GK-3 setup on Tele

Started by Rhcole, May 30, 2011, 11:40:05 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rhcole

I want to mount a GK-3 on an inexpensive guitar tuned Nashville style. I'm thinking of getting a Squier Tele Thinline. It looks like the bridge plate may interfere with the GK-3 pickup, leaving no room to mount it because the sides of the plate  extrude out.

Is this true?

gumbo

I would have to agree that is true...however, there are many Tele bridge plates out there, and depending upon whether your intended guitar is a top-loader or not, you may be able to use an aftermarket bridge without the side 'flanges'.

Whether you then have enough 'height' to get the GK3 under the strings without having to raise the saddles up to the ceiling is another issue....you may find yourself having to shim the neck in order to adjust the action to a playable level....plenty of archive posts about that trick over on the TDPRI B-Bender forum if it scares you.. ;)

In my case, my Tele (with an internal GK3) is played as a slide guitar so the high action is not an issue to me...also I'm not using the standard bridge.. ;D  ...however I do know that the geometry around this area is interesting, to say the least....   


Golden Rule #1:  Measure twice, cut only once!!


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

Nokie

#2
I've tried my GK-3 pickup (to GR-55) on a Strat, Tele, Danelectro, Mosrite (Ventures Model), and Gibson. I've achieved the best results with the Telecaster installation as seen in the photo below. It is a B-Bender Tele so the bridge is a bit different from standard Tele bridges. This type of bridge can probably be found fairly cheap on Ebay:

the tracking is quite good as seen halfway through the video below:

-Marty

HCarlH

GR-55 (or) Fishman TP + Kemper Profiling Rack -->> 
QSC K10 -->> FOH
Fender Squier Stratocaster Bullet (w/GK3), Ibanez AM93 (w/FTP pickup),  Stratocaster (w/FTP pickup)

Telecaster, Charvel SoCal ProMod, Gibson Les Paul, PV Wolfgang,

ProgMystic

Seconding that "Excellent!" comment. Great sound demo and playing.  :D
Once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.

gumbo

Great!!!

...unfortunately that pegs me as being old enough to remember the original, but hey..... ;D
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

atonal

A BIG WOW!!!!!!SUPER PLAYING VERY COOL!!

Nokie


technoteacher

Mark Evans
Roland MV-8000, MC-909, Godin LGX-SA, Roland Ready Strat, GR-55
Boss GP-10
Crate Acoustic amps

notnomiistakes

#9
nice playing.  it looks like at about 2:17 there's a flute in the upper strings for melody with piano accompaniment on lower strings and again towards the end. like your piano playing right on the mark. very cool!!!

rrr69

#10

gumbo

Ah ha!
...another bender GK Tele!!   ;D


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

Nokie

Nice benders on those Tele's! I'm thinkin' of gettin' a Roland VG-99 and FC-300 so that I can do string bends with the foot pedals. It's frustrating that the GR-55 can't be set up for individual string bends using the guitar modeling sounds.

@ notnomiistakes - with regards to the flute you're hearing at 2:17, I think it's just a similar tonality in the high register of the piano patch. I only had piano assigned to that patch.

-Marty (aka Nokie)

Skyze

anyone ever try a GK-3 on a Tremking Tele bridge?? It has normal saddles so that shouldnt be a concern, but the trem setup of it may be an issue.. I don't really want to have to get the Graphtech ghost saddles for this guitar, esp since its going to be like a cheap project (and ghost costs $600+ after factoring in the lame chip needed for the GR55)

Nokie

Quote from:  Skyze on September 30, 2011, 07:08:33 PM
anyone ever try a GK-3 on a Tremking Tele bridge?? It has normal saddles so that shouldnt be a concern, but the trem setup of it may be an issue.. I don't really want to have to get the Graphtech ghost saddles for this guitar, esp since its going to be like a cheap project (and ghost costs $600+ after factoring in the lame chip needed for the GR55)
I wouldn't recommend the graphtek ghost mod for your guitar. I have them in a Carvin guitar and they don't work as well for the the GR-55 as the GK-3 on my Tele does. The graphteks also needed the RMC OPT-100 installed in the GR-55 for improved results - still not as good as the Gk-3. -Marty

CrispyFunk

#15
wow amazing  i really like your song.

i have my GK-3 on a Telecaster its a FMT HH telecaster , im really  liking it on my telecaster much more than on my LP.

nice song thank you for sharing

Elantric

QuoteI wouldn't recommend the graphtek ghost mod for your guitar. I have them in a Carvin guitar and they don't work as well for the the GR-55 as the GK-3 on my Tele does. The graphteks also needed the RMC OPT-100 installed in the GR-55 for improved results - still not as good as the Gk-3. 

+1

Machh_2

#17
what is this thing on the B string behind the bridge?
what does that do?
why only B string?

rolandvg99

Quote from:  Machh_2 on June 18, 2012, 06:02:14 AM
what is this thing on the B string behind the bridge?
what does that do?
while only B string?

It's a Fender B-bender. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-Bender
To V or not to V: That is the question.

My little Soundcloud corner

Machh_2

tnx for reply rolandvg99...  ;)

[]´s


gumbo

...Hey Machh 2..

..if you want to REALLY find out what they do, go to the B-Bender sub-forum on the TDPRI    ;)
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

Machh_2

hi Gumbo !!!
tnx for the tip...have u the link to this forum?

