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PX-350 keyboard mod, success at last!


Jokeyman123

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Finally figured this one out.

 

I had described in previous posts that I felt the PX-350 keyboard was way too "clacky" and tough to play, as the key action was pretty punishing on the downstroke. I've also read similar from PX5s posts and this might solve your problems too.

 

I thought adding additional felt under the front part of the keys would solve that problem as there is a plastic tab that rests on a thin layer of felt under that part. post-1953-0-89690200-1414632826_thumb.jp

This didn't work so I "went in" again. Here are pics and details of the parts of the keys that ended up being the real problem, and how I fixed this. I have it all back together, the noise is gone and the keybed now feels remarkably better-I can dig into the keys without feeling like my hands or the keys will be broken apart. I overlooked one major part, and it took a bit of studying with bright light to see what was going on.

 

The PX350 uses an action that is actually similar to a real piano-it has a fulcrum arm made of steel with counterweights. post-1953-0-63172000-1414632824_thumb.jp When you hit the key, the fulcrum arm hits a strip of felt on top of the frame under the back of the key, this was the one most offending source of noise. post-1953-0-75807300-1414632809_thumb.jp

When you release the key, it drops back onto another strip of felt again, in the back, not in the front. This creates the second loud clunk! Here it is: post-1953-0-82484200-1414632812_thumb.jp

 

To modify this I added another pretty thick layer of felt under the top part-this made all the difference. Here is a pic of my added strip of felt which I attached with double-sided foam tape{ post-1953-0-54265300-1414632815_thumb.jp 

Even though Casio has a pretty hefty piece of white felt in both locations, I found the factory strips were pretty compressed and this was causing my keys to sound almost as if they were directly hitting the plastic frame, and my PX350 is less than 1 year old. The fulcrum arm is steel with counterweights and is heavy which gives the PX it's piano action, but also apparently puts alot of pressure on these factory-installed felt strips.

 

Thje other place I added a not quite as thick felt strip was under the key frame between the body of the PX and the bottom of the keyframe.

 

post-1953-0-97154100-1414632817_thumb.jp The black part is the factory felt, paper thin-I added the grayish-looking piece, much thicker.

 

I did this because this 2nd clunk seemed to come more from the fact that the bottom of the keyframe is directly connected to the plastic body of the PX with no padding in between, so even though there is a thick felt strip the fulcrum returns to when it hits bottom inside the keyframe, it reverberates right through the entire body of the PX! Adding this extra layer between the keyframe and the PX "shell" quieted the downstroke which I also found to be pretty loud on mine. Again, when this felt strip gets compressed from playing, wham! You are going to hear a metal fulcrum with weights clunking down right on the keyframe and using the entire PX to amplify it!

 

Sorry for this super ridiculously long post, but I've spent quite a bit of time trying to solve this problem. Amazing what a difference these 2 changes made, the noise was terribly distracting, especially for quieter classical passages it's making a huge difference. I will create a separate post and embed pictures showing disassembly of the PX for any of you that might be skilled enough ( or insane enough!) to try this. My warranty is so voided, I am probably permanently in the Casio "Hall of Shame" now! OH WELL.....I will post more pics showing my  disassembled  PX350 in a follow-up post here as soon as i can. Sorry these pics seem small-I uploaded as 640 x 480 but looks like the uploader shrinks them.

 

post-1953-0-50644700-1414632820_thumb.jp

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 I am probably permanently in the Casio "Hall of Shame" now! OH WELL.....

 

 

Hey if you are able to do this and make it work better for you and are fully aware of the warranty issue, more power to you. I, for one, and quite happy with the Privia action  - it feels great to me and the noise isn't any worse than many of the keyboards in my collection.. That being said, I really enjoy these types of threads. The more photos the better as far as I'm concerned! 

