Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Parts, mods, projects, and requests/concepts based on adaptations of Fly parts
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Wesley
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Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by Wesley »

I read that you can have all three outputs on the GK3 parker fly guitar come out simultaneously if it is rewired.1 electric 2 acoustic 3 synth - all Separate! Does anyone know how to rewire it? Currently when you plug in the 13 pin Synth cable, it combines the acoustic and electric down the same output. So it gives 1 for both guitars and 1 for synth. If u unplug the synth it separates elec and acoustic
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mmmguitar
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by mmmguitar »

Welcome, @Wesley. Please help me to better understand what you're trying to achieve: Are you asking about having two cables (13 pin and T/R/S) running out of your Fly at the same time, for the sake of processing the three parallel signal paths separately? And are you referring to the internal GK kit; as used in the "Mojo MIDI" line of guitars produced during the 00's, or an external GK pickup?
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
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Wesley
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by Wesley »

This is my guitar, what I want to do is have all three signals come out simultaneously separately. The 13 pin, acoustic and electric all at the same time.

[mod edit: referenced musicradar article linked]
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Wesley
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by Wesley »

Yes n yes
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mmmguitar
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by mmmguitar »

Wesley wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 9:54 pmYes n yes
Thanks for elaborating with the images. As I understand it, the mag circuit input for the Roland GK board is mono; which means the jumper wire running from the Fly 1/4" output jack to the GK board necessarily causes the Fishman Powerchip preamp's "smart switching" to output the parallel magnetic/piezo signals in summed mono when both a 13-pin and T/R/S cable are plugged into the guitar. Just going by that article, it would seem that simply unsoldering the GK jumper input wire(s) from the 1/4" output jack lug(s) would separate the circuits and restore the stereo switching; allowing the guitar to output the three signals with the use of two cables. However, it would prevent the mag/mix/GK mini toggle switch from working as intended (the "mag" position would have no signal to output).

A compromise would be to add or replace one of the components with a DPDT switch which breaks the hot and ground connections jumpered between the Fly stereo jack lugs and the GK board input - Allowing one the choice to run mag and piezo signals in stereo via the 1/4"-out independently of the hex pickup being outputted via 13 pin in one switch position, or routing all three signals out the 13 pin with the mag and piezo signals summed to mono on pin 7, as in the factory wiring.

I happen to have a GK internal kit-equipped Fly; and will try to add more to this post after I've checked under the hood. The first idea to come to mind is replacing one of the on/off/on switches with a 4PDT; so one could toggle between running the mag/piezo and GK circuits separate or in series, according to one's needs.

Update: It seems one of the previous owners of my MIDI Fly had replaced the original jack with the Fishman nine pin switching jack - So I won't have a 1:1 comparison with your Fly to photograph for reference. Still, let me know how the modding goes.
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
mockchoi
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by mockchoi »

This is interesting. My Mojo midi does not even have that little GK3 toggle switch at all. It does output in stereo with a 13 pin cable attached, and it does not send magnetic/piezo signal down the 13 pin cable at all. So at some point Parker must have decided to make the change @mmmguitar mentions above.
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by mmmguitar »

mockchoi wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2024 11:51 am This is interesting. My Mojo midi does not even have that little GK3 toggle switch at all. It does output in stereo with a 13 pin cable attached, and it does not send magnetic/piezo signal down the 13 pin cable at all. So at some point Parker must have decided to make the change @mmmguitar mentions above.
Are you the original owner? Apparently, even prior to the brand switching entirely to a built-to-order model, one could order the guitar from the factory with or without the stereo switching disrupted by the GK board input (i.e., have three isolated signal outputs or summed mono mag/piezo on pin 7) via the GK "mag-in" wire being soldered to the "tip" terminal of the 1/4" output jack or not.

From the above-linked MusicRadar review:
If you'd prefer to keep your conventional guitar sounds separate from the synth output you can use the output jack simultaneously with the 13-pin output, but this disables its stereo operation, so you get a summed mono signal with magnetic and piezo sounds blended, rather than separated. We pointed out to Parker that this is less versatile than having completely separate magnetic, piezo and synth outputs and it told us that the internal circuitry can be easily rewired to allow that possibility, but it would mean that no magnetic pickup signal could be sent through the 13-pin output.
And welcome!
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
mockchoi
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Re: Parker Fly w/gk3 wiring

Post by mockchoi »

Yes, bought new in 2010. In any case I’m glad I don’t lose the stereo functioning with the 13 pin cable; I pretty much always both run in stereo and use two cables. It did make me give up on using just a GR-55 for a processor, but in the end that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Thanks for the welcome!
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