Review: Godin Freeway SA

Started by Rhcole, April 16, 2015, 05:29:26 PM

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Rhcole

I have been in the market recently for a good guitar that could mount both the Fishman Triple Play (FTP) and provide a 13 pin output to drive Roland V-Guitar products. I have an excellent guitar already that fills that need EXCEPT for playing comfort when seated. I prefer to play sitting down and have found that some guitar shapes and finishes work better for seated playing than others.

Because I already have a number of fine guitars, I wanted to pay less, not more for this guitar. The Roland-ready Strat was out because it wouldn't leave room to mount the FTP. A quick survey of the budget end of 13 pin guitars caused me to consider the Godin Freeway SA as an option. It uses the piezo Ghost system which I am quite familiar with for 13 pin access, and also appeared to have enough room to mount the FTP. As an aside, if you have never played a guitar with BOTH 13 pin access AND the Fishman Triple Play, I will simply tell you that the combined system is less awkward than it sounds and is stupendously powerful if you have the boxes available to plug both systems in. Highly recommended.

Anyway, the net is that I bought a Freeway SA in Pearl Black. I chose this color because the FTP in black appears to be an extension of the guitar, not an add-on when mounted. Visually, they look good together. The guitar is heavy, which is a Godin solid body characteristic. I have owned an LGXT and the Godin Jazz, and even the Jazz was heavier than expected.

The Freeway has a 25 1/2" scale and physically resembles a Strat with a slightly pointier upper bout. The neck is somewhat thin and slightly wide at the fingerboard. It has dual humbuckers at the neck and bridge with a single coil in the middle. It uses a 5-way switch to select combinations.

The first guitar I bought showed up with a fretting problem on the high E string that caused the string to pop off of the neck in certain fret positions. Back it went! I bought from a reputable vendor (Sweetwater) who took it back with no problems and confirmed the issue. In the meantime, I bought a second one from another vendor with slightly less stellar but adequate support and- it showed up with a similar problem! However, it wasn't quite as pronounced, but it also had a buzz on the 2nd string when played open. Based on two instruments, I can say that the setup and finish on this model is definitely at the "budget" level!

But, I saved about $65 on my second purchase over my first guitar, so rather than send it back (2nd vendor wouldn't pay for return shipping), took it to a superb luthier in N. CA for correction who reset the neck, fixed the buzz, and adjusted the slightly high action for $50. Sweet! It's now a great-playing guitar.

The pickups are good, if a bit vanilla. I LIKE vanilla in a V-guitar, because it can blend in so well with COSM models. The pickups have good output and well-rounded tone. The humbucker single coil humbucker array works well and sounds great.

The Ghost system is dead quiet in this guitar, in fact I turned noise suppression off in the GP-10- there's nothing to suppress. I found that the system sounds better than my other Ghost system guitar for many modeled guitars, but has a more brittle and percussive nylon string emulation. Beats me. Synth tracking via 13 pin is virtually identical to my other Ghost guitar, which is identical to my (former) GK-3 setup. Good all around.

The FTP mounted fine, EXCEPT that super-low action hits the FTP pickup even if mounted in it's lowest position. I don't mind, because it accommodated medium low action, which is fine by me. FTP worked brilliantly through my Blofeld hardware synth, what a combo!

The only other budget guitar compromise that I noticed was the tuners, which are clearly low-end products.

CONCLUSION- I'm thrilled to now have a great guitar for a low price. Here's the deal- Godin's setup is sloppy on this guitar. But, my guitar tech shrugged and said that it could be made to play great in a few minutes. The pickups are good, the finish is good, it looks good and sounds great. I like it.

You can see John McLaughlin playing a Freeway SA in videos on Youtube. I'm sure HIS tech got it setup right as well. Consider it to be a diamond-in-the-rough and have fun.

BTW if you like this review, let me know or feel free to comment. Always nice to get feedback.






jerrycali

got ny SA and customized it - sounds great and plays great -

Vade

Well I like it so thanks for the review. A couple of points... Did you need to do anything out of the ordinary to get the Ghost system tracking and performing well? I have a somewhat similar setup with a FTP on a 13 pin guitar and so any reports/recordings as to how you like to use the two together would be welcome. I'd love to see some pics of your guitar and rig if you feel inspired. Gratz and best of luck moving forward!
Drachen; Fender FTP Strat w/internal GK-3, Godin xtSA w/FTP, Boss GP-10, VoiceLive 3, Scarlett 18i8, ZBox IQ01, On-Lap 1502i, D:fine 4088, 4E Dual Axis Exp Pedal, VoiceSolo FX-150, Yamaha DXR 10, Gem. M2 Flute, Special 20 Harmonicas. Fender Deluxe Reverb Mahogany Cane.

https://soundcloud.com/vadie

Rhcole

Vade,

Thanks for responding. Other than setting sensitivities in the GP-10 and FTP, the Freeway worked immediately. I don't have any recordings of both the GP-10 and FTP, but it is the same functionality as a GR-55 except much more sonically powerful.

Spider

Quote from: Vade on April 17, 2015, 07:36:34 AM
Well I like it so thanks for the review. A couple of points... Did you need to do anything out of the ordinary to get the Ghost system tracking and performing well? I have a somewhat similar setup with a FTP on a 13 pin guitar and so any reports/recordings as to how you like to use the two together would be welcome. I'd love to see some pics of your guitar and rig if you feel inspired. Gratz and best of luck moving forward!

I have old xtSA (old RMC) and it works good with GP-10. I need only lower by -7...10 db Piezo Tone Low parameters.

gvidelock

QuoteThe only other budget guitar compromise that I noticed was the tuners, which are clearly low-end products.

I started taking my Freeway SA to practice (giving my GK-3 equipped Strat a break). Over the weekend I replaced the original tuners with Planet Wave locking tuners (the ones that cut the string). These tuners will work in the slightly thicker headstock of the Freeway.

I found that they are holding tuning better when I use the tremolo (which I have floating). I think they're a worthwhile (do-it-yourself) upgrade.
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Godin Spectrum SA
Godin Freeway SA
Fender Telecaster with Ghost and Hexpander
Fender Stratocaster with internal GK3 with Synth-Linx
Warmoth custom with internal GK3
Boss SY-1000
Roland GR-55
Roland GP-10
Katana 100W Head

modalmojo

Quote from: Rhcole on April 16, 2015, 05:29:26 PM

- snip -

You can see John McLaughlin playing a Freeway SA in videos on Youtube. I'm sure HIS tech got it setup right as well. Consider it to be a diamond-in-the-rough and have fun.

BTW if you like this review, let me know or feel free to comment. Always nice to get feedback.

Yes, John McLaughlin used Freeway SA for several years, for recording some of his great albums (e.g. Floating Point) and concert DVD (Live in Belgrade).  Freeway SA actually sounds like the Gibson Les Paul Standard John used with his last version of Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 80s.  I have one, without changing anything, just have the frets leveled, it plays and sounds great.