JX 10 reliability?

Forum for JUNO, JUPITER and JX synthesizers from 1980's
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Jayfolland
Posts: 17
Joined: 08:12, 11 September 2011

JX 10 reliability?

Post by Jayfolland »

Hi,

To cut a long story short I bought a JX 10 a while ago and it was in awful condition, so I sent it back. Ever since then I've always wanted one but I'm so scared of vintage gear because I will fall in love with it, I know I will and it will become part of my sound. So my question is-Are these things reliable because I can't musically afford to have an instrument I can't use without stuffing up and not being able to fix it....?.....

Would I be foolish to buy a few, one for parts as well? Or are these like the junos? All I ever hear with them are problems and I don't even read much about them.

Thanks,
Jay
Barely
Posts: 49
Joined: 10:02, 28 February 2011

Re: JX 10 reliability?

Post by Barely »

Jayfolland wrote:Hi,

To cut a long story short I bought a JX 10 a while ago and it was in awful condition, so I sent it back. Ever since then I've always wanted one but I'm so scared of vintage gear because I will fall in love with it, I know I will and it will become part of my sound. So my question is-Are these things reliable because I can't musically afford to have an instrument I can't use without stuffing up and not being able to fix it....?.....

Would I be foolish to buy a few, one for parts as well? Or are these like the junos? All I ever hear with them are problems and I don't even read much about them.

Thanks,
Jay
I cant' comment on the reliability of JX10s, but I have an Alpha Juno (about the same age), and it is 100% ok. It depends very much on how nice the former owner(s) were to that instrument.
It is generally adivsable that, if you buy expensive vintage gear, you have a synth specialist nearby. Roland has a lot of certified service centers in about every bigger city. In my city (120k residents) there is former electrician who loves to help. Check your local roland site for a service center locator, I know there is one for the US and Germany.
From what I heard, on the JX-10 aftertouch and the display are often faulty, so you might be better off with an MKS-70 (Jx-10 in a rack).
Cheers and good luck,
Barely :)
Oxford Blue
Posts: 23
Joined: 11:23, 17 December 2012

Re: JX 10 reliability?

Post by Oxford Blue »

The JX10 is a pretty solidly-made piece of kit, with a ply base, metal control and connector panels and strong plastic end cheeks. So the casing is very sturdy, thus a good protector of the innards.

As far as the more important matter of electronics goes, it's pretty standard Roland fayre, with spares on eBay still in good supply. The JX8P would make a more cost-effective donor if you want to go to extremes.

Whethe Roland still hold stock of spares, I can't say, but given the age I would rely more on eBay sourcing or someone like http://www.vintageplanet.nl/pages/roland2.html.

You obviously had an unfortunate encounter with a dud JX10. I picked up a fabulous external condition one recently from Italy for not a lot of money. However, on arrival the aftertouch didn't work, nor did one key. A brief look on YouTube and Roland forums came up with a good tutorial and the problems were resolved within an hour and it now sounds fabulous.

Common issues on any vintage gear can be a simple as oxidising of contacts (a very simple common cause of kit arriving DOA), whether it be keys or interconnection ribbons. An unplugging and contact cleaning session will keep a JX10 that's working, working for a lot longer.

As with buying a classic car, vintage synths have great character and can be very rewarding when you get to know, understand and look after them, as opposed to owning a digital rompler, like the Jupiter 80.
wave
Posts: 62
Joined: 15:44, 7 March 2012
Location: Venice - Italy

Re: JX 10 reliability?

Post by wave »

Well... I don't know if you'll ever read my reply...

Anyway, for 450€ I bought in February 2013 a third, perhaps fourth hand, JX-10 that was aesthetically rather slipshod but mechanically and sonically well functioning. The aftertouch was well responsive, the dynamic of keys very prompt and solid... In a word, I could have bought it with closed eyes.
When I opened it, I saw no sign of dust and all the components seemed OK.

From a second seller I bought also a PG-800 without cable, so I asked to a friend of mine to made it following a scheme found on the net.
When I hooked the PG-800 to the JX-10 and gave powered... The JX-10 didn't power on :-(
The fuse broke down... after 27 years! Thus I substituted it and everything returned as before.
More or less, after a month, the first A key (starting from left) refused to work, thus I was forced to mak it repaired. I spent € 50 in addition to 4 pay tolls and gasoline...
Then I realized that the Mod wheel/Pitch benf block was non functioning very well, so I decided to substitute it, buying from Syntaur... I spent € 45
Unfortunately after having reassembled the JX-10 6 voices out of 12 were gone... :-(
Thus, in November 2013 I had to make it repaired for a second time... And I spent € 80 in addition to 4 pay tolls and gasoline...
Well, since the end of December 2013 my JX-10 is in perfect shape and works like a charm...
Thus, about reliability, nothing is really sure at 100%, but if you find a good technician there are several possibilities your instrument will be well serviced and will last for a long, long time.

JX-10 point of weakness are its display that can't be replaced (same said for MKS-70), it's MIDI implementation and the twin lead that connectsthe assigner board to the other boards.
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