From wwood_38478@yahoo.com Tue Mar 27 20:56:46 2007
Subject:Re: midi bass pedal boards

I also use the Roland PK5.
It was more about the cost for me, as I'd like more pedals.
BUT, the PK5 works with my VK-8 very well.
Walter W

Gary Bishop wrote:
I have played the Roland PK5 in a jazz piano setting for at least 15
years and can comment on them. I have played the heck out of them and
they still work great. They are built like a tank. Not sure about some
of the others, but a couple of things I like....They are touch
sensitive (can be turned on or off), which is nice playing acoustic
bass sounds...your sounds will be louder or softer by how hard you
press the pedal. Also, you can program them to (or not) sustain the
notes, so when walking bass, the note will sound until you hit the
next one. This can quickly be disabled by pressing a couple of pedals
with your foot. (I use this feature to quickly alternate between
playing string bass sounds from a module, and pedal bass sounds from
an XK-3). Another feature that has come in handy at times is midi in,
out, and thru. The midi in will also merge its signal with the midi
out. The PK-5 is only one octave, but has been fine for me, especially
when you consider the ergonomics. You will probably want (as I do) a
sustain pedal for the piano, as well as expression pedal for the
organ, to the right of your pedal board. These all take space, and
need to be in a comfortable location. In theory, a larger pedal board
sounds great, and some may disagree, but for me, I don't think I would
like a larger pedal board than I currently use. Good luck...Gary