Just because you have forgotten about a model from 2005 (according to its manual), it isn't new. It shares the manual with the 7b, by the way.
欢迎访问Roland中文网站 - FR-5b | V-Accordion
FR-5b: V-Accordion - Roland’s Revolutionary V-Accordion Family Grows With New Button-Type Modelswww.roland-china.com
Roland price drop?
- Thread starter LibraryJoe
- Start date
Ventura
Been here for ages!
欢迎访问Roland中文网站 - FR-5b | V-Accordion
FR-5b: V-Accordion - Roland’s Revolutionary V-Accordion Family Grows With New Button-Type Models
wow
talk about an ancient webpage
we don' need no steenkin' wayback machine
Wow! I forgot about that model. Shows what happens when I merely googled Roland v accordions china
EuroFolker
Active member
That was the reason, Made in China. The kind dealer / distributor offered to take it back for an exchange (I was originally told it's coming from Europe).If you know the real reason, spit it out man, don't keep us in the dark?
Thomas N
Well-known member
When I was a kid, anything with a Made in Japan sticker was known to be garbage. Now it's a symbol of extreme quality.
I wouldn't think twice about Made in China on a V-accordion. Apples are made in China, some Teslas, and about every other product we use daily in our lives. It all comes down to who is overseeing the factory, workers, and quality control. That jury could still be out on the V-accordions, but I don't necessarily see it as a negative right now. If we start getting inundated on this forum with shoddy equipment concerns we'll know.
Did you send yours back? Did you receive it and check it out?
It says "Made in China" on mine. I suppose that's confirmation enough?
I can tell you right away that in this case, Made in China is not a good thing. Several small QC issues with mine.
Hm, seems clear to me.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
so just thinking out loud...
it could also be possible that only the FR1x/xb have been moved to
Chinese final assembly (for the time being)
it may also indicate that they see a continuing market at the lower
price point and student/leisure owner base vs: effort and R&D investment
the more complex pro level and cost positions may be a different discussion
at the top management level and have a different outcome
i cannot envision any major change in the physical models given the minimal
current R&D commitment, so their future may also rest upon whether Chinese
manufacturing can prove itself potentially reliable at the FR4 FR8 complexity levels
a robust ramping up in the manufacturing of high end Roland V-Accordions
would certainly be telegraphed to the Marketplace by a sudden re-plenishing
of associated parts availability status at the major Repair Centers and quickly
trickle down and resolve all the Roland's currently in "repair department limbo"
it could also be possible that only the FR1x/xb have been moved to
Chinese final assembly (for the time being)
it may also indicate that they see a continuing market at the lower
price point and student/leisure owner base vs: effort and R&D investment
the more complex pro level and cost positions may be a different discussion
at the top management level and have a different outcome
i cannot envision any major change in the physical models given the minimal
current R&D commitment, so their future may also rest upon whether Chinese
manufacturing can prove itself potentially reliable at the FR4 FR8 complexity levels
a robust ramping up in the manufacturing of high end Roland V-Accordions
would certainly be telegraphed to the Marketplace by a sudden re-plenishing
of associated parts availability status at the major Repair Centers and quickly
trickle down and resolve all the Roland's currently in "repair department limbo"
Thomas N
Well-known member
Alan Sharkis
Well-known member
The Chinese-made acoustic accordions seem to have issues. I don’t think the same would be true for Roland V-accordions as long as Roland supervises production.
EuroFolker
Active member
Ya someone will happily relocate from Italy to China to do the supervision.
And call a supervisor when they see something doubtful who will call a translator who can remotely understand English (not Italian) and produce something that doesn't make a lot of sense in the context of mechanics who will then try doing something different before getting docked a week's pay. It's not just the supervision: the mechanics for making the supervision actually work are quite awkward. Just shaking your head and looking away will be so much easier.
I don’t see the issue. They were Asian-made before and **possibly** assembled in Italy (all or in part), and now are all made there and stamped as such. IMHO, nothing has changed except the stamp on it (as I understand it). As long as they work and hold the approximate same track record for performance & reliability, ONLY in the case of the V-Accordion, I don’t care where they are made… just keep making and advancing them!
Walker
🪗
How interesting... the idea of a digital accordion returning to the homeland of the earliest ancestor of the accordion - the Sheng from China. I like these quirky twists of fate.
Seems there is also an electric Sheng nowadays too. Must be the musical yin and yang in action!
I also noticed Roland are even making a fascinating musical instrument called an Aerophone Pro, and the best part is it's even got Sheng sounds built into it...