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This is the follow-up to the previous post, showing additional photos for disassembling the PX-350. Remember, you void your warranty doing this. And this is not a mod for the inexperienced-the keyframe flexes and can be easily damaged or broken and there are many screws. i documented the procedure as i went through this. There is a total of 50 screws that need to be taken out, all of which can be stripped since the screw anchors are all plastic. Fortunately all the screws are the same size, except the small ones holding the little plastic panels underneath. Just a few additional comments:

 

Every screw must be taken out from the bottom first, including screws that are hidden deeply in the frame and under little plastic covers that must be removed to get to them. There are 2 screws on each side of the end caps (black). These snap out, but be careful you don't break them, they're in pretty tight. Under the end caps  there are 2 more black screws on each side holding the speakers to the frame-don't try to take the speakers out until you get these screws out! Here are the speakers.

post-1953-0-24464000-1414635487_thumb.jp  post-1953-0-97573700-1414635490_thumb.jp  post-1953-0-02322900-1414635483_thumb.jp

The middle section must be lifted out first-gently as there are many delicate connectors and cables, including the main ribbon cable for the keyboard assembly to the mainboard.

post-1953-0-60847500-1414635478_thumb.jp 

I removed this cable by pulling tiny plastic tabs out which loosens the ribbon cable which can now be pulled out. post-1953-0-22847700-1414635474_thumb.jp

Once that is cleared away, there are three screws at the bottom of the keyframe -these are the only remaining screws holding the key assembly in place. here is a pic of one of these so you know what to look for.

post-1953-0-74990100-1414635470_thumb.jp

All the other screws holding the key assembly were the ones you took out from underneath. Be very careful when taking out the key assembly-it is all plastic, very flexible and pretty delicate-can easily be broken if you don't handle it with "kid gloves".

post-1953-0-95799600-1414635466_thumb.jp

Once this is done, now you can study the keys yourself. Check the pictures in the previous post-you will understand these pics once you have the key assembly in front of you. For the top strip, I used a thick type of black felt weatherstripping from my local hardware store and fastened it with thick double-sided foam tape-use your judgement for this material-I thought it had to be pretty thick to be effective. Too thick and you will not get enough "momentum" with the fulcrum action, too thin it will still "clunk". I had to cut everything to size exactly for this.

 

For the strip between the bottom of the keyframe and the body of the PX, I used a thinner self-stick felt I found on eBleaachh (you know who you are!) Make sure this felt isn't overly-thick as it will create a little more depth when you put the screws back in the bottom that hold this section of the keyboard.

 

While I had it apart, I checked all the internal screws (many needed tightening a bit especially the strips holding the keys in from the top). Also check the speaker screws. I added a little soft foam around the top of the speakers to damp out any vibrations caused by the bare plastic top of the PX since the speakers are open  and I thought this might dampen some of the vibrating when playing through the speakers. if you're missing any screws-check the speaker magnets!  If you have any particular questions, send me a PM here and I'll do what I can to help. Man I'm tired, this was a wooly bully!

 

 

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There have been a few posts here describing apparently more than "normal" key clattering and thumping with a few Privias and PX5s I'm guessing from players who have been doing quite a bit of regular playing/practicing/rehearsals and had not noticed it until recently. I think this "operation" has shown me why this may be so.

 

I am surprised that with the level of construction I've discovered, that this problem occurs at all. But over time, i think these particular parts are getting "compressed' and worn and this is causing the additional clunking and clattering with some, not unique to Casio.  I am not criticizing the design, on the contrary. I have worked on quite a few keyboards, piano action and not. And real pianos in a previous life (ugh). Try tuning a few of those for fun and recreation! This design now that I've studied it carefully, is very impressive.  i've never seen another like it including Yamahas, Kurzweils, Generalmusic, Fatar, Studiologic and Ensoniq most of which use the same Fatar style counterweight system. That was part of my interest in doing this.

 

Now that I've added the additional pieces, it feels more like a real grand piano, I am very impressed. I posted hoping this might help anyone who might be having the same difficulty or who simply wishes to improve on an already very pleasing instrument. I constantly look for ways to improve stuff including me (sometimes me). It is part of my mania, I mean my mantra! :P  They're coming to take me away, ha-ha! (Napoleon Bonaparte)

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Actually I don't. I did this all in about 3-4 hours, but I had been researching this before (Casio had pics showing the keys inside but not much there.) I also have put in many hours repairing/modding electronics which helps and I've taken courses as an electronics  and computer tech. And my father made me learn "basic" computer language and advanced math as a kid-he did work for NASA and the military (guidance systems) when I was a kid so you can imagine what my childhood was like! I put pressure on myself and I literally broke out in a sweat when I did this one worrying about any mistakes I might make. I'm probably marginally insane anyway, what's a little more damage gonna do! :P  A relief when I got it all back and my warranty was already gone, I bought mine second-hand which might be why it had been noisier than a spanking new one. There are a few posts describing pretty noisy keys on other Privias. I thought this might help to at least understand what is going on when you hammer the old keys and if there actually is a problem or not. I would have preferred not needing to do this, believe me but I can't afford to turn over to new equipment so quickly. 

