Roland GK-3 vs Godin Guitar Synth Pickups

A comparison of the tracking abilities of the Roland GK-3 synth pickup mounted on a Taylor 314CE versus Godin's built-in saddle synth pickup on the ACS SA Limited Edition classical guitar. I'm using a Roland GR-20 synth for all sounds.

The Godin is a very well made guitar. However, the GK-3 simply tracks better on any other guitar. The saddles on the Godin produce glitches from your hand resting on the saddle area. This is something they need to address. What' needed is a palm rest of some sort that would elevate the picking hand above the saddles. Something along the lines of a Telecaster's bridge cover would work (although it should be much shorter).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Roland
• GK-3
• Godin
• ACS
• SA
• Limited
• Edition
• guitar
• Synth
• Pickups
• comparison
• Pat
• Metheny
• Phil
• Keaggy
• Doyle
• Dykes
• gospel music
• acoustic music

[gibsoneer321]

I can't belive you installed the pickup on a Taylor guitar hope you didn't screw it in,lol

great job playing thought thanks for posting

[sthugh]

@gibsoneer321 No, just double sided foam tape. I think it works really well with acoustic, perhaps because of the thicker strings. If you keep and eye out, I'll be posting a version of People Get Ready before long that features a lot of looping with the Taylor using both acoustic and synth sounds that I think will be pretty hip and shows a bit more of what you can do solo live with this kind of set-up.

[XxicruffesionalxX]

@sthugh can i install it from the middle pickup.? will it work the same?

[sthugh]

@XxicruffesionalxX Nope. It has to be extremely close to the bridge & saddles.

[schpleeb]

would a Roland GK3 fit comfortably onto a BC Rich Bich? They have a strange shape and I don't want to blow £600 on of these and a GR55 if it isn't going to fit!

[sthugh]

@schpleeb I don't know. I don't see anything in the way.

[sthugh]

@MVEletrico Creo you' ¿re preguntando si el GR-20 produce un buen sonido del violín? No, it' s no muy bueno en ése. El violoncelo es bueno, pero no el violín.

O quizás you' ¿re preguntando si el GR-20 se puede utilizar con un violín? I' m no sure si puede o no. Puede ser que alguien haya hecho una recolección al uso con un violín, solamente I' m no enterado de él.

[MVEletrico]

Olá. Uma pergunta, será que este pickup da Roland funcionaria em um violino elétrico?

Desde já, obrigado pela atenção.

[sthugh]

@gwp00 Personally, I found the tracking best using a pick on both guitars. I agree that the bridge-palm thing is indeed a design flaw. But this particular pickup-bridge design is used on a lot of guitar synths out there. What it needs is something covering the bridge that you can rest your hand on without touching the saddles, kind of like a telecaster's ashtray cover. It might be ugly, but it would cut down on a lot of the glitching. Of course the GK-3 pickup is an eyesore too.

[gwp00]

Thanks for using the Godin Nylon string model - I have been curious about the tracking of this one - however, I wonder if it was designed to be used with fingers rather than a pick?

And the palm-on-bridge noise was surprising - this would appear to be a serious design flaw.