body of the oud was miced with a SDM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Iu1TTlKT74&feature=related


Aymara you asked "I would be happy, if Aaron could tell us more about his experience with this instrument ... do you find the tension also very high? Which tuning did you use? And what do you think about my suspicion, that the bass response is sub-optimally captured by the mics in your videos?"

I really like the tension /feel of this instrument I dont find it high, but I tune ARabic style with a low C. I have tried tuning it up a tone just to see what it sounds like and it has a different, nice bright tone when tuned up.

I think the bass response is captured - this instrument has less bass response than a traditional Arabic oud. I think it makes it sound different, not better or worse - just different and I like it. I think it sounds like something in between an Arabic oud and a Bashir oud, slightly less loud.
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[*] posted on 10-19-2011 at 05:19 AM


Whilst it is a delightful performance, I think the link you posted was wrong.

Could it be this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EaW-b9s81o

Regards,

Greg
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[*] posted on 10-19-2011 at 09:37 AM


Quote: Originally posted by Jaffa Road  
I really like the tension /feel of this instrument I dont find it high, but I tune ARabic style with a low C.


Good to know ... I was a bit worried, that it might have a too low tension, when tuned down to arabic C tuning.

Quote:

I think it sounds like something in between an Arabic oud and a Bashir oud, slightly less loud.


Interesting comparison, thanks.

BTW ... nice performance in the video.




Greetings from Germany

Chris
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[*] posted on 10-19-2011 at 06:04 PM


Thanks Greg, I must have had two windows open and copied the wrong link.
You found the right one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EaW-b9s81o

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[*] posted on 10-20-2011 at 01:44 AM


Quote: Originally posted by Aymara  
Quote: Originally posted by Jaffa Road  
I really like the tension /feel of this instrument I dont find it high, but I tune ARabic style with a low C.


"Good to know ... I was a bit worried, that it might have a too low tension, when tuned down to arabic C tuning."


I just got one in today. I will try it out comprehensively and if I don't like it I should be able to return it (which is why I decided to get it first over other makes).

I will spend some good time with it tweaking it as much as I can to my liking before I make any final conclusions. Regarding tension, I think it is good at Turkish pitch (it is Turkish scaled 585mm). I usually will need it at Arabic pitch and here the included strings (don't know what brand they are) were acceptable for the wound strings but too loose for the plain nylon higher strings (g & c).

So far, it seems there is a little bit lower volume of the nylon higher strings compared to the wound ones (admittedly this is not unusual in my experience of some Turkish ouds tuned down to Arabic), but when tuned down to Arabic pitch this volume difference was made more apparent and makes me definitely want to use higher tension strings for those 2 courses.

I'm going to replace the strings with Aquila Arabic CFadgc "normal" tension (supposedly regarded actually as high tension) and see how it feels. I have had some success doing this on Turkish ouds when needing them to be at Arabic pitch. It was not perfect but close enough to be acceptable for me.

By the way, I've noticed many Turkish recordings, that include an oud (oh nice rhyme there :applause: ), are also playing at "Arabic" pitch. Hmmm... I wonder how they are managing it?

I will comment on the tone later after I have explored all the preamp eq possibilities (you can eq both the pickup sound and the image sound), my own outboard eq, and using preferred strings (after being worn in. I don't like the new string sound, I prefer a mellow warm tone).

I'll be happy to post my recordings, made directly from the output of the instrument, when I have arrived at my best result. This may be a few weeks at least because the strings need to be worn in I figure.







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