Roland VK-7

The organ functions on the VK-7 are very straightforward. Can't imagine it could have been made any simpler. The factory presets are not great to my ears, but it's extremely easy to tweek them and replace the preset with minimal menu scrolling. I didn't even consult the manual beforehand. Within a halfhour I had a half-dozen honking presets. If you need the manual it's on Roland's website and seems to cover anything you would need to know. (It's 150 pages!)

61 (non-waterfall) keys, assignable keyboard split point, 1 set of Drawbars, (Hammond) percussion, (Hammond) vibrato/chorus V-1/V-2/V-3/C-1/C-2/C-3, stereo Leslie fast/slow/brake controls, 2 banks of 8 presets, overdrive level control, programmable keyclick, reverb control, programmable ring modulator effcts, 6 orchestral voices, organ mute, orchestral level, reverb level, master volume controls, stereo outputs, 120VAC power connector, MIDI, jack for optional expression pedal, jacks for 2 optional controller pedals, headphone jack, L-R (momo) 1/4" output jacks, 11 pin Leslie connector w adjustable output level.

Everything you need to use it as a tonewheel organ and a little more.

First let me say that I've had a Hammond B-3/Leslie 122 rig since 1969 and dragged it all over the northeast. This was the first tonewheel organ emulator to do it well. The virtual tonewheel tone generator with full polyphony that Roland developed in 1995 still rivals the best "clones" available now in 2008. If it had waterfall keys it would have it all. The Leslie simulation is excellent. The tonewheel voicing is superb from the lowest notes to the highest (the high register being where others turned me off).

But the feel of the keys is excellent so I've quickly gotten beyond even thinking about their not being waterfall shape.

The Leslie effect is one of the best I've heard and the effect is easily programmable in every way... separate adjustments on horn and woofer rotor speeds, times to speeup and times to slow down, horn level, woofer level, EQ, amplifier types.

In addition to the excellent Leslie effects, the vibrato/chorus very closely resembles the original Hammond effect. Overdrive goes from clean to insane (which is what happens when you plug the b-3's signal into a guitar amp). The reverb is smooth. If I use it at all, I use very little and it sounds perfect for the instrument. The Ring modulator is hideous. I don't know why anyone would want it.

The orchestral sounds are not great. It's interesting layer the Hammond on top of the Electric Piano, but beyond that there's not much there. Still, i could care less because you play this for the Hammond sound which is where it excels.

I find that if you EQ this to get a punchy sound out of your amp (I've been using a '69 Twin Reverb) it sounds and feels extremely responsive and alive. And I don't even have an expression pedal for it yet! Other organs that had only a volume pedal or no pedal at all always seems to just lifelessly lie there. This one spits and screams like a real Hammond. I have it set up next to my 1963 B-3/122 and it actually sounds better than the Hammond (because my Hammond needs new tone generator filter caps).

I run an electronics shop for amps and keyboards and I rarely see one of these. In fact, only one has come in in 5 years. So I'm going to give it high marks.

I deal with Roland's service and parts and they are pretty good compared to a lot of other companies these days (especially the new companies like M-audio that don't let you talk to a human being!)

If I lost this one I would definitely buy another.

The organ presets sound great, mostly cover all the styles you can play on a Hammond organ, from Gospel to Rock. Presets are always a good place to start, afterwards you can manipulate the sound with the drawbars, percussion, overdrive etc. There are some synth presets onboard as well, but I never felt the need to try them out, although I own this beast for more than a year.

Polyphony is full, everything like a real Hammond. I always thought that the action wasn't so good, because of the synth-type keys, but that was only until I tried a REAL B3 with waterfall keys, and had to realize that the feeling of the VK7's keys are pretty close to the original. It doesn't bother me at all now, and I pretty much like how they look identical to a spinet Hammond's keys.

This is the point where the old VK-7 can still hold his ground against the new clones. If you want to play rock, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, ELP style, forget the XK3-s, KeyB-s and any other clones, this one is the BEAST. The inbuilt overdrive effect is just unbelievable, sounds just as if you put a real tonewheel Hammond through a Marshall stack. 100% perfect Jon Lord sound, like it just came off of Deep Purple in Rock, Machine Head, or Made in Japan. It's also great for other styles, I'm really into Jimmy Smith nowdays, and I'm so satisfied when I set the organ up to match his sound. Flawless. The VK7 can simulate 5 types of amp overdrives. The Marshall is clearly outstanding, but the Leslie overdrive simulation is great as well. Perfect Uriah Heep sound.

