Roland JX-3P

Very easy if you have the external programmer. Time-consuming and annoying if you have to do it parameter by parameter on the little screen.

Keyboard action is typical unweighted synth fare. Roland's pitch/mod paddle is useless for modulation. 6 two-oscillator voices of real analog goodness. Not the same programming depth as a Jupiter 8, but better then a Juno 106 because of two (instead of only one) oscillators per voice. Very limited features otherwise--this was a budget synth back in the early 80s.

If you're looking for low-fi, 80s analog electronica, this is a great deal. Again, not a Jupiter, but great sounds at a great price. Is it the be-all end-all synth? No. Is it a great addition to your pallete of sounds? Yes.

I'm not sure what the reviewer below (the one who hasn't yet figured out how to save edited sounds) means by the presets sounding "gay." (I'm gay, so should I take that as a compliment? Hmmm...) Anyway, the presets are definitely from the 80s. (Were the 80s gay?) But you should not limit yourself to the presets.

Rating of 8 based on it being a 22-year-old budget synth, not compared to the V-Synth or Reaktor or something.

Roland has a great reputation in this regard.

Not from Roland, friends. They don't even like supporting thier current synths.

I think it sells for less than $400 today--I bought it 8 years ago or so. It's limited, but it's great. (Occasional limitations are good for artists, anyway. Sparks the creativity.) Should this be your only synth? Only if you can't afford anything else. Should you drop the money for it if you can? Absolutely. Should you worry about it being gay? No--gays are no better or worse to work with, although we often have a better sense of style. Not always, though. This is a gay synth that will bring you years of analog bliss.

With the pg200 it's a breeze... I still haven't figured out how to save presets I make..... but I guess it's cause I haven't played around alot...if anyone knows...email me at thefool.fool@gmail.com

polyphony is ok...it's about 7 notes at a time... built in chorus is a nice touch to alot of presets that sound quite harsh normally... a very small limited sequencer completely useless for live applications...but if you want to make some pink floyd synth sounds off dark side of the moon then it's great.... it's not touch sensitive.... kind of a bummer..... for it's time it was a very good synth... pitch bend is cool...

no instruments on this are realistic...I don't think that was rolands idea..... people say the string sounds are good on the device... well not if you expect them to sound like strings... but they are good compared to other synths at the time.... presets are gay..... mostly....I liked some of the organ sounds....

definately...

I've heard that the roland customer support is really good with roland stuff...but I haven't personally dealt with them.

Overally if you want a good 80's synth that's alot of fun to play with..then get one... check out my site...


www.thefool.co.nz

It's very easy to get the hang of and programming without the PG-200 is much easier than say a JX8P or JX10. Of course the PG is great to have, but definitely not necessary. I was comfortable editing this synth in a matter of minutes. I wish my MKS-70 was as easy to edit without the programmer. The interface is a great design.

The midi features are very limited. The keys aren't velocity sensitive. AFAIK it doesn't recieve sysex. The onboard sequencer is nice for basslines and arpeggios, but this is really a basic synth. Sound wise it has 2 oscs with sync, so the architecture is more advanced than the Juno. It also has the Roland chorus, a little noisy, but it warms it up nicely.

Compared to my MKS-70, the JX3P is quite different. It has more of a "dull" sound, without the clarity and definition of the MKS. Overall the JX3P sounds good, and I really like the bass sounds I can get from it. I can get some aggressive 303ish sounds, and I can get a pretty good fat bass, it does the "whomp" very well and I prefer this synth for bass over my MKS-70. It can sound very cheesy, but run it through a delay and it can sound very dark and mean.

I haven't owned this synth long, but it's in mint condition for a 20 year old keyboard. It's very well built, no doubt about it. I prefer the buttons on this synth to most others, seems like a good durable design.

Support on a 20 year old synth?

I'd snatch another one in a second if it were stolen, they are dirt cheap. You really can't beat them for the price. You can own a classic synth for cheaper than some softsynths.

It was my first synth back in 83 or 84. I remember reading the manual from time to time just for the editing tables and for saving and loading patches to tape ;( (yeah I really did that), but it's only 30 pages long and most of that is taken up by the editing table. I remember being totally mystified by the page that was dedicated to MIDI. I didn't think it was that difficult to use. But I don't think it took long to find it's limitations. I like some of the presets (Filter Flow!!) many are crap. Passed on the PG-200 and never really regretted it (maybe I wouldn't say that if I had one).

