Roland U20 .......Most keys do not work

[JimDep]

Hi,
I bought a used Roland U20 PCM keyboard and most of keys are not working.
Trying to clean the keys looks to be more complicated than I thought it would.
It looks like you almost have to take the whole keyboard apart to get to the key's contacts.

QUESTION: Can a midi controller keyboard work with the U20 to bypass the U20's keys ?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[happyrat1]

Yes.

 

[Chris Laarman]

Hi,
I bought a used Roland U20 PCM keyboard and most of keys are not working.
Trying to clean the keys looks to be more complicated than I thought it would.
It looks like you almost have to take the whole keyboard apart to get to the key's contacts.

QUESTION: Can a midi controller keyboard work with the U20 to bypass the U20's keys ?

Thanks,
Jim

A Roland U-20... I bought mine around December 1989 and abandoned it in Januari 1991, when a third replacement of the contact mats under the keys was due. Even though I had hardly touched it. I assisted the repairman invoked by the Roland dealer the second time. As I remember it, he spent five hours on that job. The construction of the U-20 is such, that one false move can render such job a mere waste of the new set of mats. Besides, this replacement job requires un- and re-soldering (some battery, I seem to remember), resetting the device to factory settings.

In itself, the U-20 is an interesting device, though. Pre-General-MIDI, with two slots for sound expansion cards. Some construction of Instruments from Partials, and these Instruments got grouped into Performances(?), such that you can easily rotate among six Instruments-with-additional-settings (like Reverb). I had to reset my head when I got my next synthesizer gear.

That next gear consisted of a Fatar Studio 900 keyboard controller (weighted keys, no contact mats!) and a Roland CM-64 synthesizer module (compatible with those expansion cards!), and a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 as soon as someone told me about it.

Well, I do wish you luck with the U-20, and i'll keep my condolances at hand.

 

[JimDep]

A Roland U-20... I bought mine around December 1989 and abandoned it in Januari 1991, when a third replacement of the contact mats under the keys was due. Even though I had hardly touched it. I assisted the repairman invoked by the Roland dealer the second time. As I remember it, he spent five hours on that job. The construction of the U-20 is such, that one false move can render such job a mere waste of the new set of mats. Besides, this replacement job requires un- and re-soldering (some battery, I seem to remember), resetting the device to factory settings.

In itself, the U-20 is an interesting device, though. Pre-General-MIDI, with two slots for sound expansion cards. Some construction of Instruments from Partials, and these Instruments got grouped into Performances(?), such that you can easily rotate among six Instruments-with-additional-settings (like Reverb). I had to reset my head when I got my next synthesizer gear.

That next gear consisted of a Fatar Studio 900 keyboard controller (weighted keys, no contact mats!) and a Roland CM-64 synthesizer module (compatible with those expansion cards!), and a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 as soon as someone told me about it.

Well, I do wish you luck with the U-20, and i'll keep my condolances at hand.

Thank you for responding. I'm very limited on repair knowledge and a mental midget on soldering. I used my 1st U20 back in the 90's a lot for years without any problems with the keys. I started using it again about 5 years ago and it worked fine. Then I moved to another state, left it alone for a couple years and something happened during the moved ( I think) where it got too hot and the weights from the keys melted off and many keys were stuck together. I recently got another one on EBAY as mentioned in the original post being sold as "untested" and most of the keys don't work. Now I've got two of them with the keys not working problem.
I did a ton of sequenced songs back in the 90's that relay on the U20 for programing and program changes. I don't want to lose all that material and time invested, but it appears I'm stuck . The prognosis doesn't look good at the moment.

 

[Chris Laarman]

Thank you for responding. I'm very limited on repair knowledge and a mental midget on soldering. I used my 1st U20 back in the 90's a lot for years without any problems with the keys. I started using it again about 5 years ago and it worked fine. Then I moved to another state, left it alone for a couple years and something happened during the moved ( I think) where it got too hot and the weights from the keys melted off and many keys were stuck together. I recently got another one on EBAY as mentioned in the original post being sold as "untested" and most of the keys don't work. Now I've got two of them with the keys not working problem.
I did a ton of sequenced songs back in the 90's that relay on the U20 for programing and program changes. I don't want to lose all that material and time invested, but it appears I'm stuck . The prognosis doesn't look good at the moment.

