After watching your video I did the string signal test you show in it, and the strings had signal, so I realized something I did wasn't right. Just realized I had connected the pedal to the mixer thru the "guitar out" output. Fool of me! I changed the connection to the stereo output and Voilá, it works perfectly! Thanks!
maybe it was already discussed but it seems you could fashion a support from your mounting screw around the pickup cable. could possibly be done with something such as a fine copper wire. Wrap it under the head of the mounting screw, then several wraps around the pickup cable , then back under the mounting screw. This would require removing the pickup to have room to make the wraps, then reinstalling it
This area is a problem with Roland GK GK3 and GTK kit. They seem to do some really poor soldering on these seven wires - I even had a new kit arrive with a wire off!. The way to fix this is to re-solder them yourself, if you are up to the task - the wires are very small. After that and I haven't needed to do this yet, but either use hot-melt glue, or Polymorph to encase the wires permanently in position at the joints to the thin PCB inside the pickup. Be super gentle and careful with the casing though, because it uses fold-over tabs and you'll be lucky if you don't break any (I didn't, but I realise that it was a one-shot, the tabs won't bend twice!). After that, you'll have to hot-melt the cover on, but actually, that's not a bad idea, given Roland's crap quality control of these pickups. One way to keep glue/poly fluid is to use an SMD rework heat gun set to 100C, so that you can close the case and keep the glue/poly flowing inside, then let it set. Once those joints cannot move, the only point of failure will be in the actual 7 core cable, but...
I agree totally, my has been sitting around waiting for me to just do a complete rewiring job. Thanks for the detailed post. I have the Roland/Fender CG1 strat now so the GK3 just sits....
Wow I just had the same issue show up my B string 2nd barely registers on my gr20 string sensitivity setting, like you said I was thinking midi cable? synth? I bought the gr20 when it first came out (2010?) so I guess I escaped the wire issue for a good while, although I did notice some strings had a lot more top end than others, I have another guitar with a gk3 that I don't play a lot I plugged it in and no problem which eliminated the cable and synth and zeroed in on the pick up, well I have another gk3 that came with a 433 I picked up but the cable from the pickup to the controller is shorter, I thought they were all the same, so I can't switch it out my guitar a les Paul type fixed bridge ,so do the gk3's have different cable lengths?
I see your point to mounting upside down. I will look into doing that once this thing is operational again. Thanks for the tip! You should post a video on this. I've never seen anyone mount it that way and I am sure I am not the only one. I think I will if I can get your suggestion to work on my guitar. I have a lot of stuff down that way. 4 knobs and two switches. This guitar will be getting a built in Ghost MIDI system soon.
The Roland GK-3 is really extremely bad designed. After having the same problems I mounted mine reserve on a Gibson SG Standard and now it works pretty well. By the way - the SG is colored black, so the construction of the Roland parts are not that showy. Perfect guitar for the GK-3! But I still wish Roland would publish an updated version of the GK-3.
hi, i have an different issue with gk3. one button it's all the time press and the gr20 runs all patches without an possibility to stop it. i was on that shop and the seller said will send my pick-up to roland. after 1 week he call me and he said the gk it's fixed. i try few time the button on the shop to be sure but when i plug the cable and tried to push the button , the issue come back. i go back and the seller vasn't to happy(he said : comm'on man, not again, like he tried to make me feel guilty, not bcos roland doesn't did properly job on that gk3) and he call me to ask me if it's not my problem with the unit. i said my unit it's perfect. he said maybe the midi cable. i said it's new one. after he tried to tell me it's maybe compatibility issue between gr20 and gk3 and i must update the software or reset the unit (factory reset) cos could b that problem... wtf? i said the guy who sold me the unit using gk3 and i tested few times the unit cos he's a friend of mine, but he said the guy from roland doesn't think it's the gk3 problem cos he fixed one time... and i paid 180e for gk3... imagine what kind of ''good'' things roland guys do from time to time...
Thank U for video > I have a possible suggestion. I just purchased a GR-55 with the GK-3 site unseen. (1) I really hope I like this Synth and GK-3 (2) I hope its user friendly. I was watching another video re: GK-3 installation. This guy was installing his pickup and said something interesting. If you look at the pickup where the wire access's the pickup near screw, Look at it closely, there is what the other guy describes as a hook. He said he had no idea what that hood was for until "EUREKA" He said it is for inserting the wire to hold it in place and to allow users to tuck the wire under the strings thus keeping the wire from interfering with your playing. Give this a shop, hope it helps. I am a 100% Apple guy, One complaint I have with Apple is that their wires always break thus forcing you to spend big $ to replace charging adapters vs just having their wires self plugin replaceable. Hope this helps
HI again! I am that other guy! LOL! I made this video too. :) The unit has a HIGH learning curve. You need to read the manual FIRST! Then hook it up and use it, if not, you will get frustrated very quick.
