Roland GK Global Portal - with GK-3 Installations tips

Started by Elantric, January 23, 2008, 07:20:25 PM

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Elantric

Roland has moved the URL
Try these:
V-Guitar

http://roland.com/V-Guitar/howto.html


How to install the GK pickup

We will show you how to install your GK-3/GK-3B. The GK-3/GK-3B is designed to fit most guitars/bass guitars. The pickup's curvature can be adjusted according the guitar bridge's curvature.

* Read "Dimension and Requirements" to confirm that there will be no problem with the installation.



Roland GK-3 Pickup Install Requirements
http://roland.com/V-Guitar/gk3-requirements.html

Roland GK-3 Pickup on Strat
http://roland.com/V-Guitar/howto_st.html

Roland GK-3 Pickup on Les Paul
http://roland.com/V-Guitar/howto_lp.html

Roland GK-3 Pickup Owners Manual
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/GK-3_OM.pdf








How does it Work
http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/about.html

Installation Tips

http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/howto.html


GK-3 Knowledge Base
Product: GK-3

The following is a list of approximate fretboard radius (millimeters) specifications for popular guitars:

Typical Stratocaster-type guitar: 184R

Typical Gibson-type guitar: 300R

Typical modern rock guitar with locking tremolo: 400R

Making an External Roland GK-2A Internal
http://www.geocities.com/ashasha3/Index.htm


http://www.guitarsite.de/p140.htm


Your Gk-3 Should have included ALL these parts - (too bad most used GK-3's get sold with missing parts!)


See "Holder "B" - which is the rear Body Clamp for mounting the Gk-3 Controller




mos6507

#1
Quote from: sustainiac on January 23, 2008, 07:20:25 PM
Making an External Roland GK-2A Internal
http://www.geocities.com/ashasha3/Index.htm



This is where I got the idea for installing the S1/S2 buttons in the pickup ring.  This is THE way to go if you want to minimize the amount of holes you have to drill in your guitar's body.

See Attached PDF

Michael Dolan Doubleneck
Les Paul Custom

VG-99
FTP

s0c9

So....
from looking at the pic.. looks to me - from position of the GK, pickup body, switches and tail-piece, that the momentary switches are mounted on the WRONG side of the pickup body !!

Surely one would want them top-side, facing the player so you can see them, versus underneath where it becomes a feel issue ??
No ??

Elantric

its a matter of taste -

if you are holding a pick, its more natural to use a ring finger to manipulate the switches from below. no need to look.

mooncaine

Yeah, and if you work it out right, you can give yourself something to feel, with your fingertips, that helps you decide which switch is which -- if that's a problem.

Like putting them near the corner (so you can feel the corner and know where your finger is without looking)... or putting a dot of glue on one of the buttons.

mooncaine

Quote from: sustainiac on January 23, 2008, 07:20:25 PM
Making an External Roland GK-2A Internal
http://www.geocities.com/ashasha3/Index.htm
Thanks for keeping & sharing that PDF. It seems that site is gone (as of Sunday, March 22, 2009, 11:09 PM EST, anyway).

Elantric

Its been gone for ages - I made that PDF 5 years ago

Heres more details here:

http://jbwid.com/guitar/

Elantric

On my guitars I set the GK hex pickup to string height to 1mm - AFTER I fret all the strings at the highest fret - (22nd fret for my guitars).

If you omit this step, then its very likely you may have adjusted the GK-3 too close to the strings, which will "slap" the top of the GK-3 pickup as you play notes higher up the fretboard - creating unwanted percussive noises.

mooncaine

Quote from: Elantric on July 31, 2011, 12:40:16 PM
On my guitars I set the GK hex pickup to string height to 1mm - AFTER I fret all the strings at the highest fret - (22nd fret for my guitars).

If you omit this step, then its very likely you may have adjusted the GK-3 too close to the strings, which will "slap" the top of the GK-3 pickup as you play notes higher up the fretboard - creating unwanted percussive noises.

Dang, I wish I had thought of that. Good advice. I just realized, a couple of weeks ago, that when I palm-mute, I often bump the strings against the GK. I'll just have to drill those holes a little deeper and lower that pickup, I guess.

Elantric

A Roland dealer in the UK offers GK-Kit-GT3 Internal installation here:
http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/Roland-GK-Kit-GT3-And-Installation/

and interesting pics of the creative installation.



aliensporebomb

Quote from: Elantric on May 09, 2012, 12:47:51 AM
A Roland dealer in the UK offers GK-Kit-GT3 Internal installation here:
http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/Roland-GK-Kit-GT3-And-Installation/

and interesting pics of the creative installation.

