brilliant! thank you for this for the great footage of taking it apart and for the tip on checking the crimp mine is intermittent on G adn D one or the other never both so Im guessing the same issue now I have the confidence to take this thing down and give it a whirl EDIT just applied this fix to my GK3 Divided pickup and it was exactly what was wrong!!!! all working now and working perfectly you saved me $220
These pickups are of an unbelievably poor construction standard. I've installed three so far - two GTK-KIT and one GK3. The pickup coils are mounted on a thin PCB that sits on a plastic carrier and is enclosed on the top by a metal can. The screw bends the PCB. BTW, be REALLY careful bending those tabs - you'll only get to do it once, maybe, so only bend them just enough to open it. The seven wires represent a common and six coils. This cable terminates in a 7-way multi-way. If you get too much trouble with this arrangement, there is no problem with removing the wires (do make a note of where they go!), removing the casing and support and using something like Polymorph to make a holder for the whole thing. Customise the curve, and/or the mounting method. The only thing that you are trying to achieve is to put each coil underneath each string, so the carrier format doesn't matter that much. It's fiddly work, but you can do it, because as I said, this is just 6 coils mounted on a PCB. If you know how to produce a PCB, you could even make one that has the pickups match the string spacing of your particular guitar, but this approach is definitely not for the either the beginner, or the faint of heart! I didn't take a video at the time, but I did take micro-shots of the first one, when I found a brand new GTK-KIT with one pole out (easier to fix it than send it back). If anyone is interested, I'll make a quick video.
Thanks for your videos. I have a similar issue with my GK-3B: I lose the A string from time to time. In my case the signal comes back when I unplug/replug the 13-pin cable on the GK module on the bass. I will follow your advice and carefully diagnose where the weak point is before doing anything reckless. Cheers.
Nice video. Just found it but it's still relevant because the GK-3 is still buggy LOL Mine works mostly fine until I get up to the 12th fret. From there on up, it's not even registering signal. Even if my module's note range was being exceeded, I should still see a signal indication, I would think.
Thank you for showing and demonstrating the possible problems with the GK3 pickup. I noticed when I bought a GR20 some years ago that the connection was probably going to be a big issue soon. It's a bad design and surely Roland could have sorted out this by now. On a GK3 equipped ready guitar that they used to sell ( way to much money for me! ) it might have not been such a problem. Glad you managed to fix it but it shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. Thanks 👍
Thanks for the tip,my A string is on & off,moved the pickup closer & it helped,but now midi dropouts & hardly any volume at times? using an old GI20,but will check cable as you suggest. Think maybe the Fishman triple play is a better solution,with Kenton/Iconnect USB.Midi converter for my synths
Isn't it amazing that a high tech company like Roland would put this piece of crap joint on an expensive product when a small din type plug would have been perfect. My GR55 failed three years ago, and I would have had to pay a bundle of cash to Roland to sort it, as it's out of warranty, so it's been gathering dust ever since. Thanks to you it's up and running again.
Hello from the wet and pretty miserable 2024! It's been 10 years since posting this video, and you saved me £150! I had problems with my A string, and when I took the cover off, I found a green cable just hanging in the air. After a rather crappy soldering job, I managed to bring it back to life! Thanks for the video!
I have joined the many who have issues with this flimsy kit! Your video helped me enormously and gave me the confidence to eventually deconstruct my pickup, I gave 3 dead strings. Unfortunately my pickup has 3 wires disconnected from the board. I'll need to find someone to do the repair because my soldering skills don't stretch to that level of precision but at least I know the cause. These are still being sold new, in spite of the GK5 coming onto the market, I just wish Roland had fixed this clear design fault which has been around for well over a decade. But thank you again, a great help.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Excellent idea. Can you tell me if the hole for the bolt is metal or plastic. Thanx! Reason being, I was thinking of Using Loctite form a thread.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Just got off the phone with a Roland Tech. He says They have a new mini bolt to replace the old one. Slightly larger than the original.
Hi, compliments for video. In my GK3 the sixth string (low E) does not produce sound. I think it's a problem of interruption of the wire at the same point that you specify in the video. I understand little english but i seemed to understand that you have cut the cable on a bit higher of input in the pickup and redone solders. Greetings
Thanks man good video. Got mine working again but didn't put any tape around it and its gone again :( Trapped by the pinch thing. Got another one on its way from the shop where I got it. But I took the day off to try and get to know the box its self.