All you have to do is mount the pickup in the reverse direction. Never really understood why someone would want a loose wire running across the top of the guitar. You can change your setting on the GR55 and VG units on which direction the pickup is set. Set it to reverse and your issue with pulling on that cable is mute. Hope that helps.
Never used one but probably not. The wires inside need to be pretty small in there. I think we need to be careful when handling any of them and solder points can always have a small error in manufacturing.
My unit is still under warranty . I am calling them today . Sent it back they tested it told me it was fine . They are denying this issue . Going to see if they will send me a new pickup . Bought in July 2105 .
I bought mine 2015, now having same issues as u. Whats the solution? I wonder if its possible to modify guitar and GR-55 so that the guitar pick ups can be used instead? I cant afford a guitar already set up for use
yes man..it's true..this area is so weak! i have broken once time...and today i have to repair the b string plot...i' go take a look to the next video.
i tried to take the pick up apart to check the wiring and it is so badly constructed its not even funny . aka if you take it apart it stays apart . the only solid solution is a gk ready guitar as the pick ups are the cheapest most flimsy design that roland can legally get away with . .pitty as the concept is a good one and very handy . also its not on that you cant access the unit with oridinary pick ups with out gk pick ups .
I hate Roland because of this bullshit. This has been an ongoing problem for me ever since I bought my GK3/VG88 5 years ago. Different reason though. My Carvin doesn't have enough room between its pickup and bridge for that "universal" pickup Roland claims they're selling you. So, I've always had to remove the circuitry from the protective shell. As a result, the individual magnets are volatile as well, with their exposed coils. I've already had to buy at least one (if not two--can't remember) extra inner strip(s) for around $40 each. I save them, because when a magnet goes out, I can often re-solder one that works from a previous strip. I happened to be readjusting my saddles tonight (after recording slide Gtr). Low and behold; my low-E string no longer works. :P This is like the 3rd or 4th time now after all these years! *palmface* Can you recall which wire colors correlate with which strings? Can't remember where I once looked this up, and I wanna see if it's maybe a wire this time, before bringing it back to my soldering buddy.
+Cr8Tron Don't recall the color codes. Tried a search? Carvin makes great guitars but it is their fault the Roland pickup doesn't fit the guitar not Roland's. Carvin is always doing stuff like this, that is not ad hearing to standards. They are doing a bit better about that today. I Had a ton of Carvin stuff and they are a great company. Roland has to come up with a better way to build the pickups.
Turn the pickup around, so the cable is coming out at the treble side of the bridge and you won't be touching it with your palm. You can reverse the pickup direction in the GR-55 settings.
The thing is so small and tight I don't know if you can get hot glue in there. Everything inside is very tight and frigile. If you can get a very thin watered down version of the glue it might work.
My GK-3 13pin connections have been nothing but trouble from day1, absolute cheap rubbish connections, Roland make some great products but they really failed with the GK-3, not worth the crap they're made of..
They have the whole pickup encapsulated on the Roland GC1 guitars. They need to do this on the stand alone pickups as well. Everything is so fragile inside, it needs to be completely encapsulated.
i hav ethe exact same problem its cheap and flimsy . its a real bad design . mine are all loose . roland pick ups are shitty cheap quality .. never again .
Lo certifico. Tras luchas contínuas, he llegado a la conclusión que la GK3 es una auténtica porqueria, en comparación a la grandeza de la GR55. La voy a desmontar y hacerme con ella un bonito llavero. Es absurdo. Como usuario, no tengo por qué meterme en soldaduras, reinstalaciones o refuerzos, sino que Roland nos deberia devolver el dinero. Ni más ni menos.
After watching your video I did the string signal test you show in it, and the strings had signal, so I realized something I did wasn't right. Just realized I had connected the pedal to the mixer thru the "guitar out" output. Fool of me! I changed the connection to the stereo output and Voilá, it works perfectly! Thanks!
Turn the pick the other way round so that you dont put strain on the connector. Then go to the GR55 settings and set the pickup to reverse
maybe it was already discussed but it seems you could fashion a support from your mounting screw around the pickup cable. could possibly be done with something such as a fine copper wire. Wrap it under the head of the mounting screw, then several wraps around the pickup cable , then back under the mounting screw. This would require removing the pickup to have room to make the wraps, then reinstalling it
This area is a problem with Roland GK GK3 and GTK kit. They seem to do some really poor soldering on these seven wires - I even had a new kit arrive with a wire off!. The way to fix this is to re-solder them yourself, if you are up to the task - the wires are very small. After that and I haven't needed to do this yet, but either use hot-melt glue, or Polymorph to encase the wires permanently in position at the joints to the thin PCB inside the pickup. Be super gentle and careful with the casing though, because it uses fold-over tabs and you'll be lucky if you don't break any (I didn't, but I realise that it was a one-shot, the tabs won't bend twice!). After that, you'll have to hot-melt the cover on, but actually, that's not a bad idea, given Roland's crap quality control of these pickups. One way to keep glue/poly fluid is to use an SMD rework heat gun set to 100C, so that you can close the case and keep the glue/poly flowing inside, then let it set. Once those joints cannot move, the only point of failure will be in the actual 7 core cable, but...
