Roland GK-1 Kit

Roland GK-1 Kit

The Roland GK-1 is the predecessor to the much more familiar Roland GK-2/GK-2A and GK-3 pickup systems. The GK-1 mounted on the surface of any guitar to add vintage 24-pin controller capability. The GK-1 is more compact and less intrusive than the LPK-1, STK-1 or BAK-1 kit, but some features were removed to decrease the size. The GK-1 lacks the modulation control and mode change control found on all other controllers.

Roland GK-1 Guitar Synth Pickup Kit. This kit adds vintage GR capability to any guitar without modifications.
Pat Metheny with a GK-1 unit holder mounted just below the bridge of his Gibson ES-175 guitar.
Heavy Metal Virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore with a GK-1 attached to his Fender Stratocaster.


GK-1 Kit includes:
  • 1- Roland GK-1 divided pickup
  • 1- C24G Cable
  • 1 - Guitar input cable (1/4” to Mini)
  • 1 - Unit holder
  • 1 - Pickup cushion
  • 10 - Pickup spacers
  • 1 - Holder spacer
  • 1 - 25 mm Taping Screw (for fixing end pin)
  • 2 - 20 mm Taping Screws (for fixing Divided Pickup)
  • 8 - 15 mm Taping Screws (for fixing Unit Holder)
  • 2 - Springs (for adjusting the height of Divided Pickup)
  • 1 - Double-sided adhesive tape (for fixing unit holder)
Divided Pickup and Mounting Hardware:

Roland GK-1 Divided Pickup Element
Guitar input cable (1/4” to Mini)
Mounting screws and springs
Pickup cushion and spacers
Unit holder with pickup
Original GK-1 box and compartments
Unit Holder Details:

Cable in low string mounting position, cable exits below low strings (or right hand)
Cable in high string mounting position, cable exits below high strings (or left hand)
Roland GK-1 Synthesizer Driver with C-24G 15’ cable and 24-pin Connector
Vintage 24-pin connector for use with GR-300, GR-100, GR-700, GM-70, MC1 or Korg Z3
Documentation:

Roland GK-1 Owner’s Manual from Roland
Detailed instructions on mounting pickup
Notes for setting the unit for left or right hand operation
Mounting details for unit holder
Video Samples of the GK-1 and GR-300 and GM-70 with XV-5080:

GK-1 and GR-300
This video is a quick introduction to the sounds and features of the GK-1 and GR-300. Each GK-1 control is demonstrated: CV1 filter, CV2 resonance, balance, etc, and you can hear the effect on a Roland GR-300. These videos represent an extreme of what a GK-1 can do. The system was really designed with solid body guitars in mind, but you can see it works just fine on an old acoustic ovation.
GK-1 and GM-70 with XV-5080
In this video a GK-1 is hooked up to a Roland GM-70 for pitch-to-MIDI conversion. The GM-70 then drives a Roland XV-5080 sound module. First you hear extreme synth sounds, then next patch is an expressive Soprano Sax, then finally velocity switch acoustic guitar. When playing the Ovation softly you hear harmonics, medium is standard guitar, and hard playing results in a finger slide!


Download GK-1 Manual

Download GK-1 Manual Addendum on Trimmer Adjustment

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