I wonder, does the V accordion have inbuilt Sheng sounds?
That's quite a thought... the oldest musical inspiration for the accordion being digitally worked into a reedless accordion. Maybe it will be on the next version if it's not already part of the current V accordion.
Aerophone Pro:
Seems there is also an electric Sheng nowadays too. Must be the musical yin and yang in action!
I also noticed Roland are even making a fascinating musical instrument called an Aerophone Pro, and the best part is it's even got Sheng sounds built into it...
I wonder, does the V accordion have inbuilt Sheng sounds?
That's quite a thought... the oldest musical inspiration for the accordion being digitally worked into a reedless accordion. Maybe it will be on the next version if it's not already part of the current V accordion.Aerophone Pro:
Ventura
Been here for ages!
sigh
they were Asian inspired because Mr. Kakehashi was a great and generous man,
but they were not made in Asia, nor designed there, nor assembled there.
they were designed in Italy in a Factory previously created by SIEL, an offshoot
of the Australian SUZUKI electronics company. Led by a team of Italians, some of
whom were formerly employed by ELKA, the ideas/Patents that Mr. Bruti had been
working on for some time were then purchased/licensed by roland as the core
focus element. His ideas were grafted onto existing Roland control software
used in their VK Drawbar Organ line, then tweaked/limited to the elements strictly
approved for the V-Accordion. As with pretty much all the major Roland
keyboard products, the core sound engine was the same LSIC and common component
Motherboard as used in, for example, Rodgers Organs,, Rhodes Piano's,
VK7 combo Organs, E series arrangers, the Axis, and all the Roland Synths
and Digital Piano's.. the LSIC contains ALL the archival finalized waveforms and samples
roland deems as core.. their archive of Studio Samples is probably the
largest in the world and was started by Mr. K many many decades ago to
"future proof" their pool of sound. the LSIC FX core is also common to all products
including the V-Accordions
this is why every enabled accordion model and every orchestral voice that is in
the (whatever current flagship) FR8 is also inside the FR1.. you just can't get to them
unless you figure out how to hack the control software (as we did with the FR3x)
and adding the Equalizer to the FR8 was merely a matter of getting permission
(finally) to unlock access to that portion of the FX LSIC that was already physically there
inside all V-Accordions.
as the E series keyboards, the V-Accordion was assembled onsite in the (SIEL) Italy Roland
facility. finalized Circuitboards that were designed by Italy R&D were produced in a
dedicated Roland Asia electronics fabricating facility, obviously. Roland E-Series
keyboards can sometimes be found with Chromatic Treble sections, which were
added aftermarket in the MASTER facility in CastleFi using FATAR keyswitching
components with the approval of Roland Europe.
after a time, Roland decided there was no longer a need for a EURO footprint,
as the monetary reasons for hedging the Yen evaporated in the Global economy,
so they devested themselves of all European holdings and facilities including the
old SIEL factory. They however made an agreement with FATAR to take over
production of the V-Accordion line. Some production equipment was transferred
to the FATAR facility.
FATAR is an open book and has been explained in other threads.. it is
presumed FATAR always did supply the raw keyboards for the FR series.
the EVO was a separate idea and contract between Roland and Bugari.
Inner workings of the EVO production can only be had from Bugari,
and what or whom made the necessary and specified changes to the
Roland control software can only be had from Bugari. Obviously
the same core circuit boards from the FR8 are used in the EVO
as Alan reported, there was a suspension of activity/production in Italy
for (at least) a month
as EURO reported, there is now a "Made in China" label on the FR1
there were apparently actual price reductions across the entire line
which are now verified at Retail
any more concrete findings would be welcomed by all interested parties
they were Asian inspired because Mr. Kakehashi was a great and generous man,
but they were not made in Asia, nor designed there, nor assembled there.
