gas: i haz it. roland rs-09

rs505 would be nice but pricey.

right now for my band i use a hammond xk2 for everything which is perfectly fine. i mock some strings and play synth lines on it from the record but having an rs09 as an organ backup/string/synth/soundmaker would be tits.

anybody ever own one? lets talk roland rs series.

RS-09 is a great synth. I've had two of them over the years. The Roland ensemble effect is real nice. Plus it's cool to run other instruments through it as well.

I had one for many years.

FWIW, Stella, I think you and I have similar taste: many times I've seen your love for organs, and vintagey things like the mellotron. Not to be a downer, but it gets real boring real fast. Your XK surpasses any organ sound the RS can produce, so the only real interesting thing is the strings. The strings ARE kinda nice, warm, analog, and all that. But really, I felt it was a one trick pony. Since I sold it, I haven't regretted it at all.

If you decide that you want one however, don't pay over $150.

Just my two cents.

Have to agree with Franz on the one trick pony aspect of the RS-09, but it's a really good trick.

I paid $150 for one in the 80's and I still have it. It excels like the others said in the string dept but combining the organs and strings and especially the 8 stop organ and 4 stop string produces a very sweeet soulful string sound add reverb and the thick chorus to taste and you have it. The organs are very polite not rock hammond at all. (more church-like) but for what they are they do it well. I prefer my Solina for strings now but the Roland RS-09 is a load of fun when in the mood . Don't forget to add a smallstone phaser for a Jarre like effect. Fairly rugged too, it's still going strong.

yeah when i said as a backup organ i was just looking at it as being something to get me through a show if my hammond bit it at the last second for whatever reason. nothing that i would expect to rival the hammond or anything, but as a last resort to play just the rs to get through. the hammond plus the rs however would be nice, and not even use teh organ sound on the roland just the string/lead sound.

BTW, whats the deal with the rs-505 being so gawddamn expensive? werent those only like 400 dollars a few days ago?

I got my RS-505 for $500 off Ebay. But that was about four years ago.

I've GASsed, and still sometimes do GAS, for a Korg Lambda for these reasons. Carbon111 didn't help much, either... :poke:

My friend has an RS-09. It's okay. I didn't know they were expensive. Not worth more than $250 in my opinion. And that's on the high side. The ensemble (chorus) circuit is really nice and you can treat other instruments with it, which is cool. But it's not a signature sound and the whole thing comes off a bit unspectacular. It's not so old that it's big and cool. And not new enough to be feature rich. Definitely more of a budget piece for the time. Typically great Roland quality for the time. It's workmanship and reliability in instruments like the RS-09, SH-09, Jupiters, etc. that killed off all the American competition. I'd buy the RS-09 if I came across one locally for cheap or if my friend gave me a deal on his. However, I wouldn't seek one out. I prefer my Opus 3, which covers similar ground. It has more of an old school, rickety sound with a lot of character. The Roland is much more polite. Just my $.02.

The Lambda kills the RS-09 for character, tone, and variety. Being a stupid dick with buyer's remorse after buying my QS8 in 1996, the Lambda was the only keyboard I ever sold. I regret it. Not enough to lose sleep. But if you find a Lambda, get one and think of me. Beautiful wood too. It was like and RMI piano, string/brass machine, and tab organ all in one. the separately tunable oscillators gave it an absolutely wide and huge sound. I think I'm gonna cry.

The Lambda kills the RS-09 for character, tone, and variety. Being a stupid dick with buyer's remorse after buying my QS8 in 1996, the Lambda was the only keyboard I ever sold. I regret it. Not enough to lose sleep. But if you find a Lambda, get one and think of me. Beautiful wood too. It was like and RMI piano, string/brass machine, and tab organ all in one. the separately tunable oscillators gave it an absolutely wide and huge sound. I think I'm gonna cry.

Then this is for you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KORG-ES-50-LAMBDA_W0QQitemZ190363942998QQcmdZViewItemQQptZKeyboards_MIDI?hash=item2c52934056

That's it.