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Topic: Midi pickups on the steel. |
Christopher Hillman
From:
Manchester, UK
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Posted 9 Sep 2015 11:40 am |
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Has anybody found tried a Roland GK pickup with their steel? I've seen a couple of pictures of them but no real examples of them working.
Basically i wanted to try one with the top 6 string on my Excel and try and run M-Tron on my laptop.
I havent the funds for a steelrider and tbh i'd probably spend that kind of cash on something else.
Thanks,
Chris |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 9 Sep 2015 12:53 pm
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Hi Chris,
I have experimented with this and it works OK.
I temporarily rigged up a GK pickup on my Fessenden Six Shooter and it tracked pretty well. I was only using the built-in sounds on my GR-33 floor unit but have previously used the MIDI out from that into a laptop and it worked fine.
You know the GK pickup doesn't put out MIDI on its own and you have to have it connected to one of Roland's guitar synths or stand alone GK to MIDI converters don't you?
I found that the older style GK-2 pickup works better than the more recent GK-2A or GK-3 pickups because it is physically a but flatter - the later pickups have a more pronounced curve to match the arc of the strings on a regular guitar rather than the flat profile of a steel. It isn't ideal - you have to boost the sensitivity of the outside strings to compensate. It's a shame that they don't make a GK pickup for lap steel and pedal steels.
The other issue to consider is the string spacing - I think you might have problems trying to use it with 6 of the strings of a 10 stringer because the spacing is so much narrower than a regular guitar which it is designed for. It just about fits on my Fessy which has much wider string spacing. You might have more luck mounting it on the Fender 1000?
I think people have dismantled the pickups and changed the spacing but it doesn't sound like a job for the faint hearted.
Next time you're down in London, come over and you can have a go.
Do you know what system BJ Cole uses on his steel? |
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Stephen Williams
From:
from Wales now in Berkeley,Ca, USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2015 3:14 pm
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use jam origin. It's software based converts in "real" time and will save you a bunch. If you don't have an audio interface i think simple ones are cheap now. When i say "real" it's pretty quick.
You can download a demo and see if it works. demo worked for me |
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Stephen Williams
From:
from Wales now in Berkeley,Ca, USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2015 3:14 pm
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use jam origin. It's software based converts in "real" time and will save you a bunch. If you don't have an audio interface i think simple ones are cheap now. When i say "real" it's pretty quick.
You can download a demo and see if it works. demo worked for me |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Sep 2015 3:26 pm
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
| ...The other issue to consider is the string spacing - I think you might have problems trying to use it with 6 of the strings of a 10 stringer because the spacing is so much narrower than a regular guitar which it is designed for. It just about fits on my Fessy which has much wider string spacing. You might have more luck mounting it on the Fender 1000?... |
Or an old Harlin MultiKord, which has the same string spacing as a classical (nylon-strung) guitar, yet is a pedal steel. |
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Geoff Noble
From:
Scotland
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 10 Sep 2015 2:03 am
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| Geoff Noble wrote: |
I'd like to see a 12 string Ebow, that would be interesting.
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I'd settle for a re-issue of the 2 string Ebow. |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 10 Sep 2015 5:29 pm Gk3
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Hi Chris...I use them on my Strat and a Steinbergers....I mounted them on one of my Excel S10s and it was too demanding. You have to hit your notes DEAD ON for certain effects to work. I already have to be quite precise fingering the Strat, but sliding on the steel is over the edge!..A couple organ patches worked but the piano, trombone, even other guitar patches wouldn't quantize or play the right note..fun experiment though!!.  Good luck!! Larry 
_________________
Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 12:15 am Re: Gk3
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| Larry Allen wrote: |
| I mounted them on one of my Excel S10s and it was too demanding |
Larry - how did you address the string spacing and curvature of the pickup issues?
Do you think this might be why it wasn't a success?
Did you notice a difference in the way it tracked on strings where you were able to get the pickup polepiece closest to the strings?
Was your synth set up to track pitch bends? |
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Robert Parent
From:
Gillette, WY
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 4:08 am
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I have messed with MIDI a few years back.....
