gespie

Okay, so here's my experience with my PX-160. You can use Yamaha GH3 NL2 88 (V8468201) to replace the upper felt. I think it's a bit thicker than the original Casio one (the original is about 18 mm thick), but I so far haven't noticed any adverse effects. For the lower felt I used Kawai RH88 Upper (816722), the thickness is just about perfect. The replacements consist of several layers of compressible bumpers that shouldn't lose their shape over time, and only a very thin layer of cotton, so I think they should be more durable. Haven't noticed much of improvement in regard tojust from that alone, but if you stick a thin layer of automobile thermal- and sound-proofing sheet on the lower case underneath the keybed (or at least on the area under the lower felt strip), the noisiness goes away almost completely. I used a 2 mm sheet, but it was a bit too thick, and it felt like the keystrokes became shorter, so I ended up removing it. Probably something about 1 mm thick would be ideal. I also noticed that a lot of clunky noise came from the lower case vibrating when you drop a key. So probably having something rigid to fix the underside of your piano in place or maybe something shock absorbing against that area could also help. On a sidenote, my piano has been disassembled for three years, when I first opened it up to clean up beer that I accidentally spilled into it and ended up washing everything up and wiping clean the old lubricant. In short, I overdid it. Had to replace the lubricant after that and made a hasty choice to use medical Vaseline because it was readily available. DO NOT DO THAT, PEOPLE, EVER! Not only is Vaseline horribly temperature-sensitive -- it melts and drips in summer and thickens in winter -- but it also soaks all the rubber parts. They absorb the oils and swell up by nearly 10% of their original size. ONLY USE RUBBER- AND PLASTIC-FRIENDLY LUBRICANTS! Vaseline nearly ruined the rubber bushings under the black and white keys, and I was ready to scrap the whole piano because the replacements cost like a new one. But turns out, you can restore the rubber after -- just soak it in kerosene (or white spirit, which I used) for a couple of days to let it dissolve the oils, then let it evaporate over the next couple of weeks. You can use it to degrease all the other parts as well, but be careful, because kerosene can damage some plastics. In particular, the Polystyrene (PS) of which the keybed, the case and the keyspacers are made. Though it is safe for the keys themselves which are made of ABS, and the hammer hinges which are made of Polyoxymethylene (POM). Don't expose parts made of PS to kerosene for longer than a minute.