I agree totally, my has been sitting around waiting for me to just do a complete rewiring job. Thanks for the detailed post. I have the Roland/Fender CG1 strat now so the GK3 just sits....
Glad I could be of help ;-)
Wow I just had the same issue show up my B string 2nd barely registers on my gr20 string sensitivity setting, like you said I was thinking midi cable? synth? I bought the gr20 when it first came out (2010?) so I guess I escaped the wire issue for a good while, although I did notice some strings had a lot more top end than others, I have another guitar with a gk3 that I don't play a lot I plugged it in and no problem which eliminated the cable and synth and zeroed in on the pick up, well I have another gk3 that came with a 433 I picked up but the cable from the pickup to the controller is shorter, I thought they were all the same, so I can't switch it out my guitar a les Paul type fixed bridge ,so do the gk3's have different cable lengths?
Maybe a previous owner cut some off to fix a cable problem. There is no reason to be making different lengths.
I see your point to mounting upside down. I will look into doing that once this thing is operational again. Thanks for the tip! You should post a video on this. I've never seen anyone mount it that way and I am sure I am not the only one. I think I will if I can get your suggestion to work on my guitar. I have a lot of stuff down that way. 4 knobs and two switches. This guitar will be getting a built in Ghost MIDI system soon.
The Roland GK-3 is really extremely bad designed. After having the same problems I mounted mine reserve on a Gibson SG Standard and now it works pretty well. By the way - the SG is colored black, so the construction of the Roland parts are not that showy. Perfect guitar for the GK-3! But I still wish Roland would publish an updated version of the GK-3.
Yeah, I've had that problem on my GK-3's as well. I'm thinking of putting some hot glue or epoxy over the wires so they don't break.
Let us know how that works out.
hi, i have an different issue with gk3. one button it's all the time press and the gr20 runs all patches without an possibility to stop it. i was on that shop and the seller said will send my pick-up to roland. after 1 week he call me and he said the gk it's fixed. i try few time the button on the shop to be sure but when i plug the cable and tried to push the button , the issue come back. i go back and the seller vasn't to happy(he said : comm'on man, not again, like he tried to make me feel guilty, not bcos roland doesn't did properly job on that gk3) and he call me to ask me if it's not my problem with the unit. i said my unit it's perfect. he said maybe the midi cable. i said it's new one. after he tried to tell me it's maybe compatibility issue between gr20 and gk3 and i must update the software or reset the unit (factory reset) cos could b that problem... wtf? i said the guy who sold me the unit using gk3 and i tested few times the unit cos he's a friend of mine, but he said the guy from roland doesn't think it's the gk3 problem cos he fixed one time... and i paid 180e for gk3... imagine what kind of ''good'' things roland guys do from time to time...
Thank U for video > I have a possible suggestion. I just purchased a GR-55 with the GK-3 site unseen. (1) I really hope I like this Synth and GK-3 (2) I hope its user friendly.
I was watching another video re: GK-3 installation. This guy was installing his pickup and said something interesting. If you look at the pickup where the wire access's the pickup near screw, Look at it closely, there is what the other guy describes as a hook. He said he had no idea what that hood was for until "EUREKA" He said it is for inserting the wire to hold it in place and to allow users to tuck the wire under the strings thus keeping the wire from interfering with your playing. Give this a shop, hope it helps. I am a 100% Apple guy, One complaint I have with Apple is that their wires always break thus forcing you to spend big $ to replace charging adapters vs just having their wires self plugin replaceable. Hope this helps
HI again! I am that other guy! LOL! I made this video too. :) The unit has a HIGH learning curve. You need to read the manual FIRST! Then hook it up and use it, if not, you will get frustrated very quick.
All you have to do is mount the pickup in the reverse direction. Never really understood why someone would want a loose wire running across the top of the guitar. You can change your setting on the GR55 and VG units on which direction the pickup is set. Set it to reverse and your issue with pulling on that cable is mute. Hope that helps.
Do you think GK2 is better projected at this point?
Never used one but probably not. The wires inside need to be pretty small in there. I think we need to be careful when handling any of them and solder points can always have a small error in manufacturing.
I think Roland have improve the GK3 connectivity with 13 pin cable / ghost note while playing .
