Bad Gear - Roland JX-8P - An 80s Miracle

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Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Roland JX-8P. Is this very Yamaha DX7 - like knobless sibling of the famous Roland Junos and Roland Jupiters an 80s miracle? Will the Roland Boutique JX-08 be worth it? Will Espen Kraft be upset? Merry Christmas!!!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro tune
01:31 Overview
05:03 Hate
05:27 Jam 1
06:25 Jam 2
07:23 Finale
08:02 Verdict
09:28 Patreon Vocoder Shoutout

[noahlankford]

He'll never run out of "bad gear" because no matter what gear it is SOMEONE is complaining like it's the bubonic plague on some music forum

[hypnoarmy]

The JX-8P holds a special place in my heart. I picked one up in 2012 the day my mother died. I recall having a rather mundane conversation about buying the synth, little did I know it would be one of the very last conversations with my mother. It's been since loaded into a case in favor of other hardware but I will never part with it. It reminds me of her every time I play it. It's been long enough now that there isn't sadness, but a soft smile and happy memories.

Love your show man, keep doing your thing.

[AloeVeratheband]

He’s clearly running out of real bad gear this one is legendary

[westbethkid]

I love how he says "at first glance, this synth is ticking all the boxes" ––he literally says that IN EVERY VIDEO 🤣

[AlexBallMusic]

Happy Christmas sir. I saved this delight for boxing day.

Your video reminded me that I grabbed JX-3P back when they were cheap and then had to pay almost the same to get the controller! Ha.

Sold the pair 18 months ago. Funnily enough, my old PG-200 has since appeared in a video by a certain Mr Kraft. And yes, he will be after you. 😉

[Shred_The_Weapon]

I think Espen has earned his place on YouTube as a respected individual. Not only is he a fantastic purveyor of information about the classic models such as this one, but he also is a fantastic musician like you are. even if you can say that your keyboard playing skills are limited, there’s no debating your musicianship.

I have a JX-8p w/ PG-800. It might not have been the first analog synthesizer I got my paws on (that honor going to original ARP Axxe from ‘75), however it was the first that I got to play more than once. It belongs at the time to my mentor and represented one of the best teaching tools a beginning synthesis could turn to for info about sound shaping and how an analog polyphonic worked. This guy had received it from his protégé, a pianist extraordinaire that was naïve enough about synthesizers to get this one and discovering that he wasn’t as into it as he thought he would be. I suspect he was looking for the DX7 but wasn’t discerning enough to choose it. When this teacher we both had in common passed away, this other student of his repossessed the JX and then sold it to me for a real paltry sum.

[Rompler_Rocco]

This is so much the best YouTube channel that I refuse to believe that there's a second best one.

Merry & Happy stuff, everyone!

[JayKaufman]

Honestly, as an owner of both the JX-8P and PG-800 since 1994, I have to say I've coaxed every possible sound out of this synth over the years and love it. Maybe it's because it was my first ever synth, but largely I think it puts more revered synths through their paces.

It can do snappy bass! It's full of bass a plenty. It can do amazing pads and brass. It can do drum sounds. It can do leads. It can do FM-y sounds thanks to the aforementioned cross modulation. There's very little it can't do really.

Despite what people say about the envelopes not being that snappy or punchy, I beg to differ. I actually think its biggest drawback is the filter. The bottom end disappears when you crank up resonance and it's not that great sounding compared to other Roland synths of that era. Yes, it's also a pain to program without a programmer but there's so many aftermarket programmers out there now that's now a moot point. Obviously I never experienced this, but I do own a JX-3P and up until recently didn't have a programmer for that and it was still easy to program. Unfortunately that's not the case with the JX-8P sans programmer.

This is still a dark horse synthesizer. Out of the 20-odd synths I have in my studio, this one is the one I know inside and out and I am not afraid to say I'm an authority on this particular sound generating product!

[Sui]

Have a JX-8P - and it's one of the most underrated synths of all time in my opinion.

[batbennis]

Holy shit my old high school band teacher has one of those PG-800's stored away in the school "recording studio", he doesn't even have any gear that's compatible with it. It's been almost 5 years since I graduated, but I think it's time I paid him a visit.

[MarekRetrogaming]

My dad's workhorse synth.
He's used it in practically almost every piece of music he's ever done by himself... and still has it! Complete with the PG-800 permanently stuck on it like a fridge magnet.

[Harrison_Strunz]

Was habe ich wieder gelacht! Wie immer bis ins Detail perfekt recherchiert und mit erheblichem Aufwand produziert. Vielen Dank, A.P.!

[Pablo]

I’m not sure where you’d be without Roland. Great vid once again. If nothing else I think that synth would be awesome for making 80’s video game music.

[DanKoerner]

My mother was a musician in the 80s and this is one of the first synths she purchased. I loved playing on this thing and it made me want to make music XD The "Soundtrack" preset is a classic

[jthorpedroid]

A truly worthy Christmas address, awesome tune too.

[dingbatjack]

So amazing you play the same intro track with every synth! Big up respect!

[TokyoScarab]

I love that Christmas Bad Gear reviews a good bit of gear. Our present for sticking with the show :D
The SOUNDTRACK preset is still probably one of the all time greatest and most usable pad presets of any synth.

[ExperimentIV]

cant wait until you inevitably review the boutique version of the jx-8p. merry christmas, florian!

[legionnairegonk]

Andy Warhol: Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes
Bad Gear: Every electronic music instrument will be on my show eventually
😁!

[cosmicaddress]

Nice video! The JX-8P is my favourite synthesizer of all time. Yes slow envelopes, and the nice chorus can make everything sound a bit 'samey', but the strings and pads are so good. A great organic and spacious sound! The PG-8X VST is a fantastic free virtual emulation that nails the sound - I used that a lot while my 8P was in for repairs (replacement of the elusive FIP display coil). Thanks for another great video!