There were a lot of things I liked about the X1. The things I didn't like have already been discussed many times. However, one of the important reasons I allowed Tom C. to take it off my hands was the fact that I didn't really trust it to hold up night after night. There were a couple of minor problems that I couldn't get addressed without shipping it to N.Y. I didn't have a backup at the time because I never thought I needed one with Yamaha or Technics. I just didn't trust the Solton, knowing I couldn't get it repaired locally.
Probably never would have had a major problem, but . . . .
DonM

oops.... UD, you're RIGHT! It's 3,055 miles (4,915 km) between SF and NY. I used the following chart and mistakenly read the km (blue) reading for miles.
http://usa.dedas.com/distance/usa.html

Even so, it's STILL, quite a distance to ship a keyboard for repair.

Scott,
it doesent really matter how long it is as
long as you have a keyboard as the GOODIES
that we have
GJ

Danny,
I just got a brand new X1 few weeks ago, and I used it for the first time in a big celebration in our church yesterday. Only one thing I can tell you: I have never seen the audience (more than 3,000 people) enjoying the choir and the music that much before. I received lots of commendation words after the performance from many people. I have seen other bands playing Roland, Technics, Yamaha, Korg in our church before, but nothing was like yesterday. It’s even the same ME who played for the same people for years and never had this amount of praise in one show.
I would say: The X1 is the one, the X1 is built to last…

Maged

Scott,
First, I must tell you that before I bought my X1 I went to a local Yamaha dealer who has a (Yamaha) factory authorized service department and talked them into becoming a Solton dealer, which they did. In doing so they were authorized to do repairs if directed to do so by Bell Solton or ship the instrument back to New York if so ordered. So far all of my repair problems were handled locally.
I bought my X1 almost a year ago. When it came from the factory, part of the keys were inactive (no sound)- BACK TO DEALER (cable loose inside keyboard). Then, the microphone input was intermittent. It worked, then did not work - BACK TO DEALER (a transistor on the vocalizer circuit board had been twisted so that two of its leads touched causing the microphone to enable-disable with temperature changes inside the keyboard). Then, the microphone worked but sometimes would emit a "digital distortion" type clipping and when the recommended adapter was used allowing two mics to be plugged in no signal at all came through at all -BACK TO DEALER (not sure what the problem was but the repair man said the had to resolder some connections). A month or so ago I had been playing about 45 minutes when suddenly (as I was playing) the display screen went dead and all power went off the entire keyboard. I checked all cables, power source and connections. Nothing. I waited 10 minutes and it still would not come on. I waited 4 hours and it still would not come on. I went to bed and when I got up the next morning I tried it and It came on and worked perfectly - BACK TO THE DEALER (after several weeks in the shop the repair man said he could not get it to repeat the "dying" routine, thus no fix). Now I have a great sounding instrument that I can't trust taking to a gig. I don't have any other arranger keyboard with which to gig. So, I suppose I will stop gigging or purchase another arr. keyboard - NOT A KETRON/SOLTON!

That whole "shut down" thing happened to my X1 too, and it was the cable connection to the hard drive. I had it glued to the connector. Then it was fine!

Deaton,

Sorry to hear about the problems with your X1. I bought mine from Don about a year and a half ago. I sent it in for repair because I thought it was noisy. I had it back in a week and it has been fine every since. I also use it on gigs. Mine has never failed. Even when it was noisy (which may have actually been my problem) it always worked. Don says he didn't trust it but I don't think it ever quit on him and it hasn't quit on me either.

My boss is the head of the technology department where I work. He bought a Gateway computer for himself. It was a lemon. He will never buy another Gateway. Gobs of people swear by them. Some people will never own another Ford some will never own another Chevy. If I buy another keyboard I would still consider Ketron but I can see why you wouldn't.

Tom

I bought a six-month-old X1 from someone at this forum. I had so many problems, it was unbelievable. Even though, I must admit that I never heard of anyone having a problem with the SD1, I would be very weary before purchasing one.

My problems began when I ordered the vocalizer kit and the 13 switch pedal. Neither worked (I spent needless hours troubleshooting, especially with the vocalizer kit). So I had to pay for shipping to get replacements. I purchased these two items from Alex at Music Magic. He did not keep his promise to me to send me free styles in compensation for my aggravation getting this stuff DOA. I pestered him two or three times, and then forgot about it.

Then I noticed some keys were louder than others. So I shipped it back under warranty to Bell Solton. That was $50 I had to pay. The keyboard came back with some foreign object lodged under some of the keys (At least that's how it felt) and some other problem I can't remember. I didn't want to open up the keyboard because I'm not a tech.

So the next time, they paid for shipping, and it got sent back again. When the X1 came back, and I took it out of the box and put it on the carpet and lifted it up again, there were five or six screws from the assembly on my carpet. I'm not kidding! They told me that they changed the whole internal part of the keyboard, but there were still keys that rattled when I played them. At this point I wanted to sell it, but I new that I couldn't with the keys rattling.

This time I demanded a new X1 for all of my problems. They accepted this (at least over the phone). I sold the X1 through a forum as new without warranty. When the X1 came, maybe they put new stuff inside, but it had an older serial number and was scratched outside. So I had to face the embarrassment and pay money back to the buyer of the "new" X1 I had sold. At least it worked!

I thought the X1 would solve all the shortcomings of my PSR 740. I wanted a PSR 9000, but I balked at the weight. But the X1 had a lot of its own shortcomings, including shoddy workmanship and no nearby repair.

I'm heartened that I do not hear about any problems with the X4 nor the SD1, so I might buy another Solton if it had the features I wanted, but I would never buy an X1 even though the styles absolutely kick derriere.

Right now I own two PSR 740s. One I keep in my studio and the other in the trunk of my car. I gig twice a day, and this keyboard is very reliable - but they do break. I'm sure the PSR 9000 is built sturdier. At least I know that on the way to one of my gigs I can drop off my keyboard at one of the two repair centers in the area.

I hope those who own the X1 get millions of notes of musical pleasure out of their keyboards, but I think it's important for people to hear from people like me whether or not my experience was a rarity.

Larry

[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 08-23-2001).]

You must not live in Louisiana. Around here, laving your keyboard in the trunk of your car could easily result in a melted keyboard
DonM

same here in georgia, even your sunglasses melt onto the dash!