New vs. old wood end cheeks

[ericL]

Seems like Nord has moved away from solid wood with shiny red stain to more of a prefab thing between NS2 and NS3. Has anyone else noticed this? Both are fine, but the newer one seems more like a red painted piece of particle board while the older one is all wood. I was debating about swapping end cheeks from NS2 over to NS3 if they fit. Anyone else care about this aesthetic part of the Nord?

[Schorsch]

Yes noticed the same and I prefer the shiny red ones of the NS2, looks more elegant and valuable to me than the new ones on the NS3

[ericL]

I've noticed my oldest wood end cheeks from the NS2 I've had since 2011 have a bunch of careworn nicks in them, but barely noticeable. Whereas the newest end cheeks look like they will show some unnatural wear and tear more quickly. I hope I'm wrong.

I will take some pictures and post the differences I see and also do a small project to see if I can transplant NS2 Compact wood to NS3 Compact wood.

[Spider]

The first Nord with the matte end cheeks was the Lead 4.
Then the Electro 5, Piano 3, Stage 3 etc.

...the newer one seems more like a red painted piece of particle board while the older one is all wood.

Really? I also personally prefer the old look of the glossy side panels, but I thought Clavia just switched to a matte paint. If it's not solid wood anymore it would be a real bummer.

I also have the impression that the old glossy lacquer is thicker and more durable, but I have no factual experience to confirm or deny. For sure, my old Stage 2 cheeks took several small hits without cracking or flaking.

Replacement sides (glossy and matte) are available at Syntaur, maybe they can also be purchased from your local Nord distributor. But as everything Nord they're not cheap, before buying I would check accurately if they are interchangeable or not.

[ericL]

The first Nord with the matte end cheeks was the Lead 4.
Then the Electro 5, Piano 3, Stage 3 etc.

...the newer one seems more like a red painted piece of particle board while the older one is all wood.

Really? I also personally prefer the old look of the glossy side panels, but I thought Clavia just switched to a matte paint. If it's not solid wood anymore it would be a real bummer.

I also have the impression that the old glossy lacquer is thicker and more durable, but I have no factual experience to confirm or deny. For sure, my old Stage 2 cheeks took several small hits without cracking or flaking.

Replacement sides (glossy and matte) are available at Syntaur, maybe they can also be purchased from your local Nord distributor. But as everything Nord they're not cheap, before buying I would check accurately if they are interchangeable or not.

I might be wrong, but I did have a NL4 for about a year that had a nick or two on the sides and I am pretty sure I remember that the color I saw under that nick was tan/white like some kind of faux wood. I hope I'm wrong. Each has a place - the newer ones are more subdued. But I still feel like the older glossy ones have more life in them.

[Spider]

Here's a picture of the very careworn side cheek of my original NS2 88 I've had since 2011. It shows some wear and tear, but hardly noticeable with the shiny gloss finish and what appears to be red stain that carries into the wood.



Here are some pics of the NS2 EX and NS3 together so you can see the difference between the glossy NS2 and matte NS3 wood bits.

[ericL]

I just embarked on what I thought might be a "swap end cheeks" project, but it was more involved than I felt like tackling tonight. It's not entirely clear from looking at the two boards next to each other that the end pieces are 100% interchangeable. But if you want to dive into it, remove 3 screws on either end, a handful across the back, maybe 10, then one underneath to get the top half off. Then there are a couple of screws holding the end cheeks in place from inside the board.

I got about halfway through this and decided that maybe the glossy end cheeks were meant to be with the NS2 and the matte with the NS3.

[Spider]

I might be wrong, but I did have a NL4 for about a year that had a nick or two on the sides and I am pretty sure I remember that the color I saw under that nick was tan/white like some kind of faux wood.

Maybe not, maybe they just switched to another kind of wood, they can be totally different in color, hardness, grain etc. And surely the type and thickness of the paint and lacquer makes a huge difference.
The grain definitely looks like real wood, but it may be just a thin layer of veneer. Anybody wants to use a chainsaw on his Nord to check out and solve the mistery?

I just embarked on what I thought might be a "swap end cheeks" project, but it was more involved than I felt like tackling tonight. It's not entirely clear from looking at the two boards next to each other that the end pieces are 100% interchangeable.
...
I got about halfway through this and decided that maybe the glossy end cheeks were meant to be with the NS2 and the matte with the NS3.

Hahahah, you see? Even when they're wrong, the guys at Clavia are always right!
Jokes aside, I think the person on the forum most qualified to discuss this (are the new ends real wood or not, and are they compatible between new and old models?) is Pablo, he probably knows the answers, let's hope he reads this.

[CRClemens]

I am very sure that the NS3 end cheeks are real wood. At least on my board from January 2018.

If you look closely under bright light, you can definitely see real endgrain on the front- and backedge of it. If it was veneered, you can only see long grained veneer (also on the front and back, following the curved edges).
And the transition between the endgrain and long grain is totally realistic. I don't know of any technology that can achieve this realistic look.

My guess depending the wood would be birchwood.
On my old NP1 which I gave away, I think it was rather maple than birch. But the NS3 checks seem to be softer wood than maple.

[LewTheKeysGuy]

Anyone know where I could purchase a spare pair of these in the UK please for the NS3?