Godin xtSA User manual

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.

XtSA

The xtSA is a multi-voiced guitar. A jack-of-all-trades, and
master of all of them, the xtSA's incredible sound power
begins with three distinct voices: electric guitar, acoustic guitar
and synth controller.

*Throughout this manual we refer to the humbuckers as mag­netics.The acoustic pickups found on the xtSA are referred to
as bridge transducers.

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 good 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.

Body

The body of the xtSA is made from a blend of two tone­woods. A center of silver leaf maple serves as an anchor for
the neck and is flanked by yellow poplar sidepieces.The top is
covered with a figured maple veneer (Leaftop).

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.

Neck

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.

Ergocut

The xtSA neck features our 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.

Ebony Fingerboard

The ebony fingerboard on the xtSA not only contributes to a
more focused sound, but also helps to optimize the guitar's
synth tracking capabilities.