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Author Topic: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group  (Read 213116 times)

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Ray Langton

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #160 on: November 27, 2011, 10:32:23 AM »

Another of the bass buttons unscrewed itself and fell off in mid flight duirng a gig on Saturday night even though I had been consciously checking them throughout the evening. Anyone got a suggestions for a suitable glue/ method of fixing. Don't fancy the idea of superglue as it seems a bit too permanent if I ever needed to make any other repairs later on.
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Anahata

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #161 on: November 27, 2011, 11:37:31 AM »

Suitable grade of Loctite?
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xgx

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #162 on: November 27, 2011, 11:39:27 AM »

Blu-tac or PTFE  as long as neither reacts with the plastic ;)
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Graham

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george garside

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #163 on: November 27, 2011, 11:42:03 AM »

I had similar problem with serenellini totally cured with locktite ( the bog standard  readily available version.

george
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Ray Langton

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #164 on: November 27, 2011, 01:23:51 PM »

hadn't thought of Locktite-I'll give it a go. Thanks
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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #165 on: November 30, 2011, 02:50:29 PM »

Hello everyone!

I just took delivery of a couple of FR-18s for me and a friend, both repacked tradeshow demo units directly from Roland.

After powering them both up and doing the factory reset procedure multiple times now, it seems that one isn't producing any sound from the bass buttons of the instrument, no matter what we try, while the other is fine.

I am about to exchange the problematic one for a replacement, but since it is a complex instrument, I was wondering if anyone can think of any setting that may cause this to happen.

Also, on the one that seems fine, I notice that when I press one of the three
register buttons on the bass side, we get a constant high pitched tone that alternates notes between the push and pull even if no buttons are pushed on the instrument, which seems quite odd. Anyone seen this? I trying to decide if it may also have an issue as well and needs to be replaced.

I'm heading up to Roland in Los Angeles this morning to swap the one problematic unit but hoping someone might have some feedback on the high tone bass register issue on the other one (that otherwise seems fine) to see if this is indicative of an issue with it as well. Both came from the factory with the latest 1.04 firmware preinstalled.

Thanks for any info,

Michael Eskin
San Diego, CA
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Ray Langton

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #166 on: November 30, 2011, 03:25:12 PM »

Regarding the silent bass end: you've probably tried this already but holding the set key until it flashes blue and then selecting button 3 on the treble end gives you access to control over the balance between the treble and the bass ends. If register 4 has been selected (will show red) then the bass will be silent. Conversely if register 1 is selected the treble end will be silent. registers 2 and 3 vary the balance between the ends and also incremental steps from 2 and 3 can be discovered by pressing the user programme or tablature buttons to move one step at a time up or down either side of the register raw setting.
I have had my Roland quite a while now and have never had any unexplained noises from the bass registers so I think this does need checking out. Hope that helps.
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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #167 on: November 30, 2011, 03:36:06 PM »

Thanks, I'll give your suggestions a try! I think we should also try resetting the pressure sensor using the procedure in the user's manual.
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howard mitchell

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #168 on: November 30, 2011, 04:56:55 PM »

Have you checked the muting of the various sections.
Look at page 30 of the manual "Switching Off sections that you don't Need".

I've had no odd bass sounds, it looks like it might need a trip to Roland.

Howard
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Dick

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #169 on: November 30, 2011, 06:47:04 PM »

Hi Guys,
            As one of my my other boxes is a Trichord I thought Rees idea of white buttons on the BCC# was great so I have done the same as the keyboard on the FR18 is longer than my other boxes so I now have a position to start and know where I am without looking as the buttons are slightly tactile.
I find the edge where you rest your thumb a nuisance and wondered if anybody has considered putting a groove there instead of being flat and feeling the plastic join. Will there be wood under this section or just plastic? as what I did on the Trichord was to take a half round nosey plane and make a groove for your thumb which has been very successfull.
Any ideas as to how to achieve something similar on the FR 18 would be appreciated.
Regards,
             Dick.
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Ray Langton

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #170 on: November 30, 2011, 07:20:49 PM »

Found the same issue with using  my thumb on the edge and so have gone back to thumb behind for most tunes-I do tend to swap for different tunes in any case on any melodeon. I would hazard a guess that behind the plastic is  - more plastic and all the electronic gubbins connected with the buttons which is probably why the keyboard is so deep. From what Rees has said on previous posts the plastic won't be very thick to start with either. I did think about attaching something to the edge of the keyboard to provide a groove, but in the end kept playing it and seem to have got used to it now. Similarly the rather pathetic air button mechanism seems to have become less of a problem with more playing. As for taking a chisel to the Roland I wouldn't recommend it!
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Dick

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #171 on: November 30, 2011, 07:36:55 PM »

Hi Ray,
           Like yourself the air button is no longer a problem and as for taking a chisel to it, there have been times when a hammer may have been more appropriate! It would be good to get  drawings of the box and wonder if Roland would provide if requested.   Well I can only ask.
Cheers,
           Dick.
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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #172 on: December 01, 2011, 03:54:49 AM »

OK, got everything sorted out with the replacement FR-18, working perfectly. Is it worth doing the 1.04 firmware update?

