General Discussion of the Nord Stage (EX), Nord Stage 2 (EX), Nord Stage 3, and Nord Stage 4 Synths, FAQ, Troubleshooting etc.

Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby baekgaard » 09 Jan 2021, 17:29

I just had a look at some datasheets. When properly dimensioned for the load, and when re-calibrating the zero-point as Nord does, many strain gauges lasts >>10.000.000 cycles, approaching sometimes 100.000.000 cycles. So the strain gauge itself (with the caveats above) look like it doesn't wear out easily. Of course, if the soldering joints are not done correctly, or if it is overloaded, it may die MUCH faster.

If we assume it will live, say, 60.000.000 cycles, and you play every note with a bend up and down and back to zero, then you can play non-stop quarter-notes Jan Hammer-style at 120 bpm 24 hours a day for approximately a year before it breaks. I assume most of us use it less than that, so it'll probably last many years :-) And yes, this calculation is just for the fun of it to put things in perspective.

See https://www.hbm.com/en/8153/fatigue-lif ... in-gauges/ and https://www.hbm.com/fileadmin/mediapool ... S01265.pdf for details.
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky


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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby Mr_-G- » 09 Jan 2021, 18:13

Well, it says between 1000 and 10.000.000 cycles depending on the type. There is a PDF in that page that shows the relation between the cycles and the amplitude of the strain (so stretching more leads to shorter lives). I guess that without knowing which types are used in the Nords and what is their specification, it is a bit optimistic to think they will last 10 million cycles... (I hope I am wrong!).
Plus, there are 2 strain gauges in the pitchstick ensemble, so probabilistically there is a chance of something going wrong with any of the two gauges, thus reducing the life expectancy further.

Pot pitchsticks might go bad earlier, but the cost of a potentiometer is about an order of magnitude cheaper than the cost of the pitch stick.

@maxpiano: I assume you did not find a replacement gauge?

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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby baekgaard » 09 Jan 2021, 18:23

Yes, as said: assuming it is dimensioned correctly and this working in the elastic zone and is not overloaded. And it says >> (much larger than) 10.000.000 for the more durable devices in the pdf :-) They stop testing at 10.000.000.

Even so, if you say only 1.000.000 full cycles (smaller bends wear less) it is still quite a lot :-)

Sent from my phone in brevity
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby maxpiano » 09 Jan 2021, 20:11

Mr_-G- wrote:Well, it says between 1000 and 10.000.000 cycles depending on the type. There is a PDF in that page that shows the relation between the cycles and the amplitude of the strain (so stretching more leads to shorter lives). I guess that without knowing which types are used in the Nords and what is their specification, it is a bit optimistic to think they will last 10 million cycles... (I hope I am wrong!).
Plus, there are 2 strain gauges in the pitchstick ensemble, so probabilistically there is a chance of something going wrong with any of the two gauges, thus reducing the life expectancy further.

Pot pitchsticks might go bad earlier, but the cost of a potentiometer is about an order of magnitude cheaper than the cost of the pitch stick.

@maxpiano: I assume you did not find a replacement gauge?


To be honest I don't remember if I didn't or I did but at the end of the day the cost (incl. shipping)+"expected trouble" to change just the gauge (and not being 100% sure it was the right one) made my opt for the full replacement solution (the part costs around 70€+shipping here)
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby Alshamlan77 » 13 Jan 2021, 23:48

I've had this problem with my Nord stage 3 compact. If your keyboard is still under warranty and a Nord dealer/agent is within your reach they should replace it free of charge. my nord was still under warranty but i've ordered it from Thomann and i live in Bahrain so there was no way i'm gonna send it to Germany to replace the pitch stick! so i just ordered one from Syntaur and a friend of mine who's experienced in synth repairs replaced it for me. here's the link for the part.

https://www.syntaur.com/Items.php?Item=4659

yes it's expensive but you have no other choice. i don't know about stage 2 but with the stage 3 they have introduced an error message in an OS update that disables the pitch stick when it goes out of tune, thus letting you use the keyboard normally but without the pitch stick. if you can live with that then fine. otherwise just replace it.
Don't bother contacting Nord, it's useless! they never reply. such a great keyboard but with a stupid pitch stick design unfortunately! still my favorite board though.
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby Mr_-G- » 14 Jan 2021, 18:08

I do not think that the manufacturer is obliged to *replace* the keyboard if it can be put right by changing just the broken part.
That pitchstick seems extremely overpriced. It probably would be best to talk directly to the service in your country. There is a Bahrain distributor, did you try getting the part from them?
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/distributors
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby tsss27 » 14 Jan 2021, 20:18

That pitch stick price scares me. I imagine it would cost less to buy from the distributor directly (if they allow this, some companies do not even for parts.) $140 is a lot of money for a part which has widespread reports of needing replacement after a while.
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Re: NS2 Pitch Stick acting Funky

Postby Alshamlan77 » 20 Jan 2021, 07:38

Mr_-G- wrote:I do not think that the manufacturer is obliged to *replace* the keyboard if it can be put right by changing just the broken part.
That pitchstick seems extremely overpriced. It probably would be best to talk directly to the service in your country. There is a Bahrain distributor, did you try getting the part from them?
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/distributors


Thanks for the link. I did see that before but it is in Dubai, not Bahrain. They are the distributors for all GCC countries. Which means I will still have to ship the keyboard to them. Let alone all the logistics and communications that will be involved in between. The problem with these things is that the keyboard itself must be sent to the agent/shop so that THEY establish that it needs repair. Otherwise they won't just send you the part because you told them you need it. Unfortunately ordering and replacing by myself was the easiest and safest option in my case

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