I went from a Juno 6, to a JX-3P, then the JX-8P and then D-50. I also had an ESQ1 plus others! The JX-3P is the one I regret selling the most. A great underrated 80’s synth!
The JX-3P is the first, and only poly I have ever owned. Bought early 80s, I remember trying out a Juno at the same time, but the thing that swayed me was the metallic tones it offered. A good few years ago I bought a programmer clone DT 200 I think, and it was like having a new synth! Still use it extensively, and use the midi out to add a VST Juno 106 as an extra layer, bloomin’ glorious!
I used to have a big studio with many classic synths. I did sell a lot for my eurorack adventure but kept my Jx3p and Jx8p and programmers. They sound so good.
would you say the jx3p’s recognizable sound is identical to the juno? while only doing what the juno is capable of, ofcourse the jx3p can make sounds the juno cant. but setting the jx3p up like a juno, how different are they?
@@bobzmuda3940 I actually never owned a juno, so i cant compare it too much. I would love to though :D Maybe I will report back on this comment someday :D
(23:50) This is pretty much how I spent the entirety of my life from 1983-1985 when I got one of these things in high school...my friends and family got so sick of me playing this kind of riff all day and all night in my quest to become Giorgio Moroder XD...thanks for the great demo, brings back memories.
Oh it is a lovely synth. Especially for sitting in a mix. The poly sequencer with trigger in was great for live jams. The midi was terrible and it had some other short comings, but those can be forgiven. Just before I sold it I recorded one final track with it to mix some other time for old times sake. Anyway, very thorough video and really nice programming.
@ghost mall There is no CC control of any parameters whatsoever, so you think "Well, that's annoying, but I can just use the controller to change the settings manually as it plays". Then you realise you have to use the rear switch to deactivate the controller in order to use midi! This leaves you with the ability to change only one parameter at a time via menu diving whilst it's playing over midi. Its only use is if you want to load a static preset and have a sequencer or your DAW play the notes because you're unable. Better than nothing, but compared to pretty much every synth that followed, it's terrible.
One of my favorite things about the JX3P and MKS-30 was the way the bender inflected the notes. I could never get any other analog synth to quite match that modulation shape. You captured some of that character at top of the second just before 1:20.
Great demo! Loving the Alex Ball feature! Even got a little Jarre at 21:12 Rendez Vous I! What's not to like? And that MKS-30 is on it's way, so stay tuned. ^_^
We had one of these in our house in the early 90s. Then we moved country and the synth didn't come with us - gifted away to a family friend. Just about to buy one with a PG200 and a hardcase that accommodates both bits of kit. Even has the original music stand that slots into the holes on the top of the case. Looking forward to getting my hands of it. It will also be a surprise for my old man... he also loved the synth.
It's very easy to edit! Once you make a few patches you will remember which numbers correspond to what parameter. This synth has a very emotional quality (maybe it's just the dust from 1983) but I still feel the basic tone is much more satisfying than the Rev2 and other modern polys.
It’s a well known face that the dust found from 1983 contains the raw uncut devils dandruff, not like the cut garbage worm dewormer inasitol caffeine fetty we now are plauged with.
I've had a Juno 106 and sold it. I've had a Juno 60 at the same time as my JX3P... and I still preferred my JX3P over the 60. ...doesn't mean I wouldn't want to own a Juno 60 though, but they're way too expensive and I really think the JX3P is one of the best looking synths out there.
Hallo Midera! I think both are nice Synthesizers. I does not own one of them, but i bought the behringer deepmind to simulate the rolands, and think behringer did a really good job on the deepmind. The effect section on the deepmind is very good. What do you guys think about the deepmind? Have a nice weekend! Bye Fightclub
@@fightclub5066 I don't feel like the Deepmind is a 100% substitute because it can't do the same chorus sound and that is a VERY important part of the sound of both the Junos and the JX-3P. It can get pretty close minus the chorus, though, if you tweak it carefully. The System 8 does a better job at being a near 100% replacement/substitute for these synths. But I would argue that the Deepmind should instead be considered more like a whole new beast that starts with the Juno DNA but has mutated and morphed into something entirely new. In that light, where the Deepmind truly shines is with the way that the mod matrix can tie to the parameters of the effects. It can do some really neat things all of its own as a result. Also, the ability to tweak the shape of the envelope curves is useful, too. It can mimic the envelopes of a wide variety of synths. So my opinion is that looking at the Deepmind as a Juno clone does it a disservice; it is much more. (For what it's worth, I own a Juno-106, a JX-3P, a System 8, and a Deepmind. And they're all great synths in their own ways!)
