Pitch change on RD700GX

Forum for RD-700GX, RD-700NX and RD-800
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Nui
Posts: 1
Joined: 10:24, 22 May 2011

Pitch change on RD700GX

Post by Nui »

Hi all. Just joined, so here goes . . . . .
I was playing a gig a couple of weeks ago and in the middle of a song my RD700GX just transposed itself a semitone (down, I think). Weird and, as you could imagine, inconvenient. It didn't help that it was midi'd to an MKS-20, which didn't go out of key. I quickly transposed the RD up a semitone, but that put the MKS-20 out - arghhhh !!!
I have since had this fault recreate itself when at home, but it is intermittent. It even managed to have only one of its four parts go out by a semitone while the other three stayed in tune. Bizarre, eh?

Has anyone heard of this happening and, if so, what to do about it?

Thanks,
Nui.
Kolumbus
Posts: 3
Joined: 20:04, 11 June 2011

Re: Pitch change on RD700GX

Post by Kolumbus »

Hi Nui,

I recently had a similar effect which I identified as a defect in the pitch bend / modulation assembly. The RD got detuned even after using the lever for modulation only.

The assembly uses two variable resistors (VR), one for pitch bend, one for modulation. Both were alright.
But the pitch bend part is moved entirely when using modulation. This causes a little mechanical stress on a short 3 wire cable with two connectors between the the pitch bend VR and the main circuit board of the assembly. Over the time, this caused a loose contact in one of the connectors.

I directly soldered in new wires without connectors. This solved the problem entirely.

This of course means you need to open the RD (screws on the bottom along the rear, left and right side, under the pitch bend, but NOT on the front side), identify the correct solder points, etc. There is some potential to harm the RD if you are not familiar with handling electronics.


Ok, maybe this helps.

Good luck,

Kolumbus
jblongz
Posts: 32
Joined: 19:45, 2 April 2013
Location: New York/Taipei
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Re: Pitch change on RD700GX

Post by jblongz »

I have just discovered the same problem with my Roland FA-06. It microtunes itself up a bit after i use the mod wheel. I'll try to open and identity any connector damage. Happy to have found this thread.
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