New keyboard/synth advice

[happyrat1]

I'm in Canada. Return shipping on anything the size of a keyboard costs anywhere between $100 and $400 depending on where it's going to. Not to mention the hassles of reclaiming customs duties and filling out customs declarations for the return shipment.

While Ebay normally guarantees a refund of the purchase price it does not cover return shipping costs and the vendor is usually not willing to eat those either.

As a rule if I buy new I buy from Amazon which pays the return shipping out of their pocket or else if I'm buying used I look at local sources like craigslist and kijiji (owned by Ebay and operates exclusively in Canada)

In fact I just traded my Juno DS61 plus cash for a DS88 and found the deal on Kijiji.

I would have never gone for the deal if I'd had to ship my board to the states and wait for an American to ship it sight unseen to me.

Toronto is a pretty big market for used musical instruments, so generally if I keep looking for a month or two at most I'll eventually see something I'm looking for.

I was happy with the deal. The guy I traded with was happy to be downsizing. We both got to test out the units fully before making the swap. And we both would have lost money if we'd sold privately and then bought what we were looking for new. Win-Win!!

I refuse to sell anything on ebay and I refuse to buy anything from ebay that's worth more than I can afford to lose. Ebay is great for dollar store junk and cheap Chinese merchandise, but when it comes to spending a few hundred dollars on gear, I'll shop locally

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

I think trying every key and function is a little excessive but i understand where you are coming from.

Not excessive at all! No Way!
Second hand, used, pre owned whatever has a history of which you will never know.
Play each and every key soft and hard. Just one or more keys could be sticky, stiff, creaky, out of alignment, out of pitch, louder or softer than normal or many other anomalies could be present.
Each and every key needs to behave like a soldier in uniform and proper protocol otherwise the song being played will sound awful. The muso will be frustrated and the audience will be miffed.
Buying new on ebay maybe okay because you would expect all the keys to be uniform and if not then warrantys kick in.
Ray

 

[happyrat1]

Personally I prefer to do the testing in my home. Not only do I test every key and button and knob but also every port, even if I don't normally use it. That includes USB ports, MIDI ports, Headphone and Audio Jacks and Pedals as well.

Nothing ruins a good deal faster than having to shell out a couple of hundred in repairs.

That's one thing about craigslist and kijiji.

Caveat emptor! All sales are final! As is! Cash and carry only!!!

You get the picture.

If I sell a keyboard on ebay and some idiot courier drop kicks it like a football or the idiot buyer plugs a microphone into the headphone jack I'm sure as hell not going to be able to prove to ebay I shipped it out in perfect condition. So I'm stuck giving a warranty?

My warranty is 30/30. 30 minutes or 30 feet out the door.

It may sound harsh, but a lot of innocent people have been burned by ebay scams because of buyer's remorse in the past.

THIS is why you TEST EVERYTHING!!!

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

I'm in Canada. Return shipping on anything the size of a keyboard costs anywhere between $100 and $400 depending on where it's going to. Not to mention the hassles of reclaiming customs duties and filling out customs declarations for the return shipment.

While Ebay normally guarantees a refund of the purchase price it does not cover return shipping costs and the vendor is usually not willing to eat those either.

As a rule if I buy new I buy from Amazon which pays the return shipping out of their pocket or else if I'm buying used I look at local sources like craigslist and kijiji (owned by Ebay and operates exclusively in Canada)

In fact I just traded my Juno DS61 plus cash for a DS88 and found the deal on Kijiji.

I would have never gone for the deal if I'd had to ship my board to the states and wait for an American to ship it sight unseen to me.

Toronto is a pretty big market for used musical instruments, so generally if I keep looking for a month or two at most I'll eventually see something I'm looking for.

I was happy with the deal. The guy I traded with was happy to be downsizing. We both got to test out the units fully before making the swap. And we both would have lost money if we'd sold privately and then bought what we were looking for new. Win-Win!!

I refuse to sell anything on ebay and I refuse to buy anything from ebay that's worth more than I can afford to lose. Ebay is great for dollar store junk and cheap Chinese merchandise, but when it comes to spending a few hundred dollars on gear, I'll shop locally

Gary

Actually, if your returning an item because it was not as described the seller is responsible for shipping and you lose nothing out of pocket as they have to pay for the return as well as giving your money back.

