FR1 (a & b voices)

[TW]

I should be grateful if any FR1 owners would try to reproduce or comment on this observation.

In the original FR1, the treble voices of sets are supposed to have different sounds (a & b) on first and second press of the register button.
In my FR1B, when Set 3 (Bandoneon) is selected and treble voices 1 or 2 are used, the sounds for the a & b registration for the selected voice are identical.

All other a & b sounds in that set and all other sets are different. The Handbook p8, sections 5 and 6, demonstrates the marked difference in reed make up, particularly in register 2 so there should be a noticeable difference. I have listened with two different headphone sets and via an external amplifier with the same result in each case.

I think this problem may have been present since purchase (2 years ago, another year of warranty remains).

I referred this to Roland customer service but without an effective solution :-
"We just tried an FR-1B here in RES, an we confirm that the sounds are very similar, but not identical, so the FR-1B is working correctly"
Great, I'm glad, but it was not my FR1B you tested....

I know the same a & b sounds can also be selected on the much more sophisticated 1X model so perhaps owners would be kind enough to try their set 3, and check the a & b voices of registers 1 & 2 and let me know if the sounds are different? (Handbook p26 section 5 for FR1X)

I have also posted in the V-Accordion forum.

 

[Soulsaver]

I may be wrong 'cos it's from memory, but my understanding is that of 3 selections by pressing the same register feature is only applicable to the musette selected register (6 on an FR3) and I dont even see that facility in the manual - so not on bandoneon etc?
However on the FR3 the 8' ' middle reed' can be detuned in the settings for all registers using it - so would then apply to Bandone, although it wont give you the variance at the push of a key. It doesn't explain Roland's answer tho'.

 

[TW]

Thanks for the suggestion and advice Soulsaver, your FR3 is more complex than the FR1 allowing more changes and adjustments but in FR1B a & b voices apply to all registers (to a certain extent for the FR1X also) .

This morning Rolands telephoned and suggested that I might like a product specialist to have a conversation with me, so in preparation for this I repeated my tests.

I confirmed my observations true at low volumes (where headphone and amp test have been carried out previously) but when both the accordion and the amp were set to max output the outcome was different - not much difference for the two bandoneon registers under discussion, even at maximum volume, but the high reeds could certainly be heard in a and not in b.

The lack of a comprehensive testing technique led inevitably to poor conclusions and an apology to Rolands.
The only plus is that having read the FR1B manual more thoroughly I can better appreciate the advances made with the FR1X.

 

[dunlustin]

Glad you've solved the problem.
For what it's worth and not knowing the FR1, the (my) FR1X is quite different so for future ref may not help as a comparison.
The 31 1a & b are bassoon and bando and audibly different, but 2a & b are 4v & 2v.
For the 32 set quote "the footages change as follows" see p27 of the 1X manual.

 

[TW]

I saw from the 1X manual that the instrument was more sophisticated, so thanks for the confirmation and for your description. It seems that your 1a & 1b voices are markedly different whereas those of the FR1 are not so clearly spaced..

Bandoneon is not a set I use much anyway but it is nice to prove that, under the correct conditions, the FR1 is working to spec.

The FR1X is on my horizon, when I have sold my FR1 and Cooperativa/Cooperfisa Jolly, as its a lovely machine and will keep the brain going - my FR7B stays however.