Show your GK Guitar

Started by Virtual Tone, February 22, 2008, 11:45:18 AM

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kneagle

I know this is a crazy thread to post this question, but the conversation seems to be lingering on GK installations, so-o-o:

Has anyone tried to install the internal kit on an older Parker Fly Deluxe? 

aardvark5

Quote from: kneagle on December 31, 2016, 10:46:43 AM
I know this is a crazy thread to post this question, but the conversation seems to be lingering on GK installations, so-o-o:

Has anyone tried to install the internal kit on an older Parker Fly Deluxe?

http://www.telemods.co.uk/guitars/Parker%20GK-2A.html

aardvark5

I put this together from spare parts.
I haven't bothered with the 3 way switch but the humbucker does still work.


HecticArt

Hi Joaobraga,

Picking up the conversation from the other thread, here's what I did to my Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature to add an internal GK pickup.
I spent a little time thinking about where I wanted to mount the controls, and what I could do that wasn't going to deface the guitar too badly.

I sketched over a photo of it on my iPad and basically came up with the same thing that Reeves had done with one of his.

I found this picture of his after I figured out what I wanted to do. I was going to get a larger chrome control plate for the GK volume, but after seeing his, I figured that it wasn't worth it.

I think Reeves has his coil tap switches where I put the GK up down buttons.
I figure that If I was that close to what he did, I'd be fine.

The GK volume is off the end of the chrome control plate. That's the only hole in the front of the guitar. Everything else is installed in the pickguard and can be removed to take it back to factory looks. The pickup is on a plate that I made out of pickguard material. It fits under the factory pickup ring and can be removed without damaging the front as well. (I still need to find miniature fasteners for the pup, and make a cover for the wires.)

You can see the back and edge where I put the 13 pin jack and circuit board on mine.  Those are the 2 main spots where I had to route cavities into the body. Since I intend it to be a player that I'm not planning on selling, I wasn't too worried about making those cuts. It's not a 53 Les Paul after all, I just want it to look clean.


HecticArt

I forgot that I didn't post the pix of the edge and back in my first post above.



joaobraga

Hi HecticArt,

Thank you so much for the pics and all the details you posted. I also made several sketches to find the right place for the controls but never got to a conclusion in spite i had the internal gk kit for more than a year. The fact of owning another guitar with the kit already installed kept me in the defensive while i was not sure what to do. I like this guitar for the sounds and playability but was afraid to change the looking. Seeing yours already finished is of a great relief because it looks awesome.

In one of my sketches i had the gtr/synth switch near the s1/s2 buttons in the same position of your s1/s2 buttons. The difference was that i had the 3 controls in line but pointing the neck – let's say in a position parallel to a strat pu selector to get me an ergonomic better access. The problem is that it doesn't look that good – your solution with all the controls in line looks much better.

As to the pickup i admire all your effort to minimize the damage but i confess i don't mind using the standard installation. The one thing that i don't like that much is the need for the cavity for the circuit board. I wish there was enough space.

Once again, many thanks for your time and all the info you made available.
Nice guitar that of yours!!! ;)

HecticArt

Thanks joaobraga.

For my day job, I'm an architect, so I tend to fixate on all of those little details. I didn't want to detract from the Reverend design, so it was much easier to keep it simple and clean and work with what gave us.

Unfortunately, there isn't any good way to get the circuit board in there without some carving. I contemplated making a space between the magnetic pickups, but it was tight, and the GK wires wouldn't stretch where they needed to go. I'm less confident about rewiring circuit boards and harnesses than I am with woodworking. For what it's worth, it probably wouldn't have been such a bad thing for me to screw the pickup directly into the face of the guitar. If I remove the GK, I'll need to make a new pick guard anyway, so I could always make it so that it covers up the GK pickup screw holes.

Like I said, this guitar sounds great, has an amazing tonal range before adding the GK, and it plays wonderfully. It's a really high quality guitar, at a reasonable price. I don't think it will appreciate in value as a collectors item over time, so I'd rather have it sound and play well, be comfortable, and look good. I have a couple of external GK pups that I can always strap on my other guitars.

If you need any more information on my install, please feel free to let me know. I'd be happy to send you more pictures or notes on what I did. I'm sure there are plenty of different ways to do it, but this has worked out all right for me.

