Well, first things first...

Yamaha dropped the 9000Pro because it was a DOG...! Not because it had 76 keys, but because it had so many problems, flaws and OS bugs. It would have failed as a 61 as well (in fact, Yamaha's dominance now is possibly as a result of them NOT making a 61 version of it, and burning all their customers!). So scratch THAT theory, please!

As to Roland bailing on 76 arrangers and cutting back drastically... Not surprising. They made such a hash of the last two series (VA and G70/E80) and overpriced them so badly compared to the G1000 that it would have surprised me to see ANY arranger for a while. OTOH, that's not really troubling me, because for the way I use it, the G70 already is close to perfect, and I usually want a good ten years or so out of any major investment like that. Familiarity trumps incremental improvements, IMO...

I must confess, I don't use an arranger like the majority of you. Firstly, I don't play solo much. I always want a real guitarist with me. Secondly, I don't actually use the arranger section much for live play. I prefer just drums, and a lot of left hand bass, or I'll use the arranger to make an SMF in advance, so I can still play two handed. Or I just make straight ahead SMF's. I have always preferred arrangers NOT because of the arranger, but because the sound-set is usually more meat and potatoes straight ahead stuff than the cutting edge stuff they pack WSs with (which I have little use for)....

So, in all fairness, and despite making a lot of noise about it at Roland-Arranger.com (no point in NOT trying to get flaws fixed, even if you don't use them much!), I don't see any reason to bail on my G70 for a LONG time. Maybe long enough for Roland to get back in the business, or, more likely, long enough for WS loop-stations like the MotifXS to get a more arranger-like control paradigm. Hey, maybe even long enough for things like the MS to actually turn into something useful!

But, as I have said before, IF Yamaha made a 76 S900, I would buy one in a flash for doing solo gigs. Their guitar patterns and sounds have no equal (IMO), and the awful keyboard (if it is the same as the 61) would not matter THAT much. Of course, all things being equal, I would never use anything that felt like that, but if the only thing available that had that good a guitar sound felt like that, function would trump ergonomics (as I'm sure many of you feel about this issue!). For a 'background', solo OMB keyboard, the S900 is hard to beat (T2 doesn't add enough useful for the price, although I might pick one up if the prices tumble once the T3 is out ).

So, for me, it IS frustrating that Yamaha don't consider a 76 version of the S900 a viable option. Like I said, I have a sneaky suspicion (especially after hearing that Yamaha's in house survey doesn't even ASK the question) that a lot more people than Ian admits WOULD buy a 76 version IF OFFERED. Of course. we'll never find that out until they offer it, which they won't, because they haven't asked anybody! Circular logic....

But if anyone wants to bail on a mint G70 for a reasonable price, just because Roland MIGHT not make another one, drop me a line. It wouldn't hurt to have a backup...