Also, I'm not clear on the effects implementation, if you run the unit in stereo, is there a way to have the treble panned center with stereo reverb and chorus effects filling the stereo space?

Thanks for any tips!

Michael
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rees

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #173 on: December 01, 2011, 11:27:30 AM »

Will there be wood under this section or just plastic?
             Dick.

There is not even so much as a matchstick of wood in this instrument. All plastic.
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Rees Wesson (accordion builder and mechanic)
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Ray Langton

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #174 on: December 01, 2011, 04:55:40 PM »

Busking in bright sunlight proves interesting-can't see if any lights are on at all!! And yes there has been enough sunshine around at this time of year for it to be an issue.
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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #175 on: December 01, 2011, 07:52:52 PM »

Here's a quick cheatsheet I put together for patches I use for playing primarily B/C Irish style, as well as common parameters mapping.

For my user programs, I'm using the 8/8+ style patches and reduced the musette quite a bit from the defaults, really happy with the results, finding that the Tex-Mex and Cajun are good starting points for something vaguely resembling the Saltarelle Bouebe I play normally.

Roland FR-18 Cheat Sheet

Tablature 6 for B/C

8/8+ Patches
1.R.1.G
2.R.1.R
2.G.1.R
2.Y.4.G
3.R.3.G
3.G.2.R
3.Y.4.R
4.R.4.G
4.G.3.G

8/8+/8- Patches
1.R.3.G
1.G.1.G
1.Y.2.R
2.G.2.G
2.Y.3.R
3.R.3.R
3.G.3.G
3.Y.2.G
4.R.4.R
4.G.3.R

16/8/8+ Patches
1.R.1.R
2.R.3.R
2.G.3.R
2.Y.4.R
3.G.2.G

Orchestral Patches
1.R.3.R - Brass
1.R.4.G - Fat Saw Lead
3.R.2.R - Trombone
3.R.3.G - Alto Sax
3.R.3.R - Tenor Sax 1
3.R.4.G - Tenor Sax 2
3.R.4.R - Clarinet
4.G.1.G - French Horn
4.G.1.R - Horn + Orchestra
4.G.4.G - Strings
4.G.4.R - Stereo Strings

Parameters (Hold Set + Key Number)

1 - Master Tune (2 = 440 Hz)

2 - Musette Detune

3 - Bass/Treble Balance (2 = Equal)

10 - Metronome Tempo (2 = 120)

11 - Metronome Level (3 = Medium)

12 - Reverb Level (2 = 48)

13 - Reverb Type (3 = Plate)

14 - Chorus Level (2 = 16)

15 - Chorus Type (3 = Short Delay)

16 - Bellows Curve (3 = Standard)

18 - Treble Valve Noise (3 = Default)

19 - Belows Valve Noise (3 = Default)

To Select a User Program

[User Program] then Register 1-4

To Save a User Program

Press + Hold [User Program] (flashes) then press Register 1-4 to save

To Edit a User Program

[User Program] then Register 1-4 to select program to edit

Press + Hold [User Program] (flashes)

Make changes

Press [User Program] (flashes rapidly)

Press Register 1-4 to save

« Last Edit: December 01, 2011, 07:55:21 PM by seisiuneer »
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rees

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #176 on: December 01, 2011, 11:50:44 PM »

Thanks - very 'andy.
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Rees Wesson (accordion builder and mechanic)
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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #177 on: December 02, 2011, 02:56:47 AM »

You can also download a copy of my cheatsheet from:

http://www.tradlessons.com/Roland/fr18_cheatsheet.txt

I'm a B/C box player, so spent the day refining patches for Traditional Irish style playing, here's a User patch set that has three 8/8+ two reed patches and one 16/8/8+ patch that I think works well for Irish style playing. I've adjusted the 8+  Musette offset to be similar to my Saltarelle acoustic box and also dialed back the Chorus and Reverb delay effects a bit. Hope others find them useful:

http://www.tradlessons.com/Roland/U02.USD

(do a right-click "Save as..." for this one)

I've not done anything at all with the bass side in these patches (I don't play them).

Cheers!

Michael


« Last Edit: December 02, 2011, 03:05:00 AM by seisiuneer »
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howard mitchell

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #178 on: December 02, 2011, 02:26:16 PM »

Here's an extended version of the excellent idea, attached.

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Michael Eskin

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Re: Roland fr18 diatonic accordion - user group
« Reply #179 on: December 02, 2011, 04:45:01 PM »

Here's a tablature settings file for the Traditional Irish style players with the following setup:

Tab 5 - Standard B/C two-row with standard basses (was the factory default Tab 6)

Tab 6 - John Williams 2-1/2 Row (B/C plus chromatic reversals) with 12 basses from:

http://squeezehead.com/keyboard-layouts/basses/LAYOUTS.html

Tab 7 - B/C/C# with standard basses

Download the tablature file at:

http://www.tradlessons.com/Roland/RDKC1.XML

(do a right-click "Save as..." for this one)

This file includes all the factory standard tabs in the other positions, so be sure to edit/save off any custom tabs you might want to keep.  
« Last Edit: December 02, 2011, 04:46:54 PM by seisiuneer »
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