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An update to this mod. The double-sided foam tape I'm using to stick the black felt strip on top of the factory felt doesn't adhere that well-if you can find something more effective I would try. It has separated under a few keys, most of the felt is sticking securely-no big deal but if I did it over, I'd probably find a better adhesive for the black felt. The difficulty is that it is a small area, and I had to be careful not to use anything that would damage/contaminate the keys. The foam tape is very good that way as it is clean to work with, and doesn't cause any residual stickyness as long as you are precise about cutting and fitting it. It also adds another layer of padding which is helping to damp the sound. Now that I have this in place, I can adjust it by removing the center control unit and the left or right speaker box which gives access to the key assembly, without having to take everything apart again since the fulcrums and frame have openings in the back. There are only a few screws holding the center control panel and each speaker as I've already described. The vast majority of the screws underneath are securing the key assembly to the body, I forget exactly but i think there are around 30 screws underneath holding the key assembly. Back to woik....

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I have a wk7600 where I think the middle C keyis rather clanky when pressed hard to the bottom, it sounds as if there is no felt pads under it? I know these keys are not in the same league as the px350 .  The octave below mid C is also a bit this way. These keys im sure are hollow plastic and very light.  Any advice appreciated

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I can only speak from my experience with the XW-P1 which may have the same key construction as the WK series-you'd have to check with Mike Martin (tech rep for Casio) to be sure. If these are constructed the same way, there is piano felt in 2 different places, above and below the keys but it is rather thin IMO. I also modified the XW keyboard by adding more felt under the keys. Again, I wouldn't do anything on my own if it is under warranty, let Casio do the repairs if needed. Both my Casios were not under warranty and I've done this type of work on many other keyboards so have some experience. That said, I've made mistakes as this is definitely tricky work that needs alot of patience and time, both of which are usually in short supply!

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That was a really nice piece of work -- thank you!  I've posted a link in the Digital Pianos & Synths forum that I frequent.

 

Now, I have a question:

 

. . . Why didn't the factory build it like that?

 

The cost would have been minute, and the improvement in quality would be noticeable.

 

On double-sided tape:

 

An auto-body supply shop will sell you "body molding tape", which is what they use to hold side-moldings onto car doors.  It's very tacky, especially if you prep the surfaces with acetone (or special "activation liquids" they'll sell you).  And it doesn't let go easily.

 

Another possibility would be to use silicone sealant.  You'd have to arrange the keyboard so the added felt was on top.  A _thin_ bead (or layer) of sealant on the plastic would grab nicely to any felt you put onto it, and pressed down gently.   Wait for the sealant to set, before inverting the unit to "felt-down" position.

 

.           Charles

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Thanks Charles-glad you gave me the alternatives. I had put felt in 2 sections, upper and lower octaves since it was easier to fit. After closing everything up, the upper part failed. had to re-stick that part, The double-sided tape didn't hold on that side but did on the other (so far). I found some old double-sided rug tape which is also very sticky but paper thin- why I used the foam tape which was about 1/16" thick and helped take some of the shock. It's a tricky mod, but is working and does make a tremendous difference to get the extra felt in the top as I've already described. This is where the majority of the clunking was in mine, the main force of the metal fulcrum when hitting the keys strikes the top.  I'll get some auto body tape (have a store nearby for auto parts) and keep some of that. This won't be my last mod, I'm a little nuts but I like doing this stuff. The other problem is that I am putting felt on felt! Not easy. So the auto body stuff might be best-I didn't want to use something that might soak into the existing felt and cause that to lose some of it's damping properties.( Yikes) One needs a degree in chemistry for this stuff....... D***mit Jim, I'm a doctor not a miracle worker! :o

 

Yes, It might be a good idea in future digitals to put some other type of quieter material in there, the Casio felt is pretty substantial already-puzzling why it makes so much noise. I think it has to do with the plastic shell in the PX which actually amplifies the sound rather than damping it-there are spaces at the ends of the key assembly under the end caps and i think it makes key sounds louder-I'm covering that too with some felt . And the fulcrums are heavy-heavier than I've seen in other digitals, steel arms with weights at the end.

