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Name: Iain Stewart
E-mail: iain@gh760ah.fsnet.co.uk
Monday 10th March 2008 4:35 pm U.K. Time

I have the same problem as Anders L. The patch editor just shuts down when I try to save bank info to the VZ10M. Any assistance greatfully accepted.

Thanks.

Name: tony dwyer
E-mail: tonydwyer@talktalk.net
Saturday 15th March 2008 3:30 pm U.K. Time

Hello Steve, I am trying to locate circuit diagrams for a Casio PG 380 Guitar and hoped you can help...Here's Hoping...Tony Dwyer

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
E-mail: Steve@sallyandsteve.delete_this_bit.com
Tuesday 18th March 2008 10:08 am U.K. Time

I've never seen any circuit diagrams or service manuals for the PG380 I'm afraid. I've never really looked, to be honest, as I'm not a PG380 owner myself, but I don't recall anyone on this chat page ever saying that they had such a thing either. If anyone does ever come across one I'd be happy to host it on this site, as I know we have a few PG380 owners reading this.

Regarding the VZ Patch editor, I'm sorry that people seem to be having trouble with this. Please bear in mind that it was developed a long time ago (probably about 10 years now), and was written in Visual Basic 3.0 running on Windows 3.11 on a 66MHz 486DX2 machine, and it was built in the days when the only Midi port you could buy for your PC was a Midi adaptor that plugged into the (21?) pin D-type joystick socket (remember those?) on a soundcard. Also, it used a freeware Midi control plug-in for VB that I never really understood properly due to its poor documentation. I no longer have a PC with a working installation of VB3/3.11 so I am unable to do any further development or bug chasing. I know that it can be made to work under Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, and works with my USB Midi adaptor, and it seemed to survive the upgrade to XP Service Pack 2, but with so many Windows security updates over the years who knows what might have upset it on your particular installations. Nobody has ever told me if they have got it to work on Vista or not, so please anyone do say so if you know either way, and if anyone out there really knows what they're doing, it would be interesting to know if it runs in a Windows Virtual Machine running 3.11.

Name: Steve (EZVZ) Webmaster
E-mail: steve.gutteridge@ bbc dot co.uk
Monday 31st March 2008 10:47 am U.K. Time

If anyone out there has a Hohner HS-2 (VZ clone) with a HS-2 ROM card, can they tell me if the patches on the ROM card are the same as any of the VZ cards, or are they a completely different set?

Name: Graham
E-mail: gmeredith1@yahoo.com.au
Monday 21st April 2008 3:15 am U.K. Time

Casio PG380/VZ10M RAM card no sounds issue - fixed!!

Hi everyone,

I just discovered the fix to a problem that's been plaguing me for a while. I have a Casio PG380 synth guitar and a VZ10M module. I recently picked up a RA500 RAM card for the guitar to save my own sounds to on the guitar, and use the VZ to program the sounds. The problem was that when I got the card and put it into the guitar, the sounds were good and all there, but when I put it in the VZ, there was no sound for most of the patches. Only a few of them sounded, like about 1 in every 10 on the card. I didn't want to reformat the card, because there was some good sounds on the card when I bought it. The trouble was that I couldn't hear them on the VZ to edit them.

It turns out the problem was that the card had somehow reset the VZ's global aftertouch sensitivity setting to 99 (in MENU 2 button on the VZ). Changing the sensitivity to 0 fixed it instantly for all sounds on the card, and now I can hear what I'm editing on the VZ. Yay!!!

Cheers, Graham

Name: jscinta
E-mail: joe@scinta.com
Friday 25th April 2008 8:57 pm U.K. Time

i seem to have lower volume on the PG380 on the lower strings.

mainly the 5th and 6th

max output is 57 on each

all other strings go to 99 or better. has anyone else had this problem?

if its the midi pickup, does anyone know where i can get a replacement?

thanks

Joe

Name: Graham
E-mail: gmeredith1@yahoo.com.au
Monday 28th April 2008 2:03 am U.K. Time

Did you adjust the string sensitivity settings using the screw adjusters on the back of the guitar? The manual shows you how to do this - you can get the user manual here:

http://www.jz-server.de/casiology/manuals_p.html

If you've done that, and still no luck, have the capacitors in the guitar been replaced ever in it's history? If not, the capacitors on the pickup circuit board could be dying. This is usually accompanied by the E and A bass strings only triggering intermittently. Here is some guides showing you how to do it yourself:

http://www.jz-server.de/forum/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1201

If yours are triggering perfectly but just not strongly, I would think that the capacitors aren't the problem. In any case, the pickups almost never go bad, I would seriously doubt that they are faulty, if they have been set up according to the user manual. They may just need adjustment.

