Four years old?....That's a long time for any technological item. I have not heard anything online that made me feel otherwise about it. My ears don't hear what g70 owners hear. Just as their ears don;t hear whet I hear in the T3. Personal preference.

I did research it before I bought the Korg PA2x. I almost bought one for $1800 locally someone had up on Ebay, But it did not sell. I figured the market knows more than I about something I could only research on the net.

I don't see any reason for a metal case either. You drop either you are going to have issues. Plastic is lighter and less likely to drop because it can be handled easy. Some plastics are stronger then cheap metals as well.

The newer E series are not easy to be found on the net or locally,so I did not consider them. They were not even at Summer NAMM in Nashville where I had hoped to find one to mess with!!!(They did not have a G70 either).It was all about the Pro division keyboards. Fantoms.

On the other hand, I tried the Korg and the Yamaha which has a lot of users therefore there is a lot of support, styles etc and I am comfortable with the brand.

"Naive"?

Not really..."amused" would be a better description.

I'm glad you have your Roland shirt back on...but why?

If you got a G70, I hope it's a "muscle shirt"...meaning one with muscles built in.

Good luck, and may the farce be with you.

Ian

Well I turn to Fran on this question; I know that you have been a Roland user for many years. What changes have you seen in Roland over the last 10 years that would deter people from buying a roland, not just the G70.

Anyone is also free to answer.

I cant wait until Diki comes home

I think Roland's decision to make a less than stellar keybed on their keyboards under $1,500...is a compromise that many Roland users may be turned off...I know for sure..these light 61 keybeds don't make me content...bear in mind Roland does this because the competition use inferior beds too,,,and yes the cheaper Roland keybeds are still better than the competition...but not by much..

The other turn off..was placing the top models in "home piano stores"..where you know you are most likely to get ripped off...as in paying too much....

This year ..Roland has turned it around a little ..The feature packed Juno Stage as an example has a semi weighted keybed..Roland knows this model will get into the hands of gigging musicians...

Your right, it's too bad, I remember Roland was one of biggest arranger keyboards ever. I think since they moved the arrangers to the CK division killed thier sales. Everyone that I can remember had a Roland, e20 e86, e90, RA90.

If there were more Rolands to test out in my area, I would sit down and really give one a try. But I have to say, I wouldn't buy the g70, only because it's too big and I no longer, (unless it was really necessary) want to purchase an arranger over $3000.00.


[This message has been edited by mc (edited 10-27-2008).]

I'm confused, my local music store, Alto Music, carries the Roland G70. Does this mean they are a Home / Organ dealer? They don't have anything special in regards to high end Roland organs or pianos. They don't sell acoustics??

George Kaye said they gave the Roland arrangers back to the MI stores instead of CK (home piano)..about a year ago

Ahhh, that would make sense. I personally love Roland Pianos and the B3/Organ simulation. I'm going to have to spend some more time with the G70; at least just to get ready for the G90;

Sorry, studio work today tied me up... (and yes, I did it on my G70 with a bit of the old K2500 )

'So, what's not to like about the G70'...

Don't get me started! If you want to read in detail how I think, the New Features forum at Roland-arranger.com is a good place to start; http://www.roland-arranger.com/smf/index.php?board=2.0

A couple of things drive me CRAZY! Tops, right now, is that if you change from Pianostyle chord recognition type, to any other type (or from any type to any other type), all the ACC parts cut out! I tend to like triggering in Pianostyle for comping and singing, just play the piano like normal, then use an OTS or the screen to change to Split mode and Standard chord type for RH solos. You have to be VERY precise to do this at bar boundaries, otherwise the ACC cutoff is very noticeable.

And the decision, probably because of circuit board limitations, to have the reverb send pre-Leslie for the Hammond section is just plain dumb. There goes Whiter Shade of Pale! You CAN get a post-Leslie reverb send if you use a regular organ Tone, and put it through the MFX VK Leslie, but, just as I pointed out on the GW-8 review, most of the organ Tones already have some sort of slow Leslie or cho/vib sampled into them, which buggers up the sound if you bang it through the Lesli sim.

Weight... well, I'm only 52, and know how to use a dolly My line of work doesn't accept compromise in the sound, just to shave a few pounds (six or seven compared to most 76-ers). Heck, my flightcase probably weighs more than an S900! Could I go out and gig live with something lighter? Of course I could. I could gig with a Casio if need be. But need doesn't be

However, none of this adds up to a hill of beans, when you take the whole thing as a package. The overall sound, the 'live-ness' of it, and the piano to die for coupled with an action that makes the most of it, makes it still my first choice.

BUT.... and I think this point is critical, guys and girls. Just because I think, for me personally, that this is the best possible solution, you will notice I am STILL very vocal in my criticism of areas that could be improved. It is one of the things that drive me crazy, around here..! There are altogether way to many of you unable to accept criticism of your own arrangers from someone else, let alone able to show the honesty and willingness to talk about flaws, bugs and improvable features that I KNOW you have.

Trust me, were I to own a T3/PA2Xpro/Ketron/Wersi, you name it, I guarantee I could fill up a forum just as easily as I have the Roland one with things that COULD work better... I have never shirked away from discussing them here openly and candidly. I wish this were more common. All of us deserve to hear the good along with the bad about ALL arrangers (it one of the things this forum is here for), to better help us decide what suits us best before we go out and 'buy to try', now that few places even stock these TOTL arrangers any more. That nearly $500 restocking fee that Class Act had to eat is a wakeup call to us ALL.

Let's spend less time 'defending' our arranger, and more time 'discussing' it...