Show Us Your GK-5 Guitars

[Bluesbird]

For those that want strictly a midi controller for their GM-800, you could do what I did with my Tele Deluxe using a Fishman Tripleplay Controller. Of course, you would substitute the TP connect with a GK-5. I ordered the pickguard from WD music.

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=29914;image

[chalicerok]

Here are three of my GK mod guitars

[chalicerok]

Here are three of my GK mod guitars

after a question about my guitars configurations, I decided to share my journey with GK equipped guitars.
I've always done the installs myself. The dark sunburst looking one has been all faithful since late '70s. I installed the first GK on around 89 to 90. That's when Roland introduced the gr50.. they didn't offer install kits then. I had to take one of the original gk2's apart and come up with a cable system for it as well as moving the pots off of the PC board which was double-sided. Ended up settling on a d32 sub connector on the guitar and then connected the wires appropriately to the PC board. I had to take one end off of 13 pin cord and install female d32 connector. Used  that for a number of years, and modified a second strat style guitar the same way. At one point, I installed graphtech piezo saddles and used those to connect to gk2 PC board. Worked okay, but since they weren't buffered it worked okay, but nothing to write home about. Ended up putting the GK pickup from that circuit board on that guitar as well.
  At the time I did this I was managing a music store, and when we were at the name show I approached Roland about creating internal kits for the GK. They had no interest at all at that point. Then, a few years later,  roland finally came out with some GK kits. That is what is installed in the green and white guitars.

[chalicerok]

The two buttons closer to the neck, are the s1 and S2 switches. The switch closest to the neck is synth/guitar selector. The middle switch is a coil splitter. The next switch is for a power booster that I have built into the guitar to increase the output. So the first knob is guitar volume, second knob is volume for the booster, and third knob is the synth volume knob. I do not have a tone control on this guitar as I rarely use them anyhow.
The green guitar is a little different though, I put the guitar Jack on the edge of the body and where the guitar Jack would normally be is the booster control volume so the second knob is a master tone.
Almost forgot, on the old sunburst, you will see a little switch near the volume control. That controls a preamp that was made by Levinson blade guitars. In the middle position it's off. One direction boost mids, the other direction boost high and lows. On the back of the guitar is an adjustment so that you can set up how much each one of those boosts is doing.
The final thing, I don't like five-way switches because I do a lot of changing from neck to bridge and I don't want to end up in number two or four. My solution to that was to make my middle knob a push/push so that I can bring in the middle pickup whenever I want. I use a push push because all I have to do is tap it to turn it on or off. If you have a push pull you have to grab it to pull it up which takes time and in a live situation, makes it more difficult. I have the s1 and S2 switches in a position so that I can easily get to them while playing if I want to change the synth program. But there's still far enough away from where I normally play that I don't accidentally bump them.
Has worked great for many many years and I'm very glad that the analog to digital converter works well so that I can continue to use my existing pickups with the s1 and S2 switches etc.
I did install 13 pin jacks on the end of those two older guitars that had the d32s once I could find them

[BROCKSTAR]

Double velcro'd my WEX (Wireless Expression) system on top of my gk-5 base. Got the other end into my sy-1000 right now (may put it in gm-800 later). Now I can assign it to do whatever I want like a normal expression pedal.
https://elgaratge.com/product/wex-wireless-expression/

[Elantric]

[Elantric]

[Elantric]