Godin Radiator, SD, SDxt, Exit 22, LG User Manual

Radiator
SD
SDxt
Exit 22
LG
LG HMB

Performance Series

Congratulations and thank you for choosing a Godin
guitar. Each Godin guitar is meticulously crafted from
the finest materials to provide you with an instrument
worthy of a lifetime of music making.

Our goal with each Godin guitar is to find the perfect
balance between the finest traditions of guitar crafting,
the new design concepts that we are developing and
the integration of the latest developments in related
electronics. From the selection of the wood to the final
adjustments to the finished instrument, each Godin gui­tar is designed and built by people who love guitars.

Enjoy your new guitar.

General Guitar Stuff

Acoustics

Electric guitars are actually acoustic instruments. Perhaps
not particularly loud, but the point here is that if a solid
body guitar does not sound good un-plugged then it won't
be saved by a great set of pickups and a nice amp. There
are many factors that contribute to the un-plugged sound
of a solid body guitar but most of the response of the
instrument comes as a result of the wood used along with
fit and finish.

Godin guitars are made using only solid wood, guitars
made from plywood or particle-board tend to lack sustain
and can be somewhat muffled sounding. Here is a brief
list of some of the tone woods used in key parts of Godin
guitars.

Bodies

The bodies of the SD, SDxt and Radiators are made from
a blend of two tone-woods. Acenter of silver leaf maple
serves as an anchor for the neck and is flanked by poplar
sidepieces.
Exit 22 and LG bodies are made of mahogany.

Neck Fit/Pitch

The angle of the neck attachment—called pitch—has a
huge impact on sound, a slight tilt forward will cause the
guitar to sound boomy, a slight tilt backwards can make
the guitar sound tinny. Equally important is the fit of the

neck into the body. Godin guitars are renowned for tight-fit­ting neck attachments that support excellent neck/body
energy transfer and precise neck pitch.

Rock Maple Necks

There are many grades of maple available, rock maple is
the term often used to describe the particularly hard variety
of the wood that grows in colder climates. Rock maple
necks produce excellent sustain, stability and feel. Rock
maple necks also work well with either Rosewood or Maple
fingerboards.
Note: Arosewood fingerboard will emphasize a little more
mid-range and produce a more aggressive sound. Amaple
fingerboard will have the opposite effect and sound a little
more 'acoustic'. These are generalizations however, not
rules. Always choose your guitar based on feel, sound and
looks. Not what it’s made from.
Rock maple necks are used exclusively on the following
Godin models; SD, SDxt, Exit 22 and Radiator.

Mahogany Necks

Honduras Mahogany has a long history as the tone-wood
of choice for acoustic guitar necks. The same properties
that give mahogany its appeal in an acoustic guitar namely
a warm harmonically rich sound have a similar effect in a
solid body electric guitar.
Mahogany necks are used on the LG-SP90 and LG HMB
models.

Ergocut

Every Godin neck features an Ergocut shaping technique
which bevels the edges of the fingerboard and frets back in
towards the center of the fingerboard providing an
extremely comfortable worn-in feel.

Pickups

Godin pickups are designed to be dynamic, responsive and
transparent. Whether you play lightning fast country licks
or big fat power chords you'll appreciate the versatility of
these pickups as they were carefully chosen for their ability
to compliment the natural tones of the guitar.

* Throughout this manual we refer to humbucker and/or
single coil pickups as magnetics.

As mentioned earlier, great pickups won't save a bad
sounding guitar, but they are an essential component
nonetheless. On the following pages you will find descrip­tions of the various pickups used in the Godin Performance
Series by model, as well as the pickup selector settings.

Tone tips

Getting the ideal sound is very subjective and there are
many factors that affect the overall tone. Your amplifier,
playing style, and of course the guitar itself including the
wood selection, pickups and set-up are just some of these
factors that affect the tone of your guitar. Taking this into
consideration, we decided it would still be fun to give you a
couple of suggestions that can help you on your way to

finding your favorite sounds on the guitar. In general lower­ing the guitar's volume slightly will clean up your tone when
the amp is in overdrive. You may also want to experiment
with the tone control, which can accentuate different fre­quencies depending on the pick-up switch position and give
the guitar a different tonal character. Unless otherwise
noted the volume and tone control for the examples were
set to 10. See individual models for some suggestons to
get you started.

Care and Maintenance

The easiest way to keep your guitar clean is by simply
using a polishing cloth without using any polishes at all.
However if you are going to use a polish please use a non­abrasive non-wax based polish. Apply the polish on a cloth
first. Do not spray it directly on to the guitar. After you have
polished the area you are working on turn the cloth over to
a 'dry' side and remove any excess residue.

Fingerboards

For Rosewood fingerboards we suggest removing the
strings and applying lemon oil to a cloth, then working the
oil into your fingerboard. Let the oil soak in for a few min­utes before wiping off the excess. This should be done at
least once a year. Doing so not only cleans and avoids
cracking it also keeps your fingerboard from losing its lus­tre.
Generally, maple fingerboards are pretty much mainte­nance free. However if the neck starts feeling sticky you
can use a slightly damp polishing cloth without any guitar
cleaner on it followed by a dry cloth.