Features
Keyboard	61 keys
Year Made	1989
Original List Price	$1695
Polyphony	30
Mulitimberal	6
Tones & Patches	128 tones 64 patches 64 performances
Type of Synthesis	Digital PCM Synthesis
Effects	Chorus Reverb
Sequencer or Arpeggio	Arpeggio
Drum Sets	4
MIDI	programmable 1-16 for 7 instruments
Outputs	4 - Out L & R, Direct Out L & R
Backup	Memory Card MIDI sysex
Options	Sound cards

 

My Comments

I got a good deal on it and needed a digital piano keyboard, something with a decent piano sound on it. It didn't take long for me to find it's shortcomings. Little or no editing ability, the ROM tones are pretty much what you have to work with. There was a review of this keyboard somewhere that said the sounds are 80's cheese, I would have to agree, but you can make some interesting sounds by combining tones. As far as it being durable, some people have commented that it is extremely durable. I can't see how they figure this, I don't play that hard and have already broken two keys. Also the U-20 has those crappy Roland buttons that stop working after a while, I ended up pressing so hard on a button that a screw came out of the circut board and the button is no longer accessable. This also caused another problem, the screw jangled inside the unit until it zapped the memory. ALL memory had been replaced with garbage. I didn't have a computer at the time, so needless to say I was less than impressed with having to reprogram everything from scratch. Although I can, I still haven't put the factory presets back. So now that I've trashed this unit, I will say I've used it steady for four years, and I gig a lot. I really like the MIDI set-up, you can play a lot of sounds by layering and splitting the keyboard. I find I make a lot of patches with several splits so I don't have to change the patches in the middle of a song (If only there were more keys). I haven't done this much, but it works as a good controller as well. UPDATE - july 17 2005 fixed the buttons and just a note I have been using the direct outs to set up a click track by diverting a couple of cowbell sounds there. Then they are amplified and sent to my drummer. Update dec 2005 : one of the broken keys is broken again, the problem is then there is just a chip missing and difficult to glue. I guess I will have to try again I want to add something with a whole lot of hindsight. This has been my gigging workhorse for over a decade! While it is getting rough around the edges it is still a pretty powerful little keyboard. It was not ever a flagship keyboard and yet has alot of little really cool features. Like the fact you can layer and split up to 6 tones up and down the keyboard (you will probably lose alot of polyphony but it is possible). The extra set of outputs. And something that I have forgot to mention and I have found extremely useful. A MIDI monitor. In it's 2 Rx modes you can see MIDI information coming in and in it's Tx mode you can see what's going out. This is handy for diagnosing dead MIDI cables and malfunctioning MIDI devices. Or if you want you can delve into the MIDI information itself. You will need some manuals and an understanding of hexidecimal, but it is there. So maybe not the most realistic piano sound ever, but it does nicely and also has aftertouch. Channel aftertouch but aftertouch. So compared to my RS-5, the sounds are pitiful and few, but the features (for me) are more professional. 2018: I still haven't retired this keyboard! I am actually thinking about getting a second one. Just thinking about it for now, but aside from only having 61 keys it would be a pretty solid controller. Especially seeing as getting a second MKB-200 is unlikely, and getting a MKB-200 at a decent price is almost zero. I can still coax some pretty cool sounds out of it. Even though I have had it for over 20 years, I always feel like I am just scratching the surface of what it can do. 2020: I finally retired this keyboard from playing in the cover band, only to end up using it almost exclusively in some of my current Beker shows. I did a re-cap to the power supply but there is still an issue when powering up sometimes. I will have to take it to a real repair person soon. Later I replaced the 3 power regulators and although there are still times it turns on with just the black LCD, it happens less often. Inbetween I bought another U-20 anyway for backup. I have forgotten how decent the factory patches are. I haven't heard them for 22 years! So aside from the broken key, and the battery needs to be replaced, and several of the buttons don't work very well, the new keyboard is in good shape. This is common and when I am brave enough to open the new unit I will try to spray some cleaner in the buttons. The keys feel slightly different to me. I got a couple of new sounds on my old U-20 from the factory patches and fixed drumsets 3 & 4. I then changed drumset 4 on the new U-20 to work with my rock drums card, and added the electronic (808) drums in the middle where the latin card would be. I am thinking of buying one of those very expensive memory cards. Now I just have to find a place to put the new U-20.

I rate it  I bought it for 500$ c, 255$ c I owned it from jan 1997 - present, Nov 2020-present Current PrePay value 196$ us

condition of my keyboard 1 cosmeticaly There is a visible crack in a key ,and some scratches and nicks. electronicallyIssues powering on sometimes. 2 cosmeticalyIn good shape. electronicallyYou have to press hard on some of the buttons for them to work.

Status 2020: Retired from the road but still used for Beker shows! 2016: After years of trying other keyboards this is still the one I take with me on the road. Maybe someday I will add a filter circuit and it will be an incredible machine. The orchestra and Ethnic cards are inserted. 2012: set up with the other keyboards downstairs. 2010: I have decided to semi retire the u-20. It had several things that needed repair. Namely the left output jack and the MIDI in jack. For some reason they break loose from the circuit board. Maybe it has something to do with the angled back, I'm not sure. Anyway I opened it up and fixed it last week. And it is in the basement set up with the other keyboards.  2008: I at the moment have it set up in my dining room! I am gearing up for a live Beker show, and am practicing as much as possible. It also travels with me to gigs but I have my eye on a few replacements, I think this unit should be retired as well. 2006: This is my realistic workhorse, I usually play bass, piano and strings on this. When I start doing original gigs again later this year, I will rely on it less and use it for more of the wild patches I've made

 

Resources Factory Presets - Here is a SYSEX file of the Factory Presets. U-110 cards - a table of the U-110 cards with comments on the ones I have.