Cheers, Graham

Name: roel pelicano
E-mail: bongpelicano@yahoo.com
Saturday 31st May 2008 5:54 am U.K. Time

good mrning,

i get casio hz-600 the problem is the program was corrupted or the tones are delited,can i download the program or what website i search? thanks and God bless

Name: Carlos
E-mail: queimado@uevora.pt
Wednesday 11th June 2008 3:07 am U.K. Time

Hi Graham!

The links you have mentioned, in the last message about the Casio PG380, are not working. Are there any other links to access those guides and manuals.

Cheers! Carlos.

Name: Graham
E-mail: gmeredith1@yahoo.com.au
Monday 16th June 2008 2:01 am U.K. Time

Hi Carlos,

Yes, I noticed that the site is down, too - if its gone forever, I'll be very disappointed.

You can still get those PG380 guides here at the Yahoo MIDI guitar forum - they're in the FILES section of the site:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/midiguitar/

but you will need to register there to access the files section. They are in a folder named "Casio PG380".

Cheers, Graham

Name: Jay Castillo
E-mail: tecolote68@yahoo.com
Tuesday 24th June 2008 3:31 am U.K. Time

Hello everbody. I'm trying to locate a slider cap for my VZ-1. Any suggestions would be greatly apprecited. Thanks to all.

Name: Luiz E. Rebecca
E-mail: luiz_rebecca@yahoo.com.br
Thursday 28th August 2008 5:18 am U.K. Time

Hi, fiends. I always am a member of the CZ group, but they couldnīt help me so far. I own a VZ-1, bought some time ago without the lc display (for a bargain price, of course); at that time I assumed that the factory programmed patches would satisfy my needs, but I was wrong! I also thought that finding a spare lc display wouldnīt be difficult: wrong again!!! Now I know that, without the lcd, one canīt do much with this synth. I have the lcd specs, as I downloaded the service manual. Here in Brazil there are many electronic parts suppliers dealing with lcds, but this specific type is very hard to found, unless you have the money to pay for a specially made part. Does anybody know where can I find this part? I will apreciate very much your advices, as well as my wife, cause she canīt stand that VZ-1 built-in electronic piano voice anymore! Cheers!! Luiz

Name: Graham
E-mail: gmeredith1@yahoo.com.au
Monday 1st September 2008 1:22 am U.K. Time

The VZ-1 uses the same LCD screen as the Casio FZ-1 (which is not the same as the FZ-10M/20M rackmount versions), so you could search for that also to give you a better chance.

Cheers, graham

Name: Steve (EZVZ) Webmaster
E-mail: steve@ somewhereelse dot co dot uk
Wednesday 3rd September 2008 10:30 am U.K. Time

You could also use a PC-based editor, such as the one on my EZVZ website (link at top of this page), but you'll have to work out how to load/save patches and change Midid channels etc without seeing ths display, which could be tricky.

Name: frgn
E-mail: f2164@hotmail.com
Tuesday 14th October 2008 9:12 pm U.K. Time

yea, i've noticed that a few of the vz's presets appear to not use all 8 modules. i actually spoke with ed alstrom a long time ago and, unless i'm mistaken, he stated to me that u had to use all 8. (?)

Name: Gennyson ponce
E-mail: ggponce42@terra.com.br
Wednesday 26th November 2008 10:49 pm U.K. Time

Hi , I need a owner manual for my Casio VZ1. Anybody help me ? Thanks

Name: Steve (EZVZ) Webmaster
E-mail: steve@ somewhereelse dot co dot uk
Thursday 27th November 2008 10:16 am U.K. Time

Click the Easy-VeeZee website link at the top of this page, then click Documents and you'll find a VZ-10 manual. It's virtually identical to the VZ1 manual as it is the same internals but without the keyboard.

Name: ivak
E-mail: ivax999@yahoo.com
Wednesday 3rd December 2008 12:30 am U.K. Time

Hello, I need manual for VZ-8M. Thnx in advance, ivak.

Name: Barry
E-mail: barry1@blueyonder.co.uk
Saturday 6th December 2008 1:56 pm U.K. Time

Regards the Casio PG 380. Afetr going round in circles for ages I found some one who would take the task on. So I have just had mine repaired, it had all the problems everyone else has i.e. capacitors. Its all triggering fine now. all sound working and all strings level in volume. If any one wants more details I cam give them, my tech man can either do the job for you, or you can take the circuit board out and send it him or he can send you a full repair kit with full instructions. (dont ask me what this is) I am in the South East of England. Hope this helps some one. Regards Barry

Name: Marley
E-mail: brownsounds1@googlemail.com
Sunday 4th January 2009 1:00 pm U.K. Time

Hi I have a VZ1 for sale if anyone is interested. It's in excellent condition, no scratches anywhere and comes with manual. I'm posting here first before I put it on ebay! 200 quid. Cheers.