It's also important, that I play this thing through a vintage Leslie 760, and it's the perfect match. I'm extremely satisfied with the sound of this combo. I tried the onboard Leslie simulation as well, just for curiosity, and hearing that right after hearing the real Leslie, I have to say, that it's very accurate.

It's built like a tank, never had a problem with it.

No idea.

Well, getting this thing last year was a real pain, the VK7 is pretty rare, but a LOT better than it's succesor, the VK8. If it was stolen I'd be willing to travel a whole continent to get it back. It was well worth. I love nearly everything about it, it looks pleasant with its wooden case, and it sounds like no other clone. I had the chance to play on a Hammond B3, after that I was even more satisfied with my VK7 than before. There are a lots of organ clones today, which I'm very pleased to say, because it means that the Hammond is really getting back. Most of the new ones are pretty good, but if you are into hard rock the VK7 is the best choice, and will be for a long time, no doubt. Together with my Leslie 760, this the gear of my dreams.

Presets are fine, you might wanna double check that you have "expanded banks" in the interface. This lets you enter 8 banks, instead of 2. Editing is not difficult but there are a lot of menus to go through to get where you wanna go, due to the small screen.

Keyboard action is plastic and synth-like. Leslie simulator is a disgrace, and the reverb is no good at all. The digital tonewheels, and the keyklick sounds however are exellent! Gain is basically just volume up to the point of digital distortion...

The sounds are good, not great but better than most. I use it mainly for blues and jazz type sounds and it gets the job done.

Built like a tank! Never had an issue.

Never had any problen vith any of my Roland products.

You get what you pay for. It??s a dependable machine with good enough action and sound to get you through any gig. If you only play organ, and this is not just another "part" of your setup, you might wanna look into something heavier and/or pricier. I myself have this board, a Yamaha S80, and a Yamaha motif xs6 on the road, and that??s when this is a handy, good enough piece.

I bought my VK-7 mainly for live performances, but have used it extensively in the studio. I don't need to edit patches or read the manual. I bought it for the rich classic organ sound and thats what I get out of it.

The action kicks ass.

I use my VK-7 primarily for hard rock and blues.

I have no worries about my VK-7. I always have other boards to use, but have never needed a backup for my VK-7 (although I have for the others).

I have had it for 6 years and never had to have any repairs. I have not had it upgraded.

I compared many different boards, but the VK-7 had exactly what I needed. The VK-7 has a beautiful rich sound and is a joy to play. Mine has taken 6 years of abuse in transit and extreme heavy usage and has never given me a single problem.

Can't get to the Chorus/Vibrato settings without going into a menu. Too many buttons that don't have to do with organ functions. Typical confusing Roland layout. Manual, like most Roland Manuals is a disgracae.

Stinky "Orchestral" voices that are unusable.

Anemic, castrated, and wimpy. I had to dime all the drawbars to get any type of sound out of this stiff. Percussion was synthetic sounding. The Chorus Vibrato was OK in a mid-sixties way, but that alone was not enough to haul the ashes.

It was built like a brick shithouse. Roland's good for that---But as I only had it for one night, who can tell

I'm a keyboard player in a big enough band to get backline supplied, but not big enough to demand exactly what I want. Cest la vie. Most of the time I get a Hammond B3, many times I get an XB-2, or an XK-2. Those instruments of course, all fit the bill. I even got an old Korg CX-3 once, and THAT was good. This Roland VK-7, however was HORRIBLE. I know enough about these things to know that the Roland was in good working order-so it wasn't that the thing was on the fritz. I've had bunches of Roland gear throughout the years, and even to today. The synth products and pianos were and are fine. This organ, however is a dud. I'm changing my part of our rider to ask for NO ROLAND VK-7, thanks you very much.

The presets sound great. THey are extremely easy access and they actually sound like presets that one would use on an organ. I set my VK-7 to the expand mode on which I use almost all the presets at one time or another. The editing of these presets is as easy as the pushing or pulling the drawbars which are, at first, in the position (digitally), as the preset. Teh manuel is great, it contains very useful knowledge as well as some interesting licks.

I'll have to say that the on-board reverb and especially the distortion, are two of my favorite effects on any keyboard I've played. Not only do they have analog control, but they also remain at the same function no matter what preset or edited sound you're in ( a problem with other keyboards is that the raved over anolog control changes digitally from one function to another between sounds, this is pesky.)

