GK-3 - Mods - Distance to string, radius mods, potting

Started by Elantric, February 25, 2008, 09:09:59 PM

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Elantric

dead lizard wrote>

Don't know if there is a thread for GK mods, but something I have been thinking about for a long time is attaching some kind of padding to the low E side of the GK (the long side for me). Just so that when I palm mute, my hand cannot press too far into the strings. And we all know what happens when we do that with a GK, don't we?Huh?? The other alternative was going to be rigging up a bar that goes over the entire GK. Sort of like some of the pickup covers on old basses.

gsumner

Dunno what happens when you touch the GK3 when you palm mute. I havent bought one yet?

Graham

Elantric

If you press too hard - the magnetic pull of the GK-3 Hex PU will attract the strings, and they will instantly stop vibrating.

Its a matter of mastering technique in my opinion - though if you are playing chunka-chunka - like Joey Ramone - it could be an issue for some with ham fisted hands.   

Virtual Madness

#3
I'm wanting to do some custom work with the Roland Ready Strat version of the GK-2A, and i had the worst time out there on the web trying to find ANY photos of it's internal details, so i took some of my own for all of us in case anybody ever needs them.

What i want to do is to unsolder the miniature pickups, and put them on a new circuit board that matches the vintage string spacing on my Fender Telecaster, as well as have a flat radius, with the wires attached to each pickup rather than in a cluster at the end of the circuit board. I need to do this so it will fit length wise inside a vintage Tele bridge plate. I will need to make a custom mounting bracket for it too.

I've done things like installing complete electronics and pickups in my own guitars, as well as pots and speakers in my own amplifiers, but i've never done any circuit board soldering before, so if you guys have any tips or tricks, i sure would appreciate them!

If any of you have done anything like this, i would love to hear about your experiences.

In the event that this is just too much for me to tackle, i would appreciate any info you guys may have about any person or company who can do work like this with these pickups.

Please give a link if you can.

Thanks, Royce  :)
























The greatest power in the universe is imagination!

mooncaine

Quote from: sustainiac on May 20, 2008, 05:21:16 PM
If you press too hard - the magnetic pull of the GK-3 Hex PU will attract the strings, and they will instantly stop vibrating.

Its a matter of mastering technique in my opinion - though if you are playing chunka-chunka - like Joey Ramone - it could be an issue for some with ham fisted hands.   

Is this magnetic pull a known problem with GK2A pickups, as well?

mooncaine

#5
Great idea! I'll keep this thread in mind (subscribing to it, too). I think I've seen at least one project described, maybe on the midiguitar or vg8 mail list, that involved separating those little bits and spreading them out.

I sometimes think that I want to get rid of my fine little boat-oar Steinberger just because of one or two things that I can't change* about it, and one of them is string spacing over the GK pickup. I actually wish there were different models of GK pickup, or an adjustable one, or some reasonable solution! I like the string spacing nice & tight. The GK is just a touch too wide.

Elantric

#6
Yes - all Roland GK Hex Pickups do this as they are magnetic Pickups. GK-1, GK2, GK2A, GK3A, GK3B, Yamaha G1D, Axon AIX-103, PU-100, SoundGarage.

MidiBuzz

#7
Nice job on the disassembly and photos.  Thanks!
Stay Tuned!
Buzz

hazeshawn

I don't have a problem with magnetic pull, but.... I keep loosing the retainer screw when I play! It backs itself off after a couple nights of gigging. I have one GK-3 setup that I can't use right now because the Roland replacement screw will not hold its thread... it's stripped! The pickup is now out of warranty and the only thing I'm able to do is keep taking apart the GK controllers and swapping pickups with ones I buy from a famous national chain of music stores and returning it as defective. The last one I did that with had 2 of its pickups not working. I use a Stratocaster and a Les Paul and do tend to rest my hand on the LP's bridge when I play. I think I do it a little on the Strat. I have deluxe saddles, so I'm not aware I'm doing it because I don't bare down hard enough to take it out of tune.
Notice how I remain calm. I do this because I am The Shawn!

Guitars:
20011 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Classic
2009 Fender American Deluxe V-Neck Stratocaster
2003 Gibson Les Paul Classic

"Quality"... not "Quantity"!

mooncaine

Maybe you could take one of those screws to a good local hardware store, and seek a replacement, or some advice on where to find one, then just buy a bag of those suckers. I did that years ago when I needed screws for the nut locks on my 80s big hair guitars. (Instead of using hex screws, btw, I opted for flatheads - cheaper as well as easier to find a tool for 'em). I just bought a bag of 10 or 15 screws and never had to worry about it again.

mooncaine

#10
Hello, fellow guitar pioneers, and Happy New Year.  ;D

I've got a chance to spend some money on a 13-pin mag pickup, and I'm considering an external again, because I don't have the $ to get an internal installed (I don't think I'd do a good job, myself).

I play Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO guitars, and I've already got one rigged up with a Roland GK-2A. Here's a few picks showing how I did it:

http://www.mooncaine.net/peg/dream-guitar-plan_art.html
http://mooncaine.net/Images/Steinberger-Guitar-Peg-with-angled-GK2A-pickup--detailed-collage.jpg

The Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO's string spacing seems to be 10 mm.

The 2nd link, above, shows how I eventually slanted the pickup to line it up better with my strings. I'm still not sure I'm satisfied with this.

I have another of those guitars and I want to put a 13-pin pickup on it, too. If I can find a good deal on a p/u with a narrower spacing, that'd be great.