6 note Polyphony, no velocity, no aftertouch, no effects, no explantion. It does have cheesy plastic keys, but I started out on organ rather than piano so this was(is) just fine for me. MIDI is note on/off, hold, Program Change and bender info so it kinda sucks. OMNI is on by default which also kinda sucks, and it doesn't recieve an OMNI off (CC124). What you have to send is a POLY mode change, CC127.(this is frustratingly common in Rolands older synths). I remember using the step sequencer alot when I first got it. I don't think I have used it in at least 10 years, it's really not useful, now if the MIDI in read clock signals ...

Realistic instruments?? OK this is an analogue synth expect Dr. Who sounds and your in the ballpark.

As I said I have had this one forever, and it's still going. Though like any senior it's starting to have some issues, although I can attribute some of the problems to 1) smokey bars 2) some idiot stepped on it one really cold winter when it was in the back of the van 3) a girlfriends cat sprayed it and I lost a few keys in the lower register ;( . But it's still going. Made with 3/4 inch plywood on the bottom thick plastic sides and a metal top. Never had any issues with the buttons unlike some other Roland gear.

I have mixed reviews. Some people I've dealt with are useless. Some have been quite helpful. I guess it depends what day you call.

I have lots of other roland gear and have been playing for a while (I bought it in 83 right?). I love my JX-3P I still gig with it (although I am prepareing to retire it before it gets damaged any more). I love the architecture and the sound maybe a bit brittle for an analogue (OK! DCO ... purists) but it has never sounded harsh to me. The one area that could be better is the MIDI but at least it had it. (BTW there's someone from Denmark I beleive making a new OS similar to what Analog.no did for the MKS-30!! Cool !!)I'm sure I will enjoy playing this for another long, long while.

The presets sound OK, and form a good basis for tweaking.
Editing patches is simple, especially with the PG-200 programmer, although it's pretty easy without it. Some of the controls are VERY sensitive and can make a huge difference to the sound.
The manual is good for 1980s Roland - programming is well explained with and without the programmer.
Saving and loading patches to a PC (instead of tape) is straightforward and reliable.

Six-note polyphony and a non-velocity sensitive keyboard. Feels OK, though.
No effects except chorus, which can bring some sounds to life. Easy to overuse it, though.
Very early MIDI synth, extremely rudimentary implementation.
256-note polyphonic sequencer, but cannot be clocked via MIDI.
Pitch bender is excellent, and LFO trigger button is very useful.

The instruments cannot be characterised as realistic, but have a certain charm. The strings are warm and full, and the synth brasses have a huge punch. Bass is not the strongest.
No velocity or aftertouch, the keyboard is just a set of on-off switches.
Although I have more modern keyboards, the JX-3P still finds its way into many of my recordings. It has a distinctive sound of its own, especially with my user-defined patches.

I have had the machine from new and gigged it regularly in the early '80s. It still looks brand new and has never missed a beat.
I probably wouldn't take a 20-year-old synth to a gig, though.

Never needed any support.

If it were lost or stolen I doubt I'd replace it with another one - after all, it's 22 years old and I could emulate its sounds on a more modern keyboard.
I have had this machine from new in 1983 and now it sits in my home studio with several other vintage Roland keyboards and a Yamaha Motif ES8.
In 1983, I'd have loved a Jupiter-8 but couldn't afford it. This was the next best thing.
I really wish it had an arpeggiator - although the sequencer can be used as a surrogate.
And I do still find myself drifting back to the JX-3P to add a certain sound to my recordings. It's been a good friend.

Ease of use? depends if you have the programmer - which I don't, but even without it this ain't rocket science. I've tried editing with synths that are difficult to program (wavestation SR anyone?) and believe me, this is straightforward and simple.
Refer to diagram on the right - it's even number referenced - and move slider. How hard is that?

6-voice poly (2 DCO's per voice). Keyboard's nowt flash.
Built-in effects on an analogue? Nah, does have roland chorus, which can sound nice on some patches.
Limited MIDI, very basic sequencer.
Very nice, solid pitch bender!

Some people rate the string sounds, but I wouldn't say they're that good. Basically this is you're typical roland analogue. I've got a Juno 106 and I think they have a fairly similar sound.
You can get some nice movement with the oscillators and envelopes.
Oh yeah, no-one seems to think it's that good for bass, but you try down the lower keys on some of the presets (e.g. brass 1) and tell me it ain't fat.

