I can't find one in the Phila. area !!

I can't find a single G70 to checkout here in the San Francisco Bay area either.

I'm curious, other than George Kaye (Kaye's Music Center) what other store(s) in the entire USA actually have a G70 in stock yet?

Scott

Well I got myself a G70, Yes it does have that similair VA7 sound to it but it puts it together better.

Can anybody anwer these questions?
1 How do you make a break fill
2 Can you reset to 1 ( for those drunk singers)
3 can you do an instant mute of all parts except drums/percussion
4 can you link 1 touch to variations


PS the vocalizer rocks!!!

I ordered a Roland G 70 seven weeks and four days ago and it's still not got here.
I don't worry about the keyboard not being what roland says it is because I belive in Roland.
As for it sounding like crapp I can't see this at all I have owned Rd300, D70,
JV 80,JV1000, RD 500, RD600, A90, G800,
Ra 800Mod. G1000 And now the Fantom X 8 and they were and still are all great keyboards.
I can't wait for my G70 to get here And if I am wrong I will be the first to say so.
The one thing that I don't like was Rolands marketing plan. that caused all of us that wanted one a lot of Crapp and I am thinking that along with the price tag is what has a lot of people so upset.
My 2 cents

I posted this review under its own topic but I thought it also was appropriate here.

I purchased a Roland G-70 (version 1.10) and have owned it for about one month. I have also owned an SD-1, Tyros and Korg PA1XPro. At my church, I also use a Triton Extreme, Roland RD700, and Yamaha Motif. Here are my impressions of the G-70 compared to the other arrangers I have owned:

Sounds
Quality of sounds is very subjective but this is my opinion. Even with OS version 1.10 there is too much reverb on some sounds and styles. I press the effects button then adjust the reverb and other effects to my taste and save it to a user program location. After adjusting the reverb I think the sounds are very comparable to the other top arrangers. I am mostly a piano player and the acoustic piano sound is the most important sound to me. The G-70 piano is outstanding. I am able to turn off the arranger function and enjoy playing solo piano. The Tyros has a very good piano but I think the G-70 is significantly better (part of this is due to the excellent semi-weighted action). The piano on the PA1XPro is extremely mediocre in comparison. Both the Tyros and PA1XPros have very good B3 organs but I think the G-70’s Virtual Tone Wheel technology is much better. There are physical drawbars that can be adjusted in real time. There are also controls for overdrive, leakage, percussion, rotary sound and vibrato/chorus that can be adjusted in real time. The B3 emulation is terrific. Other than piano and organs, I think the other sounds are very comparable. I like the electric pianos on the Tyros and PA1XPro better. Korg has better brass and accordions. Other sounds I like better on the Tyros. Some I like better on the G-70.

Styles
Quality of styles is also a matter of personal taste. All of the top arrangers have many good styles. Many of the G-70 styles have too much reverb. I adjust the reverb to my liking and save it to a user program. I like the intros, fills and endings much better on the G-70 than the Korg PA1XPro. With many styles on the PA1XPro, each variation would increase in volume compared to the preceding variation. Variation #4 would be significantly louder than variation #1. All fills were programmed at the same volume level as variation #4. If I played a fill when playing the first or second variation, the volume would surge for the one measure of the fill then decrease to its original level.
I talked to Korg’s US product manager for the PA1XPro and he confirmed that’s how the fills were programmed. The PA1XPro has extensive style editing features and the volume of the individual fills could be edited but it was a very tedious job.
On some styles besides the volume problem it seemed that the fill was not quite in sync with the rest of the style. I also like the G-70 intros and endings better than the PA1XPro. Many of the Korg endings were too long and too sophisticated sounding. They did not fit with the rest of the song. Ending #1 on the Roland produces a short and simple ending. I can play my own ending chord progression and hit ending #1 on the last measure and it sounds good. If I hit ending #2, it starts a short ending (usually 4 bars) but follows the chord progression that I play. This produces endings that fit with the song and do not sound canned. I also think the Tyros style controls are very good and usable.

