ROLL-OUT THE ROLAND

Trying to keep up with new equipment can be daunting at the best of times, especially with innovators Roland. At a recent reception a host of new products was announced. Two trends in the way Roland (UK) are running their show indicate the direction they're going in: they've stopped distributing Washburn guitars, and they're soon to start importing Amdek computer peripherals.

This leaves Roland (UK) without guitars to sell — apart, of course, from the Roland guitar synthesisers. Hints dropped imply that a new programmable version of their guitar synth control unit, to be called the G700, may well be launched in 1983, possibly at the Frankfurt trade fair in February. Some Amdek computer equipment prototypes have already been demonstrated to us. While these units are rather too complex to explain fully here, the equipment includes the CMU800 Compu-Music unit, which incorporates built-in sound sources for control by personal computer (the demo used an Apple), and the ADA200 analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converter (these are expected to sell at around £450 and £250 respectively). The Amdek computer gear should be arriving at Roland UK towards the end of February.

Rather more conventional new Roland products demo'd at the reception included the remarkable new SH101 synth, a small but versatile machine intended as something of an update on the SH09, and incorporating a built-in 100-step sequencer, facility for playing the synth round the neck of a strap, with modulation and performance controls on an optional 'neck' extension, and comprehensive mixing, filter, envelope and amplifier sections. Price is a very reasonable £249, available now (although you may have to order it, such is the apparent demand).

Further up the synthesiser ladder is the six-voice programmable Juno-60, virtually identical to the previous Juno-6 but with that instrument's always suspiciously blank control panel space now taken up with 56 memory locations in seven banks of eight patches. Price is £999 and you may well have to order this one too.

New Boss lines include an ingenious and expensive computer-controlled effects switching system, the SCC-700. It allows the user to pre-program seven effects boxes in up to 32 patch combinations, at the boot of a footswitch. The unit comes in four parts: the central control box; the footswitch controller; the case; and the connection multicore cable. Price complete is £999, available now. Three more Boss bits complete the list of newcomers: a carrying case/effects board for six pedals, the BCB6 (£60 including leads); a separate power supply for this, the PSM5 (£60); and a new stereo chorus pedal, the CE3 (about £60, available from early January).

More info on any of these from Roland (UK), at (Contact Details).

Ovation go Quartz

Latest move from prestige guitar makers Ovation; they have just launched their own quartz guitar tuner. Priced at an RRP of £33.95 the new tuner is claimed to be accurate to within 1/100th. of a semi-tone, will work with all guitars and basses, and features a needle/scale operation on the meter. Further details from Rose-Morris & Co. (Contact Details).

Hi-Fi for Schizos

New products from Hi-Fi makers Dual (sorry about that headline!) include the CV1160 amp, CT1160 tuner, C806 cassette deck and two new rack systems.

The Dual CV1160 replaces the previous CV1150 model and is a new slim-line amp with a rated continuous power output of 35 watts per channel with inputs for phono, tuner, two tape decks and monitor. Outputs are featured for headphones, four speakers, tape-to-tape recording and there is provision for input selection indication by LED's.

The new tuner is the CT1160 which replaces the CT1150 model. This actually draws its power from the CV1160 and so can only be employed in conjunction with it. The new unit offers FM, MW and LW reception and six pre-set buttons for FM stations.

The Dual C806 cassette player features the usual Dual D.L.L. system (direct load and lock safety mechanism) a pretty snazzy idea which is so safe that you can whip a cassette out of the unit while it is running, without the need to hit any 'stop' buttons (we've seen it demonstrated and it works!) Further details from importers Hayden Laboratories Ltd. (Contact Details).

No Fair with AMI

Sorry, folks, to all you out there who enjoyed last year's Music Show at Birmingham. This year the Association of Music Industries has chosen to throw in its lot with the 'dealers only' movement and is backing a trade-only show to be held in London's Russell Square area from July 31st. to August 3rd. 1983. Opening hours will be from 9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. each day. Readers of MUSIC U.K. might like to know the background to their being excluded from the show. In a nutshell the story is as follows. Many companies within the industry feel that a public show fails to attract sufficient dealers — and it's the dealers who come to place the orders that the manufacturers and importers depend on, especially the smaller makers who may not have enough reps. on the road to see major customers all that often.

Regrettably, the cost of staging the Birmingham NEC show is so great, and the 'dealers only' movement so strong, that the industry's association has been forced back to a 'trade only' policy this year. Obviously the general recession has promoted this to some extent.

Last year (Summer '82) the movement against the Birmingham 'Public' show was so strong that it held its own show at the Russell and Bloomsbury Crest hotels (see MUSIC U.K. issues 10 and 11 for details). This year AMI has thrown in its lot with the same policy. There is, however, still a thriving pro-public show movement within the industry and the hope of AMI is that they will be able to organise a public show sometime in 1984.

