Nord custom end panels (stage 4)

[Spider]

I'm also of the opinion that natural wood doesn't really go with red. If you think about that, just about every keyboard ever produced with wood sides has a black, white or grey chassis. Neutral colors probably sit better with the natural complexity and grain of the wood. Also, the Stage is not all red: there's red, black, white, several shades of grey...adding yet another color turns it into a kind of harlequin-keyboard.
But of course that's just my opinion... and a bit of jealousy because I wish I had your woodworking skills!

[Hlaalu]

Nice work, but that wood color desperately calls for a black panel imho [...] the original red is such a mismatch, at least to my eyes.

That's interesting because my tastes tell me exactly the opposite!

"In general", I could agree that red and natural wood don't go well together, if the wood is darkish in colour, but in this case, also considering that the wood part are the side cheeks (and not the entire board), I think it fits perfectly with the red hue of the Nord.

Oh well, tastes!

[DJKeys]

I'm also of the opinion that natural wood doesn't really go with red. If you think about that, just about every keyboard ever produced with wood sides has a black, white or grey chassis. Neutral colors probably sit better with the natural complexity and grain of the wood. Also, the Stage is not all red: there's red, black, white, several shades of grey...adding yet another color turns it into a kind of harlequin-keyboard.
But of course that's just my opinion... and a bit of jealousy because I wish I had your woodworking skills!

I agree with this, brown and red are not colors that really complement each other, in my opinion. Plus, I have never been a fan of any kind of natural wood sides on synthesizers. I always painted them black. I knew the manufacturers did this to make the synth more like an instrument, but even on my Prophet 6 I painted them black.

-dj

[spradders]

I love these comments!
I got my brother to make them for me... the walnut was from a chopping board Obviously very simple to make.

[spradders]

Interesting. What I be curious about is how much weight could be saved by replacing them with some kind of lightweight, strong plastic. Any chance you could weigh your original end caps?

The Nord ones are approx 500g.
My walnut ones (fitted) are slightly thinner but slightly heavier.
My oak ones (tiny bit thicker) are at least 700g.

The Nord ones are pretty light, some sort of softwood I think.

[maxpiano]

The Nord ones are pretty light, some sort of softwood I think.

Which would explain why they get "signed" even with a minimal bump

[pablotiburcio]

This wood has a wine tone that combines well with the nords (manilkara) massaranduba.

[spradders]

Ah well done!

[MartinJ2EX]

I'm also thinking about replacing my Stage 4 side panels with custom ones...
still red of course, but with more visible wood grain and maybe a glossy finish.
I prefer the look of my Stage 2 EX panels because they have more "personality"...