ROLAND - Internal GK-KIT-GT3 Installation questions

Started by chipstar, January 30, 2008, 01:40:21 PM

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gumbo

#325
...here's what it looks like in the edge of a "Telemods" Telecaster look-alike  (now original equipment on Telemods refurbs)..

..although if you already have a Roland jack fitted in your guitar (with its four-screw mounting plate) you can bolt a Synth-Linx jack (the version with nutserts) directly to the back of the Roland mounting plate...that way you get the reliability of the S-L jack and its better ground connection, and still cover up the ugly hole you cut in your guitar way back when...    ;D
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

batman

Great thanks guys.  I've got a David Allen loaded pickguard so I'm not sure about the pot clearance but I think I can manage if I get a dremel.  And on that topic, what's the best bit for routing guitars?  Does one com in the standard kit (well I think it's a standard kit here in Oz) or should I get something particular?

gumbo

The Dremel site does not appear to list a 'routing' accessory kit...

http://www.dremel.com/en-au/Accessories/Pages/SubCategories.aspx?catid=2025

although if you dig down on the lefthand menu to 'routing', you do get a list of the bits that are available

http://www.dremel.com/en-au/Accessories/Pages/SubCategories.aspx?catid=2046&catname=Router+Bits

..my experience has always been that you will find various retail outlets will be selective about what they are prepared to carry in stock on Dremel stuff..it also varies between branches of the same store  (Bunnings is a good example..!!....they have 'big' warehouse stores and smaller ones as well, and the stocks vary considerably).

You may well have to find one that has a reasonable range and just pick out what you want..the basic 'kits' that include the Dremel tool itself are usually full of very 'general' accessories that may not be all that suitable for what you want to do...but bear in mind that not a lot of hacking about is really necessary on a Strat body..there's quite a bit of room under the pickguard already.

CodeSmart's pix show good practices of masking up everything heavily prior to plugging in the Dremel..   :o
...it looks a lot nastier than it really is.. ;)

Good planning is as important as good technique..   Ask questions if you are unsure of what you have to do..

HTH
Peter
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

MusicOverGear

I recommend:
Get the synthlinx jack x2. Definitely. This is for audio plus it's a better installation. You can drill a smallish hole rather than hog out a huge square of wood. You need to do something about the horrible ground problem and the SL jack solves this without having to do anything else. Also I like it because it makes me feel like I'm doing something to improve the ridiculous 13-pin situation (Roland's bad connector choice)

Use the other SL jack in your modeler.

I also made pin 9 a redundant ground connection. Probably overreaction to the shitty Roland stock solution. The SL jacks alone take care of this problem. I'm no engineer, so one of the only tricks I know to make my stuff more reliable is redundancy. If you have no other plans for that pin, (E.g. the GK/Guitar/Mix switch) use it for ground IMHO.

Mount the board in the main cavity. Just plan what you want to go where and work slowly. If you are really having trouble fitting the PCB, you can easily measure and route the whole cavity a little deeper.  You don't really even have to mount the PCB - just insulate it electronically. There will be plenty of tension from the hookup wire to hold it in place. That's kinda ghetto but realistic IMO

whippinpost91850

You'll want to use a brad point or Forstner bit to drill the whole, this will protect you from chipping the finish. The kit doesn't come with a bit

batman

Hey guys thanks for the help, install went pretty good (took a day and a half!); however I'm having an issue with my pickup selector (I've got new strings on the guitar and don't want to pull them off just to look).
I re-wired the guitar to have one tone control so I could fit the GK volume pot in, however now the M+N position is M only so I've lost one of the quack settings.  I.e. my pickup selector goes:
1. Bridge
2. B+M
3. Middle
4. Middle (but should be M+N)
5. Neck

Could this be something to do with the tone control re-wiring or is it likely that I've accidentally connected/disconnected something during the install?
Thanks

Elantric

#331
More likely  a bad 5 way switch

Try desoldering the tone control from the circuit and retest.

Most want the tone control to be a master tone control - wired to the Normal PU Vol Pot
--
Roland Ready Strat service manual might help as a guide
http://support.fender.com/service_diagrams/stratocaster/013-4660C_SISD.pdf


batman

Thanks.  It turns out it was the switch.  When I put it in the guitar (tight fit with the GK-KIT-GT3), the wire attached to the neck pickup was twisting one of the connectors a little and therefore the switch wasn't connecting to it in position 4.  I re-soldered the neck pickup connection from the other side of the switch and it's all good :)

romero

Hello All. My local Luthier just installed my new gk3 internal kit. Their seems to be an issue, the magnetic pickups were wired and working properly when i got to the shop to test, the Gk itself was fine but i wasn't getting any magnetic blend, it seems he didnt install the grey/white wire to the mag volume and ground( he thought it was part of the wiring for active pickups) so he soldered them in now i have synth/mix/and mags but, both magnetic pickups are on in all 3 positions and the are working from 1 volume pot only. Does anyone have a clue about this?

