GK3 on a Yamaha SLG 200S

Started by Euphony, September 08, 2018, 11:32:07 AM

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Euphony

Hi All,
I'm completely new to the tech side of guitar playing. I bought a GR20 6 months ago (my first ever pedally type thing) and just love it but some of the sounds were not so realistic, so having read a lot about them I decided to upgrade to a GR55 (now 3 days in) and now that I've kind of got my head around the basics. I love it.
I'm primarily an acoustic player but I play a bit of bass in the band too.
I have a few guitars: Simon and Patrick S & P 6 Cedar, Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood Concert Hall, Takamine EN10C, Larivee OM-03R (Orchestra), Fender USA Strat, Fender 50's Precision Bass and a Bass Collection SB301 (plus a Gretsch Lap Steel that I'm just learning to play) but I've attached my GK3 to my Yamaha SLG 200S and it is just lovely, kind of gives you the best of both (Acoustic and Electric) worlds. Anyone else use one on here?

choko

How did u manage to fix cable from pick up to the volume unit on SLG 200 s Body?


choko

thanks for the picture.
one question. is there any specific reason for placing the divided pick in angular alignment with respect to the bridge as shown in the picture?

admin

#4
Quote from: choko on November 09, 2018, 10:33:06 AM
thanks for the picture.
one question. is there any specific reason for placing the divided pick in angular alignment with respect to the bridge as shown in the picture?



https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-SLG200S-String-Silent-Natural/dp/B00XPHLBJY
To access the Yamaha's controls and battery access

this is only one example I could locate using google image search


Larsson

#5
Hello! Long time reader, first time poster.

I attached couple of pictures of the GK-3 pickup holder I made for SLG200S.

My SLG is still under warranty so I went with external GK-3 and completely reversible installation. I've not finished the bracket completely, there is some testing with the pickup position, placement of the GK-3 unit etc. still to be done. The bracket goes between the guitar body and pickguard and is tightened in there by the pickguard screws. The holes are shaped so that I can adjust the pickup position. Currently there is quite a lot of available pickup height adjustment and very little adjustment for the distance from the bridge. First tests seem to indicate that string balance is good, as is tracking and so far I haven't notice anomalies (I had alt tune anomalies with 1 out of 2 electric guitar GK-3 installations) in the sound, so looking good!

But I need a little bit of advice! I want to run SLG's normal pickup from the GP-10 "Guitar Out", because when running it from there it doesn't cut the sound of normal pickup when changing patches in GP-10, like it does if I run normal pickups through the main outs. But I will need a volume pedal so I can silence normal pickups with my foot when needed. It's just that I'm confused with all the options with volume pedals. Also many tutorials mention volume pedal differences only when used with electric guitar setups.

So signal chain would be:
SLG200S's normal output (battery powered, 1k Ohm) -> GK-3 -> 13-pin cable -> GP-10 -> GP-10 Guitar Out -> Volume pedal

What kind of volume pedal I'll need for it to work properly in terms of power, impedance, etc.?

Thanks for the help in advance! Also excuse me my English, please ask if there is something unclear and I'll try to explain it differently.

admin

#6
Quote from: Larsson on October 29, 2019, 11:24:27 AM
Hello! Long time reader, first time poster.

I attached couple of pictures of the GK-3 pickup holder I made for SLG200S.

My SLG is still under warranty so I went with external GK-3 and completely reversible installation. I've not finished the bracket completely, there is some testing with the pickup position, placement of the GK-3 unit etc. still to be done. The bracket goes between the guitar body and pickguard and is tightened in there by the pickguard screws. The holes are shaped so that I can adjust the pickup position. Currently there is quite a lot of available pickup height adjustment and very little adjustment for the distance from the bridge. First tests seem to indicate that string balance is good, as is tracking and so far I haven't notice anomalies (I had alt tune anomalies with 1 out of 2 electric guitar GK-3 installations) in the sound, so looking good!

But I need a little bit of advice! I want to run SLG's normal pickup from the GP-10 "Guitar Out", because when running it from there it doesn't cut the sound of normal pickup when changing patches in GP-10, like it does if I run normal pickups through the main outs. But I will need a volume pedal so I can silence normal pickups with my foot when needed. It's just that I'm confused with all the options with volume pedals. Also many tutorials mention volume pedal differences only when used with electric guitar setups.

So signal chain would be:
SLG200S's normal output (battery powered, 1k Ohm) -> GK-3 -> 13-pin cable -> GP-10 -> GP-10 Guitar Out -> Volume pedal

What kind of volume pedal I'll need for it to work properly in terms of power, impedance, etc.?

Thanks for the help in advance! Also excuse me my English, please ask if there is something unclear and I'll try to explain it differently.

With the Buffered Low Impedance Guitar Out  on GP10, I use a Boss FV-50L Volume pedal with much success


https://www.boss.info/us/products/fv-50h_50l/


There are options for the Normal Guitar PU signal Path

Some run a separate 1/4" cable from the guitar, with the 13 pin cable for GK/Synth only

or third party GK 13 breakout boxes

Gk Accessories
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=13.0


Roland US-20 "Magic Box Mod"- I/O External FX Loop, and Remote S1/S2
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3664.0



PRIMOVA - GKFX-1 - Enhanced Subsonic Filter with "everything"
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=20182.0

Larsson

Thank you for the detailed response! Great recommendations. For now I think I'll get that FV-50L and go with it to keep stage footprint small.

Larsson

Progressing slowly, but this is how it looks like installed at the moment (see attached picture).

Already done:
-some tweaking for the holes in the holder to clear it off from the bridge plate and make it more adjustable
-installed a small cushion spacer between the holder and GK-3 pickup to lessen string cross talk

Still to do:
-smaller spacer between GK-3 and holder to lower GK-3
-shim about 0,5mm of the width of the holder
-maybe some cushion for the holder to where it meets guitar body and scratch plate
-when all is done, paint it black

GK-3 control unit is attached with a velcro. It doesn't fit to the soft case with the unit installed so I had to figure out a way to take it off easily when needed. Works surprisingly good, but I'll need a wider velcro tape for it just to be on the safe side. Controls are easy to reach from there.

Larsson

I found this from Youtube. He is using SLG200 with GR-55 and GP-10. At least in this clip he is using 13-pin only with GR-55. There are plenty of vids on his channel, but not that much info on the GK-pickup installation.