Re-balancing Godin guitar

[Jazzer]

I have a Godin Multiac guitar that is head-heavy.

Would anyone here have ideas on how I can re-balance it so that when
standing, it won't pull down on the head side?

I wouldn't want to add any weight to the body side to achieve this.

TIA

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[tomb...@jhu.edu]

On Sep 20, 5:39 pm, Jazzer <Jaz...@Ether.com> wrote:
> I have a Godin Multiac guitar that is head-heavy.
>
> Would anyone here have ideas on how I can re-balance it so that when
> standing, it won't pull down on the head side?
>
> I wouldn't want to add any weight to the body side to achieve this.

The traditional solution has always been to tie your strap to the
headstock.

[Jazzer]

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:06:28 -0700, "tomb...@jhu.edu"
<tomb...@jhu.edu> wrote:
>
>The traditional solution has always been to tie your strap to the
>headstock.

Hey thanks Tom, that's a pretty cool idea.
Don't know why I hadn't thought of it before.

Ric

[rpjazz...@gmail.com]

For a minor imbalance, I use a suede, rough-side-down strap. It
provides enough friction to hold the thing and I don't really feel it.

[Mark Guest]

Can you re-orient the strap button to make it balance better?

All the best,

Mark Guest
Jazz Guitar
www.myspace.com/markguest

"It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play."
(Dizzy Gillespie)

[Jazzer]

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:29:22 -0700, rpjazz...@gmail.com wrote:

>For a minor imbalance, I use a suede, rough-side-down strap. It
>provides enough friction to hold the thing and I don't really feel it.

Yeah, I've always used suede straps, rough-side-down, because they
felt better than the cheaper ones.
But in this case, it's not doing the trick.

[Jazzer]

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:31:32 -0000, Mark Guest
<Mark.C...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Can you re-orient the strap button to make it balance better?

Thanks Mark, another great idea. Not sure why I didn't think of
this one either.
I re-positioned the strap button on an acoustic guitar a year or so
ago and it made a huge difference to the balance.

I was about to resort to some pretty radical guitar surgery (like cut
off part of the headstock) but I'm glad I held off.

I see an area where the neck meets the body that might help with the
balance. Am I looking at the right place?
Right now the button is on the upper half of the body about three
inches from the centre spot I mentioned.

Ric

[sheets]

You can try mounting the strap button at the neck heel. That will put
more of the guitar's weight behind the strap. Not sure if that'll be
enough. I noticed on a pair of Eastman El Rey guitars recently that
the one with the strap button in the traditional position (les paul)
was neck heavy while the one with the button below the neck heel was
balanced.

[rpjazz...@gmail.com]

I have a Godin Multiac Nylon. It sounds great, but I don't like the
ergonomics.

It has the bridge located in the middle of a big body (not so near the
end pin). That makes the nut, which is 25.5. inches to the left, seem
pretty far away.

At the same time, it has a short lower bout. So, when I'm sitting with
the guitar, if I shift it to the left (so I can reach the first fret
more easily), the whole thing sometimes slips off my lap. So, I have
to play with a strap, sitting down.

[Tone]

On Sep 20, 9:48 pm, Jazzer <Jaz...@Ether.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:31:32 -0000, Mark Guest
>

> <Mark.C.Gu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Can you re-orient the strap button to make it balance better?
>
> Thanks Mark, another great idea. Not sure why I didn't think of
> this one either.
> I re-positioned the strap button on an acoustic guitar a year or so
> ago and it made a huge difference to the balance.
>
> I was about to resort to some pretty radical guitar surgery (like cut
> off part of the headstock) but I'm glad I held off.
>
> I see an area where the neck meets the body that might help with the
> balance. Am I looking at the right place?
> Right now the button is on the upper half of the body about three
> inches from the centre spot I mentioned.

A guitar tech recommended duct taping it to the spot where you think
its going to work before actually doing the deed. Measure three
times, cut once, type of thing...

I played one of those D'angelico Excels the other day and that big 'ol
head stock may look pretty but that guitar sure was a dive bomber.

[Jazzer]

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:44:30 -0000, Mark Guest
<Mark.C...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hi Ric,
>
>Not sure where the "right" spot would be. I usually find the neck heel
>to be a good spot, but I've been told that it can weaken the neck
>joint. My L5 has the button on the bottom of the curve of the neck,
>higher than the neck joint. Seems like it should get in the way of
>upper neck playing, but it's not been noticeable.

Just a follow-up to my post.

Thanks to the suggestions here I had good success in re-balancing my
Godin!

It's funny because my mind had been locked into re-balancing by
adding/removing weight rather than changing the balancing point (ie.
where the strap was connected).

I re-located the strap button to the heel of the neck and that did the
trick.
I had one more operation to perform though before I was finished.

A few months ago in my effort to re-balance, I had stuffed a heavy
piece of rubber (a piece from a keyboard wrist support) into the
cavity on the back of the body. It helped quite a bit, but it was
still neck heavy and heavier in general of course. Also the acoustic
sound had been deadened.

So I removed this piece of rubber and I was back in business.
Thank goodness it was still balancing!

[sheets]

told ya!

[tomb...@jhu.edu]

On Sep 24, 9:12 pm, Jazzer <Jaz...@Ether.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:44:30 -0000, Mark Guest
>

> <Mark.C.Gu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Hi Ric,
>
> >Not sure where the "right" spot would be. I usually find the neck heel
> >to be a good spot, but I've been told that it can weaken the neck
> >joint. My L5 has the button on the bottom of the curve of the neck,
> >higher than the neck joint. Seems like it should get in the way of
> >upper neck playing, but it's not been noticeable.
>
> Just a follow-up to my post.
>
> Thanks to the suggestions here I had good success in re-balancing my
> Godin!
>
> It's funny because my mind had been locked into re-balancing by
> adding/removing weight rather than changing the balancing point (ie.
> where the strap was connected).
>
> I re-located the strap button to the heel of the neck and that did the
> trick.

You have to wonder why Godin did not do that at the factory before
they shipped the guitar out.

[Jazzer]

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:07:44 -0700, "tomb...@jhu.edu"
<tomb...@jhu.edu> wrote:
>> I re-located the strap button to the heel of the neck and that did the
>> trick.
>
>
>You have to wonder why Godin did not do that at the factory before
>they shipped the guitar out.

Exactly!

This whole exercise got me thinking about all those unbalanced
guitars that I try out at music stores.

Obviously the manufacturer's priorities are a bit skewed.

In the last few years, I've been taking my trusty guitar strap to
music stores and trying on a guitar before actually playing it.
If it didn't balance I usually wouldn't even attempt to play it. I'd
just hang it back up on the wall.

But now I'll have to take a closer look at the guitar. I'll have to
see where the strap button is located and what its re-balancing
potential might be.

I used to think the guitars were inherently deficient (head heavy),
but many may just have fallen prey to poor strap button positioning.

[sheets]

On Sep 25, 1:07 pm, "tombr...@jhu.edu" <tombr...@jhu.edu> wrote:

> You have to wonder why Godin did not do that at the factory before
> they shipped the guitar out.

They're not the only ones. Many heritage and prs hollowbody series
guitars have the same issue as does my Eastman El Rey but I added a
strap button at the neck heel which solved the problem.