Roland RD-500

I own two of these. The first I bought new, almost 8 years ago, when they were being supplanted by the RD 600 (a vastly superior instrument). I was looking for a controller, and was steered to the 500. It played OK, but it sounded ghastly. I have used a Kurzweil PX1000 for piano sounds since '89, so the on-board sounds didn't much matter.

I think I paid around $1500.00 for the first one, and $75.00 (that's not a typo) for the second, and the latter purchase price reflects, accurately, what this junk is worth. The guy who owned the second thought it was a hopeless case -- 5 broken keys. Weeeelll, I have developed my own method of fixing the #$^*) broken hammers. After being taken to the cleaners having a 'service' do it the first time, my curiousity got the best of me. I popped the blasted thing open, retrieved the parts, and super-glued and duct-taped 'em together. I do it all the time now. I even fixed one the the local Army Reserve had.

Presets? Good heavens, spare me. The piano sounds have sort of an 'anvil being played through a cardboard box' quality that is impossible to correct. The organs are laughably synthy and unexpressive. I only find one Rhodes patch 'pleasing.' The synth sounds are just...dopey. I HAVE used a # of the on-board sounds gigging, but only for convenience. A Sound Canvas sounds better than this, by far.

The manual is in Rolandese. If you're a gear geek and not a player, you might find time to slog through it. I'd rather practice.

It plays well. 2 points for that.

I have already opined about the tortured sounds this thing makes. They suck so badly that I'd have to launch into a torrent of profanity to accurately make my point. The piano sounds are especially egregious.

I don't know what kind of music that it work well for. I'd guess music that leans heavily on bad sounds.

Again, I use a Kurzweil PX1000 or 1200 Pro I for piano sounds.

It plays well -- but this is the sounds category.

The electronics have never crapped out on me. But I have broken, I imagine, more than half of the hammers. I never use a backup, and I gig a lot.

Guarnteed obsolescence in the hammers? Give me a break. Why would I even bother w/ customer support? The only reason I bought the second board is because I know how to fix the blasted thing myself, and I WILL at some point need another controller.

Well, I'm sleeping with the enemy. If I don't have to listen to the sad noise this thing makes, I'm OK with it. My Kurzweil continues to turn heads -- "That's the greatest piano sound I've ever heard." The listener always thinks the 500 is responsible. I set 'em strait in a hurry.

Since I own 2, there is zero likelyhood that I will buy another. Again, the only reason I bought the second was because of the price.

Other than the action, I hate everything about the 500. I even stopped using a case for it, secretly hoping that my Leslie would fall on it and put it, and me, out of our misery.

I've been playing 35 years, 29 professionally. I've logged close to 4000 gigs. Jazz, blues, gospel, roots rock, country, you-name-it. I own over 20 Hammonds, 4 Wurlies, 2 Rhodes, a Hohner Pianet T, a Kawai upright, a VK7, a Micron, Juno 1, tons of rack stuff, and numerous geetars and basses.

I married the 500, and won't break my vows. But she mugly...

I'm from the "Old School" .

I just use the presets or stock settings.

I agree that overall, it's a great instrument.

Too bad about the history of broken keys, mine did the same.

Four keys broke on me and I had to wait MONTHS for a repair. Five months later, they all broke again and are still broken.

This is real depressing if you are a sincere player.

If I could get advice on where to go, or the exact instructions on how to repair the keys myself, then I would.

I would use it without back up but my playing is definitely hindered.

It took months to get 4 broken keys repaired.

Stolen? I would get something else.


Been playing 35 years.

Love - Natural piano sound and Hammond B-3 (which I also own)

It helps make great music.

Please inform me of any place that I can get advice on key repair.

PLEASE RESPOND TO ME- THIS IS A GREAT SITE AND ANY INFO WOULD BE A GREAT HELP!!

Had a very difficult time finding replacement hammers

I'd get something more modern-this keyboard is nice, but it's almost 10 yrs old.

I've been playing about 20 yrs. I own a Mackie mixer and Soundtech amp and speakers.

This keyboard has a very nice grand piano sound and good velocity sensetivity.

The weighted hammers have been unable to stand up to the force I play with- many have broken and been repaired-new hammers hard to get.

I still think, for stage, this is the easiest "get around quickly" button and software layout of all the RD pianos (new and old). Some of the newer RD's get a bit more complex for stage use. Weight is the only not-easy issue - get a bag with wheels!