My G string pickup wasn't working, and I found that when I unplugged the cable from where it goes into my GR-30, and re-inserted it, the problem went away. So far, so good, I got my fingers crosses.
I'll try this on my pickup on my Roland G707. 3rd and 4th string are dead, and the rest have squeal/interference/overtones that make playing impossible or at least unlistenable.
hi ,good video thanks,.i have a problem hearing theguitar by it self when i put the pickup selector ,on the gk3 pickup,any idea what .it could be?all the other selectors works,evn in the mixed position ,i can only hear the synth..thanks for reply.
Check how you routing the guitar in the GR-55. Are you using the guitar out? Is it routed there? Is it even included in the patch? Lots of things to check.
My B string just went out too. Hope my fix will be simple like yours. Otherwise I may have to bring out the synth again which is a lot more for gig set ups
Back in those days I gave up on the GK3 and bought a Roland synth guitar. Basically a Fender Strat with the GK3 built in , great guitar and never had any more issues. One days I hope to go through it and resolder everything.
Well done, thanks. My A string crackles and has a weak signal. I will check MIDI cable connection but I am more suspicious of the mini humbucker wire. Some guys suggest a reverse mount (wire trailing down instead of up- then choose reverse mount setting in the GR 55) which I will also try, since my hand constantly hits the wire, which is probably the reason it got loose.
Thanks, TheGospelGuitarist, dated video, still helpful for today 2020, I had the same issue with these wires breaking off, and bought a second GK-3. When I bought the second one I place a small wrap of electrical tape to strengthen that week point. I'm having another issue now, and that is I can't get my guitar pickups to work through the GK any suggestion on how to rectify this? For the money they charge for these, one would think they could come up with a much more reliable design. Since I purchased my last GK-3 the price of them has skyrocketed.
I know this will sound like it's obvious but you do set the GK3 switch to both or guitar right? If you are not getting a guitar signal from the GK3 I can only assume it is faulty to what you are plugging into is not set for your guitar to play back.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Thanks I had it working at one point earlier when I purchased my first GK3. I will try a different guitar to see if I get a signal. Had my GK apart yesterday after watching your video and was able to repair a broken wire that fed the 6th string. Thank you for responding Sir. Wasn't easy due to my eyesight. Now enjoying all of the string resounding.
I have two GK-3's, one will install and wire through the guitar . . . the other is like your clamp-on module with the exposed wire, which is really vulnerable! I had the B-String going in and out and thought I needed a new 13-pin cable . . . but it just needed to be recalibrated for distance to bridge, made sure I had at least 1mm of clearance to string when capoed at 22nd fret . . . and then adjusted sensitivity on the GP-10 . . . works fine now. Got a large diameter shrink wrap . . . may put that on for more support at the microwire harness instead of electrical tape you used.
Hello my friend can you help me please? I have a gk3 too and it has a little and easy problem but i can't solve it. Well when i played 2 strings wasnt working... so i opened like you did, everything was allright and suddenly it started to work perfectly. But now 1 string is not working again =( i tryed to find some bad contact and nothing... what can i do my friend?? please
Don’t have the unit any more sorry. The settings are going to depend on your playing style, using a pick? Finger style? Just experiment until it feels and sounds right to you.
Thanks!!! I was really bummed thinking I'd have to perform surgery on my gk3, but that fixed it!
Awesome! :)
Thanks for the vedio🙏im having problem with the 4’th string for a week now. I’ll try how you fix it.Wish me luck😊
God Bless Brother🙏✌️from 🇵🇭
brilliant! thank you for this for the great footage of taking it apart and for the tip on checking the crimp mine is intermittent on G adn D one or the other never both so Im guessing the same issue now I have the confidence to take this thing down and give it a whirl EDIT just applied this fix to my GK3 Divided pickup and it was exactly what was wrong!!!! all working now and working perfectly you saved me $220
Awesome !
These pickups are of an unbelievably poor construction standard. I've installed three so far - two GTK-KIT and one GK3. The pickup coils are mounted on a thin PCB that sits on a plastic carrier and is enclosed on the top by a metal can. The screw bends the PCB. BTW, be REALLY careful bending those tabs - you'll only get to do it once, maybe, so only bend them just enough to open it. The seven wires represent a common and six coils. This cable terminates in a 7-way multi-way.
If you get too much trouble with this arrangement, there is no problem with removing the wires (do make a note of where they go!), removing the casing and support and using something like Polymorph to make a holder for the whole thing. Customise the curve, and/or the mounting method. The only thing that you are trying to achieve is to put each coil underneath each string, so the carrier format doesn't matter that much. It's fiddly work, but you can do it, because as I said, this is just 6 coils mounted on a PCB.
