Spotlight: Godin A11 Glissentar Acoustic-Electric

Anyone interested in expanding his or her guitar tonal palette should consider the 11-string fretless A11 Glissentar from Godin Guitars. It's a nylon string instrument with a single low E and the other five strings doubled. The fretless ebony fingerboard is designed to facilitate microtonal playing and help create sounds similar to the sitar or the oud, which is also an 11-string instrument used today primarily in Armenia and Egypt and a major inspiration in Godin's creation of the Glissentar.

Says Robert Godin, “I was in the south of Italy doing a clinic and realized that players of more traditional instruments were having problems amplifying their sound and hearing themselves in live situations. It was this that led me to thinking…why not build an old world sounding instrument for the modern musician.”

Notable players of the Glissentar include Michel Cusson, Fareed Haque, Sylvain Luc, and Michael "Atonal" Vick (who will no doubt be using his Glissentar at the upcoming NYC Fretless Guitar Festival - see press release).

For more information about the Godin A11 Glissentar, please visit the instrument's web page on Godin Guitars.

Specs
Rock Maple neck
Ebony fingerboard
16" fingerboard radius
25 1/2" Scale
1 3/4" nut width
Two-Chamber Silver Leaf Maple body
Solid Cedar Top
LR Baggs Ribbon Transducer and custom preamp
Volume, Mid, Treble and Bass controls
Natural Semi-Gloss finish

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