they were designed in Italy in a Factory previously created by SIEL, an offshoot
of the Australian SUZUKI electronics company. Led by a team of Italians, some of
whom were formerly employed by ELKA, the ideas/Patents that Mr. Bruti had been
working on for some time were then purchased/licensed by roland as the core
focus element. His ideas were grafted onto existing Roland control software
used in their VK Drawbar Organ line, then tweaked/limited to the elements strictly
approved for the V-Accordion. As with pretty much all the major Roland
keyboard products, the core sound engine was the same LSIC and common component
Motherboard as used in, for example, Rodgers Organs,, Rhodes Piano's,
VK7 combo Organs, E series arrangers, the Axis, and all the Roland Synths
and Digital Piano's.. the LSIC contains ALL the archival finalized waveforms and samples
roland deems as core.. their archive of Studio Samples is probably the
largest in the world and was started by Mr. K many many decades ago to
"future proof" their pool of sound. the LSIC FX core is also common to all products
including the V-Accordions
this is why every enabled accordion model and every orchestral voice that is in
the (whatever current flagship) FR8 is also inside the FR1.. you just can't get to them
unless you figure out how to hack the control software (as we did with the FR3x)
and adding the Equalizer to the FR8 was merely a matter of getting permission
(finally) to unlock access to that portion of the FX LSIC that was already physically there
inside all V-Accordions.
as the E series keyboards, the V-Accordion was assembled onsite in the (SIEL) Italy Roland
facility. finalized Circuitboards that were designed by Italy R&D were produced in a
dedicated Roland Asia electronics fabricating facility, obviously. Roland E-Series
keyboards can sometimes be found with Chromatic Treble sections, which were
added aftermarket in the MASTER facility in CastleFi using FATAR keyswitching
components with the approval of Roland Europe.
after a time, Roland decided there was no longer a need for a EURO footprint,
as the monetary reasons for hedging the Yen evaporated in the Global economy,
so they devested themselves of all European holdings and facilities including the
old SIEL factory. They however made an agreement with FATAR to take over
production of the V-Accordion line. Some production equipment was transferred
to the FATAR facility.
FATAR is an open book and has been explained in other threads.. it is
presumed FATAR always did supply the raw keyboards for the FR series.
the EVO was a separate idea and contract between Roland and Bugari.
Inner workings of the EVO production can only be had from Bugari,
and what or whom made the necessary and specified changes to the
Roland control software can only be had from Bugari. Obviously
the same core circuit boards from the FR8 are used in the EVO
as Alan reported, there was a suspension of activity/production in Italy
for (at least) a month
as EURO reported, there is now a "Made in China" label on the FR1
there were apparently actual price reductions across the entire line
which are now verified at Retail
any more concrete findings would be welcomed by all interested parties
Ventura
Been here for ages!
Yeah, but I bet you could do it even with the available editor…..
EuroFolker
Active member
The keybeds of the few keyboards / synths I have around the house are all perfectly aligned. And the keybed of my new Dino Baffetti acoustic accordion - also perfect. Then I look at the FR1X's and wonder why the white keys are visibly misaligned from brand new.
The rubber feet the manual refers to - not there. Just four hard plastic feet with screwholes (I imagine that is where the rubber feet are inserted).
The bellows clips and related hardware - they feel like they come from a toy accordion. Very difficult to snap on / off, and there is unpleasant friction when the straps are turned.
The air regulator button disengages often (every second or third time?) when the air button is pushed in. Maybe I am not "working it" correctly, but it feels like a manufacturing defect to me.
Software oddity:
Out of the box it was set up for 3 bass row (Belguim), despite the factory default being 2 row Stradella. I figured I'd factory reset it (just in case of other non-defaults) and then change that setting which according to the manual is not affected by factory reset, but it DID return it to the 2 row so I did not need to change it manually. I don't like running into inconsistencies like these.
Also in another thread, I had a complaint about the bass side of the Dallape expansion sounding abnormal. Now I am convinced it's all part of the same factory programming bug.
But I've been offered to return it and trade up.
The rubber feet the manual refers to - not there. Just four hard plastic feet with screwholes (I imagine that is where the rubber feet are inserted).
The bellows clips and related hardware - they feel like they come from a toy accordion. Very difficult to snap on / off, and there is unpleasant friction when the straps are turned.
The air regulator button disengages often (every second or third time?) when the air button is pushed in. Maybe I am not "working it" correctly, but it feels like a manufacturing defect to me.
Software oddity:
Out of the box it was set up for 3 bass row (Belguim), despite the factory default being 2 row Stradella. I figured I'd factory reset it (just in case of other non-defaults) and then change that setting which according to the manual is not affected by factory reset, but it DID return it to the 2 row so I did not need to change it manually. I don't like running into inconsistencies like these.
Also in another thread, I had a complaint about the bass side of the Dallape expansion sounding abnormal. Now I am convinced it's all part of the same factory programming bug.
But I've been offered to return it and trade up.
Thomas N
Well-known member
Thank you for this detail. These aren't little issues. I would be quite concerned. Glad you're trading it away.
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