Operating System
The Tyros has an excellent operating system and user interface. I think the G-70 is even better. The Korg’s interface is not as intuitive and is not as user friendly. Once you get used to it, it works okay but the others are much better.

Key Action & Build Quality
I think the semi-weighted key action on the G-70 is much better than the Tyros. I also think the build quality is much better. The PA1XPro build quality is also excellent and the key action is also very good. I like the key action on the G-70 slightly better.

Problems with the G-70
It is a large 76 note keyboard and very heavy. I have a Gator soft case with wheels. Between the combined weight of the keyboard and case and the large size, it is hard for me to transport the keyboard. This is not a problem for me because I only use it in my home studio and do not take it to gigs. If I needed to carry an arranger keyboard to gigs a few times a week I would use a Tyros or PSR 3000. Another big problem is Roland’s marketing strategy for the keyboard. Selling only through their CK dealers is a very poor decision. Most arranger players have not had the opportunity to even hear the keyboard. Most of the dealers that carry it have no idea how to use it or install an operating system upgrade. Most dealers ask for unrealistic list prices that are way too high.

Conclusion
I thought the Tyros was an excellent keyboard and I enjoyed playing it. The PA1XPro had more functionality (master controller features, style editing, sound editing, etc.) and good sounds but I could not live with the fills. For me, the G-70 gives more of the features I like in an arranger keyboard. I do not understand some of the extreme negative criticism of the board (it sounds like crap, the sounds are useless, etc.). Maybe: 1. The boards had the older operating system, 2.The operating was system was updated but not the resources, 3. The boards were defective, 4. The reverb needed more adjustment.

MP3 Files
I will record a few songs this weekend and post them so you can hear some of the styles and sounds.

Yes you can link one touch to variations. I have posted this information before. I'm at home right now and I can't remember exactly what buttons to push but I will post it tomorrow at my store.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

G Angel,
Did you order your G70 from a local store near you or did you find a dealer who will ship one to you? If so, can you tell me who this dealer is? Thanks
George Kaye

I think maybe our difference of opinion could also be because not all of us use the same sounds. For example, I did find the trumpets and choir voices on G70 to be good but I rarely use those sounds.. The sounds I use most are tenor sax,alto sax, soprano sax,flutes,accordions,guitars and for these sounds I felt the Tyros was far superior.
I have never before heard of an operating system upgrade to improve the sounds. This is a first for me. I thought they were always to correct functions.... Roland could have fixed this before releasing it because as it is it already has too many updates.....to me thats not good responsibility from a top company like Roland. My VA-5 if I recall had only one update in its lifetime..

I also find the Intro, Fill Ins, and Endings buttons on the Tyros more logical that on the G70.

Hi George
I ordered it from a dealer here In Chattanooga Tn.
I live in Chattanooga and have for 53 years
it is not the dealer.
The dealer is a very nice man and has a very fine piano store I might add.
Roland could not have picked a better dealer for here.
I couldn't find anyone that would ship one to me from out of town anyway,and the price I paid for it couldn't have been beat so I am very happy with the dealer.
I am a Roland man and have been for 22 years I love their keyboards but I don't like everything they do.
Like not giving us the people that buy their products a chance to pick where we buy from.
And having to order a keyboard that we can't play first.
I don't think there is a g 70 to be found in this part of the country anywhere.

G Angel,
thank you for the clarification. It is Roland's policy with the G70 to not sell to someone who is not local and this has been a major issue for my store. I have received hundreds of calls over the past few months requesting me to sell a G70 to someone out of the Los Angeles area and I've been forced to decline the sale because of Roland's business policy (Please let me qualify that this is just Roland CK's policy, NOT Roland MI). Many of my potential customers for the G70 have called Roland here in the US and complained of their policy, when these people are already customers of mine and want to continue doing business with me for many reasons, most of which is my passion for arranger keyboards and help with learning how to use them.
I was actually hoping you purchased from someone out of your area so that I could try to persuade Roland to allow sales through forums like this to the dealers that have a relationship with members of Synthzone and other forums.
I hope Roland is checking in on our forum from time to time and are reading all the posts and replys that have been written here over the past few days.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California