It's fairly sturdy, can't foresee many problems.

From what I've read, I wouldn't like to have to rely on Roland for any of their discontinued lines. I probably wouldn't bother anyway, just go to a synth servicing specialist.

I wouldn't buy it again, 'cos I'd just use the Juno and get something else, but if anything happened to the Juno and I couldn't afford another I'd definately go for this as a cheaper alternative.
Good for anyone starting with synths, they often have more patience when it comes to lack of knobs and sliders.

This is an earlier version JX-3P without the MIDI thru jack, but as to what software version it is, who knows? Doesn't really matter, the MIDI is very limited, although, as far as vintage analog synths go having *any* MIDI at all is an advantage.

The presets are pretty cool as long as you look at them as starting points for your own patches. The strings are very good, so is Pulsar, Juicy Funk, Filter Flow, Fat Fifth; basically the last 9 or 10 presets are really good at demonstrating what you can do.

As far as creating your own patches go, this thing is a breeze. All you have to do is reference the illustration on the right side of the buttons and you're set. Very easy, so easy that I don't understand why people complain about how hard it is, or that a PG200 is *necessary* to program this. A JX-8P is different, you could really stand to have the PG800 for that, but this, the JX-3P, is easy once you start to flow with it. It's so easy to do real-time contolling as well: all you have to do is select the parameter and adjust the slider while playing. This makes resonance and filter tweaks/sweeps on-the-fly a snap.

The manual is typical Roland.

6 voice, 12 oscillators with a built in chorus. The parameter list is rather fundamental except for "metal" and the sync option. This is fine, however, because you can really get a nice variety of sounds out of the JX-3P. Much more so than a Juno. Now don't freak; I'm not saying a JX-3P is better than a Juno, but I *am* saying you can get a wider variety of sounds of a JX-3P. There are just enough parameters to make it interesting, but not too many where programming becomes frustrating.

I already mentioned MIDI, and so have others: it has it, which to me is a plus considering this is a vintage analog.

It has a dinky 128 step sequencer built in that I never really used, but it could come in handy to start a loop during a performance.

This isn't about realistic sounds. It's a vintage analog synth and as such it sounds great. It doesn't have the low end "umph" of a JX-8P, but it does have a nice mid-range sound that the JX-8P lacks. Someone said this is murky sounding compared to a Super JX and I will disagree. The JX-8P and Super JX are missing a lower-mid to mid range, while the JX-3P has a very present lower-mid to mid range. The former two do seem to have more "detail" in their sound, but I wouldn't call the difference with the latter "murky."

Anyway, the JX-3P has a very nice vintage analog sound. The filter is great and with the "metal" and "sync" settings you can easily coax a lot of sounds out of this you'd have a hard time doing with other synths. The chorus is a Roland chorus, not much to add to that if you know what an old Roland chorus sounds like. It definitely can make a sound more lush, but you don't need it for every patch on the JX-3P. This synth sounds lush without the chorus.

The keys are typical synth action keys with no velocity or aftertouch. I never really considered that an issue because between proper programming and playing technique you can get a lot of expression out of this or any similar synth.

Very well built. The keys feel tough, the case is all metal expect for the thick plastic sides. This is a 20 year old synth and it has survived the years very well. It only looks a few years old. I would definitely gig this without a back up.

I've called Roland Customer Service a few times and they're pretty helpful. They still have parts for most of the old synths and the prices for these parts are good. Otherwise, I wouldn't expect much from them in terms of support.

Very underrated synth as far as I'm concerned. It has a lot of vintage vibe going for it and makes a great pad synth. It also does bleeps, bloops, and other funky sounds involving filters and such very well.

Did you know the JX-3P uses some of the same voice components as the Juno 60 and Jupiters? Aye, it does! That says a lot about how this sounds. Coming up with great sounds is so easy which is what it's all about: it's fun to play and it does inspire.

I would buy one again for sure. No VA can touch the vintage analog vibe here and they're usually a bargain on Ebay.

I give it an 8 because of the strange way you have to activate the Midi poly mode. Otherwise it would have been a 9. With knobs it would be a 10, but believe me it is very easy to use even without the programmer. These programmers are FAR too expensive for what they will do.
Presets are ok, some are quite useful (strings, leads, "pulsar", ...), others are funny.
The manual is fun, too, at least my German translation. This guy deserves the nobel prize for literature.

