Roland Ready PRS

Started by brookshollandmusic, March 20, 2011, 09:09:22 AM

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brookshollandmusic

I just completed the installing of a Roland GK-KIT-GT3 http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=235
in my Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 http://www.prsguitars.com/custom24/
Since it's a carved top guitar the installation of the controls required some woodworking and/or guitar building skills.  So if your not versed in either of those this is not a DIY for you.  I've built electric guitars from scratch and some necks and bodies, so I felt like I could proceed, albeit carefully, with this project; using the Roland Ready Strat as an inspiration:  http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0144660306

If your interested you can see how it came out:  http://brooksholland.posterous.com/46248527
More to come on this project as I have time to post more.

With the GR-55 paired with this axe, it may be the only guitar it ever play again ... until something better comes along  ;D


Elantric

Also a good idea to post your Roland compatible guitar pics here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=359.0

mariogag

Quote from: brookshollandmusic on March 20, 2011, 09:09:22 AM
I just completed the installing of a Roland GK-KIT-GT3 http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=235
in my Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 http://www.prsguitars.com/custom24/
Since it's a carved top guitar the installation of the controls required some woodworking and/or guitar building skills.  So if your not versed in either of those this is not a DIY for you.  I've built electric guitars from scratch and some necks and bodies, so I felt like I could proceed, albeit carefully, with this project; using the Roland Ready Strat as an inspiration:  http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0144660306

If your interested you can see how it came out:  http://brooksholland.posterous.com/46248527
More to come on this project as I have time to post more.

With the GR-55 paired with this axe, it may be the only guitar it ever play again ... until something better comes along  ;D


It didn't hurt your feeing to put 2 screw to hold the GK "bar" on a custom?

I know holes can be filled but I'm going in circle right now debating if I want to this on
my custom 20th anniversary (24 frets).

rrrrrrrr
It has a light satin finish so I really don't want to glue anything on the nice mahogany wood

ddlooping

Welcome to the forum, brookshollandmusic. :)

Very nice install, congrats. ;)
Diaz Guitars (work in progress)

paults

Quote from: mariogag on March 20, 2011, 01:13:51 PM
It didn't hurt your feeing to put 2 screw to hold the GK "bar" on a custom?

I know holes can be filled but I'm going in circle right now debating if I want to this on
my custom 20th anniversary (24 frets).

rrrrrrrr
It has a light satin finish so I really don't want to glue anything on the nice mahogany wood


The pickup screw holes were nothing compared to the S1/S2 holes, and the LED and switch holes :) Guitars are just music making tools (like a carpenter's hammer). Sure, they can be really pretty hammers, but their primary function is to let the music come out of you.  So, if your PRS is too pretty to modify, get another one that's beat up to mod, or get a PRS import, and mod it.

imall41

Quote from: paults on March 25, 2011, 04:12:19 AM

The pickup screw holes were nothing compared to the S1/S2 holes, and the LED and switch holes :) Guitars are just music making tools (like a carpenter's hammer). Sure, they can be really pretty hammers, but their primary function is to let the music come out of you.  So, if your PRS is too pretty to modify, get another one that's beat up to mod, or get a PRS import, and mod it.
+1  ;)

brookshollandmusic


a2dconverter

Quote from: mariogag on March 20, 2011, 01:13:51 PM
It didn't hurt your feeing to put 2 screw to hold the GK "bar" on a custom?

I know holes can be filled but I'm going in circle right now debating if I want to this on
my custom 20th anniversary (24 frets).

rrrrrrrr
It has a light satin finish so I really don't want to glue anything on the nice mahogany wood


The Graphtech Piezo Saddles save you from drilling extra holes in your masterpiece...

nice guitar though   ;D

Joe





Guitar Synths/ Controllers
GR-1
GI-20
GR-55
Custom US-20 w/ Breakout for GK Volume and S1/S2
Inline RMC GR-55 Sub-Filter
2 x Ibanez Roadstar II with Graphtech Floyd Rose Piezo Bridge and Hexpander Driver
PRS Santana w/ Graphtech Piezo Saddles and Hexpander Driver
etc...

paults

That's a very clean install,too :)

Did you make a concentric 50k/500k potentiomenter?  What are you using for S1 and S2?

My Custom 22 is on my "to do" list, after a strat and a shredder - I'll use the Roland pickup, with a custom pickup surround to hold it, but I like the look of that concentric knob.

I'm also going to look into a replacement rotary switch that will let me use an additional set of poles for virtual pickup switching, routed via pin 9 to an external expression pedal input.  This is easy with a strat switch ( a forum search will describe it), but I don't know if an affordable rotaey switch exists that isn't too big to fit.     

a2dconverter

#9
Hey paults, thanks for your questions...

Firstly on the non GK part of the guitar...
The guitar has an Acoustiphonic/ Hexaphonic preamp for acoustic and GK sounds and control.
On the guitar, the dual pot is a 500k/500kohm and it controls the Mag and Piezo volume which can be routed to the GR-55 or separate amps thorough the 1/4" guitar jack. The 3-way switch is a 6-way Free-way switch from stewmac. The lower 3 switch positions mimic a standard 3-way switch controlling the 2 humbuckers and muting the Piezo pick-ups. The upper 3 switch positions are the same as  the lower 3 positions except that the Piezo's are not muted. There is a situation where I would like to mute the Mags when playing acoustic sounds through the piezo pick-ups...I added a Seymour Duncan triple shot pick-up ring with 2 small switches, that mute the mags when the Free-way switch is in the upper position. The Free-way switch, in conjunction with the Pick-up ring switch allows Mag Only, Mag and Piezo and Piezo only sounds.





The tone pot is 500kohm Kill Pot from Shadow Electronics. The knobs are concentric wood knobs from eby seller "brianwilliams5".

For the GK part of the guitar...
I didn't want to drill any other holes in the top of the guitar, the GK volume and S1/S2 functionality are controlled from my modified clone US-20. The US-20 Clone is the Harald Milz design that I have modified to break-out S1/S2 and the GK volume which I control with an EV-5 Expression pedal. The EV-5 was modified with a 50kohm pot to match what's usually in the GK pickup. Harald's design included a Guitar Out Jack and I added a Guitar in Jack so that I can use the GR-55 FX with a standard guitar. The Guitar In/Out are normalized to connect through to the GR55 when there is no jack inserted.

I mounted all of the hardware onto an ozite carpet covered plywood board using bike chain links and screws. Everything parks in an SKB-SC2709 soft case. Pictures are worth a 1000 words...

seeya
Joe














Guitar Synths/ Controllers
GR-1
GI-20
GR-55
Custom US-20 w/ Breakout for GK Volume and S1/S2
Inline RMC GR-55 Sub-Filter
2 x Ibanez Roadstar II with Graphtech Floyd Rose Piezo Bridge and Hexpander Driver
PRS Santana w/ Graphtech Piezo Saddles and Hexpander Driver
etc...