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Roland RD-88


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Yes, but you can also make an adapter cable so you"ll have a pedal that can work in either kind of board and you don"t have to open up the original FC7. To make a simple adapter, you can plug the split ends of a female to male Y cable into the split ends of a male to female Y cable, but plug black into red and red into black.
CA93, MODX8, YC88, K8.2
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I made such an adapter and I'm successfuly using FC7 with my Roland FA. On the other hand, Hammond XK-1c allows to change the way it receives signal from pedal in the settings and in this particular case changing "polarity" is making this pedal working correctly and not making it working in opposite direction.

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  • 5 weeks later...
I think the last quick/light feeling Roland hammer action was the "PHA III Ivory Feel-S" though I guess the mechanism was heavy since I don't think it ever ended up in a board that was under 50 lbs.

 

The funny thing is that the Rolands actually support some pretty quick response even though they feel sluggish. I know, that seems like a contradiction. But here's a video with the Roland A88 (which has the RD-64 action, is a slightly older/lesser version of what should be in the RD88)... at 9:30 he talks abou how it feels more sluggish than the Kawai ES110 and Casio PX5S above it, and at 17:00 he mentions its slow hammer return... and yet at about 18:00 he demonstrates that its ability to do quick repetitions is quite good (and better than the "quicker" feeling Casio). (He shows it again at

)

I don't know what happened to the link to the first of those two videos! Maybe I accidentally edited it out. Anyway, it's at

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Does anyone have an RD 88 yet. I would have expected that I might have seen one if the music stores around me had not closed. I am hoping that it has a better keybed than the MODX 88. Was very curious about this till Covid mania struck..
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It should feel about the same as the FP10, FP30, FP60, if you ever played any of them... they all have the "PHA-4 Standard Keyboard with Escapement and Ivory Feel."

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Does anyone have an RD 88 yet. I would have expected that I might have seen one if the music stores around me had not closed. I am hoping that it has a better keybed than the MODX 88. Was very curious about this till Covid mania struck..

MUCH better than the MODX8 (I had). It"s a perfect action. I even prefer it to the RD2000"s PHA-50.

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Does anyone have an RD 88 yet. I would have expected that I might have seen one if the music stores around me had not closed. I am hoping that it has a better keybed than the MODX 88. Was very curious about this till Covid mania struck..

MUCH better than the MODX8 (I had). It"s a perfect action. I even prefer it to the RD2000"s PHA-50.

 

Same here: Great action for the price and the weight. I found it much better as the CP73 action for example.

Nord Stage 2 76, Nord Electro 5D 73, Rhodes Mk2 73, Sequential Prophet 10 Rev4, Akai Miniak Synth, Roland JC 120

 

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Read the following at keyboardkraze.com: ' The sympathetic resonance on the RD-88 actually improved from the RD-2000, which is crazy, seeing how it"s about $1,000 cheaper than RD-2000.' Does anyone have more info on this?
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If it just needs a breaking in period, then I'd consider keeping it - anyone out there have a FP-30 (or anything with PHA-4 Standard action for a couple of years, I'd like to know if anything has changed with your keyboard action)

The FP-30 has been my main work-horse for around 4-5 years now. The action doesn't really break-in. It's not that the keys are heavy, but I'd call it a "slower" action; some will describe it as sluggish. In real life, I've never had any problems playing fast syncopations in Latin/Salsa/Jazz or fast trills in Baroque pieces - even when I'm wired up on caffeine and spazzing the tempo :) - I would readily buy the PHA-4 Standard action again.

 

But - I do believe that you should adjust your technique to play it comfortably over long periods of time. Personally, I play the PHA-4 Standard action with A. more body weight (not just arm weight) and B. more into the keys vs. the tops of the keys. If you don't make those adjustments - you may find the standard PHA-4 action fatiguing to play.

 

Vice versa, when I switch to a "faster" action like on a Kawai, Yamaha or acoustic - I use less body / more arm weight - and I play closer to the tops of the keys.

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Sooo...FYI I was able to modify my RD-88 action so that it is lighter, however it now longer has the progressive hammer action, but remains consistently light through each of the keys.

 

Still a little 'sluggish', but much much better for what I need and a little closer to the action I had with my FP-4.

 

For those who don"t like opening up their keyboards, I don"t recommend doing it (definitely voids your warranty).

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Sooo...FYI I was able to modify my RD-88 action so that it is lighter, however it now longer has the progressive hammer action, but remains consistently light through each of the keys.

 

Still a little 'sluggish', but much much better for what I need and a little closer to the action I had with my FP-4.

 

For those who don"t like opening up their keyboards, I don"t recommend doing it (definitely voids your warranty).

What did you do? I've only heard of changing out springs to alter a piano action.

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Sooo...FYI I was able to modify my RD-88 action so that it is lighter, however it now longer has the progressive hammer action, but remains consistently light through each of the keys.

What did you do? I've only heard of changing out springs to alter a piano action.

Here's an approach someone talked about trying on a Yamaha hammer action board...

