Turns out that only the G70 and higher allow a programmable Fade Time... Silly decision, there.... But if the pre-programmed one is too short for you (and you can get others to agree with you) you MIGHT get Roland to change it's time in a new update if you make enough noise at Roland-arranger.com...

The only non-frivolous uses for the D-Beam I've come across so far (for the way I play) is to use it to turn ACC on/off, for a nice simple breakdown, or to turn the Leslie Fast/Slow (not an E60 option)...

But the thing to remember, Mo, is that the G70 is a VERY different beast from when it was first released. Several MAJOR functions have been added, several major functions have been re-worked, and a host of smaller improvements have been added or changed. But it didn't happen overnight, and it took some determined and patient work on the New Functions and Bug Fora at the old G70 site to get it to their attention.

You have several VERY good ideas for ways to improve the functionality of the E60... Why not do what we did with the G70? Post at roland-arranger.com with your suggestions (make them practical - they are NOT going to redesign the hardware!), get members there to add their voices, keep it civil (mostly!), help Roland track down bugs and features that don't work as expected, and hopefully, Roland will be as responsive to YOUR ideas as they have been for ours.

It has been VERY encouraging to see just HOW responsive Roland's R&D team have become to users since the G70 came out. Especially coming from a Yamaha background, you may feel that no-one pays any attention to your needs! But Roland have shown the way for the last two or three years, and really HAVE taken well written customer requests seriously, and have incorporated MANY of our practical requests into new OSs.

Just keep at it, Mo, and who knows? They have already addressed one or two of your concerns, I am sure they will get to some more, ESPECIALLY if you let them know what they are and get others to back you up...

Just be aware of what are simple OS improvements, and what is a MAJOR change in operational philosophy... The former are likely, the latter, not so... Despite all my pleas for it, I don't REALLY expect to see Roland add a Chord Sequencer to the G70! But I AM trying to influence decisions for the NEXT G-series (and have many ex-CS users with me), and get it's return. Approach it this way, and you don't get your hopes TOO high, or TOO low, too!

Best of luck...