Nord User Forum

Hello everyone,

My beloved Nord Stage is starting to show signs of its age... For a while now, it will light up random lights from the Synth and Effects panels, rendering them unresponsive and unable to switch on or off. This issue is intermittent, and can be fixed by a knock to the body. This suggests it is hardware at fault, most likely a ribbon cable. I'm very keen to fix it myself... does anyone possess a service manual or have had issues like this before?

Hi and welcome to NUF, the service manual is not publicly vailable, but you don't need to check if the issue is due to a misplaced or defective ribbon cable (which can be a cause and happened to some people already in the past).

Just open your NS and inspect it for that type of problem (unplug and replug the ribbon cables that connect the motherboard to the panel, on both sides).

If this doesn't solve then it could be a different HW issue like defective cables needing replacement or some HW component failure and the latter would require a specialized service intervention (you can ask UK Nord distributor for the one nearest to your area).

I would definitely back up all your patches with sound manager just in case before you start rooting around inside of your board.... Other than a ribbon problem you may also have a cold solder joint inside of it too... Obviously wherever you're knocking on your board should be the location of your problem....Good luck!

I had this exact periodic problem with my old Classic 88.
Enough that I bought another keyboard as backup.
It was the ribbon cable, I tried to reseat it a couple times to no effort , but what really worked, was a tiny dash of good contact cleaner.
No issues after that, and it worked perfect for a couple years more until I upgraded to a newer model and sold it.

Thanks all - really helpful. Will open it up this week and investigate!