Also i have a business on Ebay selling Antiquarian books and some sell for $1000's so i am glad others disagree with your notion that Ebay is only for dollar store junk and Chinese merchandise!

 

[ChrisNabil]

Personally I prefer to do the testing in my home. Not only do I test every key and button and knob but also every port, even if I don't normally use it. That includes USB ports, MIDI ports, Headphone and Audio Jacks and Pedals as well.

Nothing ruins a good deal faster than having to shell out a couple of hundred in repairs.

That's one thing about craigslist and kijiji.

Caveat emptor! All sales are final! As is! Cash and carry only!!!

You get the picture.

If I sell a keyboard on ebay and some idiot courier drop kicks it like a football or the idiot buyer plugs a microphone into the headphone jack I'm sure as hell not going to be able to prove to ebay I shipped it out in perfect condition. So I'm stuck giving a warranty?

My warranty is 30/30. 30 minutes or 30 feet out the door.

It may sound harsh, but a lot of innocent people have been burned by ebay scams because of buyer's remorse in the past.

THIS is why you TEST EVERYTHING!!!

Gary

I totally understand what you are saying Gary as i bought a Kronos a while back from a seller and when it got here it was damaged. To large dents to the front of the keyboard and another large one to the back. The seller made a claim through UPS and i sent the keyboard back. It took about 4 weeks but i got all my money back and postage.

 

[happyrat1]

Not much can happen to a well packaged book aside from burning in a fire or getting wet.

It's a different story when it's a 55 lb kurzweil 6 feet long with 2000 moving parts

I've had sturdier objects shipped to me in the past that have gone the RMA route because of broken connectors and such during transit.

I'd never risk being stuck on the business end of selling a $3000 keyboard and shipping it to Cancun only to get hit with return shipping charges and the return of a damaged shipment.

Like I said. How much can happen to an old book in transit?

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

Not excessive at all! No Way!
Second hand, used, pre owned whatever has a history of which you will never know.
Play each and every key soft and hard. Just one or more keys could be sticky, stiff, creaky, out of alignment, out of pitch, louder or softer than normal or many other anomalies could be present.
Each and every key needs to behave like a soldier in uniform and proper protocol otherwise the song being played will sound awful. The muso will be frustrated and the audience will be miffed.
Buying new on ebay maybe okay because you would expect all the keys to be uniform and if not then warrantys kick in.
Ray

I get you Ray!, as i have just said to Gary i have been stung too and more than once.

 

[ChrisNabil]

Not much can happen to a well packaged book aside from burning in a fire or getting wet.

It's a different story when it's a 55 lb kurzweil 6 feet long with 2000 moving parts

I've had sturdier objects shipped to me in the past that have gone the RMA route because of broken connectors and such during transit.

I'd never risk being stuck on the business end of selling a $3000 keyboard and shipping it to Cancun only to get hit with return shipping charges and the return of a damaged shipment.

Like I said. How much can happen to an old book in transit?

Gary

For sure it is different. I thought you was saying that Ebay is exclusively for cheap knock off good's and seeing i have a business selling quite the opposite i thought i would make that point

 

[goranmagdic]

I eventually made my mind up and bought the Juno DS61 with the carry case! I made sure I took earphones along to test, and I checked every key. Think I got a pretty good deal, it's practically new. Now to read the manual and figure out how to work this thing Thanks for the advice!

 

[happyrat1]

Congrats on the DS61.

First thing you should do is update the firmware if it is still running 1.xx

https://www.roland.com/global/support/by_product/juno-ds61/updates_drivers/

And then download the freeware expansion packs

http://axial.roland.com/category/juno-ds61_juno-ds88_xps-30/

And here's a tutorial on how to use them.

You'll need a fair sized thuimb drive to complete these operations. 32 GB Sandisk or Kingston works fine. Make sure you format it in the keyboard first.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

And Roland published a series of tutorials on Youtube as well, explaining the major features of the DS.

https://www.roland.com/us/rtv/product_support/juno-ds_tutorials/

Gary

 

[Biggles]

Congrats on your aquisition.

The Roland Video Turorials that Gary posted the link too are very good, I watched them myself many times before going to Music Stores to play the DS since I wanted to try it thoroughly before I bought, I did the same with the Korg Kross 2 and even played them side by side in one store.