Since last 2 months I’m trying to find a replacement knob (just a plastic cap not the encoder itself ) for Roland TR8s drummachine. It’s a top right VALUE knob.
First I’ve sent message to local Roland office and they told me they can’t help and sent me to the official service center, at the service center they told me they can’t deal via phone and I have to email them, but they haven’t replied for 1,5 months (I’ve sent a few emails of course ), so I tried to contact Roland on fb, tweeter - no reply at all. I’ve send emails to other Roland service centers and part departments around the globe (any Roland related email I could find ) - the reply was the same - they all operate only locally, I asked if there’s international or “main” Roland support - they told me there’s no such a thing. Well two months passed by and I wrote another email to local Roland office, asked kindly to push on their service center and make them reply to me finally. On the next day I received message from service center - the cost of the plastic cap is 20$ (a bit too much, or … ?), I have to pay in advance and the delivery time will be around 3 - 5 MONTHS!
Well…
I really condole to the ppl who have serious issues with their modern Roland gear, I still just want to replace a plastic cap, can imagine how much time and money will take a power or motherboard replacement… it’s the last modern Roland instrument I ever bought for sure (still keep my 808, 606 and 303 and wouldn’t mind to have SH2 or Jupiter, but no more plastic crap they make today ).
But…
Maybe there’s still the way to get this knob faster (want to replace it and sell the device, it’s still in perfect condition except the knob ). Maybe it’s a standard cap and I can find it in parts store? Maybe there’s a secret email or someone from Roland who can just send it “next day” not in 3 months? Would appreciate any help on this!
Thanks, will write to them… it’s not only the price, but 3-5 months and the whole experience… I got used to the situation when company just ship spare parts on demand on next day and often for free (dsi, moog, jomox, modular stuff… ). Those big corps are really evil.
The machine itself isn’t so bad, some cool things can be done, but after I got Digitakt it just stays in the box on the shelves…
I had similar issues simply trying to obtain a replacement mod wheel for my JD-XA. They just refused to help unless I was a store. In the end I had a pal who works in a music shop order one for me. The attitude will certainly make me think twice about buying any more Roland.
A while ago, I needed a replacement pot on my TB-03. I was told to contact my retailer. They then arranged ordering / shipping of that pot from Roland to me. Depending on your location, you could do the same. I’m based in Holland (EU) and therefore used Bax, that have a special form on their website for these types of cases. This might be worth checking out
They do not want to deal with their customers directly anymore only sell to them. In terms of after sales support They have taken their eye off the ball. I’ve experienced very poor service from them on numerous occasions and they only deal with stores not the user.
I think there’s a lot more Roland users who experience this.
This is a shame to hear, I used to buy spares from Roland UK from 90’s - early 2000’s and they had an excellent spares department, very fast, helpful and efficient, carrying a wide range of spares going back to the early 80’s, I have not needed any Roland spares for some years so was not aware that it has changed, disappointing to hear this though.
Yeh i have always found Roland to be excellent…that’s in Australia though…
They even sent me a free replacement pot for a Boss DR202 a decade after they stopped making them…
I Think it depends on the country, I’m part of the roland AIRA modular patch group on facebook and there were some users reporting a lack of support for buggy and neglected OS on the AIRA modules. No one getting back etc…
But i tried Roland Australia and they contacted Roland Japan and got me a beta OS that solved many problems…supper helpful, above and beyond…
Big difference compared to reports from other countries…
