Roland dealers?
Will Roland have the new EXR-5 in American stores for Christmas?
Starkeeper

Someone emailed me last week and said they were available in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I will call my favorite music shops in Toronto.
If it's available in Canada, it must be available in the U.S. also. Woo-hoo
Starkeeper


[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 12-15-2003).]

Roland will wait until the NAMM show in January to release any new products coming out now. This has always been their practice here in the US. Some companys want their products in the stores before NAMM but Roland wants them to be shown right when NAMM hits if possible. Sometimes, it's months later. In the case of the EXR-5 I think it will be right at NAMM time.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Email reply from Long & Mcquade in Toronto:
"Hi Kevin. We have not yet received the new Roland arranger, although we
will be carrying it and hopefully we will see it soon." Sigh
Starkeeper

Everything I've pulled up about the EXR-5 on google is linked to a foreign web site. Not a single site that I scanned through was in English. Which leads me to believe that the EXR-5 will not be sold in America at all. The only reason they may be carrying it in Canada is because of Quebec... How does a Country survive when the majority of one region can't understand the other region? I should be asking that same question about America now too. With the influx of 'illegal' immigrants here many of them don't deem it necessary to learn the spoken language. Because of the language barrier that grows more and more day by day it won't be long unfortunately before we too have a Quebec on our hands. That's not to denegrate the Canadian people that live there but only to say that language barriers are not a good thing as a whole. You've got one positive thing going for you though Starkeeper - you finally have seen the last of Jean Chretien. Hopefully Paul Martin will be a worthy successor.
Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-16-2003).]

My searches on Google come up similarly. Please don't say it will not be available in America. Mike your comments and knowledge about Canada make me wonder if your Canadian. Actually we don't have problems trading with Quebec, money has a way of breaking barriers. If only those Quebecers would send us some Rolands.
starkeeper

Excuse my ignornce but what is all the hoopla about his EXR-5 KB?

It's a middle of the road arranger (ie affordable by me), that's why I'm interested. It would not be a competitor for the PSR2100, so there isn't that much excitement. Most of the post are from me.
Starkeeper

If money is a concern... the best buy on the market right now is The PSR2000...
you can get them for $700.00..most places.

Never thought of that. Thanks for the tip Donny. PSR2000?? Hmmmm. The're still available?
Roland will probably fall flat on their faces again anyways. Bad timing for them. Coming out with a new keyboard when Casio just introduced the WK3500 and now a new PSR3000 from Yamaha. If the EXR-5 is anything like the EM55, I would not be interested.
Starkeeper

The seller ended this listing early because the item is no longer available for sale.
They are not available at Zzounds, Music123, or Musician's friend.
Starkeeper

I bought two mint units.. less than 6 months ago both for between
$700-$750....but I wouldnt use Ebay....just put a "Wanted To Buy PSR 2000" advertisment on the forums with your email...
and I'm sure they will find you via email to make a great deal.

I walked into a music store in Toronto to demo the Casio WK3500, unfortunately it was still in the box, but as I was looking around I saw the Roland EXR-5. They have them in Toronto as well!!!! The salesman said he's had them for 2 weeks. Does Roland consider Canada like Europe? Starkeeper european? No, that's a snowball melting in my pocket.
Here's a quick review - voices only, I didn't try the styles.
The acoustic piano is new, but not better, it has an electronic/electric type of tone to it - unacceptable. The electric pianos are excellent, since they could have used the acc piano as a base. The organs are about the same as the EM series, but with a Leslie sim and only on some tones. Arrr.
The flute is still not useable. The vibes are better then the PSR550, but then they always were, no change here. It's priced at about $800CDN which puts it head-to-head with the Yamaha PSR550 (which I have). I was disappointed again with Roland. I was not impressed at all. Yamaha has nothing to worry about from Roland. Next demo Casio WK3500. The music store I visited had a whole series of Yamaha arranger keyboards, including the PSR1100, PSR2100 and the Tyros. The Roland keyboard series including the EM55 and Casio's.
Starkeeper