MrSteveVee

Update: I had a call back from the supervisor. We have agreed that the B stock item will be returned and instead I will be shipped a new keyboard with a 5% discount on the full price for the inconvenience caused. I think that this is a fair compromise as although I have lost time (play time!) with a lot of frustration it has not cost me any additional money except phone calls and I will feel happier knowing that the keyboard is really new and not a used one that may have been returned with problems. I have been burned by my experience with B stock! Never again So the order of play will be that I will need to return the B stock, then pay the additional payment before they ship out the new replacement. At a guess this will take a week or so to complete So the good new is that I am still on track to get 500 albeit with another couple of weeks delay. The bad new is that I want to play with it now! I guess I shall have to spend the time watching the YouTube videos on the 500 again for the umpteenth time. I have watched Ralph Maten so many times I am starting to learn German! speak later Steve

Still no despatch note. I called Bax and they confirmed that it has not shipped so will not be here Thursday either. I am waiting a call back from a supervisor Steve

Thanks for the encouragement chaps and for the link Rick. Steve

Thank Alen, I I thought so too but apparently not I did not received the expected shipping notifications so after another two phone calls to customer support it appears that they have not actually shipped the power supply at all so there is no chance it will arrive Wednesday, Customer support said that I will get it Thursday now Hmmm I am losing hope fast. I am getting pretty fed up with this poor Bax service, not a happy bunny today Steve

Well I got the call back this time. Apparently the UK do not stock these adaptors so they have taken an adaptor from another "B" stock keyboard and are shipping it to me to arrive Wednesday. Therefore Wednesday will be test day to see if the keyboard works! Steve

Still no call back, not impressed at all with BAX Uk. Phoned them for a third time and once again they promised that they will look into the issue and phone me back Hmmm why do I get this deja vu feeling! Steve

Thanks for the confirmation Brad. I just spoke again to Bax Uk and they assure me that they will get a specialist to look into the problem as soon as possible but I doubt they can help much. I thought I had found a supply or the adaptors in the UK myself but it was a US site. The product is not mentioned on Casio UK website so doubt that they will be able to help Bax much if they call them I shall see what they say today Steve

Hiya. Thanks for the info, appreciate it Bax offered a three year warranty so that was very good plus the price was a lot less than a new one so it was just about affordable for me. As mentioned the board looks in good condition so I can live with the fact that it has been used a little if it all worked fine. Additionally if only the manual is missing then that is annoying but I can download a copy but without a power supply I am stumped. The 300/500 are not sold direct in the UK so it is either Bax or Thomann for sales so not a lot of choice. I'm currently packing it all back up as I guess its going to be returned. I'm waiting for Bax Uk to get back to me but I bet they don't! thanks Steve

Well I "almost" got a 500! Being a poor and retired now pennies are tight and the only way I could justify the purchase was to go for a cheaper B stock from Bax. The keyboard I ordered was advertised as condition "new" with accessories as "complete" and the box as "damaged". Today it turned up, it is clearly not new at all as it has been unpacked at some point and all thr original plastic wrapping etc discarded and the screen clearly covered in finger marks but other than that, on the surface it looked in good condition with no apparent damage visible, so I could live with that. However the accessories were clearly missing as evident by the torn open empty plastic bags in the box that I assume were the manual and "maybe" a DVD?. The music stand was there so that was ok but the biggest and most important accessory missing was the power supply!! Well that stumped it! the keyboard is pretty darn useless without a way to turn it on! So i'm pretty miffed about that. I have just spoken to Bax Uk and they are going to see if they sell compatible power supplies but I don't hold out much hope. I found one on line for about £40 but I am not buying that at this time, i'd rather send it back and go elsewhere or give up on the purchase altogether If anyone can advise what accessories should have been supplied apart from music stand, manual, tutorial and power supply I would be grateful please? Also the screen seems to be either plastic or have a have a plastic protector on it that is quite thick and quite lose but I cannot see how it could be removed. Is this a screen protector or is this part of the screen? I expected the screen to be glass like other keyboards but naybe not for this keyboard if someone can confirm for me please? thanks Steve

Hiya Chaps, Just a quick hello as I have just joined your group. If all goes well I should be an owner of the MZ-X500 sometime next week, its a very rare creature here in the Uk but I managed to hunt one down. I have a had a few keyboards over the years but as I am not a strong player (Hobby only) and I seem to suffer from that strange malady where my left hand refuses to work if I concentrate on my right I tend to use the special effects more on the boards. The Triton LE was the first, a fun keyboard that taught me my first lesson, I cannot play! This was fine for a few years until I persuaded the wife that I should get the Yammy XS. The Arpeggios on this keyboard were amazing and the pattern recording was used a lot but the operating system was dire and connectivity to Cubase not as hot that made out. Here I learned my second lesson, I had no idea how to compose music! so after a few years I persuaded my wife that I should buy just one more keyboard, and I promised, the very last. I bought the Rolland Fantom-G. Wow what a keyboard. Compared to the Xs it was so easy to use. The sequencer was like a cut down Daw it was almost perfect, almost except the arpeggio were terrible. Just a single simple arpeggio that could only repeat a phrase Aghh! Here I learned my third lesson. I had no idea how to program a keyboard! A few more years passed, my left hand still refused to cooperate and I became frustrated again. Well it was obviously the keyboards fault wasn't it! So after much grovelling I persuaded my poor suffering wife that I could get one more, the very last keyboard. But which one, The Kronos or the Korg Pa4X. I chose the Pa4x. Hmmm That was a mistake. I didn’t like the keyboard from the start. It had good accompaniment and to be honest I played better with it than I had ever done using just the one hand (after much practice I had managed to train my left to hold a beer when using the right to play) but when I tried to do some of the stuff I like I just couldn’t get on with it and didn’t like the operating system and here I learned the fourth lesson, I had no idea how to arrange music either! Now on reflection, it was probably the better option but I had been spoiled by the ease of the Fantom, and had also learned from the Fantom that envelopes were not just used for letters and I wanted more. The Kronos videos so tempted me, so quickly I arranged a swap out and got the Kronos. Now I won’t bore you with the ensuing conversation with the wife, suffice to say I managed to heal although I will always have this limp and from this day on if I even raise an eyebrow when she buys new shoes I will be toast! Well the Kronos is an excellent board but I am now back learning the first lesson again, I cannot play! and the added problem is, that the Karma that I was so relying on helping is not what I envisaged. Now I am sure it’s great in its way, but it cannot be controlled like an arpeggio , it’s more a jazzy fill in. Ahh despair. I retreated to the corner and gave up on my right hand, I just concentrated on my left hand holding the beer! But still I kept looking. I looked longingly at the Tyros and wondered if I should have gone that route, but it is so amazingly expensive. I looked at the cheaper PSR series and wondered if they would have done, maybe the Korg PA series would have been better than the 4x, ahh woe. I sat watching YouTube videos as my left hand wandered off to fetch another beer when I came across a video of the Casio. I watched it, the operating system looked good, it sounded good , and then the player played using only his right hand! SOLD! I neeed that one! But there was a problem. I had had my last, my very last and my very,very last keyboard , how can I get one more. Beg, plead, grovel, I did them all, yes I would do all my chores. Yes I would do the chores I promised to do last time but forgot, yes you can buy new shoes, yes and a new outfit, but it wasn't working, I finally resorted to the last straw. I gave her the TV remote! YES it worked, one last very very very last keyboard, and this time I get to keep the Kronos as well yipee! And it arrives next week wohoo! But this time I really think I need to learn how to play. Thanks for reading. I'm Steve, hello to you all