Diki among others has bemoaned the loss of the "chord sequencer" feature. There's a guy on my local CraigsList selling a mint G800 for $600..
I offered $200 just to see his reaction. Do you think $200 is too little to offer, and do you think it's worth it for me to get the "chord sequencer" even if I got it for $200, or am i just throwing $ away on a unit that only has one good thing to offer compared to my E60?

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Miami Mo

Wow .... $200 is a bit light, but hey - times are tough. He just might go for it. As far as market value ... I think that unit is worth about $400 all day long for what it does, but it's a new market every 6 months - see what he says. As for the chord sequencer ... it's not worth $200 to me, but I occasionally DO miss it.

The thing is, for Mo, as a sax player, something that is a piece of cake to take regular style playing, and then, on a whim, loop a section on the fly to play the sax over is worth WAY more than $200!

I am amazed that more arranger manufacturers don't take this into consideration... Arrangers are probably the MOST popular keyboards for horn players with slightly limited playing skills or an unwillingness to use tracks or SMF's for all their playing, but they forget that, unless you have a Chord Sequencer, you CAN'T play your horn at all (well, maybe a trumpet player could get away with it, but that's all!) without switching to an SMF...

The chord sequencer made it easy to grab the head, or a vamp, play your horn over the top of it, and STILL control fills and variations...

For me, it is the ultimate no-brainer that the industry has ignored. There's a LOT of us horn/keyboard players out there. It's time they took us seriously...

oops, now i gotta wait him out, he hasn't deigned to reply, if he doesn't soon, I'll try to up my offer..but he's likely then to hold to $600...do u think it's worth $600 for the benefits Diki?

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Miami Mo

Well, on the one hand you get instant hands free arranger play, and can play your sax whenever you want, but the other side of the coin is that the G800 is a definitely dated sounding arranger compared to the E60.

Me, I'd look around for maybe an RA module with the CS in it, RA-800 (I think that was it), and you could use both. But the G800 was a big 76. Maybe a G600 is worth looking for, lighter and smaller, and maybe doable WITH your E60, but I don't know if I'd go back to a G800 and drop my G70...

Nowadays, I get bye by dropping markers into SMF's that I have made of jazz standards, so I can loop sections and go to the horn hands free, and still have a certain freedom of structure on a head, but I would LOVE to see the re-emergence of a real Chord Sequencer again. Understandably, those that play nothing but the arranger, and play two fisted fairly poorly don't 'get' what the CS can do for you, but if you like playing full proper piano parts, if you double on horn or guitar, if you like to go out front spontaneously, a Chord Sequencer is your best friend..!

well i just checked and the g800 is <40 lbs,
a"mere"11+ lbs more than the E60, but no thanks. -I'd only use it where I could set up for at least 3 days at that weight. there's one on ebay for $675 w/case..so the CL guy may not be so far off, but I'll go for it only on the cheap. The RA 800 looks like a good way to go, but none on ebay right now. thanks for the godd advice on this, guys.

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Miami Mo

Keep an eye open for a G600. A 61, light weight and a CS... Basically a slightly stripped down G1000/G800, no Zip. Probably easier to find than an RA800...