 

https://yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/modifying-a-modx8-ghs-keybed-to-bhe

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Here's an approach someone talked about trying on a Yamaha hammer action board...

 

https://yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/modifying-a-modx8-ghs-keybed-to-bhe

 

Is it just me or the black keys are lighter ("hammers" without loops on the top picture). There is a certain reviewer on Youtube that made a lot of noise because Casio made something similar to PSX-3000. Am I missing something?

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Is it just me or the black keys are lighter ("hammers" without loops on the top picture). There is a certain reviewer on Youtube that made a lot of noise because Casio made something similar to PSX-3000. Am I missing something?

Assuming it's the review I'm thinking of, the presentation is a bit weird in that, yes, first he complains about it, but then later he says it was probably the best approach they could have taken, all things considered.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Here's an approach someone talked about trying on a Yamaha hammer action board...

 

https://yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/modifying-a-modx8-ghs-keybed-to-bhe

 

Is it just me or the black keys are lighter ("hammers" without loops on the top picture). There is a certain reviewer on Youtube that made a lot of noise because Casio made something similar to PSX-3000. Am I missing something?

 

I see that too. It"s like the black keys rounded top iron rod is slightly flatter and the white key rods are more rounded or at least have a marginally higher arc. Interesting experiment would love to see someone else try it before I"d commit!

 

I can live with the MODX action. Certainly not perfect but considering the weight and price you"re saving it"s fine by me. Only issue I have with the action is if I"ve been playing another one of my boards for a series of weeks and then come back to the modx. It"s a bit sluggish for about 20 minutes and then I"m used to it again. But I find this is the case for most boards.

 

Would like to try the RD88 but I"d imagine it has similar pros and cons likes the modx and for me the sound palette on the modx currently covers all my bases.

Yamaha MODX8, Legend Live.
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The RD88 ticks a lot of boxes for me (e.g. lots of onboard and downloadable sounds, three zones, small footprint, <30 lbs., EQ knobs, controller capabilities, DIN midi out, 3.5mm audio in, USB midi/audio, onboard speakers, onboard drum patterns, silly but even a mic line in).

 

Assuming I could deal with the RD88's PHA-4 action, which I've found slow and clunky on other Roland models, I would perhaps sell my MX88 and Casio CGP-700 and use the proceeds to buy the RD88. I need to doff a mask and take a trek to music store or two here in Vegas where hopefully they'll have an RD88 to try out.

Gigs: Nord 5D 73, Kurz PC4-7 & SP4-7, Hammond SK1, Yamaha MX88 & P121, Numa Compact 2x, Casio CGP700, QSC K12, Yamaha DBR10, JBL515xt(2). Alto TS310(2)

 

 

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Thanks... now for what might be a dumb question about the FC7 & other volume pedals.

Since one is RTS, and the other is TRS, can they be re-wired?

 

If you don't want to go to the trouble to make an adapter, our own Markeyboard may have a few left. He was selling them for the cost of components if I recall correctly! I have been using one from him for several years!

Jimmy

 

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Assuming I could deal with the RD88's PHA-4 action, which I've found slow and clunky on other Roland models.

I've been thinking about upgrading from the FP-30 to the RD-88. They both use the PHA-4 Standard action, but, the RD-88's touch/velocity curve options are more extensive, so a lot more control over how the keys respond. Plus you can save touch/velocity settings as part of customized sounds (a.k.a "Scenes"). So you can save ac. pianos, e. pianos, and organs, each with different touch settings.

 

FWIW - I use customized FP-30 velocity curves for each instrument model in Pianoteq. It completely change how the PHA-4 action feels. It's weird because in default mode, I still get the "sluggish" PHA-4 action, but with the custom Pianoteq velocity curves, the key action feels like it comes up to speed. It's the main thing I like to adjust for the FP-30 (and probably on the RD-88 as well).

 

Otherwise, like you said, the RD-88 really checks a lot of boxes, especially for live performance. If they come out with a RD-61/64 with all those features, I'll be extremely pleased.

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I apologize if I missed this, but how many "scenes" can be stored in this machine?

There are 400 scenes. It looks like the 400 includes the built-in Roland scenes and blank slots for customized user scenes. You can see the list 400 here - (PDF) Sound/Scene List for the RD-88.

 

* keep in mind there are also 3000 tones that can be used with the Scenes (yah the jargon is confusing)

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I apologize if I missed this, but how many "scenes" can be stored in this machine?

There are 400 scenes. It looks like the 400 includes the built-in Roland scenes and blank slots for customized user scenes. You can see the list 400 here - (PDF) Sound/Scene List for the RD-88.

 

* keep in mind there are also 3000 tones that can be used with the Scenes (yah the jargon is confusing)

Thank you for that, Groove On. The jargon is indeed confusing. It looks like a 'Scene' is the meta-level of organization, which includes three 'Zones' (Upper 1, Upper 2, Lower), with each Zone containing a 'Tone.' A Scene can then be 'registered' to a 'Favorites' location, for example.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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