 

The gradual change in weight across the keys (I don't feel it that much but it's there) must be due to weights built into the fulcrums. Didn't look closely but thought I saw fewer weights in the upper octaves. Weights are molded into the fulcrums so should not come out over time. Fatar counterweights would sometimes come loose (think Kurzweil, Ensoniq etc.)  a nightmare to repair. This might be better if the PX needs to be repaired (I think, I don't want to have to find out!) One other heads-up if you try this mod. Use some type of sticky to hold the screws  that are under the little plastic panels at the bottom to your screwdriver. These are recessed quite deeply, and if you use a magnetic tool/screwdriver (I did)-you will catch the fulcrum arms that are on either side of these screws-a real aaaarrrggghh! I use a little hard beeswax or poster stickum on the screw heads which keeps these in place. Finally and again, don't even think about this mod unless.......

 

1) your warranty is kaput, 2) you are pretty experienced at this stuff, 3) you are sure it really needs to be done and 4) you are somewhat crazy. I qualified for all 4, I'm good! :rolleyes:

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for all your good work with delving into the inner workings of the PX350 and showing us what's there. (-Especially appreciate the photos.)

Most digital keyboards are not real quiet to begin with, but I think the general perception among manufacturers is that this isn't going bother a whole lot of people, because most users usually have their amps turned up or their headphones on.

With the Privia, however, entering the "pro" digital piano arena, Casio is catering to a whole new set of ears, -ones that can be quite sensitive to noisy keys, (-and also users who don't always use headphones, -or turn the volume way up. -And who know how to play softly as well as loud.). 

Also, you are correct about the felt/foam compressing rather quickly and rapidly becoming noisy, -and that this problem is not just limited to Casio keyboards. As both an acoustic and digital piano service technician, I have worked on a number of digital keyboards, as well as "acoustic" -and they all have their liabilities, and they pretty much all get noisy with time and usage. -Even those made by Kurzweil (Fatar) or Yamaha. (Even Steinways ultimately get noisy, given enough time!) The foam/felt noise/shock absorbing strips that are installed in most all digital keyboards do compress quite rapidly under moderately heavy (-or even medium-) usage, and usually have to be replaced quite regularly if the keyboard is to stay even relatively quiet. (The keys on my Kurzweil K2600XS will actually stick, in the up position, if the keyboard hasn't been played for a few weeks or months. The felt/foam strips in that keyboard actually get sticky with time! You have to run a few scales up and down all 88 keys before you can really play it.)

In digital keyboards with the "hammer-action" the key itself is usually not the part of the action making all the noise, but the "hammer-action" mechanism, which must be stopped, somehow, quietly, at the end of both the up-, AND downstroke, as you noted. (This is a tall order, by the way.)

If you have ever disassembled a Clavinova CVP-series keyboard you may be aware that the felt and foam bumpers on those keyboards are twice as thick - 4 layers of alternating felt and foam, at the top of the hammer stroke, -which is where the brunt of the force is delivered-, and 3 layers of foam/felt on the bottom for when the hammer falls back down. And even those felt/foam strips pack down and get noisy with just a moderate amount of playing over time. (This is likely not acoustic piano-grade backrail or hammer rail felt, by the way, -which would probably be a substantial improvement, and not compress so quickly. But as a rule, because of intended price strata, digital piano designers frequently cannot afford to use those same types of materials that are used in "real" pianos.) (Would you be willing to pay three or four times as much for your PX350? )

The problem with adding more felt or foam on top of what's already there, of course, as you hinted, is that you are going to reduce the hammers' travel and change the feel of the action, and possibly even reduce the aftertouch to the point where the mechanism can't complete its full cycle. So yes, you do have to watch that.

On the aforementioned CVP-series Clavinova, the solution (for me) for addressing the clacky keys was simply to order new felt/foam strips from the manufacturer (Yamaha), -which were not at all expensive. This reduced the noise to "brand new" levels (-not noiseless, mind you, but acceptably quiet-) -at least until the felt packs down again!