If you know how to produce a PCB, you could even make one that has the pickups match the string spacing of your particular guitar, but this approach is definitely not for the either the beginner, or the faint of heart!
I didn't take a video at the time, but I did take micro-shots of the first one, when I found a brand new GTK-KIT with one pole out (easier to fix it than send it back). If anyone is interested, I'll make a quick video.
Picked up a gk2 yesterday doing this. Thanks man.
Thank you Bro victor saxophone player Chennai India super AMAZING
Thank you.
Thanks for your videos. I have a similar issue with my GK-3B: I lose the A string from time to time. In my case the signal comes back when I unplug/replug the 13-pin cable on the GK module on the bass. I will follow your advice and carefully diagnose where the weak point is before doing anything reckless. Cheers.
Nice video. Just found it but it's still relevant because the GK-3 is still buggy LOL
Mine works mostly fine until I get up to the 12th fret. From there on up, it's not even registering signal. Even if my module's note range was being exceeded, I should still see a signal indication, I would think.
Thank you for showing and demonstrating the possible problems with the GK3 pickup. I noticed when I bought a GR20 some years ago that the connection was probably going to be a big issue soon. It's a bad design and surely Roland could have sorted out this by now. On a GK3 equipped ready guitar that they used to sell ( way to much money for me! ) it might have not been such a problem. Glad you managed to fix it but it shouldn't have been necessary in the first place.
Thanks 👍
Totally agree!
Thanks for the tip,my A string is on & off,moved the pickup closer & it helped,but now midi dropouts & hardly any volume at times? using an old GI20,but will check cable as you suggest. Think maybe the Fishman triple play is a better solution,with Kenton/Iconnect USB.Midi converter for my synths
For other people out there who have one of these try switching the 13 pin cord first. Sometimes those go bad
Isn't it amazing that a high tech company like Roland would put this piece of crap joint on an expensive product when a small din type plug would have been perfect. My GR55 failed three years ago, and I would have had to pay a bundle of cash to Roland to sort it, as it's out of warranty, so it's been gathering dust ever since. Thanks to you it's up and running again.
That's totally awesome. I'm happy for you. :)
Hello from the wet and pretty miserable 2024! It's been 10 years since posting this video, and you saved me £150! I had problems with my A string, and when I took the cover off, I found a green cable just hanging in the air. After a rather crappy soldering job, I managed to bring it back to life! Thanks for the video!
Glad it helped Do me a favor and hit that subscribe button. Love happy endings!
Thanks!
I have joined the many who have issues with this flimsy kit!
Your video helped me enormously and gave me the confidence to eventually deconstruct my pickup, I gave 3 dead strings. Unfortunately my pickup has 3 wires disconnected from the board. I'll need to find someone to do the repair because my soldering skills don't stretch to that level of precision but at least I know the cause. These are still being sold new, in spite of the GK5 coming onto the market, I just wish Roland had fixed this clear design fault which has been around for well over a decade. But thank you again, a great help.
Good luck, hope you get it fixed.
Thanks a lot. I have same issue, so I will try.
Thank you so much
You're most welcome
Thank you !!!
Hey man, How did you loosen the metal casings grip on the cable from the controller to the pickup?
Needle nose pliers or wire snips I believe. Long time ago.
Great video. The screw on my GK3 pickup that holds the wire down is stripped. Suggestions to fix please. What super glue did you use?
Try a slightly larger screw. Just ordinary super glue.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Excellent idea. Can you tell me if the hole for the bolt is metal or plastic. Thanx! Reason being, I was thinking of Using Loctite form a thread.
I think it is plastic. I just thought that a tiny zip tie may work. I still have mine but I sold the GR-55 it came with.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Just got off the phone with a Roland Tech. He says They have a new mini bolt to replace the old one. Slightly larger than the original.
@@TheGospelGuitarist I put a zap on. much more secure. Bought new screws from roland too. You interested in selling your fixed one? FB message me.
Pas de traduction 😢
Hi, compliments for video.
In my GK3 the sixth string (low E) does not produce sound. I think it's a problem of interruption of the wire at the same point that you specify in the video. I understand little english but i seemed to understand that you have cut the cable on a bit higher of input in the pickup and redone solders.
Greetings
Thanks man good video. Got mine working again but didn't put any tape around it and its gone again :( Trapped by the pinch thing. Got another one on its way from the shop where I got it. But I took the day off to try and get to know the box its self.