Well you wouldn't want to add this to your rig if you didn't want an organ. A problem with keyboards these days is that they contain so many sounds and options that all they do is perform inadequately at everything. This board is an organ and has done more than justice to every live or studio application I've put it through. It does wonders for any church woship service as well as rock, jazz, or pop applications, all of which have been introduced to my organ. I have not personnally used my VK-7 for classical playing but you could justy add the pedals and away it would go. The Leslie simulator is probably one of the best on any keyboard organ, ranking, in my book, next to that of the Korg CX-3. THis was a big part of my decision to buy it.

Not only would I use this in a live gig, but I have; for 3 and a half years, and yes without a backup. I cannot tell you how impressed I have been with this organs durability. It has traveled literally 1000's of miles in a trailer and hasn't given me trouble yet. If my VK-7 died tomorrow I would be happy that it has lasted thi long with virtually no maintenance.

I have never needed it upgraded or repaired. I have only dealt with dealers (ironic). And I have never had a problem.

If my VK-7 were lost or stolen I would either buy another one or one of those Korg jobs, the CX-3 I think it is, or a real Hammond. I've been playing the board since 2000; it is one of the best pieces in my rig which includes: an Alesis QS8.1, an Alesis QS^, a Roland KC-300 keyboard amp, a Berringer mixdown board (I think its the 1604A), a Mark II 73 Rhodes, and two Lesilies I run with a Combo II Pre-amp, a 760 and a 710. I went into the music dealer where I buy everything with the idea that I needed a Hammond XB-2; I had played one and knew I needed an organ for live applications. After serious reconsideration in the showroom, I decided upon the VK-7, alot in part because of the Leslie simulator, of which has now become fairly dormant due to my aquiring a couple of Lesiles. I am so thankful of my choice because last summer on tour, I played an XB-2 for several weeks and was dissappointed with it's sounds and durability. Part of me wishes I had the keys of a real Hammond, but I like the rest of the board better than the VK-8, and so I will be at ease with my early purchase of Roland's organ. The Vk-7 has been a dream in the studio and in every live application; it has run the gauntlet in every way imaginable. Everything from falling off stage, to me spilling Pepsi all over it, to the band using it as a plate for their pizza, this organ has perservered through the rough life of a live instrument in a full time band and I'm sure it has many years left.

quite straight forward i found the presets were louder than when using the manual button but that wasnt a problem to sort

the keyboard action was great for me although that can be a matter of taste for the individual still working on finding away to lower the volume on the bottom end of the keyboard has i have been used to playing the real thing (double manual)if any one has any ideas how i can lower the volume on the left hand id love to know thanks

not over keen on most of the orchestral sound but then again i only bought it for the organ sounds i played along with some hamond b3 cds and couldnt really tell the difference great expressive instrument when using the drawbars while playing but i think thats what a hammonds is all about i was always told if you can get that hammond scream you arent far away from the real thing and boy does it scream

ive only had the vk7 2 weeks but have always had roland gear i have a w30 workstation and the contacts on the keys can be a pain but overall great gear

sorry but i have found roland not to be the best people to deal with i have e mailed on a number of occasions and they have never gotten back to me also i had #3000 worth of roland gear at one time and they wanted to charge me #7 for a manual which i thought was a little mean

ok its not a b3 with a leslie but its the next best thing i have heard i want to try it with a stereo amp which i have not done up to now but yes i would buy another i hadnt played a hammond for a while went on to synths but but as soon has i started playing my vk7 it all came back if you want the nearest thing to a hammond without having a broken back lugging the real thing around buy it i did and i dont regret it at all

This beast is very easy to use - even if you have no experience with drawbar organs or synths. Some of the presets are great, but any organ sound (not mention other great sounds) can be achieved when you use the drawbars- and why wouldnt you use them???
The manual is not all that necessary for most functions and the quickstart is simple and quick enough to even get your drummer ready to make some great b3 sounds.

I love the feal of the unweighted keys (i realise its personal) The effects selection is not huge but it does what it does well. Adding a leslie makes a difference and i occasionally use outboard effects with it on less staight edged projects. I feel the same about the overdrive, except for the fact I would not use it at all and opt for a better overdrive source (i.e.Tubescreamer).
Basically it does everything it sets out to do and does it well (plus a bit more with some extra sounds/options)
Furthermore, this beast acts as an awsome controller if you want it to (yes - drawbars transmit midi messages!!!!!!)

