6V LED Replacement for Roland GK Kit LED

Started by lespaul1991, July 09, 2020, 03:08:14 PM

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lespaul1991

Hi, guys! New to the forums here and I'm looking at a GK Kit install for my Partscaster. My main question is regarding the LED that comes with the GK Kit: I don't know how much voltage it is, but I wanted to know if it was possible to use a 6V LED that comes as part of a kill switch I have in lieu of the stock LED (which, if I'm totally honest, is hideous); specifically the TESI Mimmo switch (https://tesiswitch.com/shop/ols/products/tesi-mimmo-10mm-momentary-led-push-button-guitar-kill-switch-stainless-steel-select-led-color-ts-mmm-10m-mmn). The LED on the kill switch would be white (not sure if that changes anything). I'm not particularly well-versed in terms of voltages and am far from an electrician, so I don't know how this kind of modification would work out with the GK kit's board, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  ;D

Brent Flash

Welcome to the group lespaul1991!  :)

gumbo

All the LED does is tell you that (7v) power is coming UP the 13-pin cable from whatever synth unit you have the guitar plugged into...

A few hundred Roland-Ready & GC-1 Strats in the world OMIT this feature and life goes on...why bother ?

HTH

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

lespaul1991

Quote from: gumbo on July 09, 2020, 06:27:54 PM
All the LED does is tell you that (7v) power is coming UP the 13-pin cable from whatever synth unit you have the guitar plugged into...

A few hundred Roland-Ready & GC-1 Strats in the world OMIT this feature and life goes on...why bother ?

HTH

Peter

Thank you, Peter, and I understand that it can be an omitted element and it won't affect the instrument in any way, but I personally like the idea of an LED, so if I can at least try to get an LED that I like work with the GK kit, then I get the best of both worlds. What's the point of something custom if I just start compromising without at least asking the question, right?

Going back to the technical: if the power coming up is 7V, does that mean that this 6V LED would burn out? What's the voltage on the LED in the kit? Should I consider a resistor?

admin

Quote from: lespaul1991 on July 09, 2020, 03:08:14 PM
Hi, guys! New to the forums here and I'm looking at a GK Kit install for my Partscaster. My main question is regarding the LED that comes with the GK Kit: I don't know how much voltage it is, but I wanted to know if it was possible to use a 6V LED that comes as part of a kill switch I have in lieu of the stock LED (which, if I'm totally honest, is hideous); specifically the TESI Mimmo switch (https://tesiswitch.com/shop/ols/products/tesi-mimmo-10mm-momentary-led-push-button-guitar-kill-switch-stainless-steel-select-led-color-ts-mmm-10m-mmn). The LED on the kill switch would be white (not sure if that changes anything). I'm not particularly well-versed in terms of voltages and am far from an electrician, so I don't know how this kind of modification would work out with the GK kit's board, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  ;D

Any common RED LED will work (avoid other colors )

Be careful the third party LED is simply a RED LED in a mounting holder and does NOT include any additional electrical components- (no series resistors  )



Here is schematic



lespaul1991

Thank you, all! This has been really helpful.

QuoteAny common RED LED will work (avoid other colors )

So ultimately, the white LED I would like to install is entirely out of the question? Just curious as to why only red LEDs are allowed. Does it have to do with voltages?

Does anyone have any photos of their build with a non-stock LED for reference? Really curious what people have gotten away with so I have a clearer idea of what my limitations are.

HAMERMAN409

I used a yellow LED on one of my guitars. In this case it's on the back of the guitar since the only time I look at is when something isn't working correctly so it's just there as a "is my cable connected and am I getting power?" LED.

Shingles

Yes you can use a white LED. You may need to change the series resistor to adjust the current drawn and hence the brightness.
Nik
--------------------------------
Tonelab, VG99, Axon AX100, EDP, Repeater
Godin, PRS, Crafter and Roland guitars
Center Point Stereo Spacestation V3

gumtown

#8
FYI: Here is a reference chart on led color vs series current.

Some colors are more efficient, so a white led, although requiring more voltage/current for full brightness will work out about the same output as a red led with the same series resistor.

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

lespaul1991

This is awesome! You guys are the best! Thank you so much to all of you for helping me with figuring this out. I'm going to install soon so I'll let you know if I have any additional questions.

Best,
Fernando

lespaul1991

Hey, everyone! Figured I'd come back to this with a quick update and confirmation that connecting the Tesi Mimmo LED to replace the stock Roland led does work. Looks great and all I ended up doing was just snipping off the old led and soldering the connections to the hot and ground of the kill switch LED. Looks amazing. Thanks to all of you guys for your help!  ;D

HAMERMAN409

Looks great and I always like the idea of getting two functions out of one part.