What a load of rubbish... almost a whole spat based around something false in the first place..

I have always said I am VERY much the exception when it comes to holding on to keyboards (it ain't just arrangers, folks!), it has NOTHING to do with me being a Roland user. Back when Roland were updating their product line at the same rate everybody else was, there was no overwhelming consensus that their products had a longer shelf life than anything else, and the same kind of people that think now that upgrading to every new model of Yamaha arranger makes sense were upgrading to every new Roland arranger just as much.

Of course, now Roland have left the TOTL and MOTL business completely, no Roland user actually has a choice, so we ALL have to hang on to our G70's and E80's etc.. But, trust me, if Roland WERE bringing out new product, most users of their older arrangers would be updating their gear as fast as any other manufacturers' customers do...

Just not me...

Personally, I am convinced that most of the GAS (gear acquisition syndrome ) going on in arrangers is due to the fatigue factor... When you rely on the arranger to do much of the work, pretty soon you bump up against the fact that it always sounds the same. So you rush out and get ANYTHING new. A few new sounds, a few new styles, you're happy again (for a short while). Then, it's 'rinse and repeat' ad nauseam.

But once you realize that true musical growth really only ever comes from YOU and your PLAYING, the need for something, anything, fresh and new can be satisfied without resorting to buying it...

There is no difference between Roland and Yamaha at all, unless you count that Roland aren't making MOTL and TOTL arrangers AT ALL. But when they WERE, their business model was no different to Yamaha, and their users (on the whole) were also pretty much the same, IMO.

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 09-11-2010).]