There are also other design considerations to keep in mind - making sure that whatever you put in there is somewhat fire-retardant, for one thing, in there next to all those electronics. The weight of the strip is also a consideration, if you are trying to keep the weight of the keyboard down. And cost of the materials as well - if you are trying to keep the price under $1000. One even needs to be careful that the type of adhesive used is non-flammable. So I'm sure those engineers had to deal with a lot of design compromises, -and make a lot of design decisions.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding a few rough spots (like the clacky keys) I think the Casio designers and engineers really have something here - I bought one! (PX350M). As far as being one of the first really capable and good-sounding full size (88-note) keyboards, that weighs only 25 lbs, and has a realistic-feeling action, I personally feel these latest Privia-series keyboards are really sort of a design tour-de-force.

(I do wish there were some way to either turn off, or at least modify, that artificial string resonance they added when you press the sustain pedal. It's just not quite what one expects.)

(Hopefully the engineers are listening and will take some of these suggestions to heart, in making future improvements.)

Anyway, thanks so much, again, for all the time you took writing this all up, and figuring this all out, and posting, for the rest of us. We need more folks like you!

~Reflexions. 

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Thank you Reflexions. I did most of this to prevent us from crippling ourselves, many of these digital pianos are much less forgiving than a true acoustic due to what you've described.

 

I had more success using a very dense gray felt material actually used for weatherstripping. The thin piano felt available on eBay was hardly adequate. I didn't realize Yamaha would sell their felt to customers, good to know as I still may restore an old Ensoniq TS-12 next. I completely dis-assembled an old MR76 just 2 weeks ago, down to taking the counterweights apart and yes, the clatter there is from worn felt above and below the key assembly, caused by the return stroke more than the downstroke, I'm sure its Identical to the Kurzweil K2600. and needs very dense felt to counteract the noise. And much underneath to give a cushion when I need to "sit" on the keys.

 

Now I know why the Clavinovas feel the way they do, almost bought one years ago but went with the Kurzweil RG200, which I also rebuilt with much extra felt. I don't know the design, but I think Yamaha has re-designed theoir actions recently. Again, the RG200 had a Fatar action just like the 2600 and the Ensonq 76-key weighted actions. Thank you for your appreciation, it's a labor of love I guess. And keeps me going. Happy holidays.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thank you for all your pictures and advice ....

 

More than the sound the action make, what bother me the most is I find it painful to play fortissimo for a long time ... especially on the finger joint.

 

I'll wait for the 3 years  warranty to end and then i'll mod mine too.

 

The clavinova spare parts seems to be a better quality but too big to fit aren't they ?

 

post-1018-0-34800900-1421839131_thumb.jppost-1018-0-53634800-1421839138_thumb.jp

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Many thanks Jokeyman123 for your work and the reflexion which highlights it

I am in France. I have played on a Privia PX 350 and now playing a PX 5S. After 6 months, the keyboards produces the same clunking noise (for me the "up stroke - bounce noise" is the most "distracting").

I fear I will not be able to wait 2 years until the warranty ends

I will look for :

- doubble sidded tape (thank to cpCohen - An auto-body supply shop will sell you "body molding tape", which is what they use to hold side-moldings onto car doors.  It's very tacky, especially if you prep the surfaces with acetone (or special "activation liquids" they'll sell you)

- very dense gray felt material actually used for weatherstripping or Yamaha new felt/foam strips - thank to Reflexion - "which were not at all expensive. This reduced the noise to "brand new" levels (-not noiseless, mind you, but acceptably quiet-) -at least until the felt packs down again!"

One think need some explaination " How rhick should the felt be ?"

Regards, Patrick

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Aymeric106

 

Clavinova strips do look more substantial, but might be too thick and would not allow for sufficient  "swing" or momentum for the keys-the keys would lose some of their fulcrum action if you use something this thick.

