Fender-Roland GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster question

Started by Bill Ruppert, January 18, 2012, 03:40:43 PM

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GuitarBuilder

Quote from:  Chumly on November 20, 2020, 11:41:24 AM
Here's the pix from the seller, I cannot see any direct reference to GK2A or GK3

Thanks for the pics!  That is a GK2A board, exactly like the two I have.  You're right, there are no markings on the board.  The GK3 board is completely different, but uses a number of same connectors.  That poses a problem: under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do you plug the GC-1 wiring into a GK3 board - you will let out the Magic Smoke and blow stuff up.

Having said all that, I think you'll be very happy with the GC-1.  If you decide to convert it to GK3 later on, I can help you with that.  PM me when the time comes.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

gumbo

Just to clarify... (what GB said)..

The wiring pinout from the GK2A board to the (original) Roland jack on the guitar differs from the wiring pinout from the later GK3 board to its (respective) original Roland jack...

...each of these systems work with the 'normal' run-of-the-mill Roland synth stuff AS LONG AS YOU DON'T mix-and-match Mainboards and jacks....   ...do that and yes, you WILL let the smoke out.

The guitar in question is still worth buying....   ;D ;D

A future 'upgrade' to a GK3 system is relatively easy to do if ever contemplated in the future, but it needs ALL the correct components to be substituted at that time in order for the system to work correctly and not do an impression of a kitchen toaster..

I determined this fact MANY years ago, and that is why I always ask a whole lot of questions of anyone who approaches me for a replacement Synth-Linx Jack for a GC-1. 

...I make TWO versions for this application, dependent upon which mainboard is fitted to the guitar in the first place..   ;)


Hope this clarifies the situation ...  by all means PM me if anyone feels they need more information. :)

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

Chumly

All very interesting and beneficial, you guys are most kind. Now I just have to see if the domestic budget for plants can be balanced with this fine instrument!
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

jipegonzo

hi there !
any opinion about Fender stratocaster roland ready first generation (1999) with Gk-2 ? thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu !

gumbo

Quote from: jipegonzo on June 01, 2021, 06:13:14 AM
hi there !
any opinion about Fender stratocaster roland ready first generation (1999) with Gk-2 ? thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu !

Nothing wrong with that...as long as everything works..
BTW, no matter WHAT people say, most (later) GC-1 Strats use the same GK internals...   ;)
...which means you pay a lot more for the privilege of one more fret..

It's basically a standard Mexican Strat with about a couple hundred bucks (retail, new) of GK bits inside, so don't let anyone get too carried away with what they think it's worth 22 years later.

The factory wiring was usually fairly elementary (but fixable with a soldering iron and some decent cable), the S1 & S2 switches are ghastly, overly big inside and can come unglued (yes, unglued!) from the underside of the pickguard, the two short countersunk head black M3 bolts that hold the Roland jack to the black plastic rectangular mounting plate were factory assembled WITHOUT spring washers so they usually lose their small M3 nuts inside the guitar which eventually stick to the underside of one of the pickups so you don't hear them rattle any more...and as a result, heavy-handedness when inserting a jackplug ends up cracking/breaking the mounting plate near the remaining M3 bolt...this becomes a pain to fix when half the jack mounting plate has disappeared in tiny bits inside the guitar.

The jack mounting plate is NOT available any more as a replacement part...

The pickup itself, with its attached white plastic cover is also NO LONGER available as a replacement part, as was only ever fitted to the R-R Strat, the GC-1 Strat, the VG Strat and the G5 Strat....good luck finding one from somewhere if you find you need one.

Retro-fitting a 'normal' GK2A pickup (if you can find one second-hand from an External Unit) is possible but messy, and leaves the pickguard looking a bit shabby.....Retro-fitting a (later) G3 pickup to the original mainboard inside the guitar is likely to cause you performance problems. as there is an impedance mis-match between the two systems.

If you are up against a GK failure, you would be better advised to either purchase a complete new GK3 Internal Kit and install that (quite possible, but a lot of screwing around) or look for another, different solution via another platform altogether.

BTW, most people also seem to think that the original MAG pickups that came with the guitar are fairly Ho Hum, and could benefit from being replaced with a set of something nicer.


BUT...all that being said, if you find a good example that hasn't had the $#1! beaten out of it during the intervening years, they can be a nice guitar...       ...I have two of them, and I don't bitch about them all that much...but I think I ended up with ones that were in good condition to start with.    ;)

YMMV....HTH 


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

jipegonzo

Quote from: gumbo on June 01, 2021, 07:48:09 AM
Nothing wrong with that...as long as everything works..
BTW, no matter WHAT people say, most (later) GC-1 Strats use the same GK internals...   ;)
...which means you pay a lot more for the privilege of one more fret..

It's basically a standard Mexican Strat with about a couple hundred bucks (retail, new) of GK bits inside, so don't let anyone get too carried away with what they think it's worth 22 years later.

The factory wiring was usually fairly elementary (but fixable with a soldering iron and some decent cable), the S1 & S2 switches are ghastly, overly big inside and can come unglued (yes, unglued!) from the underside of the pickguard, the two short countersunk head black M3 bolts that hold the Roland jack to the black plastic rectangular mounting plate were factory assembled WITHOUT spring washers so they usually lose their small M3 nuts inside the guitar which eventually stick to the underside of one of the pickups so you don't hear them rattle any more...and as a result, heavy-handedness when inserting a jackplug ends up cracking/breaking the mounting plate near the remaining M3 bolt...this becomes a pain to fix when half the jack mounting plate has disappeared in tiny bits inside the guitar.

The jack mounting plate is NOT available any more as a replacement part...

