Roland GK3b internal kit fitting - advice...?

[Sambrook]

I am thinking of fitting the Roland GK3b pickup internally to my Ibanez SRH505 (Aerium). 

It has a good sized cavity, with enough space, I think. 

It's piezo only, vol and tone. I would appreciate any advice/tips at all. 

What I want to know 1st is this: can I have it running separately from the piezo? So, a 1/4" jack from the piezo to amp no.1, and the 13 pin Roland connected to amp no. 2. 

Vol/tone for the piezo, and vol, up/down buttons for the Roland. 

That seems to me to be the simplest way, keeping the two pickups separate, giving me fewer ways of cocking it up! 

All advice, warnings, etc will be very much appreciated. 

Cheers, Sean 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Sambrook

[pete.young]

@ped is the expert on the internal fitting.

With the external version, the GK3 output and the guitar pickup/preamps are separate. If you want to send the guitar output down the 13-pin cable, you need to plug a short lead from the jack socket to the GK3 controller. I'm pretty sure that the internal version will be similar, but with some internal wiring and a switch rather than an external lead.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by pete.young

[tauzero]

Are you sing it with a GR-55 or GR-20 or similar? The Roland pickup goes into the internals of the pedal, the existing output is split out in the pedal to a separate output.

Annoyingly, my existing output is only available from the jack socket. Must get that sorted out sometime.

[Woodinblack]

On 31/10/2020 at 12:31, Sambrook said:

What I want to know 1st is this: can I have it running separately from the piezo? So, a 1/4" jack from the piezo to amp no.1, and the 13 pin Roland connected to amp no. 2. 

Not sure what you are asking here. The piezo and the GK13 are only joined if you join them. Traditionally you connect the output of the instrument you have so that it goes through the 13pin cable as well, so you can play either with the jack socket, or the 13 pin cable or both. But if you connect your output to the GK kit, all you are doing is routing your pickup down the wire (and optionally swiching it on or off with the GK mix switch.

You can connect the output of the GK synth anywhere, and separately connect the jack socket to another amp if you want.

Quote

Vol/tone for the piezo, and vol, up/down buttons for the Roland. 

There are no volume up down buttons on the GK kit, or is this something else you are fitting. There are S1 and S2 buttons, which you could assign to volume (although I think they are per patch buttons so that would be a lot of assigning).

Quote

That seems to me to be the simplest way, keeping the two pickups separate, giving me fewer ways of cocking it up! 

It seems just the opposite - seems you are making what is quite simple a lot more difficult. What is wrong with the normal fitting - you are already making holes in your bass for the kit, it seems just adding a bit more awkward in its use, and if you are using a SY1000, making a section of it less functional.

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Woodinblack

[Sambrook]

Thanks for the input, all. 

I maybe didn't explain myself clearly. I want as simple as can be, separate cables to separate amps. Sounds like that's possible, from the above comment (Woodinblack) 

Cheers 

[pete.young]

32 minutes ago, Sambrook said:

Thanks for the input, all. 

I maybe didn't explain myself clearly. I want as simple as can be, separate cables to separate amps. Sounds like that's possible, from the above comment (Woodinblack) 

Cheers 

The 13-pin output won't go straight to an amp. It has to go through a floor unit, either a VB99, a GR guitar unit or an SY1000. Depending on which one you pick, there may be a separate output socket for just the on-board guitar pickup signal.

You could use a jack lead from the socket on the bass, but then you have the problem of 2 cables running from the bass to different locations.

If I were you, I'd give it a try with an external kit first. If you buy a second-hand unit you won't lose much money and you can find out whether it works without altering the bass. The divided pickup can just be stuck on, you don't have to fix it down with screws.

[Sambrook]

I am using a GR20, sorry I didn't make that clear. 

Good tip about sticking on an external pickup. My Ibanez is 55mm thick, and the clamp for the gk is limited to 50mm (I believe) 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Sambrook said:

I am using a GR20, sorry I didn't make that clear. 

Good tip about sticking on an external pickup. My Ibanez is 55mm thick, and the clamp for the gk is limited to 50mm (I believe) 

There are sticky pads that work without the clamp. The advantage of the external thing is that you don't need to make any holes in your bass. I certainly wouldn't use the internal kit until i was sure it was the bass I wanted it permanently mounted in. 

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Sambrook said:

I maybe didn't explain myself clearly. I want as simple as can be, separate cables to separate amps. Sounds like that's possible, from the above comment (Woodinblack) 

 

1 hour ago, Sambrook said:

I am using a GR20, sorry I didn't make that clear. 

With the GR20, if you haven't put your signal input into the 13 pin, you would only have the synth output from the GR20, not a mixed signal. The signal from the cable from the pickup would go through the separate lead. 

I will say (because I have done it), it is a big pain using two cables from one bass, especially dissimilar ones (and the 13 pin cable is a bit thicker than the normal one). 

Is there any reason you can't get the signal from the GR20 into your other amp anyway?

[Sambrook]

I do want separate cables, for a few reasons. I think the stick on external pickup is probably the way to go for now... 

[pete.young]

2 hours ago, Sambrook said:

I am using a GR20, sorry I didn't make that clear. 

Good tip about sticking on an external pickup. My Ibanez is 55mm thick, and the clamp for the gk is limited to 50mm (I believe) 

Right, in that case the 'Guitar Out' jack on the GR20 will output just the signal from your conventional pickups without any of the synthy stuff , provided that you feed it down the 13-pin cable in the first place. This will work whether you have an internal or an external pickup.

If you don't plug the Guitar Out jack into a separate amp, the guitar signal will get mixed into the mono or stereo 'Output'.

Double-sided tape is a good alternative to the Roland clamp and takes up a lot less space, use one that won't leave a nasty residue.

[Woodinblack]

32 minutes ago, Sambrook said:

I do want separate cables, for a few reasons. I think the stick on external pickup is probably the way to go for now... 

What reasons? Obviously your reason is your reason, but the signal comes down the 13 pin, so you can just feed it to the other amp then if all you want is the signal. Obviously if you actually want two physical leads from the bass, you could do that too it just wouldn't give you anything extra

[Sambrook]

Two different avenues of music, basses with synth access, and basses without, and a desire to separate the 2 avenues in my brain. Whilst we're not playing live, 2 cables isn't a problem. 

Fitting the pickup internally, using 2 cables helps in that separation. It seems it can be done that way, so thanks chaps for all the input. It has helped.