Features are pretty basic, but enough for playing out on a piano/organ gig. I have to say that the keyboard action is great for expressive players. A lot of other brands don't respond with volume from heavy banging - a great jam-piano. Maybe that's why so many people have broken keys?!

Haven't heard a better piano patch. Great B-3. Great keyboard for rhythm and blues. Some patches have the effects hard-wired to the samples, so it effects the other patches when layering/splitting. I'm in a 80's-90's cover band and have been suprised at how close (with tweaking/layering) I can match original 80's synth sounds. No horns (which is not good to be played on keys, but necessary sometimes)

OK, the broken keys, I may have broken about half. The hammers tend to break at the weights and if you play really hard, the actual 'fulcrum' on the keys (two tabs) can break off. I've fixed the hammers with a hot glue gun - better than brittle crazy glue and plastic cement (I've tried 'em all) - trim off the excess. As for the keys, I epoxied paperclips to replace the broken tabs.

TIP: If you play out and ever open it up ot replace keys - DO NOT SCREW IT BACK TOGETHER. If you're playing and middle C breaks, just flip it open, pop off the key, remove the hammer and switch it with a "less popular" key in the lower/upper register. Life saver. If you're willing to deal with the occasional broken key, this board is better than the new ones - and I would highly recommend for ease, SOUNDS & EXPRESSIVENESS and reliability.

The presets sound great, although there are too many similar-sounding ones. I'd rather have fewer electric piano sounds and more sounds like marimba or vibraphone. The manual is serviceable, but could have been much more complete (MIDI implementation, editing). I use my RD-500 in a home studio setting. The very limited LED display is frustrating. It's probably better on a dark stage. In home studio use, I'd trade the active LED 6-character display for a big, passive LCD display that would show envelopes, levels, etc.

The action is excellent! Close your eyes and it's a grand! Nice reverb and chorus. No on-board sequencer.

The piano sounds are, to my ears, as good as you could hope for. Very satisfying lower register, and nice plinking in the upper end. Nice pipe organ, somewhat limited choice of rock and jazz organs. Very good velocity sensitivity.

I've read a lot about this model's problem with broken keys. Maybe it's a valid criticism given the model's intended use: a stage piano. But as a home studio user, looking for a realistic piano action and a MIDI controller, it's been a reliable keyboard for nine years. Not one broken key.

I consider this keyboard very worth the money. If your playing style is to pound the keys with all your might, maybe the keys will break, but in normal use, they seem to be robust enough. The action is perfect. I wish it had a bigger display. Some of the MIDI messages become a little cryptic when displayed in such a small number of LED characters. I kind of wish it had a small on-board sequencer and speakers, so that I didn't have to turn on my computer and entire sound system just to noodle around for a few minutes. But then, it's a stage piano by design, and a very good one!

The manual for the instrument, like all Roland manuals, isn't the greatest. I don't know if they translate them for Japanese or what, but they're generally poorly laid out and difficult to understand. Actually, I mainly just use all the repset sounds, maybe with some minor patch editing and stuff, so I've never had to wade through the MIDI business.

It's not the greatest interface either, in comparison to new LCD models.

Selecting sounds, changing volume, transposing and EQing are easy to do on stage in the dark, which is great. There's enough preset sounds to make it easy to find the tone you're looking for, but not so many that you feel like you're lost in the jungle searching for that particular sound.

The keybaord action is fantastic. It really feels like a piano. If I knew what polyphony was, I'm sure I could comment intelligently on it, but I don't, so I won't. Ditto for MIDI and sequenicing.

Expression is where the instriument shines. I wanted a good piano sound and feel and that's exactly what I got. I haven't played any others that are as good. It's wonderfully dynamic.

As mentioned by several other reviewers, the keys break far too easily. To compound the problem they're a real pain to replace.

I've also had problems with the 1/4" jacksa in the back coming loose or humming.

The fragility of the keys is a serious issue, and hopefully they've addressed this by either making them stronger or easier to replace.

But I've never found a portable digital keyboard that is as good as this one.

I had an RD500 for 9 years. In that time, keys broke 4 times. It became clear that if you play hard, keys will break. Looking at the spot of breakage, it's amazing more haven't broken.

For the time, it was a terrific keyboard, except for the key breakage problem. I recently bought a successor, then RD700. Hopefully they have solved the problem.
If you are considering buying a used RD500, don't - the keys will break.