 

and Patrick-for the felt I added on the top part-where the counterweights land when you press down on the key-I used rather dense felt that was almost 1/4" thick, but I decided to stick this on top of the existing Casio felt strip which was thinner than the strip I added-only about 1/8" and not very dense-this is why these keyboards tend to get clacky over time. so I ended up with a total of about 3/8"-almost a total of 1/2", quite thick.  More than this will not work. and remember the original Casio felt on top was somewhat compressed already-I think my PX might have been a "floor model" although it was advertised as new, my bad. and this is why my felt might have been pretty compressed already and I play pretty hard-one must play fortissimo for much classical repertoire, bebop jazz style or full-fisted Errol Garner type playing and definitely for barrelhouse, boogy and stride styles

 

. I would have tried using the body-molding tape if I had known as it probably sticks better than what I used which wasn't entirely satisfactory. If you were to completely remove the original Casio foam padding (I didn't, I was afraid I would do damage I couldn't restore) you probably could install the Clavinova strips which would give you a completely new footprint, without the hassles I found trying to install more felt on top of the existing, which is why I had trouble getting the added felt to stick-I just noticed a few of the middle octave keys are clacking again because I had trouble getting the double-sided tape to adhere to the exisiting felt in that spot. If I do it over again, I will start from "ground zero"-remove all the old felt on top and completely replace it with something much more substantial. The Clavinova strips look good-but the point of impact is pretty wide-so if the felt strips are too thin "laterally"-front to back-the metal fulcrum may still hit and clunk. My added strips were wider from front to back than the originals which is what helped reduce at least some of the noise in addition to the added thicknes. Study the pic showing the black metal fulcrums and see if you can tell how wide the end that strikes on top is-I know it's not so easy to see-the striking surface is about  3/4" long-quite wide compared to the width of the felt cushion it hits.

 

Hope this helps. Sure wish I didn't have to do all this! But as you said aymeric-playin fortissimo or even mf for any length of time was hurting my hands pretty badly.

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Thanks for this explaination : 3/8 Inch (= 1cm for me in France). I will try to find how thick are the 2 Clavinova strips.
I have watched this interesting video which shows how to replace the 2 strips on a clavinova. It is very clear and the operation looks quite affordable to do.

The counterweights of the fulcrum arm of the Clavinova Yamaha are round and polished whereas those of th Privia are sharp. This can explain that after several month you have such a noisy keys versus several years for the Clavinova.

I would have liked to add 4 images to my post to show the location of this two strips, but I was not able to find how to upload images in this forum. So I have used my photo to figure the bottom and the upper felt of the Clavinova. The profile of both strips can be seen on the video and on the Beckettsmusic website : http://www.beckettsmusic.co.uk/shop/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=17270

I hope these strips will suit for ou Privia keyboard.
I also guess that the location of the 2 strips on the Privia is about the same as on the Clavinova. If it is the case, it would be easy to remove and to replace them.

In that case I would try it very soon.

 

Regards

Patrick

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After studying this video-I think the Clavinova looks easier to work with than the PX350-only because the top felt bumper strip is more confined. The plastic support bracket for the entire keybed somewhat contains the area where the felt needs to go. And since the hammers will rest against that strip when you invert the keyboard, you must move the hammers away manually to get the strip in under those. Not that hard, but the Clavinova has more room to work with. and if you remove the original strips-I didn't so I'm not sure how easy that will be as these are pretty well glued in place.

 

Also be careful as the keyboard assembly is not as rigid as the Clavinova looks to be-you could easily damage or break it if you are not careful when removing it as one piece. It is rather heavy but the frame is all plastic so when removed from the case, it is easily flexed if you don't take care to keep it well-supported on the ends and in the middle. As I said before-if I had known about these Clavinova replacement parts I would have used those. Surprising how the fulcrum arms look somewhat like the Casio's.

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Thanks Jokeyman123, The work needs 4 hands indeed.

OK, the option "replace the felt" is not obvious. As the strips are well glued it could be difficult to clean (on the video it looked difficult for the bottom strip).

Adding an extra felt is to be considered if I can find a good tape.

Before buying (50 $) the two strips I have to be sure they fit.

Anyway, as concerns the references, the felt 1 (the one on the top side) on the Clavinova video is the ref. V764010R strip on the Beckett site. But il will not fit on the Privia as the sticky part is beside the felt. The ref. V8468201 Aymeric mentioned looks better suited for the Privia.

For the strip on the bottom side which was used on the video corresponds to the ref VU 34210R of the Beckett site. I guess it would be OK either for the upper strip or for the bottom strip of the PRIVIA. So  I would order it soon.

