I frequently receive requests from customers reporting that their keyboard or Nalbantov floppy disk emulator can’t read their USB stick. Usually, the issue is that the USB stick isn’t formatted correctly as a FAT32 device, or that it’s corrupt. I’ve created this guide to explain how to format your USB sticks in a manner that’s … Read more
Yamaha P-71: No Sound After a Spill The customer initially reported spilling water in the keyboard. However, on inspection, the substance was oily. It had also wicked into the keyboard contacts and speakers. The most damaged component—and the reason the keyboard made no sound at all—was the volume slider. I removed the original and soldered … Read more
If your keyboard isn’t working, and you’re considering having it repaired by a service center, you might want to try a factory reset first. I’ve had quite a few customers come in with apparently mute keyboards that, in fact, just needed a factory reset. Your Yamaha’s memory can become corrupted over time. This might be … Read more
I repaired multiple Yamaha Clavinovas with separating hammer strike felts this week. It’s interesting how these repairs seem to come in groups! This is an issue commonly seen in Clavinovas from the late 2000s, and it affects a wide variety of models. Usually customers complain of either a noisy action or a heavy, uneven feel, … Read more
I regularly have customers ask me for headphone recommendations, and I’ve settled on a few favorites. I prefer open or semi-open headphones, and prioritize for lightweight, soft-touch comfort. A good set of headphones is comfortable to wear for hours! I’ve used quite a few headphones for keyboards and keyboard repair, and I tend to be … Read more
If your keyboard sustains all the time when your foot is off the pedal, and then stops sustaining when you press it, you have the classic “reversed sustain” problem. The good news is that it’s almost always a setup/polarity mismatch and not a hardware failure. On many Yamaha instruments the pedal’s polarity (open/closed) is detected … Read more
Yamaha P-121 with Key that Doesn’t Play Two of the most common issues I encounter are keys that either don’t play at all, or play at full volume. Contact issues are, invariably, the cause of these issues. There are two parts involved in making proper contact: The rubber contact strips, which move and compress as … Read more
I recently had a customer request I prepare replacement chips for his Roland R-880 and GC-8. I have the XGecu writer described below. I hope this is helpful to some intrepid individual or technician performing their own upgrade! A device to flash the memory chips, such as the XGecu T48 EPROM programmer. These are readily … Read more
A loudly clacking key might point to a common culprit: a cracked sub-chassis (or sub-frame). Roland used these plastic sub-chassis as a rib structure supporting sets of four or twelve keys inside the PHA-4 Concert keybed. The good news? Replacement parts are cheap, the job is fairly straightforward. What are the symptoms? The most common … Read more
I recently had a customer reach out to me reporting that her Yamaha P-155 would not power on. When I inspected the piano, I found a destroyed power adapter and a burned power inlet. I’m not certain what caused it: Damage like this could be caused by not fully inserting the plug, by a power … Read more