I was talking to one of the members here on the telephone. He was telling me how he thought the Roland BK-9 keyboard sounded quite good, both styles and sounds. I,in turn, am thinking maybe that's what I need to get back into playing music.

No problem, I thought, I'll run down to my local GC or Sam Ash and check it out. I figured they might not have it "locally" and they didn't. But, at least, there was always New York City where they have just about any instrument you could want, and even some you don't want.

So, you guessed what my "nightmare" was! No Roland BK-9 keyboards in the NY stores. They take orders only!

Who in their right mind would spend 2k+ for a keyboard they can only hear on the Internet?

Are my missing something here in today's marketing strategies?

That is very surprising. All I can suggest is order one into a store that will give you a 30 days money back like Guitar Center. Take it home for a few weeks to see if it suits your needs and if not return it. While I prefer not to do business that way it seems you have no other choice.

Yes, I never thought about that. It might be worth it 'cause I'm hearing nothing but good reports about the BK-9. I'm hoping it will get me back into playing again. This PA3x is a great machine, but it's not my personality. I've always been a Roland person and it looks like they may have a Top 10 hit on their hands this time around from what I hear.

Mark

It really bothers me to read this. I have been following a thread on another forum where the original poster from South Carolina complained that none of the Guitar Centers around him were stocking Roland gear. They can order it. They just don't stock it. A couple of us were trying to rationalize this when a member from LA chimed in and said it is the same around him. The last time I was in the GC store on the south side of Chicago, they had the Juno-Di and Gi and a Fantom G6 and G7 out on display, but that has been 6 months or so ago. I wonder if there is a game afoot that we don't know about yet.

Think thats bad?...try finding a Ketron Audya anywhere in a store at $4k .... Online sales in the norm today....personally I would wait for TYROS 5 before investing in another musical tool at this time just before Christmas. If not follow Nigels suggestion above....Good Luck.
BTW what has you so enamored about the BK-9 vs the competition?

The Guitar Center on-line site does not show the Roland BK-9 either.

Guess what - no Tyros4, no PSR-S950 either.

Gary

When I have questioned GC personnel in the past, I am told that "arrangers don't sell, so they get no floor space". Fact is , they are not marketed aggressively (barely at all) as workstations and controllers are there. Not in the store, or in print or online ads. Of course, if they got more floor space, they might sell more....Then there is the attached inventory carrying cost. If they sit in the store or warehouse without moving, they are said to have a higher inventory carrying cost than something that moves fast (more $$ made utilizing the same space, etc). Add the GC attitude that markets to the 18-25 age group more aggressively than any other, and the answer becomes clearer. The last factor is the age of the sales force, which mirrors the demographic of the targeted buying group. It is really a manipulated demand rather than an actual one to me.

And Ketron? You said it Donny. At one point I was arranging a visit to the NYC distributorship (not a dealer- too expensive for them to stock and hope they sell it) to try out an Audya. The only reason I considered it was that being an hour from NYC is not so bad. But what about those who are not so close? And it would be by appointment between 10 am and 5 pm only, so it doesn't favor the average working guy who can't afford to take time off just to shop. He will need that $$ to pay Ketron's prices..

Sparky, I agree with your statement about GC. A couple years ago I went there to purchase a phantom power module and was messing with a PSR-s910 they took in as a trade-in. The store manager came over to me and asked about my knowledge of arranger keyboards when he saw me going through the menus and selecting various features. We talked for a couple minutes, I showed him some things the keyboard could do and he offered me a job on the spot. I politely turned him down. He told me that GC has a difficult time finding employees that have any technical expertise about anything. There was one person that I knew there that had some technical knowledge, but most of the time he BS'd his way through things. He was eventually fired for stealing.

Cheers,

Gary

I think most OMB folks are over 40. The store folks need to sell keyboards everyday, not once every year or so. We don't buy things like the kids do. We're the minority. Therefore not lucrative for the keyboard business.