Well, as happyrat1 has already confirmed: you CAN use another keyboard controller instead of the keyboards of your U-20s. - Best of luck!

 

[JimDep]

Thank you. I think I will take the MIDI controller route instead of investing more money taking it to a tech to get it fixed. The guy who works on keyboards in my area didn't even want to deal with my 1st one. I didn't talk to him directly , but he left a message with the music store guy that the cost of his labor at 65 dollars an hour wouldn't be worth it, and couldn't guarantee satisfaction. I don't think he wanted to deal with it at all, so I'm doubtful I'd get a different answer on the 2nd one, even though the keys aren't stuck together.....but most of them don't work.

If I get a MIDI controller keyboard, I have to figure out how to make room for both of them with the very limited space I have in my room. Now to figure out which one to get and how to get it to take over the keys from the U20.

 

[happyrat1]

Amazon.com

 

[Chris Laarman]

Thank you. I think I will take the MIDI controller route instead of investing more money taking it to a tech to get it fixed. The guy who works on keyboards in my area didn't even want to deal with my 1st one. I didn't talk to him directly , but he left a message with the music store guy that the cost of his labor at 65 dollars an hour wouldn't be worth it, and couldn't guarantee satisfaction. I don't think he wanted to deal with it at all, so I'm doubtful I'd get a different answer on the 2nd one, even though the keys aren't stuck together.....but most of them don't work.

If I get a MIDI controller keyboard, I have to figure out how to make room for both of them with the very limited space I have in my room. Now to figure out which one to get and how to get it to take over the keys from the U20.

Space: you may consider a stand for multiple keyboards (you might call it a rack) and put your keyboard controller on the height most comfortable for playing.

Controller: you may want to take your time assessing what you want, need and can afford. Like the number of keys, non-/half-/fully-weighted keys. The more you are used to a real piano, the more you'll appreciate fully-weighted keys. Moreover (as I understand it) these don't have contact mats. ;-) There's also the matter of Aftertouch, which you'll want if you're more into synthesizers than into pianos or organs. These features do come at a price, so you may want to save for them, rather than sacrificing them for short-term savings. - Another approach could be to buy a keyboard synthesizer after all, with both a keybed you enjoy and sounds that don't double on those of the U-20. Here I have my Hydrasynth Deluxe in mind, but that's just an example of quite different a synth (from the U-20). - However, you could stick with a mere keyboard controller, and later add software synthesizers on your computer or iPad. (No problem spending money on music gear, just on spending it wisely...)

 

[JimDep]

Amazon.com

Thanks for the link on the stand. I'll keep that in mind depending on what I can afford for the midi controller keyboard.
Now it's a matter of which midi controller.

 

[JimDep]

Space: you may consider a stand for multiple keyboards (you might call it a rack) and put your keyboard controller on the height most comfortable for playing.

Controller: you may want to take your time assessing what you want, need and can afford. Like the number of keys, non-/half-/fully-weighted keys. The more you are used to a real piano, the more you'll appreciate fully-weighted keys. Moreover (as I understand it) these don't have contact mats. ;-) There's also the matter of Aftertouch, which you'll want if you're more into synthesizers than into pianos or organs. These features do come at a price, so you may want to save for them, rather than sacrificing them for short-term savings. - Another approach could be to buy a keyboard synthesizer after all, with both a keybed you enjoy and sounds that don't double on those of the U-20. Here I have my Hydrasynth Deluxe in mind, but that's just an example of quite different a synth (from the U-20). - However, you could stick with a mere keyboard controller, and later add software synthesizers on your computer or iPad. (No problem spending money on music gear, just on spending it wisely...)

Thanks for all the info. Regarding the controller's functions, I'd be happy if it just did the same as the U20 regarding aftertouch and the note bending wheel. I've got a Hammond M102 needing repair also, and kinda of weird, but very cool Hammond Extravoice that's an all tube type of very early synthesizer of sorts that also needs some TLC.

I've gotta look into the midi controller keyboard and see what's a good match for the U20 without being too expensive.
If anything comes to mind, please let me know. Thanks again,
Jim
Muscle Shoals

 

[happyrat1]

Controllers with aftertouch get pricey.