Good luck, and keep us posted on what you decide to do.




joaobraga


No doubt you pay attention in the little details, even your nick name proves it. I also share the pleasure of having a good looking guitar besides their playability, but unfortunately i don't have your skills. All i have to do is find the best solution and then a luthier will do it.

What worried me with carving is the possibility of any change in the resonance of the body but your guitar sounds great and so that was a false issue.

I will post some pics when my guitar is finished.

Thanks again HecticArt.

HecticArt

I can't tell a difference in tone. I would imagine that someone with a better ear might, but I sure can't.

Good luck!

whippinpost91850

#634
Got done with GR internal kit on my Lefty SG. I used the pickup from my AutoTune kit. Works great. I also moved the p-up selector to the upper bout. Almost forgot I used Gumbo's synth-Lynx jack, no noise for me😀

Pictures in post, I obviously did not put them in correctly DUH. Go to "Vguitar pic here" in header or open attached link

https://imgur.com/gallery/XG8LN

Pouxe

#635
Another pictures...

2 x Maybach Lester 58 and Lester gold rush p90

Pouxe

And the best strat of the world... ;)  With a FX send/return loop...

Renata, my NachoGuitar. Do you know Nacho Banos ?...
See here : http://www.nachoguitars.com/pressvideos/
You can move my post if it's not at the right place.

Rodrigo Schwarz


I installed the GK 3 pickup in my Eclipse Esp. At first, I was afraid to compromise the look of the guitar. Before, the pickup was on a Strat copy. In recent months I have only used the GR 55 to play with the band (the guitar tones could be better, but I opted for travel ligth. I am tired of disassembling my rig while the other members of the band are already in the car leaving the place!). The ESP is a very good guitar to play. I use medium action, and the tracking is good. I have used less and less PCM Tones, using almost the magnetic pickup and the Cosm tones, avoiding to change patches in the same song, using just the ctrl e expression pedals to change tones.
GR-55 – VG-8EX - Esp Eclipse Standard 2 Amber Cherry Sunburst with GK-2A – Godin Multiac ACS SA - Gianinni Stratosonic (brazilian strat copy) whith EMG pickups – Roland JC 40

CodeSmart

Not to be a spoiler, your guitar looks great.  :D
I just want to warn about two issues with the GK wart when mounted for a long duration of time:

1. The rather rough pickup cable may scratch/dim the clear coat after some time.
2. The rubber material underneath the wart may react with nitrocellulose clear coat.

I noticed both of these issues with my two-three year old Gibson LP and decided to keep it retro.
But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

Rodrigo Schwarz

Thanks, CodeSmart! I hope I never need to remove the GK from the guitar  :D My hope is that Roland will manufacture a successor to the GR 55 and that I can leave for another decade the GK in the Esp.
Most likely I need to use the GR 55 or GP 10 for another 10 years...  :(
GR-55 – VG-8EX - Esp Eclipse Standard 2 Amber Cherry Sunburst with GK-2A – Godin Multiac ACS SA - Gianinni Stratosonic (brazilian strat copy) whith EMG pickups – Roland JC 40

Pouxe

I think, maybe a little more convenient when the cable comes below ? See my photos on the two Maybach above

Rodrigo Schwarz

Quote from: Pouxe on March 20, 2017, 01:23:27 PM
I think, maybe a little more convenient when the cable comes below ? See my photos on the two Maybach above


Great idea, I should have installed this way!
GR-55 – VG-8EX - Esp Eclipse Standard 2 Amber Cherry Sunburst with GK-2A – Godin Multiac ACS SA - Gianinni Stratosonic (brazilian strat copy) whith EMG pickups – Roland JC 40

Pouxe

Hi,
In this case, don't forget to set the PU DIRECTION on REVERSE in the GK settings

CodeSmart

#643
A few weeks ago I bought a used Charvelle guitar (made in China)  for $270. Pimped with Seymoure Duncan pickups (I pimped it with GK)...
It's great. Well worth the price!!! Charvelle is rare up here in the North.

