The only one I'm aware of the chap who turns up banging a gong for new gear, then disappears as soon as it is released and people start needing support for it. It's been so long, I can't even remember his name. I expect that all local Roland businesses are subservient to the control of Roland Japan, but it is a truly odd way of trying to get the trust of your users/customers/wage payers.Vlad_77 wrote:I've yet to encounter a Roland rep here and that has always concerned me.
The daft thing is that several of them seem to post videos on YouTube (Ed Diaz, Jim Stout et al) or sound sets, but they don't even think to come on here and shout "hey folks! something from Roland for you..." They wait for someone here to stumble across it and post it here. It's madness.
Vlad, like you I have 4 Roland keyboard synths and 2 modules, but their current business model of "ship it, forget about it" really puts me off buying more Roland gear. That and the fact that nothing they've released since the Fantom X has wowed me enough to make me reach for my bank details (Gaia, Jupiter 80, Fantom G and so on); and I have all the piano benches and MIDI accordians I need (1 and 0, respectively).
And you're right that it's this community that "picked up the slack" with the Fantom G after Roland retreated to their cave to count the money and lick their ARX wounds, rather than update and support it. Frustrating. And utterly bonkers.
regards
Andy