Bass Guitar Magazine Review - March/April 2005

Going to Church
Godlyke Disciple 4-string and Deity 5-string basses

By Bruce Jacobs

Some bass manufacturers swear by the classics, while others push the boundaries of electric bass tone and lutherie. Guyatone Industries, perhaps best known for distributing the Godlyke line of mini-effect pedals, has stepped into a crowded bass-making market with several Japanese-built instruments that combine tried-and-true flavors with a dash of futuristic spice. Their 4- and 5-string Deity and Disciple basses (along with an 8-string Deity) showcase the company’s spin on active, mid- to higher-priced instruments. True to form, my test basses – a Disciple 4-string and Deity-5 string – were sleek, well-built, and a pleasure to play.

The Godlykes made a great first impression. The eye-catching ash bodies weren’t too heavy or too light, and the hefty necks had nicely rounded fingerboard edges. Small touches like notch filters, internal mid controls and chunky, old-school necks exemplified the company’s blend of old and new. Both basses needed setup work upon arrival, but they responded quickly and precisely to all adjustments. The Deity and Disciple sounded good even before I plugged them in.

DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS
The Disciple’s routing and finish are exceedingly well done; the neck joint is as tight as a snare drum head. The cool-looking Gotoh bridge/tailpiece combination is as solid as a rock, and I was impressed that Godlyke opted to use standard output jacks rather than cabinet jacks (which are notoriously finicky).

As for the preamp’s unique, internal mid control, the mid control’s “Q” (the range of frequencies around the control’s center frequency) is quite broad, making it work more like a level control. I also found that there was a much cut and boost.

The external controls were velvety smooth. Also unusual was the adjustable notch filter next to the familiar bass and treble controls. The notch filter functions like a loudness control on a stereo, making mid vs. top/bottom balancing an intuitive, easy task.

The Deity’s chunky but comfortable “C”-shaped neck profile and wide body made the bass balanced and easy to hold for long periods of time, although it was somewhat neck-heavy when I played sitting down. The set-neck joint on the Deity is a thing of beauty, melding the neck, body and top in an awesome intertwined grip. The top is beautiful, and the overall feel is very homogenous.

The Deity uses the same preamp as the Disciple, and cavity treatment is equally well done. The routing was spotless, but the control cover was just a little too big; I had to jam it in to mount it evenly with the body. My only other concern was with the Deity’s bridge saddles, which actually moved a bit if I played aggressively.

A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
When all is said and done, it’s really about sounds, and I’m happy to say that these basses are punchier than a career boxer in the home stretch. Played through Roland DB-500 and DB-700 bass combos and an Eden WT-800/Eden 4x10 combination, the Godlykes exhibited neck-through timber with thinner upper-register tones and extremely focused and tight lower ranges. I preferred the Disciple’s bone nut to the Deity’s brass nut; it integrated the open-string tone better with fretted notes. But the tonal texture of the Deity’s B string  was quite articulate for a 34” scale, and it packed a wallop while still balancing with the other strings on the bass.

Regarding the front pick-ups on both basses: With the pickup blend centered, I got a dark, warm and wooly tone. I opted to primarily use the rear pickups in testing, preferring the quieter and much meatier sound. Godlyke puts their rear pickup right where a Fender Jazz rear pickup is, and the front pickup slightly closer to the bridge than a Jazz font pickup or Precision pickup. The Music Man-style rear pickups have an incredibly commanding tone when in a band mix; they never got lost in any style of music I played.

The excellent tone facility of the preamp combined with the rear pickup managed to produce thundering and thumpy lows, razor sharp slicin’ and dicin’ highs, or chunky mid-growl. I found the versatile tone of the basses worked well with several different drum kits, ranging from a small jazz set to a loud and aggressive rock kit.

THE BOTTOM LINE
The Goldykes are put together very well, and with better neck pickups these basses would be amazing; as it is, they are still worthy of heaps of praise. The imaginative and effective approach to their preamp deserves special mention. An auspicious arrival indeed, Godlyke have managed to produce two instruments that may help you get a bit closer to your bass holy grail.