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Topic: anybody here use a GR-20 & GK-3 pickup? |
Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 31 Jul 2009 1:21 pm |
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I heard a guitar player a couple weeks ago that had the GR-20 and the GK-3 pickup on his guitar. He got a very realistic fiddle, banjo, and piano sound with this setup. I just orderd both, and was wondering if you guys that have this unit might give me some advice. Like, exactly where to place the pickup, how high to place the pickup etc. After the pickup is in place, do you have to program the sounds you want into a bank on the GR-20, or can you just flip a switch, or turn a knob and get the sound your lookin for? YEA RIGHT!  The main sounds I'm interested in, are the vibrato violin, the banjo, the sax, and the piano.
I know you are suppose to think how violins, pianos, etc are played when playin that paticular sound on your guitar. One more question, when playin a fiddle sound, can you hammer-on, a half or whole step on any particular string, like fiddle players do to get that hammer-on sound, or will it skip and not pick up the hammer-on? If somebody understands what I'm trying to ask, will you ask it for me please?  Anyway, any help, advice, tricks, that you can share with me is much appreciated.
Terry |
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Bob Martin
From:
Madison Tn
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Posted 31 Jul 2009 2:55 pm
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Hi Terry, if you play super Kleeeeeeen you can hammer on and off until the cows come home but there are a few caveats to consider like having your pickup setup just right and the sensitivity of the midi pup setup for that style and how new your strings are you'll find yourself changing strings more often because new strings trigger the sounds faster and sustain longer and there are other variables but you will find them out pretty quick. The Roland unit you have is a great little unit and if it's setup properly it is pretty darn fast and will trigger your internal sounds very fast if you give it good clean notes to work with.
Hammer on and offs are actually pretty easy to pull off oops sorry for the pun You should be able to trigger at least 3 to 4 hammer on and offs with just plucking the note one time. Have fun and you can't consider yourself a true midi guitarist until you have made everyone in the band mad at you at least 2 or 3 times hehe!
Bob
_________________
***Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow*** |
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Shane Glover
From:
Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 31 Jul 2009 6:49 pm
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Hi Terry,
I have the older Gr 33 with a Gk2a pick up. I can not speak for the Gr 20 . The Gr 33 you can just scroll through the patches and play whatever sound you choose. It is as simple as that. On the Gr 33 you can set up the piano sound in scale steps. This is to say the note will be one or the other. No glissando here.
When playing guitar you can slide and bend in between notes. That seems to confuse the piano patch and it makes some crazy sounds . So if you go in and set the patch accordingly you won't have any problems. The Gr 33 fiddle sound is not so great. the piano sounds are awesome as well as organ and horn patches.I use a lot of synth pads to fatten up my recordings.I am sure you will have a blast dialing it in. Good luck !! |
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Papa Joe Pollick
From:
Swanton, Ohio
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Posted 31 Jul 2009 8:34 pm
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 Hey Terry,glad to hear ya got one comin'.You'll get all your questions answered when you get it and study the book.
I can't offer any more than I did on TDPRI..Have fun.. ..PJ... |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 1 Aug 2009 9:33 am Gr-20
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Thanks Bob and Shane for your advice, you've been very helpful. Bob I just put on a new set of D Addario 120s. I'm goin to play it a day or two to make sure my strings are stretched then set the intonation. I suspect it will be a while before I'm good enough to make the band mad at me.
And thank you Papa Joe for helpin me over on the TDPRI forum. The pictures helped a lot.
Terry |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 7 Aug 2009 7:35 pm Gr-20
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Got my GR-20 and GK-3 today. UUGG, It looks like a lot more to installing the pickup than I thought.I
may have to get some advice from ya'll if I get stuck. 
Terry |
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Bob Martin
From:
Madison Tn
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Posted 7 Aug 2009 11:31 pm
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Howdy Terry don't let it intimidate ya! It looks harder than it is. If you need some one on one help just PM me and I'll give you my number and I'll do all I can.
Different guitars are easier than others like a Gibson with the normal Gibson screw-in bridge has a tail piece that is a piece of cake to install and if you have a fender guitar the sticky pads are a lot better than ruining a vintage pick guard but if it's not a collectors piece you can buy original pick guards all day long for 15 to 25 bucks and trust me the pitch to midi pup works better screwed in with the tension springs so that it can be adjusted with a screwdriver while you are trying to find the sweet spot for the pup. But don't drill any holes until you think it out very carefully LOL!!
Big Bob
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***Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow*** |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 8 Aug 2009 7:59 pm Gk-3
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Well I got it installed Bob, and took it to the Church about 7:00. I must have hit it purty close, because it sounds awsome! The sounds I wanted the most sound really great. The moody sax, and tenor sax, sound great, as does the banjo, the violin, the piano, and the organ. Now I got some practicing to do. We been needing some more lead instruments in our Gospel band, all we have right now is steel guitar, and dobro now and then. Now we got all we need.
Terry |
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Terry Sneed
From:
Arkansas,
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Posted 9 Aug 2009 9:53 pm GK-3 pickup
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Hey Bob, Papa Joe, and all, I got my GK-3 pickup on Saturday evening, using the double sided tape. I played it some Sat night at the Church, and again tonight at Church. After Church, I brought my Tele with the GK on it home, along with my amp. I played through some of the patches, and then realized the tracking was off. purty bad to. I noticed my pickup was coming loose, I don't think that tape is gonna hold this thing for long. I pressed down on the GK-3 and it stuck again, but I think it will just work loose again in a day or so. My wife bought some permenent double sidded tape. I wonder if that will hold it, or reckon I should go ahead and drill the holes in the guitar. One hole will go through the bridge plate, and the other will go into the guitar body. I really didn't want to drill into the guitar, but the pickup is setting just about right now. I hate to have to un string the thing again, and put the permenent tape on it, I'm not sure it would even hold. I got to do one or the other though, unless I go down each side of the GK with some super glue and hold it down good till it dries. What do ya'll think?
Terry |
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Clete Ritta
From:
San Antonio, Texas
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Posted 9 Aug 2009 10:10 pm
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| Ive been using GK2 pickups on my guitars for a long time. I started with the VG-08, then the GR-09. I use the GI-20 now, which is just the interface (no sounds) midi'ed to various sound modules, or direct to computer sequencer. The pickups work best as close to the bridge as possible and set pretty high close to the strings. Ive never tried it on steel but I was just thinking about this the other day since I have a GK2 laying around, and have heard some pretty cool stuff with midi steel. Certain patches may need tweaking, usually the ones that arent supposed to bend or gliss like piano etc. Hammer-ons etc are actually very well tracked. I found that the foam strips with double sided adhesive work well. Its about 1/8 thick which worked for me on Stratocasters. You may need to double up for steel, depending on height from strings to base. Also since its designed for 6 string Im not sure how the pickup tracks 10 strings. |
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