I just read in the new keyboard mag that list
price on the new Roland dual manual VK-77
organ is $5795!

It's a great piece but I don't see where
Roland can get off asking that much for it since it's basically a VK-7 (single manual) with an extra keyboard and two sets of drawbars in a larger case.

How much can these extra items cost? Certainly not double the cost! The VK-7/77
doesn't even send aftertouch so the extra keyboard would be even less than a regular 61 key set.

I can imagine a lot of dealers will be reluctant to carry an organ that will cost over $4,000, especially when you could buy a loaded Trinity or K-2500 around that price point.

I guess it's a free country, but Roland must have lost their mind on this one

Word to all that. However, if you check the fact screen on Roland's home page, you'll see that its not just a VK-7 with another keyboard attached. Its got some features the VK-7 doesn't, like expanded orchestral voices and some supposedly new amplifier tonal variations for the organ sounds. I own a VK-7 and love it dearly. Its the centerpiece of my rig. The prospect of having a dual manual version is very tempting, particularly if, unlike the VK-7, it offers independent vibrato and percussion control for each manual (fact screen doesn't say). But these things aren't going to persuade me to shell out almost three (3!!!) times the cost of the "7." Nor will a slightly improved amp simulator or more onboard non-organ sounds (a cheesy idea to begin with, in my opinion -- hardcore B-3 players won't use those sounds in the way Roland intended). I suspect production economies of scale may have something to do with the inflated price -- they don't expect to move that many units, so they produced fewer = higher production cost per unit. But how many players out there will pay out this much for digital organ keyboard? Remember, you're not buying a classic keyboard here, you're just buying the latest and greatest in digital technology, destined to be old news within 3-5 years. Still, we haven't seen a dual manual organ simulator since the now-ancient Korg BX-3. Roland should be lauded for reblazing this trail.