Patrick

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If you have any difficulties if you do this just post here. Good luck and take  your time. Better not to rush through something like this. I like to work in steps-do one thing, stop for a minute and study what I've done then go on. Amazing what I can miss if I rush and I've done that. Very easy to misplace a screw. I always keep one of those telescoping magnetic tools handy. Especially for the screws holding the middle  top panel in place. These are buried about 3 inches down underneath and in between the fulcrum arms. I used some sticky poster putty on my screwdriver to hold these to put back in and the magnetic tool in case I drop one in an inaccesible spot inside somewhere.

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Thanks Aymeric 106

These weather strips are available in many shops in varied sizes and texture : rubber (may be too much bouncy, foam (may be fragile), felt, or, a basis of foam covered with felt (Clavinova strips look like that).

It is very cheap and easy to buy when you have dissassembled the keyboard and can see the dimensions.

Finally, if it is easy to remove the existing strip it is possible to buy the appropriate strip and fix it. As Jokeyman kept the strip in place and completed with a supplementary one We lack information on the remove process. On the old Clavinova it looks easy. But on our new Privia I don't know.

 

Could you post the adress of the video you are refering to ?

 

Regards

Patrick

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After seeing the design of the Clavinova strips-multi-layered with different materials used for each layer, I can agree this would be the best way to go. The Privia hammers hit hard, are very narrow and weighted nicely-but because of this I can see how the one-dimension approach (felt only) gets crushed and compacted pretty quickly. Foam alone is much too fragile and would not provide enough cushioning, at least for the Privia. And  if I had put some kind of foam under the felt-this would have been better since the foam would provide some resilient response and take some of the shock away from the felt which would help this last longer. Rubber weatherstripping (I thought about that originally) might not be as effective in that rubber is probably too solid to prevent an audible clunk and would most likely indent pretty quickly unless covered with felt. And to get enough of a sound-insulating quality, the rubber would have to be pretty thick, probably too thick which as i found earlier would change the momentum of the fulcum-it would shorten the hammer throw and not only change the "feel" too much, would also effect the Privia's ability to respond to dynamics correctly.

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Here are 3 interesting pages

1/ How to disassemble (Privia 555). it not accurate enough but can complete the procedure explained here by Jokeyman123

https://pressstartsounddesign.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/demonter-ouvrir-un-piano-casio-modele-de-lexemple-privia-px-555r/

 

2/  https://www.flickr.com/photos/timsphotographs/sets/72157632641890363/with/8427512829/

16 Interesting photos of the casio keyboard (PX 330) dismantled. It is easy to see the 3 strips and to see what strip to use to replace them (the strip on the bottom at the backside can be replaced by V8468201 yamaha whereas the strip at the bottom on the front side should be replaced by a weather strip (around 1/4inch wide and thick)

 

3/ A good synthesis of the "noisy keyboard issue" presented in the forum following the photos in four "key" elements . The 1 is to be considered.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timsphotographs/4880268252/in/set-72157624572728251

 

"There are a few things that cause the keys to make noise in these units:
1) The interface between the key and the hammer. The end of the key (inside) is open so it can fit around the end of the hammer arm, which is coated in rubber. As this interface wears, slop develops between the key and the hammer. This is more of a 'click' and you hear as soon as your fingers touch the keys (or come off the keys). I have not started working on a solution yet, but possibly coating the rubber ends of the hammer in something (heat shrink, RTV, etc).
2) The 'clunk' that the hammers make when returning to the resting position. The hammers fall onto a rubber/felt pad that is on the bottom of piano case. The bottom case is thin plastic. If you put your hand under the hammer that is playing you can feel it fall and feel the case move. Other brands use either MDF or metal for the bottom of the case. I am thinking of either spraying the exterior bottom case in sound damping material, using adhesive backed Dynamat, or building a custom stand that has sort of a box that surrounds the bottom of the keyboard, and the box filled with insulation.
3) Similarly, when a key is pressed you can hear the hammer hit the upper felt. As the rubber and felt wears these 'clunks' will get louder. It is possible to replace the felt, and it is easily accessed by only removing the bottom part of the case.
4) The interface of the hammer and the case. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do with this one, but if any slop exists between the metal hammer and the plastic case, it will make noise. I haven't thought too hard about this one as there isn't a ton of room to work with, it is a moving interface, and if the case breaks you are SOL. Luckily this would be the least likely scenario to cause that much of an annoyance.

For the money these keyboards are great. You have to spend well over a thousand dollars to find something better.
"

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