The pickup itself, with its attached white plastic cover is also NO LONGER available as a replacement part, as was only ever fitted to the R-R Strat, the GC-1 Strat, the VG Strat and the G5 Strat....good luck finding one from somewhere if you find you need one.

Retro-fitting a 'normal' GK2A pickup (if you can find one second-hand from an External Unit) is possible but messy, and leaves the pickguard looking a bit shabby.....Retro-fitting a (later) G3 pickup to the original mainboard inside the guitar is likely to cause you performance problems. as there is an impedance mis-match between the two systems.

If you are up against a GK failure, you would be better advised to either purchase a complete new GK3 Internal Kit and install that (quite possible, but a lot of screwing around) or look for another, different solution via another platform altogether.

BTW, most people also seem to think that the original MAG pickups that came with the guitar are fairly Ho Hum, and could benefit from being replaced with a set of something nicer.


BUT...all that being said, if you find a good example that hasn't had the $#1! beaten out of it during the intervening years, they can be a nice guitar...       ...I have two of them, and I don't bitch about them all that much...but I think I ended up with ones that were in good condition to start with.    ;)

YMMV....HTH 


Cheers,
Peter

thank you :)

jipegonzo

hi there,

i've just bought an used Fender Roland ready Stratocaster from 1998, and i'm searching the wiring diagram with color (3 strands are unsoldered)

It seems the link is dead : https://support.fender.com/service_diagrams/stratocaster/013-4660C_SISD.pdf

Could you help me ?

thank you by advance

best from France

jp

philjynx

#457
Maybe what you need is here?https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-US/knowledgebase/category/?id=CAT-01018
When the page finally loads (it is reallly slow for me) put 'Roland' in its search box, a number of models will come up.

jipegonzo

Quote from: philjynx on June 10, 2021, 04:43:41 AM
Maybe what you need is here?https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-US/knowledgebase/category/?id=CAT-01018
When the page finally loads (it is reallly slow for me) put 'Roland' in its search box, a number of models will come up.
Thank you, but unfortunately it's black and white :o(

gumbo

Hi,
thought I had some more pics but this is all I could find at this time in the evening...

These are of the replacement pickguard that I built for a Roland-Ready Strat...a lot of the thin wiring that went to the switches, etc. was replaced, but USING THE SAME COLOURS as the original.

I removed the two push-button S1 & S2 switches and replaced them with ONE SP3T Centre-off Momentary switch.

With a bit of luck, you may be able to work out where your loose wiring was meant to be soldered...

PM me if you need more help.

Cheers,
Peter



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

admin

#460
Quote from: philjynx on June 10, 2021, 04:43:41 AM
Maybe what you need is here?https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-US/knowledgebase/category/?id=CAT-01018
When the page finally loads (it is reallly slow for me) put 'Roland' in its search box, a number of models will come up.
Here are the results =  no wonder Fender Service centers can not repair these with such poor documentation, and many are duplicates of same diagram
Standard Roland Stratocaster Service Manual 013466
https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01602

Standard Roland Stratocaster Control Function 013466
https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01603

Standard Roland Stratocaster Parts Layout 013466
https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01604

Standard Roland Stratocaster Parts List 013466
https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01606

Standard Roland Stratocaster Wiring Diagram 013466
https://fendercustomersupport.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-us/knowledgebase/article/KA-01606

This one below I created, and is far more complete  - lists color codes for many wires
GC-1 Schematic
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=73.0;attach=9749


MrJim65

I have searched throughout the forum first so this isn't too frivolous a question I hope....
So I have a GC-1 upgraded with bare knuckle apache pickups and it sounds rather lovely at least to my ears but the tremolo isn't especially inviting and the tuning is pretty unreliable:-I've also upgraded to locking tuners.   
I've read on here a lot of recommendations for the Super-Vee Bladerunner tremolo system and am intrigued by this.   But I've also seen a lot online about the Vega Trem system as an upgrade for strats yet not on here.   Is there a reason why the Bladerunner is so specifically recommended for the GC-1?
Thanks, Jim

Elantric

#463
Quote from: MrJim65 on November 18, 2023, 12:10:28 AMI have searched throughout the forum first so this isn't too frivolous a question I hope....
So I have a GC-1 upgraded with bare knuckle apache pickups and it sounds rather lovely at least to my ears but the tremolo isn't especially inviting and the tuning is pretty unreliable:-I've also upgraded to locking tuners.   
I've read on here a lot of recommendations for the Super-Vee Bladerunner tremolo system and am intrigued by this.  But I've also seen a lot online about the Vega Trem system as an upgrade for strats yet not on here.  Is there a reason why the Bladerunner is so specifically recommended for the GC-1?
Thanks, Jim
Review the date of the posts - bulk of Bladerunner posts were made years prior to the Vegatrems existance.

Vegatrem is much newer, while Bladerunner was the dominant upgrade for past ten years

I doubt anyone with a Bladerunner feels the need to replace it with a VegaTrem , and vice versa


Its down to personal preference

I will say , after sale support is far superior on Super Vee Bladerunner., and in my experience  non existant with Vegatrem.

I purchased a Vegatrem for my Ritchie Kotzen Telecaster 9 months ago , it arrived missing a hard to find metric saddle height screw. Vegatrem is based in Spain , I contacted their customer support, never got a reply - had to determine what the type thread screw I needed and order my own replacement (M2.5-0.45 X 8mm SOCKET SET SCREW)

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=36076.0#msg264806

By contrast, SuperVee in USA would have sent me what I needed within a week

Before you order either- review this thread

How To Setup Strat Style Tremolo
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4565.0

MrJim65

Thanks for this Elantric, I hadn't thought about the differing release dates.  Im having to order from the UK but can see how well Super-Vee's rated on the Reverb site so definitely veering towards this.