Roland JX-3P

I found it easy enough to program sounds even without the PG-200 controller. I had this keyboard for only a couple hours before I had a sound I was after. The manual helps, although just playing around with it teaches you pretty quick. I'm not using it with MIDI so no comment.

Good, basic synth features. The sequencer is old-school but works well. The on-board chorus sounds wild but is a bit over-bearing; it would be nice to be able to turn it down. Otherwise good adjustability of oscilation, filters, envelope, tuning, delay, etc. nice to have that quick adjust "brilliance" slider. The keys feel really good for unweighted. As mentioned I'm not using MIDI so no comment on that. 6/10 as the technology today has come so far, but 9/10 for it's time.

Well, you buy this for old-school, analogue synth sounds, and it sure delivers. Wicked, wicked, Synth Wah (a la Why Can't Thins Be Love), Juicy Funk, string sounds, jet, and sweep sounds. Really phat, drippy moist, and warm. Pretty quiet too running through a PA, although that chorus can bleed through. I use it for backing tracks on rock/grunge/alternative stuff and love it to death.

SO far I'd say it's a tank. Analogue stuff from that era - wow. A "better, banished time". Built for the road, stage ready. Not like this rinky-tink digital crap today. Just throw it in the van and go.

Good luck with something this old. I can tell you this - it's easy to get a manual off the internet. That and a nice-guy at your local music shop, that's probably all you need.

If you can find one of these at a good price (not hard, there's plenty out there and they last), but it. Why not? You could spend double that on some Casio kid's toy. However, for a few dollar's more a Juno-106 may be worth the money. I'd replace mine in a heartbeat just the same.

the presets are awsome, the strings sound almost real, editing is really easy with the PC 200? (i dont know what its called)

AWSOME

This is awsome, its great for Nu Metal and Goth sounds like korn or marilyn manson, it can also make those video game sounds like in the original mario. over all its a awsome synth.

its very durable and mine has never broken so i dont know

IT IS AWSOME my best keyboard

I think the JX-3P is easy to use as a Juno. You select a preset and start tweaking it via a 1 slider (aghhh!). I hear a lot of people saying that the JX-3P is difficult to program with out a PG-200. I totally disagree and think that its still very simple to tweak with no PG-200. Of course its easier and a lot more fun with the PG-200 but its not needed to program some stunnng sounds. I have the PG-200 attached to my JX-3P all the time but every so often i take it off and program by step. Its not so hard and can still be a lot of fun. I always have the PG-200 attached at live shows so that i can instantly tweak a sound if im not happy with it.

The JX-3P has loads of great features and is a very interesting synth indeed. Its a lot more fun to tweak than a Juno because there is so much more on offer. Sync, x-mod, dual DCO's, chorus, sequencer, 6 voice polyphony - all good stuff. I must mention the sequencer. Its absolutally brilliant. Its so simple to program and has more than enough note memory (128 notes) for what its good at. The sync is also a stand out feature that puts the JX-3P way above any Juno. It sounds almost as big as those big American monsters. I also have a Juno-60 and this little beasty has many more features.

I hear some websites saying that the JX-3P is inferior to a Juno. That is a load of crap. The JX-3P actually sounds just as good as a Juno and a lot of the time its kicks the Juno's ass. The JX-3P and Juno synths have a different sound. Its like compairing ARP and Moog really - The JX-3P has a sharp and more agressive sound while the Juno has a softer and fatter sound. My Juno-60 beats my JX-3P for bass (because it has PWM). The Pads on the JX-3P can really beat the classic Juno Pads. It has a similar chorus effect and is of course very warm. I much prefer the Brass on the JX-3P. Like i said its more sharp and agressive. I think the JX-3P is a good synth to use with the a Juno. It has the things that the Juno missed out on.

I gigg mine every week + take it to band rehearsals and it just keeps on going.Vintage Roland synths are the best built analogues.

Never needed it.

If you ever see a JX-3P, snap it up. With or Without a PG-200 its a fantastic underatted synth that kicks a Juno's ass anyday.

editing is via slider, which is not as good as having dedicated knobs but not overly complicated either. the presets cover a good range of starting points. strings and pads are roland-lush (95% like a juno), sequencer sounds are crisp and funky.

the sequencer imho puts this above the one osc junos, and you have more synthesis flexibility due to its 2 osc structure.

not super expressive ( no aftertouch), but can do those classic roland pads very respectably. i tried it next to a jupiter 8, a juno 106 and a juno 6. the jx3p may be the ugly duckling of mid-80's roland polydom, but it holds up very well next to the aforementioned legends.

i also used to own a jx (mks 70), and i prefer this machine for the sound of its filter resonance which is less harsh-sounding and more like the original juno series.

probably quite reliable, mine seems to have seen some action.

don't know

after i got this, i sold my juno. enough said. it's cheaper, has 2 oscs and a sequencer. and hey, i even like the trashy design...

Roland JX-3p (2) PG200 (1)
Very easy patch editing with pg200
good manual

I had 3 dead key! But fix it with a pencil! Work fine!
Simple chorus dut good
use only tape memory
use midi omni turn off

piano is like pianet! dance and movie

made a lot of my sounds good for dance and pop

no upgrade

i'm looking for some patches for ROLAND JX-3P
do you have any?
can send you my patches
Have a nice day

tony_ent@rambler.ru

The presets are surprisingly good: fat,searing leads / pads and some bizarre and funky X-mod sounds that I actually use quite often.
I use it without the programmer, and although I didn`t have a manual, it only took me half an hour to edit it. the silkscreened diagram shows the numbers you have to select, then editing is performed with a smooth data slider. Quite fast and efficient.