[]´s

Elantric

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/b-bender-forum/

and good wiki article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-Bender



http://www.stringbender.com/bender/history.php

----
GENE SEZ:   "Clarence White's musical ideas created the need for a B-Bender and being raised in my Dad's machine shop gave me the skills to figure out how to meet that need. Clarence was exploring the musical possibilities of bending notes on a Telecaster. Late in 1965 Clarence and I were playing on a lot of recording sessions together. We had finished the basic tracks on a tune, maybe a Rex and Vern Gosdin track. Clarence was ready to put the lead guitar track on when he realized he needed three hands for the lick he had in mind."

     "One of Clarence's innovative guitar techniques was to chime the high E or B string and bend it up a full tone by pulling the string down above the nut. This worked great in open position but on this particular tune he wanted to play the lick up the neck. He needed another hand to do it. I provided the third hand on that occasion. It was a great sounding lick although having both of us play one guitar wasn't going to work for live performances. We were both intrigued by the musical possibilities of having a third hand to play guitar."

     "I knew there had to be a way for Clarence to bend the string himself. I offered to install pedals and cables like those used on pedal steel guitars. Clarence refused because he wanted something that would fit inside his guitar case."

     "After a couple of weeks of thinking about it, I came up with the idea of using the shoulder strap to actuate a string-pulling, note-bending mechanism. Not only would it fit into the guitar case, it would actually go inside the guitar! I drew up some plans that incorporated a steel guitar bridge that Sneaky Pete Kleinow procured for me. After a little convincing Clarence bravely agreed to let me install this contraption in his beloved Telecaster. He said, "Just don't show me until it's done."

     "I wasn't certain at first which strings to pull or drop or whether to affect two strings at once. We tried all kinds of stuff, including using an armrest as well as the shoulder strap, to do all kinds of things to the first four strings. Clarence found that all he really wanted was to be able to bend the B string a whole step using his shoulder strap. He found a whole new world of guitar licks using a B-Bender."

B-Bender and The Byrds

     Clarence White, Gene Parsons, Gib Guilbeau, and Wayne Moore, were the house band at the Nashville West in El Monte in 1966. Before Gene gave Clarence his Bender equipped Telecaster he had the foresight to record their show one night. The out-of-print Nashville West CD is now considered by Guitar Player Magazine, "One of the top 20 essential country albums of all time." It is a great documentary of Clarence White's innovative guitar artistry.


     Clarence and Gene joined The Byrds in 1968. With help from Eddie Tickner who was managing the Byrds, they obtained a patent on their string-bending mechanism. They brought the design to Leo Fender who arranged for Fender/CBS to license the right to manufacture the design. After the new management at Fender let the patent license expire without ever getting the B-Bender into production, Leo left Fender. Clarence White was killed by a drunk driver in 1973. His Telecaster, with the prototype Bender, now belongs to Marty Stuart.

     A lot of players were inspired by Clarence's B-Bender licks but, except for a few instruments made by Dave Evans, there weren't many B-Benders to be had. The first top ten hit using Bender licks was the Eagles 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' played by Bernie Leadon using an Evans guitar with a Bender.

 
Parsons Machine Shop

     B-Benders first became readily available around 1973 when Gene started making and installing them in customers' guitars in his shop in Caspar, California. In the beginning the device was called the Parsons/White Pull-String. After a number of local folks called Gene to say, "I hear you do upholstering. Will you re-cover my couch?" Gene decided to call his invention StringBender.

     Although Gene has upgraded the design for ease of manufacturing and installation the basic geometry has stayed the same. Gene says, "I experimented with smaller, less complicated mechanisms that would entail less routing. I found that in order for the StringBender to work smoothly, evenly, stay in tune, and have an extremely musical action, a large bearing surface and return spring were required."


     The first 112 Benders had serial numbers. The customer list of the first 112 B-Bender owners includes some of the finest players of all time. The first B-Bender guitars from a major manufacturer were from Tokai Gakki. Tokai made a couple hundred guitars incorporating B-Benders that Gene made in his shop. Later, under different management, Tokai tried marketing, without success, a device of their own design that bent three strings at once and was available in a paisley Tele-style.

GENE SEZ:   "For almost twenty years I made StringBenders by hand in my shop, installing them for guitarists who learned about them by word of mouth. In 1989 it came time to quit or get serious. I tried quitting. But news got out that I wasn't going to make StringBenders any more (Frets magazine mentioned the end of B-Benders in their Notes section) and every guitarist who had ever intended to get a StringBender 'someday' called to ask me to make one more. Suddenly I had more orders than I could make or install myself."

     "StringBenders came full circle when the Fender Custom Shop began offering B-Benders   as an option. Fred Stuart, a Master Builder at Fender Custom Shop who has "Telecaster" tattooed on his arm, came up with the notion of a Clarence White Signature Telecaster incorporating a Classic B-Bender. The enthusiastic response from Telecaster players exceeded Fender and StringBenders wildest expectations. Leo Fender's original vision, to have B-Benders available on Fender Telecasters, came to pass in 1996 with the introduction of the Parsons/Green Fender B-Bender."

NoahB

#23
Today I got a beautiful g and l asat custom build semi-hollow tele and am considering ig I want to get a gk pickup for it. I know that you have to put it in front of the rear pickup and I'm wondering if it works as well with that extra distance between the gk and the saddles as my strat. And are there any other advantages/disadvantages to putting a gk on this tele? Thanks for your help
Jeff beck strat, GandL custom classic semi-hollow bluesboy tele,  mesa roadster, sy300 thru pair of peavey 15d powered pa speakers, big pedal board full of stuff.

Elantric

#24
Big Crosstalk issues occur when the Gk PU is too far away from the bridge.

IMHO - Teles are not ideal candidates for GK installations

More details here:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/125621-guitar-synth-roland-gk-3-pickup.html