Any thoughts about Roland?

Roland is coming down next week to talk about us becoming a dealer, I had a chance to quickly play their new arranger stuff.

What does anyone think of the Roland line and is it worth bringing it in?

Thanks

When only looking at their keys...

The Jupiter 80 is definatley hot and worth bringing in, i think it has the best accoustuc sounds avaialable in hardware
Part of the V-synths technollogy found its way to the VP-770 too, but its not a really big seller.
I dont know if you still can back order the V-synth products, tough they are awesome.
The Gaia is a nice toy, but anyone that ever wanted to own one has it by now.
The Ax Shoulder keytar synths are unique and will sell, it will be a unique addition to your shop
The Fantom range probably is not for sale anymore.. so that leaves the GW8 as their only workstation, thats very subpar.
The Juno range of synths currently is not very popular.
Roland Pianos and auto accomp pianos sell very well, and are on par with Yamahas range on top of the market.
BK5 and BK7m offer a lot for their money
The E-line of arrangers is on the verge of becomming obsolete
The prelude is probably the best arranger a starting player can buy, but you will not be making a lot of money from it
The attellier and Combo organs are the best around by far..
The V-piano is still the best atage piano available..

So roland has a lot to offer... espescially if you will be selling Organs and pianos... Outside of that, Jupiter 80, the BK line and the Prelude might sell good, the other products are very situational..

I am expecting however a big new workstation any time soon, but no proof of that anywhere..

Roland however has grown huge in guitar effects market and such, and if you are also selling that stuff, sellling Roland is a no brainer, but if you are only selling portable keyboards... the BK7m, the Jupiter 80 and the keytar stuff will add something to your cutrrent range of keyproducts (If i am correct youre allready selling Yamaha, Korg and Ketron)

NEvertheless on the long run, Roland will allways remain a leading brand, and there will allways be Roland products in high demand.. if you dont have to invest in having them in stock, i would go for it...

You got mail Frank

YES! It is good stuff.
DonM

The local dealer here was a big time Roland dealer for two decades. He dropped them about 10 years ago and said never again. Never gave me an explanation, but he's a pretty savvy, independent businessman and will not let ANY manufacturer dictate purchasing policies to him. He tells them how many of which items he wants and if they don't want to sell them, he sends them packing.

Gary

There's no doubt Roland is good stuff. I'm sorry they haven't come up with something better than the BK-5. I'm still playing my s910 and yearning for the G70. A new arranger board in that category would get my jowls a 'waterin. A marriage of the Juno and BK series would be interesting... Thanks for asking.
I like the RD pianos. Their smaller amps are great and I love the Boss series of products.

[quote=cassp] Their smaller amps are great quote]

Can you recommend any particular Roland keyboard amp?

Thanks

Frank

Roland KC-880

As a businessman, baby steps are better than total denial, unless there are minimums. I'm not crazy about Roland stuff, but that's only me. I'm sure they'll give you sales statistics vs the competition. Good luck and thanks, btw, for my new studio gear.

Here is a view from a former Roland dealer..

When I first opened a MI store in the early 80's, I contacted and was contacted by virtually every rep in the area..

I was fortunate to be exclusive area dealers for many product lines...I was 25 miles outside of Philly and really didn't have to compete with the great Mom and Pop stores like Cintioli..In fact I had great re-pore with Cintioli, and his support for lines I did not carry...

Getting back to Roland...Roland reps were very cool guys and loyal to you as one of their dealers...I supported the whole line, including effects, keyboards, midi guitars, amps etc..

The choices of what I wanted to carry ..were my own (although I did carry all the models)...

Yamaha played games..they set ridiculous high volume orders , according to their specifications...stuff you could not give away..

Korg had a limited range of gear, and was not worth stocking a lot..

Ensonigue was popular in our area (especially Mirage)...but only a couple models..

Siel , was our surprise line...for the price the stuff sold...

Casio was the local attraction line for parents buying kids keyboards..

The cheap Yamaha keyboards did not sell well..the Casio out did them back then..


Now the facts not guessing as the previous posters opinions..

If you are a straight shooter as in honest, the Roland reps will have your back and support you...They went out of their way to make sure I got the deals as the large chain stores did...When there were special buys, they cost averaged my stock , so I would not lose on inventory..
I was giving a welcome in Namm, Dealers were all treated with respect...

I was given a protected dealership in my area, some of the other dealers tried to back door Roland products...but Roland put a stop to it immediately...

Roland sponsored clinics/shows for my store, including artist participation....

My Roland experience lasted for almost 20 years...


The Roland line is the largest across the board product line, and all top shelf products...You will not go wrong with a Roland dealership...in fact if you pass on the chance to become a Roland dealer...it will be a BIG loss for you...

As always , the key to success is your relation ship with your reps and customers...

Well said Fran Roland product line is very popular WORLDWIDE that most people don't realize...

Thanks guys, I agree, on the limited gotta buy lines, but it is such a deep company, that i can cover everything.

I usually develop a very good relationship with my reps, I think its the old school Italian friendship that develops.

Thanks again, I will bring Roland in and hopefully they will fill their holes and some of their lackluster models

Hi Frank, Congrats on the new line!

Will you carry the V Accordions?? I know that to some on this forum, Roland Accordions are an insignificant part of Roland's business. I beleive that not to be the case; Excluvise maybe, but not insignificant. However, there does seem to be a lot of competition for that product in your region.

Just curious.

Thanks for being there,
Don P

Yes- IMHO they have to get their software bugs under control. It's like with every arranger they bring out the development starts over. Critical features are dropped, or there are unintended interactions ("bugs.") The world is still waiting for an update on the BK-7M to "fix" the piano-style chord recognition they broke with the last update.

Also: On-board style creation was added to the GW-8 and Prelude version 2. However I tested it on both and it was very buggy. What happened to the nice "alteration mode" parameter that was introduced on the E-series and G-70 version 3? For that matter, what happened to Mark and Jump on the BK-7M??

While it's true that Yamaha rarely bring out anything really new, it's that reuse of their software that allows a highly refined and bug-free product introduction that reduces frustration and conveys an image of quality.

I'm not a Roland hater. I have an E50 and I'm very happy with it. Didn't like the Prelude or the GW-8. Based on others' experience, I don't believe I would be happy with the BK-7M until they bring out v2 with some of the bugs fixed.

Going forward, unless Roland improves their software quality control, don't believe I would buy another with "version 1" software. That's the message I think you should pass on to your sales rep. -Ted

Hi Frank,
Are you interested in becoming a dealer for the complete Roland line of musical imstruments and accesories, or only their arranger related stuff?
Either way, this is terrific news, as by becoming a Roland music dealer, you'll then achieve the music dealer honor of offering us your customers,
all major arranger keyboard brands.

Scott

Hey Frank

I've always been interested in the Roland SA300 amp and the newer SA1000 but no--one anywhere has one I can see. Ask the reps whats up with that. They put out and interesting product and you can never find it. Too much $$$ to buy it blind .

Good luck I love Roland products even if they are overpriced

Bill in NJ