Other way round for me. At the time, I preferred the Juno-60. They were both stolen so I replaced them with a JX8P and a DW8000, at which point the Juno and JX3P were found so I sold them both. If I owned them again now, I think I would prefer the JX3P. Its biggest limitation though, is that it receives MIDI in Omni mode so, without a MIDI filter, it cannot be used as part of a multi-instrument MIDI set-up.
@@dyacktman i totally agree with you. I think the deepmind is just better than a lot of people think, and you get a really nice sounding synthesizer for the money.
This is one of my all-time favorite synthesizers my favorite electronic music producers; Satin Jackets use it all the time. I really wish I could afford one.
Funny fact - I had my JX-3P with me when I auditioned for Pretty Maids in '91 - When I arrived at their town I was mugged, the JX-3p suffered 3 or 4 keys destroyed but I made it to the rehearsals 🙂
Wow, i hope you recovered from the incident quickly. Did you get the gig? I wasn't into heavy metal but loved and still love FUTURE WORLD. What a track! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uQyMG3RIV30.htmlsi=_b-J4p0GAQeQnERO
I remember seeing the 3P for the first time in a popular 80s synth shop in the UK called Future Music (you’ll see some of their adverts in your magazines) it blew me away, it looked so futuristic and still does in a way....Thanks for sharing Espen😀
Ah, Easter 1984 when I got the polyphonic JX-3P home after a series of Moog, Yamaha and SCI monosynths. New Order on the radio, me diligently programming the JX one parameter at a time. A great time to be alive.
In my home studio this is my go-to analogue polysynth, as the PG-200 makes it dead easy to program on the fly and get great sounds from it. I picked up mine about 15 years back for £150 (included the PG-200!) and I've never regretted it! It's already featured in loads of my own tunes and will doubtless do so again as it's a beautiful sounding synth.
The JX3P was the first commercial synthesizer I owned (I built my first synth). Roland released an updated firmware for it which made it velocity sensitive through MIDI. The hardware was capable of velocity sensitivity but the keyboard wasn't. PS Love the Bladerunner brass
@@alan93 Roland might be able to supply it. I don't actually remember installing it, but it probably meant physically replacing the eprom. I think you had to turn the synth on while holding down a button to put it in velocity sensitivity mode. That mode disabled the keyboard so it could only be played via MIDI. I think I fitted the eprom myself actually. Sorry my reply is vague, but it was in about 1990.
This was my first synth and I have had 3 over the years. I have one now with a PG 200 and a DT-200 and an MKS-30 Planet S. This little synth is unique and sounds like nothing Roland has ever produced. It and Filter Flow is coming with me to the after life if there is one.
Wow!!!! I've just got myself from an online resource two high-resolution files of original brochure for JX-3P and PG-200 dated 1983 !!! 1983-2020. Still actual !!!
Wow!!. I miss my 3P. I don't play much now but I used to have one way back. Also had the PG 200. Such an awesome looking keyboard. I now own an M1. Your's looks in great condition. Classic.
Aw yeah! Alex Ball cameo. Great video as always Espen! I'm looking into something for the 80s Roland DCO synth sound. Probably gonna save for an Alpha Juno. Although I have heard some of the Korg hybrids have a nice sound.
Hi I like your videos very very much I had most of the roland in my career of music and I love them I think they are 1 of the best, but thanks like to watch your videos it reminds me in the old time thanks 👍🎼
Brilliant. I LOVED the Blade Runner reference when you demoed the Unicorn Brass patch. That sound sent shivers down my spine. What a beautiful sounding synth
An underrated awesome classic done proper justice here 👌 - about time our JX3P recieved a midi upgrade so we can use both midi and the pg200 at the same time.