Very good features for its day and price range. Double VCO's, Cross modulation, comprehensive LFO. Between the Junos and Jupiters really, and its sound is nicer than on the JX 10.

Almost as expressive as a knob-infested analogue monster, and quite portable (lighter and smaller than a Juno). I bring it to gigs as a second or third keyboard, and it gives me that unmistakeble Roland quality that everybody loves to hear.

IMHO very reliable.

A very good substitute when you are on a budget and can't buy a Jupiter. It gives you 75 percent of the sound quality and much of the programmability for a fraction of the cost. One of the most ignorantly-bashed and underrated "sleepers" that you can (still) grab for decent prices.

This is an easy synth people. dont listen to anyone who says "if you dont have the pg-200 it sucks" you'll be fine, anyways, im sure you just bought it for the low price. Took me a little bit to figure out how to save the patches, but you'll get it :)

I loooove how they keys feel :) and the chorus sounds so NICE. The sequencer. well its kinda hard to get what's in your head onto it, but most of the stuff i do is from mistakes anyways. im not sure how many steps it will record, but hey, 8th rests! Im not really sure if the Mute button does anything or not. what does it do again?

well tell you the truth, i really like alot of the presets. and you can do tons of stuff with editing. truely, it's limitless. sure there's not really any real knobs or sliders there (subtractive synthesis) but whats really cool is holding down some note and taking the edit to "tune" (not fine-tune, TUNE) and going crazy with the Sens slider :D thats cool sounding.

It looks and feels pretty much like a brick, i'd depend on it and not bring backup.

dont know

I like it. and for the price it sells at, who wouldn't?? I really like the sounds it produces, and the chorus button. the pitchbend and lfo trigger could be more useful on the side instead of above the keyboard, nice planning there roland. i also own a korg poly-800, but the jx-3p sounds alot thicker and analog (though i still love the poly-800!)

Very easy if you have the external programmer. Time-consuming and annoying if you have to do it parameter by parameter on the little screen.

Keyboard action is typical unweighted synth fare. Roland's pitch/mod paddle is useless for modulation. 6 two-oscillator voices of real analog goodness. Not the same programming depth as a Jupiter 8, but better then a Juno 106 because of two (instead of only one) oscillators per voice. Very limited features otherwise--this was a budget synth back in the early 80s.

If you're looking for low-fi, 80s analog electronica, this is a great deal. Again, not a Jupiter, but great sounds at a great price. Is it the be-all end-all synth? No. Is it a great addition to your pallete of sounds? Yes.

I'm not sure what the reviewer below (the one who hasn't yet figured out how to save edited sounds) means by the presets sounding "gay." (I'm gay, so should I take that as a compliment? Hmmm...) Anyway, the presets are definitely from the 80s. (Were the 80s gay?) But you should not limit yourself to the presets.

Rating of 8 based on it being a 22-year-old budget synth, not compared to the V-Synth or Reaktor or something.

Roland has a great reputation in this regard.

Not from Roland, friends. They don't even like supporting thier current synths.

I think it sells for less than $400 today--I bought it 8 years ago or so. It's limited, but it's great. (Occasional limitations are good for artists, anyway. Sparks the creativity.) Should this be your only synth? Only if you can't afford anything else. Should you drop the money for it if you can? Absolutely. Should you worry about it being gay? No--gays are no better or worse to work with, although we often have a better sense of style. Not always, though. This is a gay synth that will bring you years of analog bliss.

With the pg200 it's a breeze... I still haven't figured out how to save presets I make..... but I guess it's cause I haven't played around alot...if anyone knows...email me at thefool.fool@gmail.com

polyphony is ok...it's about 7 notes at a time... built in chorus is a nice touch to alot of presets that sound quite harsh normally... a very small limited sequencer completely useless for live applications...but if you want to make some pink floyd synth sounds off dark side of the moon then it's great.... it's not touch sensitive.... kind of a bummer..... for it's time it was a very good synth... pitch bend is cool...

no instruments on this are realistic...I don't think that was rolands idea..... people say the string sounds are good on the device... well not if you expect them to sound like strings... but they are good compared to other synths at the time.... presets are gay..... mostly....I liked some of the organ sounds....

definately...

I've heard that the roland customer support is really good with roland stuff...but I haven't personally dealt with them.

Overally if you want a good 80's synth that's alot of fun to play with..then get one... check out my site...


www.thefool.co.nz

It's very easy to get the hang of and programming without the PG-200 is much easier than say a JX8P or JX10. Of course the PG is great to have, but definitely not necessary. I was comfortable editing this synth in a matter of minutes. I wish my MKS-70 was as easy to edit without the programmer. The interface is a great design.

The midi features are very limited. The keys aren't velocity sensitive. AFAIK it doesn't recieve sysex. The onboard sequencer is nice for basslines and arpeggios, but this is really a basic synth. Sound wise it has 2 oscs with sync, so the architecture is more advanced than the Juno. It also has the Roland chorus, a little noisy, but it warms it up nicely.

Compared to my MKS-70, the JX3P is quite different. It has more of a "dull" sound, without the clarity and definition of the MKS. Overall the JX3P sounds good, and I really like the bass sounds I can get from it. I can get some aggressive 303ish sounds, and I can get a pretty good fat bass, it does the "whomp" very well and I prefer this synth for bass over my MKS-70. It can sound very cheesy, but run it through a delay and it can sound very dark and mean.

I haven't owned this synth long, but it's in mint condition for a 20 year old keyboard. It's very well built, no doubt about it. I prefer the buttons on this synth to most others, seems like a good durable design.

Support on a 20 year old synth?

I'd snatch another one in a second if it were stolen, they are dirt cheap. You really can't beat them for the price. You can own a classic synth for cheaper than some softsynths.