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.

NoahB

Ya that's kinda what I figured and I am not really wanting to modify the guitar in any way its beautiful and my first g and l and my first tele to boot so I will just use it as is and stick with the strat for synth stuff. Thanks! Beautiful guitars by the way! is that a b-bender on those teles? I saw the helecasters with Jon jorganson and will ray use those and it was amazing.
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.

gumbo

Quote from:  NoahB on July 31, 2012, 07:59:18 PM
Ya that's kinda what I figured and I am not really wanting to modify the guitar in any way its beautiful and my first g and l and my first tele to boot so I will just use it as is and stick with the strat for synth stuff. Thanks! Beautiful guitars by the way! is that a b-bender on those teles? I saw the helecasters with Jon jorganson and will ray use those and it was amazing.

Yep...
They're Hipshot Benders...

...belong to my friend "Bender Freak"..   ;D


...you can put GK3s on Tele's, but believe me there are a few limitations....mine is a 72 Custom RI, and even that took a lot of work.. :o

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

Cricket

#27
I have a GK3 on my Tele and love it.  Simplest way to do it is to swap out the "ashtray" bridge plate for one like this:

http://darrenriley.com/store/fender-standard-telecaster-bridge-plate-0028184000/

You can then mount the GK3 where it belongs easily.  Yes, it's still a mod, but it's a simple one, and easily undone.

mmmmgtr

The holes don't line up. I also have a G and L Tele and have come to the same conclusion.
I'm probably going to buy another ashtray bridge and modify it so I can install the GK3.
This way I have the original to restore if/when....

NoahB

Ya I think my final conclusion as of now is to use the tele for pure tele tone and use the strat for the synth. I'm not ready to do any mods to this guitar. Thanks for all your helps
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.

maxdaddy

OK, it's time for another build story... this time I'll show how I installed an external GK pickup inside a Stewart MacDonald Tele body. Hopefully somebody will get inspired to start a similar project. I completed this guitar a year ago, and am just getting around to posting the pictures. 

The body and neck were bare wood at the start and I applied (badly) the paint using several spray cans and also did some body modifications, including arm/hip bevels and additional openings for the additional GK cable. Painting requires a cleaner workshop than I have, and I was a little disappointed with how it turned out.

The pick guard was made out of some red leather that I had on-hand. The same leather was used to dress up the headstock and also make a matching strap. The leather was much easier to work with than plastic sheet.

One of the goals was to have the GK plug recess inside the body to provide strain-relief to the noise-prone connector. That was accomplished by mounting the GK controller inside the cavity upside-down, with the locking pin accessed from a new opening in the back of the guitar.

I've always wanted a better way to switch 'pickups' in the VG99 so the next step for this guitar will be to add a "virtual pickup" selector switch, which will switch the pickup positions inside the VG99 from the guitar. It will connect to the GK volume control and will essentially be a variable resistor with five incremental values that coincide with the values needed for the VG99 to translate to each of the possible pickup selections. More on this after I actually do it.

(At the current time, the standard pickups are not wired up, and there are no controls on the guitar. I intend to hook up the standard pickups at some point, but don't really have a need for them right now.)





























Elantric

Pretty clever - thanks for all the detailed pics!

gumtown

A sweet looking guitar job,
and innovative way of using the GK controller and giving the GK plug extra support.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

tekrytor

Max,
I like the look! Too many sunburst guitars in the world today. Nice to see one that looks like a players guitar. That pickguard is awesome! Really nice how you did the gk integration. I'm motivated to get out the sawsall now.... thanks!
SY-300/BeatBuddy/VoiceLive 3/GR-55(v1.50)/33/1/50/700/VGA-7/V-Bass, Yam-G10, GPK-4, DIY X-Bee HighlyLiquidCPU "Cozy-Lil-Footie", FCB-1010, other MIDI stuff, Godin Freeway SA and various other GK equipped controllers, Sonar X1, Audacity, KXstudio, Misc devices

datsunrobbie

Nice install. I never would have thought of the access hole for the cable plug retainer. Thanks for all the pictures, it is very cool getting a look inside the GK3 (I've only got internals and GK2As)

gimik

Quote from:  CrispyFunk on June 16, 2012, 11:33:32 AM
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
How did you mount the GK3 on your FMT Telecaster ? Any picture is welcome  ;D

