From themustard@wix.com.au Tue Feb 16 19:44:49 2010
Subject:Re: Roland VK-7 Opinions Sought - Am I Going to Like It?

I have a VK-7 that I replaced with an XK-3c last year, so I haven't played it in a while.

It'll sound good through the 760, but the output on the 11-pin (if that's what you intend to use) is very weak and poorly implemented in that the main volume knob on the VK-7 does not work when the 11-pin is used. Best to use a combo-preamp via the line out or you can cheat and make your own interface that takes one side of the headphone signal, which is enough to drive the 760 nicely.

The C/V is ordinary and can't be edited. You also can't change between C/V options on the fly, though they can be saved per preset.

Percussion is pretty good - improves through a real leslie. Slow 2nd sounds best to my ears - see Deep Purple's Child in Time...

8888 is probably it's strong point so if you're into Booker T you're all set...

The highs can be shrill but a real leslie's 6k roll-off &/or clever eq will tame that. The onboard eq is simple but effective. Only accessible through menus, though, but can be saved per patch like everything else.

You have two types of wheels available, "Vintage" and "Clean" from memory. Vintage has more leakage. In any case the leakage, keyclick and other usual parameters can be adjusted through the menu and saved per patch - very versatile in this regard.

There are a number of amp models on board and each has it's own character. Bear in mind that if you bypass the leslie sim and therefore the amp sim (for connection to your 760) the overdrive is also bypassed, except if you choose the "Stack" amp options. This way you still get overdrive in bypass mode but the amp characteristics are very different from the 122/147 type amp sims.

The overdrive is quite good but this may be a moot point if you don't plan on using the leslie sim.

Reverbs are very nice and adjustable on the fly via a dedicated knob.

Foldback is correctly implemented - can't remeber if it can be changed or not. Probably not.

Extra voices are near useless, but there if you feel the urge, but I suspect this isn't a concern for you.

Action is very good for a diving board action, but trigger depth is deep so it's not as fast as a B/CX3 or XK-3/c if you're the type that plays at lightning speed. Beware of sticky keys - on mine, the glue that holds the weights in the underise of the keys has started to drip out in places. You can pull it apart and clean it up but it's a bit tedious. Apparently later batches used different glue and don't have this problem. Check if it has pinkish resin under the keys. These are the drippy ones (the newer ones reportedly used grey glue).

Drawbars feel good - fairly tight.

The overall build quality is excellent - it's a very sturdy unit.

I'm still quite attached to my VK-7 and can't bring myself to sell it quite yet. It holds up really well against the newer crop of clones for something that came out, what, 15 or so years ago?

Good luck!