Interesting indeed to put the patch-up/patch-down switches on the side of the body.  Nicely done installation.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

tekrytor

Quote from: aliensporebomb on May 09, 2012, 05:33:14 AM
Interesting indeed to put the patch-up/patch-down switches on the side of the body.  Nicely done installation.

It is well very done and looks very good, a really clean installation. I find the location of the S1/S2 switches a bit "remote" for quick access. It does give it a nice minimalist look though - a real sleeper. Excellent photos and tooling. The "short neck" for vice mounting is an excellent idea, along with the jig for drilling the switch holes on the edge. The next busted neck I see, it gets a Sawsall taken to it.
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

GtrGeorge

So I went looking for GK tips and ...none to be found.
  Sure a manual from Roland could be found..but no tips in it, so far as I saw.
   anybody have a list of tips??
  GtrGeorge

Elantric

#13
QuoteSo I went looking for GK tips and ...none to be found.

Roland has moved the URL (suggest use Google, that's how I locate everything)
Try these:
V-Guitar
http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/

How does it Work
http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/about.html

Installation Tips
http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/howto.html

Elantric




Pedr from Cranbourne Music shows us how easy it is to fit the GK-3 midi pickup to a Les Paul electric guitar.

admin



This video demonstrates the common set up for the GK-3 pickup system for the Roland GR-55 synth unit. No sounds are sampled here, only installation and calibration tips. Thanks for watching!

roaster

Hi, I have a fender classic player 60 strat, which differs in that it has a flatter 12" radius fretboard. After installing the Gk3 using the sticky tapeI found I had to change the guitars set up, (shim neck) higher than normal action etc to get the required clearance under the strings and TBH changed the feel of the guitar from what it was before. I like the flatter radius as it plays more like a les Paul. Not happy with this I returned removed the GK3 and put the guitar back to its original settings,  much better, however prior to me removing I marked the poisition of the pickups the SP. Now how to get the extra clearance. Well I needed a couple more mm under the strings and the only way apart from shimming the neck was to let the pickup into the scratchplate. The 3 ply scratchplate is 2.5 mm thick, more than enough for what I needed. First, I bought another scratchplate so I could return the guitar to stock if I wanted to. I then removed the plate and all electrics. Then I drilled a series of holes along the marked area of the SP and proceeded to open up the slot with files and then some flat needle files to get it smooth checking the pickup had just enough clearance. Reassembled the plate dropped into position and then found best mounting was screws and 2 springs supplied with the GK3. There was just enough wood to drill 2 small pilot holes for the screws . ( could have used shims and tape at this point but the screws would give me more adjustability) after some more reassembly I have a correctly adjusted Gk3 fitting to this type of strat without compromising my preferred set up and is reversible by fitting another scratchplate. Hope this helps.

admin

For mounting GK-3 to Gibson type bridges
http://shop.rolandus.com/p/pickup-holder



Roland GK-3 Pickup on Les Paul
http://roland.com/V-Guitar/howto_lp.html

admin

QuoteI have a question on ideal hex placement.  The range is somewhere between 10 mm and a maximum 20 mm.  Would you lean more to the 20 mm side or more to the 10 mm side? Split the difference and go with 15 mm?


GK hex PU  20mm distance away from Bridge is ideal

GK hex PU will not work well if placed too close 
(details)

If the GK PU is set closer than 10mm - it will be sensing a smaller / shorter excursion of any vibrating string, with resulting drop in  the output level of the GK PU .
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=13322.0

and

GK hex PU if placed too far away from Bridge will suffer adjacent string crosstalk during string bending  ( High E string pitch invades the B String PU pole


admin



https://store.guitarvaultusa.com/Roland_GK3_pickup_ring_adapter_p/6019.htm

PRS-GK3 Pickup Ring Adapter

Pickup Ring Adapter Mount Roland GK-3 midi pickup to PRS Humbucker equipped guitars with no modifications to your guitar.
Fits all standard sized Humbucker equipped PRS Guitars - US and SE models.
NOTE: Does not fit single coil, narrow field, and 408 pickups.
Available in Black, Ivory and White.

Manufactured in USA by MannMade USA
MannMade USA #6019

See Technical Specs for installation instructions.


https://www.ebay.com/i/152863795059




mos6507

Quote from: admin on January 31, 2020, 04:05:49 PM


Mounting the GK this way seems like a great way to impale the palm of your hand on that screw.  I take it people normally hacksaw the end off after they set the height?

Michael Dolan Doubleneck
Les Paul Custom

VG-99
FTP