I called Long & McQuade in Toronto & Mississauga, Ontario. They don't have the Roland E50/E60 in stock or even in their system. Which usually means Roland won't be shipping for a few months!!!!
Sigh.
Starkeeper

starkeeper,
are you from canada?
i assume you'll get a better price ordering this instrument on line form this internet stores from US anyway, so, don t worry!
i know is frustrating not being able to check and play the instrument it self, but you have this great thing with is 30 days period to check and return if you don t like.
in here we have no such thing yet. (romania-europe).
btw, also couple of european internet stores that i registered with, didn t let me know about e60 being available yet. probably is gonna be accesible only around sept. - oct.

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http://adimatis.uv.ro

Yes I am from and live in Canada. I know I could get a better price from the internet or from George Kay. I have mixed feelings about demoing in a store and buying from elsewhere. I won't buy without trying first. No see, no try, no buy.
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,
Perhaps you should check on Roland Canada's policy on warrantee for instruments purchased in U.S.A.

Ian

I was advised by a local dealership that CK dealers are assigned to specific sales regions, and only permitted to sell to consumers in their specific state/region. This means someone living in New York wanting to buy an E50/60/80 can't purchase it from a dealer in California & vice versa. If this is really true, than I suspect Starkeeper (in Canada) won't be able to buy an E50/60 from the United States either. Can someone here perhaps explain Roland's CK dealership regional sales policy? Thanks. - Scott

After reading the post by George Kay, maybe the reason the E50/E60's are not on Long & Mcquade's radar is because they are not a Roland CK dealer.
Starkeeper

[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 07-27-2006).]

i was rather thinking of somebody buying the instrument for you and ship it (or take it personaly) to you in canada.
this is the way i bought most of my equipment (mixer, midi controler, sound card) from US. some friends bought it for me and they also took it back in romania when they return.
of course, i loose waranty.
and of course, if something is wrong with the goods right from the begining - BAD LUCK!

anyway, i agree with no try no buy. i wouldn t invest so much money without trying or at least being able to return the product.

good luck!

I visited Long and McQuade yesterday and they are NOT a ck dealership. So they will NOT be getting the E50/60.
I called Robert Lowrey in Toronto (they carry Roland full size pianos only) and they will NOT be carrying arranger keyboards.
Starkeeper

This is the primary reason of Roland's decline in the arranger market - although Roland restrict E-series sales to the few and far between CK dealers, and give them regional exclusivity, they do not mandate that these CK dealers carry them!!

Roland ought to allow their MI stores in any region to carry the E series line if the regional CK dealer refuses (just forbid them out of region sales). That would solve the problem, and make these great arrangers as widely available as they used to be..........

I've sent Roland Canada an email asking them who is or will carry the E50/60. Should be interesting to see their reply. I will probably post their answer.
Starkeeper