Nord User Forum

Hey All:

I had to share this story because it's just too good and it may even help someone out there.

About three weeks ago I purchased a used Nord Lead 2x off reverb.com from "TRADER'S MUSIC GEAR" in Reseda, California. I spoke with a nice saleswoman who works there, Diane, before making the purchase and asked her if the keys all functioned and had been tested. She answered with a "oh yes, absolutely." "Great!" I figured. A Nord Lead 2x in pretty good condition for $800. Seemed like a great deal. I had looked at the Nord Lead A1 and tested it out, but I kept reading online how it and the Nord Lead 4 or 3 just can't beat that 'classic' sound of the 2x. Given that and the fact that one of my favorite bands, the Killers, still use the Nord Lead 2x, plus the savings of $1000, I took the plunge.

When it arrived I put the 2x to the test. The sounds were indeed amazing. But the damned 'B' key made a weird scraping noise whenever I pushed it and was 'sticky' - slow to respond. While it could be played, it was clear that something was wrong. I messaged Diane, essentially saying "hey what gives? you said the keys were good' She apologized and said she thought they were and offered to do a return or a partial refund, etc. I said I'd look at getting it serviced or the key replaced and get back with her. A quick look online at ebay and I found that you can still buy Nord Lead 2x keys for $10 a piece or so plus shipping. I bought a new 'B' key and waited for it to arrive. I got it a day or two ago, and finally found time tonight to sit down and open up the Nord Lead 2x and replace the key.

It was pretty fun seeing the inside of the synthesizer and how the key system worked. When I went to remove the broken 'B' key, I removed the 'spring' at the top first just like the youtube vids show, but the key stubbornly refused to come out. I tried to jig it out again and I could hear a strange sound of.......Velcro?

I pulled a little bit more and out the key came, along with a thin piece of double-sided velcro on the underside of the key. "What the hell?" I thought. I then looked down at the key and saw a flat piece of plastic. I thought "what a shitty way to install your keys Nord." I tried to reconnect it, but my big hands couldn't manage to loop it through. I leaned in close and looked at the surrounding keys and didn't see any velcro under them. I removed the adjacent key to see if having more room on either side would let me do it. When I removed it, there was no tearing velcro. Instead, a gentle click as it unloaded from a black plastic 'tooth' that inserted neatly into the underside of the key. Ah..............now I get it. I instantly realized that I, and perhaps 'Trader's Music Gear' as well, had been had.







Whoever the former owner of this Nord Lead 2x was, he or she must have somehow broken off the black 'tooth' underneath the B key. Whether they fixed it so they could keep playing it, or just so they could sell it off on an unwitting buyer like me and/or pawn store like Trader's Music, we'll never know. Regardless, the solution was to insert this thin loop of velcro and keep the key from popping up.





After removing a couple more adjacent keys, and with the aid of a set of tweezers, I was able to re-loop the velcro through the key and put it back in, returning it to its jerry-rigged 'semi-functional' state I received it in. I replaced the rest of the keys and messaged Trader's Music with the whole story requesting a full refund. We shall see how they respond.

Anyway, I wanted to share this with the community. Pretty ingenious little fraud/fix. If anyone out there broke their black 'tooth' piece, this might be a way to return your nord key(s) to semi-functionality. Or you could just use a midi controller I imagine. Here's a video (I took the video pretty fresh after the discovery...so I'm a little testy in my tone of voice lol):



Thanks all