Thanks in small part to this video, I bought a JX-3P with the programmer yesterday. It sounds even better than I expected and the internal sequencer is great fun for a musically talentless hack such as myself :)
i mean aesthetically i can see that, the juno 60 is the best looking synth ever next to the cs80, but the jx3p is the juno 60 with an actual second oscillator. i see no competition.
I had no idea that you could programme this synth the same way you would use the external programmer. I bought a Roland JX-3P in 1994 (becasue it was going for a really cheap price) and stopped using it because the Roland Juno 106 was easier to programme, but I think I will dig it out and have another go. Thanks for making this video tutorial it has been really useful for me to have you run through the features.
One of the most popular synths of the mid 80s - not so expensive but powerful for live performance and studio work. 19:15 - Such a wonderful harmony pad sound and chords ! The rest sounds are very cool of course. Thanks for another excellent, informative and really interesting video, Espen! Have a good day!
Espen I have been wondering why all my synths even the Juno doesnt sound as good as my JX-3P, it’s such an amazing sound, it just sounds like 1983. I love it!
Thanks for the video, imo the best on net!!! I had a Jx3p+pg and sold it to collect money for a CP70 (which I bought)... But later I had to rebuy it.. I was missing it too much ✌️🙂
We actually had a JX-3P plus the PG 200 at school. They lived in a tiny studio room, played by me and some other kid at lunchtime. There was an old Roland modular synth in there as well. How I ended up playing guitar is a mystery.
When I was age 13-15 back in 1982-1984 and beyond, the music store display shelves looked like somebody's vintage synth collection today. So many great synths were for sale as brand new back then. The Korg PolySix, the Poly-800, The Roland JX-3P, Juno-6 to name a few. I remember as an inexperienced teenager, I would browse the synths on the shelves and (incorrectly) assume that the synths with the simple front panel layouts were not as good or "advanced" as the ones with all the knobs and sliders. The busier front panels looked cooler and "more powerful" to me. (Judging a book by its cover.) As a result, I always gravitated to the Roland Juno-6, which would become my first synth. I have known about the JX-3P since those days in the music store, and the cool looking PG-200 programmer. I never really paid the synth much attention, except to know it falls into this list of classic synths. This video is the first-ever time I have been aware of any of its features and capabilities, even without the PG-200. Great demo! (As all yours are.) You are the 80's....and I approve! (P.S. - LOVE the "Save Ferris" t-shirt!)
I'm astonished . I never knew that you could program without the PG200 . Used one when they came out . It was deemed "rubbish" by friends because you couldn't program it . It actually looks very easy to program using the edit map and the buttons . A very clever bit of design and multi use of buttons . Sadly this revelation won't affect the price of PG 200's , which are just ridiculous . Thanks Espen for another great video
Thanks Simon. I know lots of people that didn't believe you could program the 3P from the synth itself. I catually find this method very fast and sometimes even faster than the PG-200, especially if you're gonna program in from a patch sheet as we did back then.
I love this synth as well. I have the MKS-30, the rackmount version. Some say they sound different but I think they are equivalent. Having the PG-200 is awesome with the MKS, because you can tweak sounds as they are being sequenced, working all those beautiful silver knobs.
Great video! I watched otherJX3P videos and never got a real appreciation for it until this video. If I ever buy this synth though, I would definitely need the PG 200, as I am now spoiled by having synths with a lot of knobs and faders. That was a pretty cool track you were working on also. Thanks Espen, for another great video. :)
Some of those patches near the end of the video are really cool and you can just hear them from where they where used like Blade runner etc...I liked the foxed bell one too.
Just Curious, did you add EQ to this or just Reverb and Delay? I'm asking because my Jx-3p sounds darker, but the Brilliance Slider doesn't function. I know the Brilliance Slider is essentially another LP filter (although mild one) and suspect mine is broken in the 0 position (which I think is 9K +5 I believe is 16k).