That's why I'm on a quest to measure the distance between polepieces of each 13-pin mag pickup available (and even discontinued ones). I believe having the measurements here may help others, too.

I'll start with my own, the Roland GK-2A. Looks to me like it's 11mm between the centers of each polepiece. I'm using a plastic ruler, so I may be slightly off with that.

The good people at Kelly's Music tell me that the Axon PU-100 measures 11mm between the centers of its polepieces.

Would you be kind enough to measure your pickup, and post the distance between the centers of its polepieces here? BTW, Roland manuals seem to call the polepieces "yokes".

I seek your measurements for:


  • Roland GK-3
  • Yamaha G1D
  • Roland GK-2A

I'm also interested in any other 13-pin mag pickups you care to measure for us. We can keep those measurements in this thread, to help future players.

Thank you in advance,

--moonie

MCK

GK3 mid to mid reads very close to 11mm. I think its about 10.8mm.


clamhands

#13
Quote from: hazeshawn on June 22, 2009, 02:08:03 PM
I don't have a problem with magnetic pull, but.... I keep loosing the retainer screw when I play! It backs itself off after a couple nights of gigging.

Cheap, easy, and totally reversable fix.  Remove the retainer screw, put a small dab of nail polish on the threads (remember nail polish comes in every shade of the rainbow and *every* woman you know has at least one bottle she's just looking for a reason to get rid of), and tighten screw back into the GK3 *while the polish is still wet*.  The polish will dry and essentially "glue" the screw in place, but unlike real glue the bond can be easily broken (if needed) with simply a little extra torque with a screwdriver.

TheGuitarPlayer

Quote from: clamhands on January 20, 2010, 04:24:33 PM
Cheap, easy, and totally reversable fix.  Remove the retainer screw, put a small dab of nail polish on the threads (remember nail polish comes in every shade of the rainbow and *every* woman you know has at least one bottle she's just looking for a reason to get rid of), and tighten screw back into the GK3 *while the polish is still wet*.  The polish will dry and essentially "glue" the screw in place, but unlike real glue the bond can be easily broken (if needed) with simply a little extra torque with a screwdriver.
The good old fake Loctite trick, and so much cheaper than the real thing.

clamhands

Quote from: TheGuitarPlayer on January 20, 2010, 08:11:34 PM
The good old fake Loctite trick, and so much cheaper than the real thing.

Exactly!  I actually was going to call it "faux Loctite" but didn't think anyone else knew what that runny blue expensive gunk was (triple points for knowing it *and* being an Aussie!)

guitarhead

#16
Hello!   I have a GK-2A that acts up whenever i switch from sythn- guitar or synth to mixed and also when the 13-pin cable gets moved around (makes awful noise like wire are getting grounded or touching).  The pickup itself works fine and tracks fine.   I recently bought a GK-3 pickup via Craigslist that turned out to be a dud, the coil for the high E string on the pickup is not working but the controller has no issues, it switches fine, the cable connector is quiet.  I am thinking of taking the 2A pickup off the GK-2A and installing it on the GK-3 controller -- Is this going to work? Is the board on the GK2 the same as the GK-2A?  Just want to make sure the humbucking property of the 2A will not send a signal that is "too hot" for the GK-3 board components...   Advice much appreciated.

louie

mooncaine

I've also seen tips that recommend using a wooden toothpick, or two, to sort of reinforce the stripped hole. Not sure of the details, but a web search would turn up some hits on that. I used that trick on a coffee table once. I might have used it on a stripped-out strap peg hole on a cheap* solidbody guitar, but can't recall for sure.


*all my guitars are cheap, and that's the way I like 'em, cheap enough to chop.

musicman65

I recommend the toothpick as a permanent fix. Dab a toothpick in woodglue and stick it in the hole. Bend it over and break the gooey tip off in the hole. Reinsert the screw and its like new. The screw will pulverize the bit of toothpick and the glue bonds it to the existing wood in the hole. It effectively restores the hole to its smaller unstripped diameter and the toothpick wood and glue are harder than ash or alder so it may never strip again.

bd in tn

pasha811

I have a VG99 driven by a GK2A.
I can mount GK3 without compromising my guitar setup.
Should I stay with GK2A or move to GK3?
Are the sonic capabilities better? Seems to me that VG99 was made with GK3 in mind...
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/

Brent Flash

Same, no radius adjustment on the 2 the 3 has it.

Jim Williams

QuoteI keep loosing the retainer screw when I play! It backs itself off after a couple nights of gigging.
Put the screw in with some lock-tight.
Skype: (upon Request)

Everything from modeling to the real deal, my house looks like a music store.

pasha811

Hi,

Are GK3 yokes completely inside the plastic frame of the Pick Up when radius screw is completely loosen?
Or to put it in an other way can GK3 be setup to be as a GK2A with yokes inside the plastic frame of the Pick Up?

- Best
- Pasha
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/


pasha811

Quote from:  Elantric on February 04, 2011, 01:47:57 PM
These docs might help

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3025.msg18793#msg18793

Hi Elantric, thanks for that, a picture is worth a thousands words.



If you look at the image you'll notice that the yokes are set at maximum height.
By looking at the central yokes (G & D strings) you'll find that 9.2 mm is reported
as the maximum yoke height and 8mm is the base of the GK3 frame.
Can I assume that when the GK3 yokes regulation screw is fully turned counterclockwise the yokes
are inside the plastic frame and the PU height is 8mm?

- Best Regards
- Pasha
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/