'13-pin'd a Original 1982 Roland G-505

Started by Howcome, July 23, 2017, 10:53:19 AM

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Howcome

I recently bought a G-505 on a dutch online yardsale site (marketplace). Ever since this model came out, about 35 years ago, I wanted to get one, but being a student, it was way out of my league. Upon receiving it, I was surprised about the state it was in. The 1982 model was a spotless sunburst, without any wear at all. The case (original, off course) was 100% pure and looked like it never even left the store.

The only issue was that the GR-300 as well as the 24pin cable were not there. Having used a GR-55 for a long time now, I started to investigate how to add a 13pin connection to this piece of ancient beauty. I came across a schema of a Roland BC-13, which was not that complex. Adding the basic GK2 functionality to the G-505 is an easy thing, when you have the 24pin cable. I figured out a way to add the BC-13 electronics into the guitar, fitting it with a 13pin connector, instead of the old 24pin one. This old connector takes up a lot of space inside, which gave me enough room to add a little PCB with the elecronics, as well as the 13pin connector.

I created a little mouting plate for the connector, and fitted all into the guitar. All worked, except for the GK switches. I will have to examine the prototype further to see what is wrong there. But apart from that, the hex pickup signal, guitar master output (with volume pot) and synth volume are working very well..

When all is done, and in working order, I will post a blog on my website to explain what I did, and put a video on YT to demonstrate it. I'll keep you guys posted. 

Howcome

The link to the blog post with the whole story : http://gtrworks.nl/roland-g-505-13pin-connector/
I tried to create some footage on youtube: