Hi everyone, I don't know if this is the right place, I apologize in advance. My name is Orazio and I am a happy owner of Roland Bk9. I found myself in this forum because recently a Bk9 slider doesn't work well, it doesn't reach the maximum volume of 127. After several attempts with contact cleaning spray I managed to get to 125. Browsing online I found a very interesting tutorial on where to find the potentiometer and how it should be replaced; I want to compliment the person who posted the tutorial. For the moment I don't think I will replace the slider, because it is the second one from the left, the one that regulates the volume of the bass track. If the problem gets worse I will know what to do. I wonder how many of you Bk9 owners have had the same problem. I thank the forum administrator who allowed me to join this community. Thanks from Orazio.

Several of us have had problems similar. Roland no longer sell the parts, including the PCB they are mounted on. If you aren’t a very experienced user with good soldering iron skills, I think I’d recommend getting the replacement sliders and have a qualified tech (someone familiar with keyboards) do the job.

But yes, if it’s the slider for bass volume, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need a full 127 on the slider. And if you DO need it louder you can do some EQ tricks or use an MFX to add some boost, or change the velocity curve to LOW or fixed (fixed works pretty well sometimes with bass parts… remember, organs have no velocity sensitivity and still manage to provide a solid consistent bass level).

One of the pleasures with the BK9 is that there are so many different ways to address a problem..!

Exactly, the problem is for the bass track (it reaches up to 125), but also for mfx 2, it doesn't reach the maximum value but stops two values ​​below. As for the drawbar, it doesn't cause any problems, perhaps because the excursion is wider. This is why I decided to leave the slider like this; I will only purchase 10 sliders and keep them in case the other sliders fail. A premise, I haven't used the Bk9 as an arranger for 6 years now. Ever since I joined a rock band I've been playing the Bk9 like a workstation. I make changes to the sounds (cut off, resonance, attack, decay) using the sliders, and then I store them together with other settings (split, transpose, octaves etc), which are easily recallable. A beautiful keyboard; I had Yamaha, Technics, Roland E 80 (beautiful but heavy) and finally the Bk9, a versatile machine.

Yeah, the sliders in HB mode only have 8 discrete positions (like a real Hammond) so missing the values at the very extremes of position isn’t often a problem.

But the problem usually gets worse over time. And sometimes (as in my UPR1 slider) it starts ‘flickering’ between values, and that can be a BIG problem as it may prevent you changing screens (for the Perf. List, for example!).

If you have the sliders, and are hesitant to do the work until it gets to be a problem, show the article here to a decent tech, and get him to do all 9 sliders at once, and you should be good for many more trouble free years!

I also am not a big arrange mode user, but those sliders are a godsend in a live band or playing with sequences or audio backing! Be gentle with them… 🎹😎

Yep, I solved the problem. I took the BK9 to a service center who replaced the faulty slider. The Roland service center told me that this type of slider is no longer available in their warehouses. As soon as I can I'll try to buy some sliders online to keep as a spare

The thread here on replacing the sliders details the third party suppliers who have them in stock…

The board they are attached to is a Roland design, and definitely not available, so I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing this work themselves if you don’t have good soldering skills in case you damage the support board. Ruin that, and you’re completely out of luck! 🤬🤯😡

I'm actually looking here in my country, in Italy. The slider proposed in the thread is sold and shipped from the United States. I would like to stock up on sliders and if they fail I would have them replaced by the assistance center

I would imagine that the US supplier will ship to Italy…

They aren’t expensive, or heavy (shipping for 20 units would probably be very little more than for 10), so if I were you, I’d buy two for each slider so you never have to go hunt again! You never know when supplies might dry up!

I'm glad my tutorial was helpful . I bought a bunch of sliders 'cause you never know when they will go out of stock.

Same here. Just need some downtime to install them. I’m going to get a pro technician to do it, because the slider PCB is unavailable and it would be a disaster if I damaged it with my amateur soldering skills 😱