Sustain(able :P) problem

Forum for Roland FA-06/08
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SynthRolie
Posts: 19
Joined: 18:57, 5 December 2014
Location: The Netherlands

Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by SynthRolie »

Hello!

I recently became a proud owner of a Roland FA08 and it is awesome! It really gives me goosebumps at moments :)

But anyway, before this I had a Fantom-X7 and I use the sustain pedal quite often for piano, pads and strings. I'm used of 'normal' sustain behaviour on the FX but i notice a stange behaviour on the FA:

When I release a chord at the same time as I release the sustain pedal, the chord keeps sustained...
I have to press the sustain again to stop it (or it stops by itself seconds later)
On the Fantom this was not the case and I use the same pedal (DP10) and the same polarity settings.

Maybe it's the way I play..? , i'm using it around chord changes what should be ok, it always was on the Fantom...

I've looked through all the settings in the system menu but nothing seems to be wrong...
Can somebody help me with this ?

Thanks :) !

EDIT: I have installed OS 2.0 as soon as I got it so didn't checked this behaviour on the previous OS
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piaknowguy
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Location: Canada
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Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by piaknowguy »

Hi SynthRolie.

I've had this problem in the past with both the Fantom X8 and the FA-08. It turns out that the pedal had some dust and a bit of dog hair in it. I unscrewed the base of the pedal and gave it a shot of compressed air to solve the problem. Hope that helps!

Cheers!
PiaKnowGuy
SynthRolie
Posts: 19
Joined: 18:57, 5 December 2014
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by SynthRolie »

Hey PiaKnowGuy,

I will look into that, if there is hair in it, it will be from my cat 'Jip' :P
I have the pedal for a while so maybe it needs some maintenance by now, I will do that this week and will post the result :)

Thanks for your reply!
SynthRolie
AnalogHero
Posts: 50
Joined: 09:13, 16 April 2017
Location: Germany

Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by AnalogHero »

Hi,

i also had this kind of problem with a 20 year old roland pedal. Simply bought a new one. Had checked the inside but everything seemed fine. Maybe the microswitch is a bit sticky or something. It wasnt worth the effort as a hold pedal doesnt cost that much.
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piaknowguy
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Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by piaknowguy »

It wasnt worth the effort as a hold pedal doesnt cost that much.
A DP-10 / $40 US - I say worth unscrewing four screws!

I should mention that I also gave the Pot a conservative shot of contact spray.
AnalogHero
Posts: 50
Joined: 09:13, 16 April 2017
Location: Germany

Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by AnalogHero »

Right. 40$ is a point. I didnt throw it away cause it still works with my korg. What i was trying to say it with 'not worth the effort' is that i couldnt find anything wrong with it. There is no easy way to fix this. Maybe changing the microswitch and/or the spring would do the trick. I think the fa is a bit picky when i comes to pedals.
Liquid
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Joined: 21:50, 13 February 2004
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Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by Liquid »

Turning off the FA's continuous sustain setting may make a difference too. Probably not very useful but might narrow down the issue.

Alan.
SynthRolie
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Joined: 18:57, 5 December 2014
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by SynthRolie »

Sorry for my late post, didn't had much time last week. I tried to clean the pedal and it was needed, lots of dust and sand was coming out of there. Didn't have W40 at hand so skipped that step.

I can say it responds better now so it was worth it and saves me another €39,- It probably won't last forever but it's usable again for a while :)

Thanks for the tips! :)

@Liquid
I did try to switch that setting (assuming you mean 'Continuous Hold Pedal') from OFF to ON to check it's behavior but it didn't solve the issue so turned it back to OFF again.
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piaknowguy
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Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by piaknowguy »

Glad you got your sustain issue fixed!

Cheers!
scramble
Posts: 88
Joined: 20:21, 16 November 2007

Re: Sustain(able :P) problem

Post by scramble »

Personally I keep a couple of the cheap plastic Roland pedals in my garage, as well as the fancy pedal in my studio (well, I actually have more fancy pedals and spares in my gig bag, but I'm ignoring that).

They come in handy sometimes -- for instance in this sort of situation when you can use them to test whether it's the keyboard or the pedal that's playing up. I advise always having at least one spare pedal. The plastic ones don't cost so much.
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