Singwas

I mounted my GK 3 with the glue Strip. Because of the warm weather the glue gets smooth, so it is a little shaky. It moves a little in PU direction. How can i fix it?
GR 55
Godin LGXSA
Roland Testgitarre

Virtual Madness

#37
Those are some BEAUTIFUL Tele's guy's!

I know this isn't quite the same as the others in this thread, but it is a Tele, so I felt compelled to add it here since we Tele playing VGer's seem so few and far between!

It's got Seymour Duncan pickups in it, CTS pots, custom made switches, a stainless steel bridge and a custom made black cover for the internal Roland GK-2A pickup.

Each pickup can be switched on separately in series or parallel. The back and middle pickups can be switched in or out of phase by pulling up on the top volume and tone controls, which all three pickups share.

The GK pickup has the S1/S2 switch and the Guitar/Both/Synth switch on board as well as the bottom 2 volume and tone controls. The GK tone control is accessed by sending a stereo signal out the end pin jack and plugging directly into the back of the VG-99 Expression pedal input.


I absolutely LOVE this guitar. It does everything I need it to do, and is both a great "regular" guitar AND a great GK guitar. Sometimes you get lucky, and everything just works out right. This was one of those times.

One thing this guitar doesn't have though, is a B-Bender...Hmm...darn it you guys!  :)

Royce



The greatest power in the universe is imagination!

Elantric

QuoteI mounted my GK 3 with the glue Strip. Because of the warm weather the glue gets smooth, so it is a little shaky. It moves a little in PU direction. How can i fix it?

Use the advanced velcro type products


http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/tape/mounting-tape-squares/product-prod3292498


Singwas

Thank you, Elantric. Has someone tried it before, fixing the GK 3 only by using strong velcro and fleece? There are only some millimeters contact surface. If it works fine, it is a fast way to change the GK3 to another Guitar! I m afraid to try ;)
GR 55
Godin LGXSA
Roland Testgitarre

Elantric

many folks use typical Velcro for GK-3 Controller Mounting.

wintersolder

#41
Hi there

I can't get my GK pickup to fit onto my Tele bridge plate.

Just got myself a GR-55 and External GK3 pickup. Although I have several guitars, I bought the GK3 especially to put on an old Fenix (Young Chang) Telecaster copy I have which I intend solely using with the GR-55 for recording/creating jingles in my home studio. I didn't fancy putting the GK gear on my Les Paul or SG which I use for gigging/jamming. I want them to look as they are. 

I had no idea that the GK3 pickup would not fit underneath the strings on the Tele bridge plate. Mine is a flat bridge plate about the same thickness as the scratch plate. The action on my guitar is just great and I wouldn't want to raise the saddles and then not enjoy playing around with the GR-55. If I have to alter the action, then it kinda defeats the purpose of getting synth sounds from the comfort of your own familiar guitar.

What are my options here?

What I'm currently considering as a quick work around is dremmeling a long rectangular notch out of the bridge plate, cutting two straight lines, leaving just enough space between the two remaining bridge plate parts to accommodate the GK3 pickup. Or, I guess I'd be best taking the bridge plate off and sawing? Any ideas? I'm not a DIY person.

I'm aware from searches that someone took off their Tele scratch plate and cut a notch in it, but this obviously positions the GK3 Pick up between the bridge and neck pickups. Although they said tracking issues weren't apparent, others commented that they would have preferred the using the pickup beside the bridge had they experienced this first.

Are Teles and GK3s a known issue in terms of fitting?

WS.