Not too much features. Only one ADSR, one LFO, no velocity, no aftertouch. So you could say it's limited, but this contributes to easy handling. Everything important is there.

It sounds great! Not as fat as some other Analogs perhaps, but it's this wonderful Roland analog sound. It has Sync and Cross-Mod, which I use very often.
But, due to the fact that there is little realtime control, it's not really "expressive".

No problems so far. Got mine in mint condition.

Once I had a question which was answered quickly and in a satisfying way by Roland Germany.

For the price, this is unbeatable!

The editing is very easy, even without pg-200. Just select a parameter and move the slider. With pg-200 it could not get any easier.

The presets are pretty much useless. Who cares anyway?

This is very simple analog-digital hybrid polysynth. Two oscillators per voice, no velocity, one ADSR and LFO, simple sequencer, polyphony of 6. But it has everything that is needed for simple analog poly-synth sounds.

It does not have a mono mode or portamento. I miss those features.

As said, this is a hybrid polysynth. The sound is decent. It produces better analog sounds than most of the virtual analogs, but it will not beat Jupiters or Oberheims, that's for sure. The sound is different than in JX-10, I would describe it more murky. Not bad, anyway, considering the price of the unit.

Well built, this unit seems very reliable considering the age and analogueness.

Overall, this is a decent synth in it's category. It is cheap and lacks all cool features but it sounds OK. If you can not afford anything better, this is a pretty good choice. It is not too valuable and it seems reliable so I can gig with it easily.

~ 1983 September
Soft version n/a
Preset Section:
Bank A (1 to 16)
String I, String II, Organ I, Organ II, Organ III, Brass I, Brass II, Elecric Piano I, Electric Piano II, Clavi, Harpsicord, Vibraphone, Chime, Celesta, Accordion, Voice.
Bank B (1 to 16)
Violin, Flute, Oboe, Song Whistle, Synth Brass I, Synth Brass II, Dist Guitar, Juicy Funk, Filter Flow, Fat Fifth, Sync Sweep, Funcky Clavi, Pulser, Planet, Jet.
Preset sound are 6 good, 2 good+, rest banal.
Memory selection: 32 Pach Programmable and battery Back-up Bank C,D.
Editing patches are simple. If you use PG 200 simply turn the button left or right and you optain the sound you need. If you dont't have a pg 200 just you dont't have an suplimentary sound (PG 200 can be used like extra user preset just simple push the button "Manual") but the patches editor is in the right side at sinth like map or something like that. Don't forget to swich the behind button to programmer position (exist in the left side) if you want to modify you're personal presets (can be memory protect on). Also the same button action like midi on or off. A friend of mine try to conect midi this synth 1 year and don't discover the swich and have a large music studio.

6 Voice Polyphonic.
Polyphony is acceptable for actual non proffesional user. 61 Keys, 5 octaves, C scale. Keyboard action well but is very old you know - don't have dynamic and aftertouch (may be an advantage for non expresive or beginer user).
Bilt in effects Chorus, easy to use (press one pannel button exist on the Pg 200 too).If you want more chorus try JX-10 but don't try JX-8p . Expansion N/A except Programmer PG 200 (DIN6P). MIDI is simple to use have IN/OUT/THRU (DIN5P) one activation button behind in the left . First Roland midi synth. You can conected with 3p maximum 10 midi devices if you combine out and thru.

I stunning many people with my personal Strings Sound Developed on this Synth. Personal i prefer JX-3p Strings. I don't optain an similar String on Oberheim (excluding from the start Korg or Yamaha). For more expresiveness you can use a JX-10 but not JX-8p.
Types of music: Rock, Electronic.
Effects are simple and only Chorus.
React keyboard good no velocity and aftertouch.

ok

The most durable Synt Roland ever made.
No need to repair. Just clean dust.

Lost, stolen or sale ? I have two in the past not for now.
I playing a long time to lots gear. Gear: Roland, Oberheim, Casio, Technics, Korg, Ensoniq, Yamaha - Synth, Sound Module and Master Keb and others ocasionaly keboards.
I will not compare. I prefere the JX-10 SuperJX (maybe the best stings machine ever made)- who cares ? Maybe Australia or Foreigner!
Yes help the beginner musicians in performance but not like computers.

i have both original manual for JX-3p and for PG-200
Best Regards