Readers who want to attend an exhibition showing the best of the latest gear, however, can look forward to this year's IMS show due to be held (as it was last year) at the Wembley Conference Centre. We'll be running full details of how to get to the IMS along with dates and times as soon as we receive them (and we'll be there for you to meet us, of course). But, especially as you won't be able to be there personally, we'll be covering next year's Trade Only show in full detail. A bit early to advise you to order your MUSIC U.K.'s in advance, perhaps... but you could always take out a subscription (hint! hint!)

That EV review — the awful truth

Yes folks, the gremlins have struck again! We knew that MUSIC U.K.'s Birthday Issue was going to be tough to put together in time — there was just so much crammed in it. What we hadn't bargained for was the horrible chain of events which laid low our review of Electro-Voice's mikes in issue 12's 'On the Road' P.A. Test. Excuses, excuses, we hear you crowing but, really, this was a lovely chain of events, calculated to strike fear into the heart of any mere journalist!

It all began when a handful of notebooks went missing from a car — but this was only half of it — a camera went missing too! ('went missing! by the way is a euphemism for 'were ripped off') As a result, most of the product and copy details for that section of the review which dealt with the Electro-Voice mikes loaned to us by their U.K. distributors, Shuttlesound Ltd, had disappeared virtually at the moment we were going to press. In one of those typical scenes from a 40's film about a newspaper office ('hold the front page', 'stop press' '6 to 1 on Flyboy in the 3.15' 'where's me exes?' — you know the sort of thing) that section of the article was rushed together with the aid of one of the many ancient catalogues we store down in the MUSIC U.K. vaults (just right of the PVC macs, 'moonlighter's special' still, blackmail files, filthy pictures etc.)

The catalogue (it would seem) was many generations out of date — as a direct result of which the whole listing of products and prices was 100% wrong!

So, to right the wrongs, here's what we should have told you about the E.V. mikes. The cream of the range tested was the PL77B not the 1777, as stated. Price of this mike is a recommended £143.75 inc. VAT. A battery/phantom powered unit, the recessed switch is due to the requirements of the phantom powering where it would not be very useful if the vocalist was to switch the mike off.

An alternative model, the battery only PL76B (it uses a standard AA size 1.5 volt cell with a lifespan claimed to be in excess of 3,000 hours use) doesn't feature the recessed switch, it is fitted with a conventional type.

The model we quoted as being the RE11 was actually the PL 11 — which retails at an RRP of £123.05 inc. VAT. Also, the model which we assumed was the 635A was actually the PL5 — retailing for £67.85.

What we described as the PL95 is actually known as the PL95A, which comes in a new finish and has an RRP of £103.50. It could be that the apparent sensitivity problems we experienced with this mike were due to a rather dubious mixer we had in use at that time. Shuttlesound tell us that a major feature of this mike is its ability to avoid feedback. Finally, two last slip-ups.

The photo we printed was also incorrect (it wasn't even an E.V.!) So, to sort of make up for it, we're printing here a shot showing the whole of the current range of the PL Series. For your information's sake, the tie-clip mike which we covered has a product number of CO 90, and this unit retails for an RRP of £117.30 inc. VAT.

We apologise both to our readers and to Shuttlesound who, all things considered, were very understanding about it! Readers wishing to contact them for further details of the above mikes or other Electro-Voice products can reach them at (Contact Details). Hopefully we'll be free of these gremlins (and car thieves!) from now on and plan to bring you that E.V. Monitor review in due course.

JHS LAUNCH ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC BASS

Unusual it may be, but an acoustic/electric bass has its possibilities. No doubt aiming at a gap in the market, John Hornby Skewes have just announced the addition of such an instrument to their round-backed Encore range of guitars. With an RRP of £199 (inc. VAT) the Encore features the rounded moulded back of the whole range of Encores and is fitted with a pick-up in the bridge. Volume and tone controls are mounted on the top shoulder of the bass. Also new to the Encore range is a classical model featuring the moulded back. This again has a bridge-mounted pickup and features a double rotary pot (for tone plus volume) on its top shoulder. Further enquiries to John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. (Contact Details).

TAPE WORM TELLS ALL

MUSIC U.K.'s spy (well everyone else seems to have one these days, why shouldn't we?) tells us to expect a veritable shower of new home recording equipment in 1983. The word is that existing manufacturers will be hard at it to introduce some new low-price machines. Further, we can expect completely new equipment from previously conventional equipment makers. MUSIC U.K. will (as always) be first with the news as and when it happens — so watch this space and we'll fill-in the details as fast as we can!