The synth that got away … The Roland JP-8000

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

I was a broke college student at the time, but Boy I never missed a chance to play the Roland JP-8000 at Guitar Center. At $2,295 MSRP it was totally out of reach (and probably not the best complement to my modest rig at the time), but it was a blast to play. I could very quickly adjust sounds to my liking or create totally new sounds on the fly, and it just had a great overall vibe to it.

 

To be fair, I was probably wearing an imaginary sequined cape back then (or sticking imaginary knives into an imaginary Hammond L100), so some of the sounds I was reaching for back then wouldn’t fit with the music I write now. But I still remember the joy I had playing it.

 

Unfortunately used units in good condition are going for as much as $1,500, so I don’t think I will ever own one. Once an instrument gets into that territory I start looking at newer alternatives (like a Sequential Prophet Rev 2).

 

But it’s fun to reminisce about instruments that left a mark on us.

 

Todd

 

 

 

 

[Baldwin Funster]

@Sundown. 

Interesting coincidence that a very good app called Sunriser is an iPad synth based on the Jp8000.  I've jammed along with a YouTube demo of the Jp8000 with Sunriser and at times couldn't tell who was playing what. It sounded exactly spot on.

[Motif88]

FYI the app is Sunrizer. You won’t find it if you search Sunriser.

[AWkeys]

I was graduating high school in the early 90s, when everyone was getting rid of their old analog synths and EPs because the Roland D-50 and Korg M1 were taking over.  I had very little money to spend as I had to pay for college course at the local community college and keep my shitty little Datsun on the road, haha. My first analog synth was a Micromoog I scored for $25 (still have it) and a Korg Polysix for $75 that unfortunately died of battery acid rot.  My first Rhodes (Mk1 Stage 88) cost me $300, my first Wurli (a pea-green 200A) $60. I even managed to score a 1959 road-worn Hammond C-3 with Leslie 122, bench, pedals, Roll-or-Kari bars for $400!!!  Like an idiot, I sold that a few years later for $600 to buy a better condition Porta-B and Leslie 760. What a fool! But back then I didn't have the money or the knowledge to repair all of the things that went wrong or were never fixed, and the internet was still out of reach for me.

 

The ones that got away (besides the Hammond): a Minimoog @ Sam Ash for $400 in '89, a Mellotron M400 for $400 in '94, an OB8 in the early 2000s for $800. Oh well....

 

Good times!

[Bill H.]

15 hours ago, Sundown said:

Unfortunately used units in good condition are going for as much as $1,500, so I don’t think I will ever own one. Once an instrument gets into that territory I start looking at newer alternatives (like a Sequential Prophet Rev 2).

 

But it’s fun to reminisce about instruments that left a mark on us.

 

Todd

 

 

 

 

I'd hold that thought. I could have purchased a JP-8000 when it was released, but one session on it convinced me otherwise. Horrible aliasing (something that plagued most 1st generation VAs) coupled with inaccurate and overly simplified representation of Roland's cross mod left me walking away empty handed. Plus I thought it had an overly bland sound (which is subjective - I know). So I continued using my Jupiter 6 at the time. 

 

There are so many better choices now - including Roland's newer VAs if you want to go that route. I have no idea why used JP-8000s would fetch $1500 today. 

[CyberGene]

Nostalgia is a nice feeling that we all experience from time to time. But outside of it every modern VA will make circles around a JP-8000 for the same or less money. 

[Sundown]

4 hours ago, CyberGene said:

Nostalgia is a nice feeling that we all experience from time to time. But outside of it every modern VA will make circles around a JP-8000 for the same or less money. 

 

That’s definitely how I feel about another “synth that got away”, the Roland JD-800. I had spent three years saving for a pro synth (as a teenager), I bought a Korg Wavestation, and then the JD-800 dropped. Boy, I had buyer’s remorse. The JD was just much more up my alley and it had all those realtime controls, unlike any other digital synth at the time. I bought the WS for all the wrong reasons, and it never really clicked with my playing. The JD would have.

 

But when I look back on it now, that JD soundset would be tired (though I know Roland has re-issued it in plugin format).

 

Todd

[CyberGene]

3 hours ago, Sundown said:

though I know Roland has re-issued it in plugin format

They also reissued it as a small Boutique line module, the JD-08:

https://www.roland.com/us/products/jd-08/

[ProfD]

16 hours ago, Bill H. said:

There are so many better choices now - including Roland's newer VAs if you want to go that route. I have no idea why used JP-8000s would fetch $1500 today. 

The JP-8000 is the original source of the SuperSaw.  Nostalgia gets expensive. 🤣😎