I have my Brilliance slider at about 80% up in this video. The sound of the synth is definitely darker with it lower. I feel this particular 3P sounds the best with it at that setting. Different 3Ps will probably sound different so. I don't spend too much time thinking about these things. I process the sounds of every piece of gear I demo so it just sounds nice to me. ;-)
@@EspenKraft I did end up getting my brilliance slider replaced and it made a huge difference, I'm sure it was broken in the 0 position, since my 3p has a pretty noisy chorus, the added brightness now really helps.
Beautiful Espen! The JX3P was my first ever synth in 1985. I had saved up all summer to buy a Juno 106... I went to the music store and they informed me the Juno's were back ordered for 6 months "But hey, we just got this new one here in from Roland" I bought it instantly. Sadly later in the 80s I sold it to buy a Alpha Juno2 simply because I was dying for a portable piano solution and needed a velocity sensitive synth to run my Roland U-110 module that I used for piano.
Just finish to repair mine, bough for almost nothing as it was broken. Now it’s brand as new, and it sounds wonderful. It will be more and more rare and expensive. His sound is unique. You can do a wonderful and original patch in 3 minutes. I don’t have a PG200, but i’m thinking about buying a clone, better than nothing (even if you can perfectly program the JX without an external controller). I didn’t know the overdub possibility ! Excellent ! Thanks 🙏🏻 and thank for making a video about this way underestimated synth. I think I will do one about the inside of it, because now I’m pretty familiar with it, and it’s interesting to know how the beast works.
This synth has the best pitch bender ever! Was about to sell mine recently (incl. patch programmer unit) but nobody wanted to pay the asking price so I decided to keep it.
Yes I fully agree this pitch bender is awesome also i combination with the the LFO button, It gives very usable soundeffects !! Happy for you that you still have this synth !
I own a System 8 and of all the plugouts the JX-3P is my favourite. It surprised me because I feel bad liking it over say the Jupiter 8 but it really does sound better to my ears. I love it. Great vid, thanks Espen.
Brett Anthony zI Had a JX3P in the mid-80s that I knew inside out. I once went into a studio and had the option of using a Jupiter 8, but stuck with the 3P. It does have a unique character.
@@jeffblack5024 Yes! Out of the three plugouts on the system 8, I barely use the Jupiter 8 haha But the crazy thing is, since watching this vid, Ive bought a JX-3P! I found a S/H one here in Aus on ebay and grabbed it. All Ive been doing the last two nights is comparing the System 8 and the 3P, as its the only time Ive had both synths to compare like that. I found that with minor tweaks I could get the sounds so close I couldn't tell. I was nearly going to buy a Juno 106 but now I don't know if its worth it...but the Juno just looks so beautiful haha ;) Cheers
Hello my friend, how are you? I can tell you like watches too ;-) I am the Espen Kraft for watches lol Thanks for all the videos you do, they are amazing. Actually the best on the net. Peace
Really beautiful sounds, especially those pads. That controller really helps things out and allows you to really add expressiveness to the mix, all in realtime.
Offtopic somewhat: Roland's SYSTEM-8 does a great emulation of the 3P and the PG 200 is essentially built in. The 3P is marvelous in person though. Another great video, Espen. Thank you!
I've long regretted not buying this back in the early 90's, it was in a second hand music shop I used to go in all the time in Manchester, had the programmer with it too. I forget how much it was but it was cheap compared to today. Thanks for reminding me I'm stupid! ;)
I got offered a JX3p once, ± 450Euro. And I did not do it.. grrrr.. It has such a distinct Juno sound though. It sounds like a Juno60 with more balls (I own a Juno60). Although of course, they are completely different.
I didn't know this synth from Roland and it has remarkable sounds. Seems to be easily programmable. Thanks! And I think it's approved by Alex Ball too! :-D
I had one when it was new, but not the programmer for it. That extra was so expensive! I bought the boutique version for 200$ last year, for nostalgia value. They messed up a few things but it's nice to finally have the knobs
Great vid :) I love the sequencer!! It's a little quirky, but I thought the visual feedback of the beats and bars via the buttons in TR drum machine fashion was genius! I was given the choice of either a JX-3P or JX-8P a while back and went for the 8P in the end. I wish I'd got both now :-D Cheers!
