GK-3 string spacing dissapointment

[pmgnut]

Hello all, new here , from the N.E in CT. Recently purchased a GR-55 and GK-3 pickup to go along with it. To my dissapointment, the strings on my Cortez { Gibson L6S copy} don't line up with the yokes on the GK-3 pickup, at least the 2 E strings anyway. I am thinking it just won't work with this guitar. I am assuming it won't play very well this way. Any suggestions?

[Elantric]

Center the GK-3 PU as best you can,
Read the guides here:
http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/howto.html


and use the GR-55 String sensitivity adjust to boost the levels of any weak "E" strings that fall further away from the GK-3 PU.

A comparison of all GK Hex Magnetic pickups is here.
Download this doc with pics comparing many Mag Hex Pickups by Roland, Yamaha, Fishman Tripleplay
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=downloads;sa=downfile&id=41
Observe the Gk-3 is the most flexible for both Wide Strat and Narrow Gibson spacing

[LukeB]

Hi,
I had a similar disappointment, but for me it was that the GK-3 pickup was to high to fit under the strings at the bridge of my Fender Strat.

Had to make several adjustments (both neck and string holders) to get it to fit with enough string clearance.

Am I the only person in the world to have had this issue?  Roland tech support (in Australia) said they had never had any reports of such a thing. I didn't believe them

Cheers,
Luke

[admin]

Had to make several adjustments (both neck and string holders) to get it to fit with enough string clearance.

Am I the only person in the world to have had this issue? 

Fitting the tall GK-3 PU on most Strats is a chore that requires increasing the neck to body angle  -, by shimming the neck, or adjusting the Microtilt Neck Adjustment screw in the rear Neckplate. which mandates raising the bridge height to maintain the same string action, but yields enough room for a GK-3.

The similar Yamaha G1-D (Axon AIX-101) are lower profile and fit more guitars, read specs below and download detailed Hex PU dimension measurement comparison PDF.




Mechanical Dimension Measurement study comparing popular mag hex pickups for 13 pin systems.



And Must Download this doc with pics comparing many Mag Hex Pickups by Roland, Yamaha, Fishman Tripleplay
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=downloads;sa=downfile&id=41

[guitarisgr8]

Hi,
I had a similar disappointment, but for me it was that the GK-3 pickup was to high to fit under the strings at the bridge of my Fender Strat.

Had to make several adjustments (both neck and string holders) to get it to fit with enough string clearance.

I had the same issue on my deluxe strat HSS, I was wondering why everyone was using shims to raise the GK-3 pickup height whilst I was debating gouging a hole in my lovely strats pickguard to give me an extra 1mm or so. In the end I got it to fit without tearing holes in my guitar or changing my setup by setting the yoke as low as it would go, it was so close I couldn't use the provided double sided tape but screwing the pickup into the guitar gave me just enough clearance. When fretted at the 22nd fret the D and G strings are 0.3mm from the pickup but all issues can be addressed by adjusting the individual string sensitivities and the Low Velocity Cut.
My D and G strings track the best so the closer the better I reckon, although it certainly is pushing it with strats! If the action on my guitar was any lower it would not have fit without drastic changes to my setup which I would not do. So more than likely I would have installed it on one of my lower end guitars and only played it half as much which would be a shame.
At least I'm not the only one who had this issue, I thought I had some weird setup or something.