Keyboard fun.

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dogooder

dogooder

Well-known member
I bought a QS8 for 125.00 in good condition, had a two keys out. I opened her up, cleaned all the pads got them playing. Now one went back out again. Time for a new
pad. I already had one. My bottom key was out and the screen was starting to dim, the bottom being almost unreadable. That is now up on the table all apart. I am planning
on putting a new readout and key pad in her. I would redo all the keys but that gets a little expensive. She is a little bit beat up. The QS8 is one of the easiest keyboards
I have opened. My Ensoniq is a nightmare. You have to go in through the bottom and put her back together that way and you are always fighting gravity. If they were still in business I would call and ask what were the engineers thinking? Maybe they let the electrical engineers do that part instead of a mechanical engineer? Not a keyboard but I bought a Yamaha 02R96 mixing console with meter bridge for 250.00. I think it might have been dropped, right bottom rear corner was dented, had some broken pots and bad switches. I opened her up and pulled all the boards and took me a year to get all the parts but she is back together and up and running. That was fun.
 

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dogooder said:
The QS8 is one of the easiest keyboards
I have opened.
Click to expand...
The easiest keyboard I have opened was the Kawai MP9500 stage piano. Just undo maybe 4 stategic screws underneath, then the whole top hinges up, by design, on a long piano hinge, revealing all the electronics and wooden keys.
 
I opened up my other one, got the bottom two keys freed up and working. I had ordered a display but it was too small and I had to send it back. The one in it is weak but readable. So I put her all back together and she was playing fine and then another key went out. It never ends. Since I have to open her up again I ordered another display. Supposedly NOS for the QS8, we will see. I may have to break down and buy new keypad contacts. I am not even a real keyboard player, why do I put myself through this?
Because it is "KEYBOARD FUN".
 
Put the new display in and cleaned all the contacts. There is a large metal plate in one that almost fills the chassis. It isn't in the other one?
Somebody saved them some money. They are both still up on the bench. Getting ready to put the one back together. I have to clean the key
contacts on the other one. In the meantime I am using my Ensoniq ZR76. It is kind of fun with the built in drum machine and sequencer. I hadn't
used it for a long time.
 
I figured since they are apart, now would be a good time to sand the wooden end plates and make them natural.
One set done.
 
Both are now back together and everything working and they look so much better with the natural stain wood finish on the end caps. Success!
KEYBOARD FUN
NOW, I have to open the 02R96 again. It seems the batteries I bought off ebay were at the end of their life. No more batteries from ebay. I don't know
why the engineers couldn't find an easier access to that battery knowing it was going to have to be changed? Working as the head of machining departments
in certain firms, at times it would be a never ending battle with the engineers. They don't like to be challenged or change anything they have designed like inside contour square corners, or 1/4x20 threaded holes one inch deep, or how and what size to ream for dowels etc. Don't get me going!
IT NEVER ENDS!
 
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After putting the new display in it failed. Also another key went out and the volume slider quit. I contacted the gent I bought the display off of on
ebay and he just up and sent me another display no questions asked. That was a surprise. He didn't even want the first one back?
Had to clean all the keys and replace the display. The volume slider was shot. I couldnt get much info on it
and I could not get any response from alesis. I down loaded the service manual and it gave me an alesis part number and a couple of clues. Went to Mouser
and found what I though was a match but when I put it in I had volume but at full blast and distorted, so it wasnt the right one. I then took the original one apart, cleaned
it up, put it back together and soldered it back and she is working again.
The 02R has a firmware problem and is just sitting there and won't boot. I can't seem to find any help with it.
 
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