My unit is still under warranty . I am calling them today . Sent it back they tested it told me it was fine . They are denying this issue . Going to see if they will send me a new pickup . Bought in July 2105 .
+tc cravin they do seems with all issues the same...
I bought mine 2015, now having same issues as u. Whats the solution? I wonder if its possible to modify guitar and GR-55 so that the guitar pick ups can be used instead? I cant afford a guitar already set up for use
+Kim Westwood The pickup is 6 separate pickups. Normal pickups would never work in this application.
+Kim Westwood You'd need a guitar with a 13-pin output built in.
Bought the Fender/Roland C1 Strat. Much nicer and problem free for over a year.
Fixed it my self, you eyes of gold and a big magnify glass to see that microscopic wire Lol
I just bought a brand new GR55 with the GK3 included, and the pickup just does not work at all
Contact them for a replacement.
Thanks for the video, i just brought home a GR20/GK3 setup and have a dead string, was getting kinda mad about it
Yeah understood. This great gear is useless if the GK pickups fail all the time.
Sir i have installed gk-3 but no string e sound is lower than other string please any solution to solve
Go into GK setting and adjust the levels of the pickups in the GK3 .
@@TheGospelGuitaristthankyou sir
yes man..it's true..this area is so weak! i have broken once time...and today i have to repair the b string plot...i' go take a look to the next video.
install it in the opposite direction and then go in to the unit and select the reverse pickup direction in the menu.
hello gk3 magnet, 2.tel3.te 4.tel 5.tel, no sound is coming from please can you help me for what I should do
Make sure the connections are good. If not re-solder them.
Put RTV below the metal part where the cable goes into the pickup.
What is RTV?
@@TheGospelGuitarist Just Google for rtv dow corning 3145. It's a silicon adhesive. We use it at work to secure wires and connectors.
Cool Thanks!
i tried to take the pick up apart to check the wiring and it is so badly constructed its not even funny . aka if you take it apart it stays apart . the only solid solution is a gk ready guitar as the pick ups are the cheapest most flimsy design that roland can legally get away with . .pitty as the concept is a good one and very handy . also its not on that you cant access the unit with oridinary pick ups with out gk pick ups .
I hate Roland because of this bullshit. This has been an ongoing problem for me ever since I bought my GK3/VG88 5 years ago. Different reason though. My Carvin doesn't have enough room between its pickup and bridge for that "universal" pickup Roland claims they're selling you. So, I've always had to remove the circuitry from the protective shell. As a result, the individual magnets are volatile as well, with their exposed coils. I've already had to buy at least one (if not two--can't remember) extra inner strip(s) for around $40 each. I save them, because when a magnet goes out, I can often re-solder one that works from a previous strip. I happened to be readjusting my saddles tonight (after recording slide Gtr). Low and behold; my low-E string no longer works. :P This is like the 3rd or 4th time now after all these years! *palmface* Can you recall which wire colors correlate with which strings? Can't remember where I once looked this up, and I wanna see if it's maybe a wire this time, before bringing it back to my soldering buddy.
+Cr8Tron Don't recall the color codes. Tried a search? Carvin makes great guitars but it is their fault the Roland pickup doesn't fit the guitar not Roland's. Carvin is always doing stuff like this, that is not ad hearing to standards. They are doing a bit better about that today. I Had a ton of Carvin stuff and they are a great company. Roland has to come up with a better way to build the pickups.
Turn the pickup around, so the cable is coming out at the treble side of the bridge and you won't be touching it with your palm. You can reverse the pickup direction in the GR-55 settings.
This works but Roland needs to build a more robust product. Most are not even reading the manual.
My first instinct is to get the wires soldered, then cover the wires and the contact point with hot glue.
The thing is so small and tight I don't know if you can get hot glue in there. Everything inside is very tight and frigile. If you can get a very thin watered down version of the glue it might work.
My GK-3 13pin connections have been nothing but trouble from day1, absolute cheap rubbish connections, Roland make some great products but they really failed with the GK-3, not worth the crap they're made of..
have the same problem with gk2.
They have the whole pickup encapsulated on the Roland GC1 guitars. They need to do this on the stand alone pickups as well. Everything is so fragile inside, it needs to be completely encapsulated.
i hav ethe exact same problem its cheap and flimsy . its a real bad design . mine are all loose . roland pick ups are shitty cheap quality .. never again .
Lo certifico. Tras luchas contínuas, he llegado a la conclusión que la GK3 es una auténtica porqueria, en comparación a la grandeza de la GR55. La voy a desmontar y hacerme con ella un bonito llavero. Es absurdo. Como usuario, no tengo por qué meterme en soldaduras, reinstalaciones o refuerzos, sino que Roland nos deberia devolver el dinero. Ni más ni menos.
English please.
Roland want to sell thier GC-1 guitar....
It worked, I bought one. LOL!