Elantric

Refer him to follow the Installation manual notes here on this 14 page thread

and read the Schematics thread

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=73.0


romero

Thanks Elantric, I will have him review this, I wish roland provided better information for wiring these kits WITH the kit, the Gk side is quite clear, but the magnetic side leaves something to be desired. attach to volume and earth for the Magnetic side is slightly vague in a multi volume, tone, coil tapped, setup, i even had him take out taps out to eliminate those possibilities.

Elantric

rather clear here - I suggest you wire it like the GC-1 here:

romero

#337
Yes this is much better than what roland provides with the kit, but this is a single volume setup is there an simple way to add another vol for les paul style setup? my luthier should know (I hope LOL) otherwise i can live with single vol and tone, actually can live with single vol lol.

romero

Has anyone done a Gk3 internal kit connected to a pair of split coil humbuckers, i could really use some advice, roland doesn't seem to have any info on this i have looked at the gc1 schematic many times but i still cant wrap my head around how to implement coil taps into this setup while retaining full functionality of the synth/guitar/mix switch  ???

MCK

romero, the coil taps are happening upstream from the GK3 internals. With or without the tap you feed one signal to the GK3. Keep it simple, wire the pickups to your push/pull pot to implement the wire tap and finalize your setup with signal going to to your regular 1/4 output jack. Once you reach a point where your guitar is playing well with the wiretap in place, simply wire the signal from your 1/4 jack to the GK unit as shown in the diagram from Elantric on the lower left corner. GK should not care whether or not you have wiretap or how the upstream magpu signal is generated. Hope this helps.

romero

Thanks so much for the advice MCK. What you said makes perfect sense. I had a local guitar luthier do the routing/wiring job, he did have both systems functioning fine separately but he couldn't get them to work together, i will try my other local guy and use your advice on wiring, If he can't do it or doesn't want to i will just buy a few extra tools i need to do it my self lol ( i normally do all my own basic wiring )

Thanks again

Romero

gumtown

The GK wiring must be too complicated for him.
It should be just a matter of tapping into the regular guitar wiring either at the volume pot or the output jack.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

MCK

Yup. Elantric's diagram, lower left corner. Simple wiring from jack and you're done. I know sometimes grounding can become a little challenge but you can cross that bridge when you get to it. Best of luck!

batman

Hey guys has anyone had a problem with the normal guitar signal in the internal kit?  My original query here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=18712.0;topicseen
Thanks

rwl

#344
On Roland's website it says this kit works with the gr-20. What about the gr-55? Does it have all the functions of a GC-1 or external gk-3 and far as scrolling through banks and so on? Thank you great forum!

Elantric

Yes , just use the "GK-3" setting on the processor

All GK-3 controls and operation features exist on the internal kit

But know internal GK-KIT-GT3 kits are now discontinued and rare.

BMapson

Quote from: Elantric on September 28, 2016, 08:52:20 AM
Yes , just use the "GK-3" setting on the processor

All GK-3 controls and operation features exist on the internal kit

But know internal GK-KIT-GT3 kits are now discontinued and rare.

The remaining stock on Amazon just rose in price by $48 or so in the last few days.  If anyone is contemplating, now is probably the time.

Terry50

#347
Hello   :)

When I used the GK-3, it worked great.When I got the Roland kit that installs inside the guitar,  I get a hum.  It is not very loud; but it's not good.   It's a definite tone;   a "B" note.
I had the two best guys in town try to diagnose it.   They checked the ground etc.   We kept  A/B-ing  it back and forth between the installed and an extra GK-3 I own.  Do you have any ideas of what could be the problem?
I appreciate your help.   
Thank you,
Terry

admin


Terry50

Hello,
concerning
Re: Internal GK-KIT-GT3 Installation questions
« Reply #348 on: October 12, 2016, 08:34:20 PM »


I am not using any of the vg8 switches because I am running straight out to a RMC fanout box then into a preamp.  So there is no VG8 floor effects involved.  The regular GK-3 had no hum but then I switched to the roland onboard internal kit and got the hum.   I have no other pickups hooked up either.