Elantric

#42
Most replace the stock Tele bridge plate with a "flat" version -
http://www.allparts.com/telecaster-bridges





or cut notches in the stock Tele bridge plate for GK-3 PU ( like this FTP On Tele )




Re reading your post I see you already have a flat tele bridge plate.


The older GK-2A has a lower profile and may fit better

Or

Shim the neck /raise the bridge saddles

Or

Do woodwork to route a pocket for the GK-3 and modify the tele bridge plate.

Or

Consider a piezo PU (Graphtech ghost /RMC)

 

wintersolder

#43
Quote from: Elantric on January 11, 2015, 11:29:30 AM
The older GK-2A has a lower profile and may fit better
Shim the neck /raise the bridge saddles
Do woodwork to route a pocket for the GK-3 and modify the tele bridge plate.
Consider a piezo PU (Graphtech ghost /RMC)

Thanks Elantric.

Your info is much appreciated.

Having just wiped out my savings, I'll have to stick with the GK3. Therefore, the GK-2A and Piezo options are out. Shimming the neck is something I feel might lead me into troubled waters. I've just researched it and find it might be beyond me in terms of my guitar tech skills.  :-[

What did you mean by: "Do woodwork to route a pocket for the GK-3 and modify the tele bridge plate."? Was this the same as my intentions to cut a GK3 wide notch/trench out of my bridge plate? Hopefully this wouldn't require any wood work routing. I'm going to give this a crack by next weekend and carefully and slowly Dremelling it. Once I've done this, I'll post a pic. The Fenix was a £93 purchase (new) around 22 years ago so I'm okay with doing this kinda thing. Wouldn't attempt this on a US Tele though. Oh no!!

Thanks

Winter

Elantric


wintersolder

Thanks Elantric

I actually may have to resort shimming. My bridge plate only has 3 screws at the butt end of the plate. These are its sole attachment points to the guitar's body. There aren't any screws near to or past the bridge pickup position. Therefore, if I split my bridge plate (as originally planned) to accommodate the GK3, then the uppermost part with the Tele bridge pickup would be unsecured and would just pop out and flap about. I did consider fixing this part back to the body with double sided tape but I now feel things would be getting ridiculous - all for a blooming pickup which seems to fit a lot of other guitars.   ???

I now wish I'd just bought the GR-55 and waited and bought a GK ready strat...lol

Winter

wintersolder

#46
Thanks Elantric    ;D  ;D

Managed to get things done now by shimming the neck. Couldn't be happier. Finished pic below.


  • Matched my fretboard to one of my radius gauges. Turned out to be 9.5.

  • Adjusted the small adjustment screw on the top of the GK-3 pickup so that the yokes matched my 9.5 gauge. It ended up being somewhere in between the lowest and highest setups.

  • Raised the action at the bridge to get the GK3 pickup under my strings and then secured it with the double sided tape.

  • Using the clearance gauge, I lowered the action at the bridge to get Roland's required clearance. This still left my action too uncomfortable for how I like it.

  • Removed my neck and placed 2 stacked pieces of 80gsm photocopy paper in the neck pocket, cut to fit the entire area of the pocket. This was the third attempt after trying 2 stacked pieces of Christmas card and then just 1 piece. The first two attempts left the action way too low. Despite what I thought I required, I now realise it's best to err on the less side when shimming lol.

The action is now just as like like it and the double sided tape seems to be quite sturdy in keeping the GK-3 pickup in place.

I'm now off to enjoy this.    ;D

Winter.

pasha811

#47
Call for the experts!

Is a Telecaster a good candidate for GK3 installation?
Any suggestion?

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

Elantric

There are issues - read all posts above to see how they were overcome for successful mounting GK-3 setup on Tele

pasha811

Quote from: Elantric on August 22, 2015, 11:38:39 AM
There are issues - read all posts above to see how they were overcome for successful mounting GK-3 setup on Tele

Thanks Elantric!
;D
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/