The closest i have ever come to true b3isms - i tried all the opposition at the time and i chose this above all else. In a live situation no one would tell the difference between this and the original (especially with the aid of the correct amplification/effects device). the non organ sounds very from passable to outstanding.

Never had a problem. I have some sounds on my triton just in case...but have never needed them...nor can i imagine them being needed barring a freak incident.

no probs - hardly any contact with roland so far

Nothing comes close. I imagine the vk8 might...but all it seems to have is some useless gismos for the extra dollars...i found no need to try it as i am 100% satisfied with this beast.
If it were stolen i would be more than angry - and it would most definately be replaced - i paid a lot for this one but would pay that again if it came down to it. i love this one. its up there with my rhodes and my old prophet 5 (R.I.P.)

If you're a straight-ahead Hammond guy or gal, with no synth or midi experience whatever, you'll still be able to use and enjoy this instrument right out of the box. But to get the most out of the VK-7 you'll have to gain some basic skills.
Synth-savvy Hammond afficionados will find it easy sailing, as I have.

Not mentioned so far by other reviewers: first, how easy it is to use a second keyboard and bass pedals with the VK-7, just plug them in and go, no worrying about midi channel assignments; second, how easy it is to switch between organ and orchestral voices assigned to either keyboard or to the pedals just by hitting one button.

On the downside: first, not having separate sets of drawbars for two manuals and for bass is slightly inconvenient for me. Since I generally only use a few settings for bass and the lower manual, I can program these into presets. Others may find this more limiting. The new Korg CX-3 has two sets of drawbars which is nice, but there is absolutely no provision for bass pedals. I'd much rather have the pedals.
Second, and more difficult for me personally to adjust to, is the way the drawbar LED's are laid out: on a Hammond the drawbars are next to each other, there is no space between 5-1/3' and 8' or between 2' and 1-3/5th's. When I look at the LED I have a hard time visualizing the drawbar settings.

No sense in repeating what others have said here, features for a Hammond simulation are great and quite extensive, plus there's other stuff if we care to get into it.
One reviewer mentioned that not having separate vibrato/chorus controls for each manual was a drawback and I totally agree- but I've found that the orchestral voices, while not 'organic', can provide necessary contrast many times in a similar or even more expressive way. It's all in how authentic we choose to be.
As regards the keyboard action of the VK-7 I'd like to point out that different Hammonds have different actions, although many of them are adjustable. I've had Hammonds where the action is way too soft and others where it's way too stiff. I like the VK-7 action, it doesn't get in the way of my expressing myself musically.

I don't consider a Hammond organ or an acoustic piano a 'keyboard', they are what they are, and they are incomparable.
That having been said, my VK-7 is by far the best keyboard I've ever owned, simply because it emulates the real deal so well that I can get beyond what's producing the sound into the music itself, as if I were playing the real deal- with enhancements. It's not the same as a cranking B3 with a 122, but it's totally cool in it's own right.

As far as enhancements, I consider some of the orchestral voices very useful- especially the strings, acoustic bass and guitar. Purists might want to remember that Jimmy Smith recorded with Lalo Schifrin, and did some orchestral stuff- check out 'Walk On The Wild Side', 'Old Man River' etc. The orchestral voices give us additional choices, whether or not we choose to use them.

I too feel that that the electric piano patch bites bigtime, and that a decent acoustic piano patch would have been extremely useful. But for what this instrument really is- a Hammond emulation with additional sounds- I can find absolutely no fault with it.

I've owned the VK-7 about a month now , and I own other Roland products which have been reliable, so I have confidence in the company and the quality of it's products. But there's no way I'd ever do a gig without backup equipment, that doesn't make sense to me.

With my demo unit there have been a few issues to take care of, and Roland has been courteous and supportive, that's the extent of my experience with tech support. I do wish they had an 800 number though.

If it were lost or stolen I'd definitely replace it, it's well worth what it cost new, although I was lucky enough to buy a demo.

I've been playing for over 30 years, have owned 15 +/- Hammonds, 3 acoustic pianos, plus maybe 25-35 assorted keyboards in all, and assorted modules. This is the best keyboard I've ever owned, bar none.