I have that same problem but with a Terratec Axon AIX-101. The pickup doesn't detect the G string
My G string pickup wasn't working, and I found that when I unplugged the cable from where it goes into my GR-30, and re-inserted it, the problem went away. So far, so good, I got my fingers crosses.
miceal mcfeorais I attach it using the bridge mounting bracket, not the tape or screws.
I'll try this on my pickup on my Roland G707. 3rd and 4th string are dead, and the rest have squeal/interference/overtones that make playing impossible or at least unlistenable.
thanks for your video clips
My GK 3 is not detecting any string.. wires are okay.. gotta try your method now
hi ,good video thanks,.i have a problem hearing theguitar by it self when i put the pickup selector ,on the gk3 pickup,any idea what .it could be?all the other selectors works,evn in the mixed position ,i can only hear the synth..thanks for reply.
Check how you routing the guitar in the GR-55. Are you using the guitar out? Is it routed there? Is it even included in the patch? Lots of things to check.
thanks! I may try that to fix mine. :)
Do those little pickups come out? Are they soldered in?
Soldered to the circuit board.
@@TheGospelGuitarist do you know which color wires correspond to which mini pickup? I want to disconnect 1-4
Not without taking it apart.
thanks
You're welcome!
My B string just went out too. Hope my fix will be simple like yours. Otherwise I may have to bring out the synth again which is a lot more for gig set ups
Back in those days I gave up on the GK3 and bought a Roland synth guitar. Basically a Fender Strat with the GK3 built in , great guitar and never had any more issues. One days I hope to go through it and resolder everything.
Well done, thanks. My A string crackles and has a weak signal. I will check MIDI cable connection but I am more suspicious of the mini humbucker wire. Some guys suggest a reverse mount (wire trailing down instead of up- then choose reverse mount setting in the GR 55) which I will also try, since my hand constantly hits the wire, which is probably the reason it got loose.
Yes, I've heard that too. Unfortunately once the damage is already done, it still needs repaired first. Thanks for passing it on!
Thanks bro! My GK cable has become loose & does lock snuggly to the synth input or pickup input. Is there anything I could do?
Replace the cable? The clip may be broke that's on the plug, a little metal clip that hooks into the plug.
Thanks, TheGospelGuitarist, dated video, still helpful for today 2020, I had the same issue with these wires breaking off, and bought a second GK-3. When I bought the second one I place a small wrap of electrical tape to strengthen that week point. I'm having another issue now, and that is I can't get my guitar pickups to work through the GK any suggestion on how to rectify this? For the money they charge for these, one would think they could come up with a much more reliable design. Since I purchased my last GK-3 the price of them has skyrocketed.
I know this will sound like it's obvious but you do set the GK3 switch to both or guitar right? If you are not getting a guitar signal from the GK3 I can only assume it is faulty to what you are plugging into is not set for your guitar to play back.
@@TheGospelGuitarist Thanks I had it working at one point earlier when I purchased my first GK3. I will try a different guitar to see if I get a signal. Had my GK apart yesterday after watching your video and was able to repair a broken wire that fed the 6th string. Thank you for responding Sir. Wasn't easy due to my eyesight. Now enjoying all of the string resounding.
I have two GK-3's, one will install and wire through the guitar . . . the other is like your clamp-on module with the exposed wire, which is really vulnerable!
I had the B-String going in and out and thought I needed a new 13-pin cable . . . but it just needed to be recalibrated for distance to bridge, made sure I had at least 1mm of clearance to string when capoed at 22nd fret . . . and then adjusted sensitivity on the GP-10 . . . works fine now.
Got a large diameter shrink wrap . . . may put that on for more support at the microwire harness instead of electrical tape you used.
Hello my friend can you help me please? I have a gk3 too and it has a little and easy problem but i can't solve it. Well when i played 2 strings wasnt working... so i opened like you did, everything was allright and suddenly it started to work perfectly. But now 1 string is not working again =( i tryed to find some bad contact and nothing... what can i do my friend?? please
Re-heat the solder joints to eliminate any cold or loose solder joints.
i did it but still doenst work =( but thank you anyway!
BIG THANKS🎵😄
God bless you can you make a youvideo of the sensitivity for each string on that guitar
Don’t have the unit any more sorry. The settings are going to depend on your playing style, using a pick? Finger style? Just experiment until it feels and sounds right to you.
TheGospelGuitarist what happens it wasn’t good or it was something else
God bless u
Thank you! Hope that helped.