Roland JX3P Upgrade: Kiwi-up Your Rig
(UPDATE: New article on this installation avaiable by clicking here!)
Burncards’ own Thomas Cooper had this waiting for me in a link for when I returned to a computer, and when that happens, you know it’s some relevant piece of information.
Recently, Tom and I have been concerned about our growing cache of broken, homeless and destitute synthesizers that… *ahem*… follow us home (…you know, puppy-dog eyes, but-it’s-hungry, can I keep him pleeeeeez?) and inevitably sit in the corner waiting for parts and proper attention. Both of us have discussed this problem, even decided to get rid of certain units that just weren’t as interesting for our projects or useful for our needs.
Both of us have Roland JX3Ps, a digitally-controlled, analog synthesizer made around 1983. As Roland’s first synthesizer into the realm of factory-produced MIDI, it was a flagship of sorts, mainly for the “first synth/budget musician,” minded folk that couldn’t get a Roland Juno and certainly weren’t touching a Roland Jupiter any time soon.
Like most vintage synthesizers, if you own one, it’s a good idea to know how to work on them. Buttons, switches and sliders go out (or get broken), displays start to fail and fade, even chips, diodes and caps start to “go south,” as Tom would say. This would be a little easier if parts were easy to find, but they aren’t. Stockpiles of original parts are almost all gone once you hit the “30 year mark,” with any synthesizer, and the hunt begins. Needless to say, between our Roland JX3P’s there’s plenty there to work with, but something as simple as a slide potentiometer (or “fader”) can mean the difference between junk you haul around in a case (and in pieces) from move to move, or gear you’re proud to fire up and take to a show.
This is where we are. Tracking down venerable Roland slider potentiometer part numbers RL-13339421 (100KB) and RL-13339422 (1MA) in concept is easy, they sit in Roland SH-101 “Keytars” and with pricey aftermarket kits, and shady overseas retailers attempting to punish hungry shade-tree technicians with a lack of stock or demanding prices. Is it even worth it?
Yes. Enter in the KiwiTechnics “3P Upgrade.” For about $150 US, you can re-chip your JX3P with significant improvements that would increase the JX3P experience exponentially!
The JX3P was stricken with being a child of the times, limited MIDI implementation , partial editing of sounds, patches and parameters, and chintzy sequencer function.
No more. Here’s just a partial list of things I find exciting about this upgrade:
* MIDI Sysex (all parameters), MIDI CC (common parameters), MIDI NRPN (all parameters) — This means going WAY beyond MIDI note on-off!
* All 64 patches fully editable with 80 editable parameters — more sounds, thicker and more distinct, with more places to put them.
* Arpeggiation and Sequencer output via MIDI, and can be clocked from internal and external MIDI, or even LFO-2 — this means more one-touch expressiveness for the JX3P and whatever you connect it to.
* More selectable parameters between each LFO, Envelope, DCO1/DCO2, and Filter — an arsenal of more flexible “connections” between what already exists in the JX3P re-routed in way to turn the JX3P into a sonic rocketship. A programmer’s delight, and if you like weird sounds like I do, this is like mana from heaven.
* Pitch Bender can be directed to the Oscillator, filter, LFO rate and VCA level in any combination — performance-enhancement the JX3P is often criticized for lacking.
* Software updates via Teh Internetz — minus the forum/Craigslist trolls.
Am I excited? No. Am I happy? No. Am I considering getting one? No. I am ELATED, GIDDY and DEFINITELY getting this upgrade. This is a game-changer for the world of the Roland JX3P. Too many people pass these up or rip them apart for filter chips or other bits, casting them off as useless or difficult problem-children. Well, luckily for the JX3P, this is my interest and specialty, being a problem child myself.
There’s a few drawbacks that I can see with taking on a project like this, and believe me, it’s a short list:
* KiwiTechnics claims the PG200 programmer won’t work simultaneously with MIDI. This make sense. Early on, the proprietary “extra” PG-type Roland programmers were an accessory for the cheaper synthesizers they made. If you couldn’t get a Juno or a Jupiter, you could at least get a JX-series synth and maybe, if you were good all year and Grandma knew where to get one, have a PG programmer waiting for you. This put a bevy of knobs and “tweakability,” at your fingertips, with easier programming to boot–much more like a “real Roland.” The early communications between these extra units and the synthesizer were done either via MIDI completely, or they used the same data-transmit circuitry. In the JX3P’s time, being the first MIDI synth Roland offered, they probably really simplified the design to work along side the PG200 programmer and the very simple MIDI (note on-off), and that was it. This upgrade has bored, polished and put nitrous on the JX3P synth engine, and there was bound to be a bottleneck in performance design somewhere. Not bad, if you ask me. I don’t have a PG200 programmer, as the JX3P is fun (for me) to program right from the front panel–easy as pie.
(UPDATE: GOOD NEWS! As of this writing, the PG-200 programmer is NOW OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED! Please see the main www.kiwitechnics.com website for more information!!!)
* There’s de-soldering/resoldering involved, and in critical areas. This isn’t going to be like a three-pin switch or replacing a potentiometer. Bridge the circuit-gap between two tiny pins and you’ll either get really strange results, or fry something. This is going to require a patient hand, mind and some experience. I like the idea of putting a “chip bed,” socket onto the circuit board rather than hard-soldering a chip that can be replaced. This will also help you with this project, as you can test your solder connections for short-circuits from the socket BEFORE you plug your new upgrade chip in and prevent the need to pray for “no puffs of smoke” when you turn the unit on.
There isn’t much (besides saving up) that’s going to prevent me from getting this upgrade. It’s really great that KiwiTechnics has spent time focusing on a relic of the past, one that isn’t the coolest or the best-sounding by synth standards, and has improved upon it probably ten-fold. I’m of the school that says “…it’s the captain and not the ship,” in regards to so-called lesser-than synthesizers. You don’t need juggernaut gear or someone’s envy to make good music.
Come back when I write about how my project went with the JX3P upgrade!
(Image courtesy Copywrong Communications)
2 Responses to “Roland JX3P Upgrade: Kiwi-up Your Rig”
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Budget? The JX-3P was actually more expensive on release than the juno! And is why it’s more advanced. The lack of hands on programmer was obviously partly why it was as cheap as it was, factor in the £250 for the PG on top of the already higher than juno 6 price of the 3P and you are definitely in the more expensive category :)
Also the JX-3P is a beautiful under-rated synthesizer, far more interesting than any Juno I’ve owned (and I’ve had a few).
Yeah, a confusing statement for sure.
To clarify my reasoning, on release it was more expensive, but it lost a lot of sales hype when people realized you needed to add on another unit to program it easily. Folks were so MIDI-crazy at the point the JX3P emerged, then Juno-60 came out, and THEN the 106…oy, it was a mad time between 1982-1984. To my knowledge, the JX3P dropped in initial pricing from $1300 or so down to $600 within the first year…the Juno line enjoyed a lot more direct success. Roland was likely pretty upset about the JX3P, but because of its memory capabilities and MIDI, they bet on the unit just taking advantage of technology alone. I don’t think the general public dug it nearly as much as the Junos. Needless to say, the JX3P’s could be found, even to this day to some degree, with programmer, cheaper than most Junos—-never mind Roland put more money into the 3P and offered it at a higher price: the free market says, it’s only as expensive as the folks are willing to pay. Good deal for us 3P lovers, anyway!
I agree though, totally underrated synth, and KiwiTechnics does a GREAT job hot-rodding the guts of this beast!