I been playing like hell with it today, I'm a happy chap! ;D

But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

GuitarBuilder

#644
My recently revived 1979 Schecter with Roland STK-1 installed:




Details of the restoration: https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=20524.0
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

aliensporebomb

Wow - so many Scholz rockmodules!
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

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

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: aliensporebomb on March 27, 2017, 05:42:05 PM
Wow - so many Scholz rockmodules!

The top head is ADA: MP-1, MP-1 Classic, and MP-2.  They happen to use the same blue color as Rockman.

And yes, the bottom head has 10 Rockmodules in it.  About 30% of my total inventory.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

mmmmgtr

#647



https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwex5E91aJJDb1VXeUpIR1pmNkU/view?usp=drivesdk

So, it's a GREAT guitar. I'm very happy.

It appears to be a DF824 with the GK-KIT installed. I'm not sure if they offered the GK-KIT as a production model. I do remember seeing another one pretty much the same in a sunburst color.

The previous owner swapped out the SD pickups and put in Dimarzios and they sound great! I'm really impressed with the tones available from this guitar. The previous owner did not wire the push/pull switch, so it is inactive. I'm trying to think of what I could use it for, but I'm very happy with the tones as-is.

I did have to rewire the GK-KIT. Their default installation at Parker omits the guitar signal from going down pin 7 of the 13 pin cable. That was a problem for me. Easy fix and now it works like a charm. I remember talking with Parker tech support back a few years ago and they had mentioned some issues with crosstalk between the Powerchip and the GK-KIT as the reason they omitted the pin 7 connection. I've never had a problem. It does get tricky since the Parker is already a stereo guitar and has the autosensing Powerchip. This makes the battery connection a bit tricky, but I have a few different ways around that.


Anyway, I couldn't be happier. It was a little bit pricey, but I feel I got an overall good deal. I did pay less than the asking price so I felt good about that. I'm just spoiled because I've been fortunate to get a lot of great deals on my Parkers.

vtgearhead

My remodeled and revised GC-1.  AllParts compound radius neck w/ stainless steel frets and Hipshot tuners.  Babicz tailpiece and block.  Plays like butter and sounds like a different instrument.  The OEM pickups are surprisingly good.







admin

Found an interesting Squier Strat GK-2A installation while searching GK Guitar pics  the net

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/my-squier-roland-gk-2a-synth-mod.134539/













My Squier Roland GK-2a synth mod
Discussion in 'DIY Strat Forum' started by Misfit, Dec 11, 2011.

Hi DIY'ers,
I just rescued some photo's off my old mobile phone that I took during my last "upgrade" hack to my '88 MIK Squier strat, that I'd like to share.

In the early nineties I had already replaced the bridge pup with a black SD Hot Rails, and the saddles with graphite but those were the only upgrades thusfar.
In '03 I bought a guitar synth, the Roland GR-33, and attached the GK-2a pickup with the supplied adhesive tape to the PG and the controller unit to the strap button, sitting like a big wart on top of the body.
During the following years, I really grew into using this setup for my home recordings; it's just so easy to sketch out arrangements with a multitrack recorder -without putting the guitar down.
But the guitar wouldn't fit in a case anymore, and the big plastic controller unit (and its wiring) always seemed to be in the way. Especially when I wanted to use the strat as a "regular" guitar. And you can't just take it off and put it back on in a couple of minutes.
Since the guitar needed a good overhaul anyway (new volume pot, trem setup, intonation), I decided to try to integrate the GK into the body.

Not much to lose; I don't expect the resale value to ever exceed the sentimental value. So I took my (manual) woodworking tools to the body. I was surprised to find a solid wood underneath; sort-of expected plywood. It's a really light-colored soft wood, I suspect basswood. It was really easy to work, no splintering.

Took apart the controller unit, and added a hole to its case to feed the cable in through the side. Un-soldered the Guitar-IN mini-jack from the PCB, and replaced it with a cable (to be connected to the switching jack connector I've putt in place of the regular output jack - when there is no regular guitar cable plugged in, the regular strat output is sent to the GK2a)
Sanded the poly up a bit, gave it a layer of primer and then a couple of layers of rattle-can black. It's a satin with a plasticky feel to it; a bit like a car dashboard.
Put the whole thing together and to my relief it all works well! Have been using it for 2 years. Got myself an American Standard as new #1 in the meantime, but the Squier is the foundation of my home recording setup and hopefully in the near future my live looping setup.