I owned a Hammond/Suzuki XB2, tried out the XK2, and the Oberheim, currently own an original Korg CX3 custom midi module. The VK-7 has the fattest, warmest sound of them all, it inspires me to make music, and I'm back playing organ after too long away, thanks largely to this fine instrument.

The VK7 is quite simple to navigate directly out of the box. There is no necessity to crack the manual initially; to harness the real power of the thing one has to dig a little deeper, but it is no brain twister.
The presets are generally OK, if a little unimaginitive. I'm not sure why the various theatre organ presets are useful, but I think Roland is attempting to cover a lot of ground with this board; professional players, studios, churches, pro-jobbers, and whatever else. I loaded the thing almost exclusively with my own registrations. I don't use the orchestral sounds a great deal, but I actually like them. The strings are nice, the brass is passable, and the Rhodes and bass are very good. I wish there were a way to split some of these (like Rhodes and bass), but to my knowledge, there isn't one.
Editing is largely a cinch. I found that the "clean" tone wheel option preferable to the "vintage" as I run mine through a 147, and I changed almost all the registrations to clean.
The manual is in fairly typical Rolandease, which is to say not particularly user friendly. That said, it's ok given the simplicity of the instrument.

The VK is completely polyphonic. I find keyboard action quite pleasing, even though I'm most accustomed to piano and real Hammond actions. It is not of the annoying hair-trigger variety, it's nicely responsive, and feels natural to play.
The reverb is very good. The overdrive can be very effective, but if the onboard Leslie simulator is bypassed, the OD is bypassed as well! Strange. In my case I really don't need a Jon Lord-type thing anyway. The onboard Leslie is very good and the VK offers quite a number of Leslie configurations and editing features. The chorus/vibrato falls woefully short of the mark, and oddly cannot be edited. I generally don't use it.
The power of the VK does, however, lie in very extensive editing capabilities. Initially, I wasn't getting quite what I wanted out of it, other than the relief of portability. (I have been dragging a B3, M3, and all the rest around for 15 years). So I sat down and did some A/B experimenting with a real Hammond rig and the VK to try to determine what I wasn't getting from the VK. Generally, it seemed that the vintage sound with leakage "swam" a little to much for my taste and was diluted further when run through a Leslie. So I tried the clean sound, and things started to come around. Then I worked on the EQ, key click level, and so forth. With just a bit of work, I had a board that I have really come to like. I did other things like manual splits (I quite often have to play keyboard bass), program my favorite registrations somewhat sequentially, ie. "Hip Hug-Her" 1,2, and 3, so that I could access them on the fly.
Is it a ringer for a B? Not quite, and I think the intangible that isn't there will continue to be evasive. I own over 20 Hammmonds, and have played professionally my entire adult life. There is a certain "broadness" to a single note on a Hammond that remains elusive for all simulators. I've tried 'em all-Korg, Voce, Rhodes, Hammond/Suzuki, oddball stuff. FWIW, the VK beats them all handsdown.

It's fantastic. But I wasn't won over until I heard someone else using one. That someone was Larry Goldings. I went to a show with Goldings as a sideman, chomping at the bit to hear his wonderful organ playing. When I saw a VK on the stage, I coulda wept. Until he played. It was just a medium blues, but that's the front line for Hammond stuff. Forget it!!! It sounded Sooo good. The bomb...
Since then I've done myself a favor and worked the VK exclusively into my rig. Fellow musicians are always gassed. I can do almost any thing I would do on a B or an M, and more. On an extremely high profile gig I would opt for a B. But I don't have a crew, and play between 200 and 250 gigs a year; almost exclusively one-nighters. It wasn't a hard choice. The VK and my $40.00 Wurlitzer, both through my $75.00 Leslie. Playing out is fun again.

Roland stuff is extremely durable. Sure I'd use it w/o a backup.

Haven't needed it, but Roland is still in business, so I reckon I could track 'em down.

I would buy another if it disappeared, unquestionably.
I've been playing 30 years, 25 professionally. I'm primarily a pianist, but have played organ all along. I play bop influenced jazz, swingin' blues, gospel, roots rock, and love almost all styles.
I own so much stuff it makes my head spin sometimes. When I was coming up as a young player, I could barely afford a Rhodes, let alone a $5000.00 early polyphonic synth. So in my adult years I've aquired all the treasures that were unavailable to me in my yoot, usually in duplicate or triplicate.
I love the VK for making my life immeasurably easier. And yeah, it sounds beautiful.