As to the spacing, if you mount the pick up at an angle that issue can be resolved.
For the curve, that one is a bit harder. I was able to mill the top of the curve on the pickups I used. This removed just enough material to allow for better adjustment. However, if you mess up you basically have junk! The pick up had individual gain control and preamp for each of the coil so I was able to change a few resistor values in the pickup module to get things to work.
Tracking was fine on my systems..... The limit was the speed of pitch to MIDI conversion time and sending note messages down the MIDI stream. Good blocking technique prevented miss-triggers.
I had a couple prototype pickups and thought about manufacturing a small number but just not enough spare time. One of these days I may take a look at doing so as there still appears to be a need.
Robert |
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Gordy Rex
From:
Southport, NC
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 5:24 am
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I use a GR-33 and this has worked for years for me....
Velcro for the control and two sided masking tape for the pick up... I also adjusted the sensitivity for the polls on the pick up to even out the attack, and you can change the programing to allow the small up/down buttons to change instruments... the small knob is the volume control.. I usually place it under strings 3 to 8... but you can easily move it if needed for your taste or per song... Sometimes banjo rolls using string 2 or 1...
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Gordy Rex
Current guitar '78 Rosewood Emmons PP 8 X 6, La Grande II..8X8... |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 7:53 am
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Some time ago I fooled around with this system. I even dismantled the pickup, reduced the distance between the sensors and re-poxyed it back together. I have yet to try it. 
PS: How did it work to slant the pickup like that. The instructions are quite specific as to the distance from the bridge when positioning the pickup. |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 9:28 am Midi
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Hi Jeff..I shimmed the bottom of the PU to flat it..I was able to get 1mm space under the strings at a slant,...I used a Roland GR20 as that's what I had to work with..there wasn't any ptich bend tracking and the problems I had were not getting the notes to be true on a lot of patches unless I played quite deliberately ..I never pursued it after I tried it..I mainly wanted piano and organ and I get the organs from my Alesis MIDI verb4.. Larry
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Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side |
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Leo Melanson
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 10:03 am GK3 pickup and Steel
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I have been messing with the idea ... as I play the GR55 guitar synth to add keys to my arsenal for live gigs. The GR55 is an incredible tool for working musicians .. with 2 synth voices, guitar modeling, alternate tuning, etc. .. with one guitar you can jump from organ/piano to guitars to detuned guitars in one click. Here are the two applications I have been thinking of:
I was thinking that the GK3 could be mounted on a steel guitar under the middle strings and the player could use the GR55 to emulate dobro patches and can switch dobro tunings on the fly as well. The GR55 Dobro patch is fairly good. Not sure it would be that much better than using a Bobro or Boss EQ to emulate Dobro .. or just bring a real dobro to gigs.
Another cool application might be to add Strings to supplement the steel. So rather than trying to use as a primary keyboard tone trigger .... use it only to blend in some additional tones into the traditional steel sound. For these you will need the GK3, and a synth like the GR55 or earlier models.
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Boston area country musician
Mullen G2 player |
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Gordy Rex
From:
Southport, NC
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 12:35 pm
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Erv if you asking me about the angle it works just fine.. even on fast licks it keeps up no problem. I do keep it close to the strings... A 10 string flat and straight pick up like the steelrider would be better of course... I preferred the different instruments vs effects on the steel.... I also ran the midi thru a Roland KB amp which made a good amp stack with my Peaveys on top...
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Gordy Rex
Current guitar '78 Rosewood Emmons PP 8 X 6, La Grande II..8X8... |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 Sep 2015 1:01 pm
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Gordy,
Dumb me, I never even gave slanting the pickup a thought. It sure would have been easier that re-doing the pickup. |
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Peter Harris
From:
South Australia, Australia
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Posted 12 Sep 2015 2:05 am
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LOTS (!!) more about this stuff on the Vguitar Forums, folks...if you want to know more..
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If my wife is reading this, I don't have much stuff....really! |
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