I just use it as a piano

The only good onboard piano sound I have heard.
The only action I have ever been impressed with on an electric piano.

you can rely on the keys breaking

The guy who bought it for me got a box of keys from a rep
if that counts

Its so nice to know that I am not alone.
The RD 500 is the only keyboard that has the action I love and a piano sound I can deal with. Piano 2 variation 3 ( if your interested)
I have played an rd600 and it aint as good.
THE KEYS ARE DESIGNED BY THE FACTORY TO BREAK.
I broke my first key and it cost me 50 bucks to have fixed.
The next time I broke a key (later that same week) I decided to have a look myself. I figured out how to get the keys off and the action removed. QED actually. I can do it now onstage at a gig with no tools.
How did I learn this skill? By doing it several times onstage in the middle of the gig. The keys will ALL break. When I realized this I got a box of keys from Roland. A whole new set.
Understand this............ They came from Roland PRECRACKED!!
Every single action had cracks in the plastic at the exact place where the action slams up against the felted hammer bar.
In the bag, from the factory, pre-cracked. Doomed from inception.
BTW all you RD600 users, I took a look inside the RD600. Seems they changed the key design so you cant just pop them off nice and easy.
So what did I do? I bored out all the slots that the action has to fit into on the chassis ( using a Dremel tool) and gooped this stuff called JB Weld onto it. You can get it at Home Depot. It dries and then you jam the action back in there and use it till it breaks again.
But thats just if your cheap like me.
You could always get something new. Except that the Rd 500 feels so good and has that one good piano.

Roland build robust keyboards and I find they are always easy to use. I had no trouble exploring the capabilities of the RD-500 within minutes of demoing it in the music shop. Manual is basic, but editing patches is very straightforward.

Polyphony is very limited and frustating at times when using complex layered sounds. The chorus and reverb effects have certain defaults depending on the tone chosen which can then be edited. As a stage piano it has no additional features or expansion facilities. MIDI capabilities are fine and can be used as a controller. Good on-board controls for external MIDI devices.

I have enjoyed playing the RD-500 for the past 7 years and have tweaked the patches to my liking. I tend to prefer the bright pianos in the 'grand 2' bank, the default piano tone when you switch on is very poor in the mid range. The PA-4 action is good and as a board it responds well to my styles which tend to be pop/rock, ballads and contemporary Christian genres

I have used the RD-500 as a work horse. It travels out of home most weekends and has even been on tour with me to Greece. It is built well and aafter 7 years all my keys are working properly - I guess that's because I look after it properly!

Excellent support here in UK. I have a custom built flight case which unfortunately fell off a trolly damaging the pitch bend lever and sending the keyboard into nonsense mode. Roland sent through a replacement within days and I was able to fix the new unit without any further problems.

I've generally bbeen very satisfied with the RD-500. It has a good stage sound. The electric piano's were great when I first heard them compared to my previous experiences with an RD-300 and FP-9. When I bought it I compared it to the equivalent Yamaha - PFP100? Basically it didn't. The Roland piano sound was far superior in my humble opinion. Replacement? Yes I am now considering an RD-700. Trouble is in UK there are very dealers within reach and I need to hear one before I even consider buying. Any advice from people who've made a similar switch would be welcome.

Th Rd-500 is pretty simple to use. Not many parameters to edit. I've only used the manual when I had questions about the midi sections.

Today (2001) a polyphony of 32 isn't much. Iv'e had some problems when I whanted to use a stereo Piano layered with stereo strings.
The keyboard action is very good.

I realy like the piano sound when I add a little mid. and alot of high. at the eq. becaus i think it is a little bit to dark for my tast. Also the E-piano is great. I think organ nr. 3 (or is it nr. 5?) is great if you disable the chorus and then maybe add a lesley whith the C1 slider.

I've also had some problems whith broken keys on gigs, which is very frustrating. But since the garenty has ran out I've begun to fix it my own. It's easy to order the hammers at the local dealer. I've also found out that the reason was a worn strip of felt or some kind of foam material. When you press a key the hammer hits this felt and if the felt is worn the hammer gets overloaded and breaks easily. I havn't had problems since replacing the felt.

I Don't whant another one right now and that's because i have a triton for all other sound than the piano. But in the future i would like a piano whith keys that are weighted different in the bass and top. And after fixing it as described I'm not nervous bout using it at gigs anymore. So if you have problems whit the keys on your RD-500: GET IT FIXED!