Nord User Forum

I tried to replace the sensor strip with a new one I ordered. But even that doesn't fix the problem. Still many notes give no sound, and if they do I have to hit very hard en only one velocity level is played. Does anyone of you have an idea what could be the problem? I'm very sad that it doesn't work. I'm a fulltime jazz musician and perform multiple times a week with my Nord Grand but now I've probably let it repaired which will take weeks if not months during this period of disturbed supply chains. So hopefully I can repair it more quickly by myself.

I'd talk to a certified repair shop first before suspecting that you'd need be without your instrument for weeks. It may or may not be the case - and I'd expect them to be able to tell you in advance.

It looks like I'm having the same sensor-velocity issue with my new NP4. While playing some quite passages a couple of keys can suddenly "pop". I can not reproduce this 100% of the time but these sensor peaks are pretty consistent across C3-F3. Not sure what to do.

Mine is the same way. Happens infrequently, and as a matter of fact, roughly in the same range as yours, 2nd-3rd octave. Seems like it only recently started happening on my EP sounds. Only had the NS3 for 3 years. But then I have a similar thread going on the forum about an infrequent/intermittent problem where it drops distortion effects on a guitar patch and the only way to restore it is move program down/up to reset (or turn off and back on). But it happens so rarely that I just put up with it.

JazzKars wrote:I tried to replace the sensor strip with a new one I ordered. But even that doesn't fix the problem. Still many notes give no sound, and if they do I have to hit very hard en only one velocity level is played. Does anyone of you have an idea what could be the problem? I'm very sad that it doesn't work. I'm a fulltime jazz musician and perform multiple times a week with my Nord Grand but now I've probably let it repaired which will take weeks if not months during this period of disturbed supply chains. So hopefully I can repair it more quickly by myself.

I don't know what you replaced... Anyhow if you dare, here's what I would buy.

The complete pcb.
Kawai RH88B PWB Assy KKB-044(1)

Mind you I'm kind of a nerdish guy and can't resist to do it myself so I wouln't mind spending in vane. Anyhow, I strongly belive that this is the correct replacement but I have no official confirmation about this. The kawai code is the same you find in the NG so...

Yours is the choice, It would be great if you could report back
I'm sorry for your misadventure.

I FIXED MY PIANO!


I indeed bought the Kawai RH88B PWB Assy KKB-044(1), and I got it working. Thanks to the help of Gregor from synth-parts.com I fixed it. It seems that I misaligned the PCB. That was the reason many notes weren't sounding or very loud on one velocity.

So I now replaced the old PCB with the new one (with blue silicone rubbers) and anchored it to the anchors. Now the piano works fine.

Thanks for all the help.

Oh that's good to hear! And this confirms also that the original NG RH-N pcb and rubbers is kind of a mix between the new and the old kawai part (new pcb code with old grey rubbers). Hopefully the new blue rubbers will be more reliable...

Did a couple of gigs already, and I can confirm the pcb is working flawlessy.

Help! I had the problem others are describing with velocity peaking - on mine it was D4 (D above middle C); even a very light touch would produce a very loud note, basically making the piano unplayable. With some trepidation, I decided to try the cleaning described here (I had bought it used and there's no warranty); disassembly and cleaning went fine, thanks to the helpful text and pics.

So I carefully replaced the rubber pads, screwed the board back in place, placed the keyboard in the casing and closed it (without putting all the case screws back in - I'm assuming that wouldn't make any difference for testing). The good news - all the notes play evenly; the bad - you have to play with the force of a fortissimo to get them to sound! So obviously something's messed up. I thought perhaps I had screwed the contact board in too tightly, so I loosened those screws a bit - no change.

Anyone have any ideas what might be amiss? It's very even all the way up and down, so I'm thinking (hoping!) it must be something fairly simple. Perhaps my assumption that screwing the casing on isn't necessary to test the keybed is wrong?

I would be VERY grateful for any help; thank you in advance. James

Maybe the silicone sensors are not really in place? I remember reading somewhere here that they have some tiny pins that need to get into holes in the board. Maybe check that?

Mr_-G- wrote:Maybe the silicone sensors are not really in place? I remember reading somewhere here that they have some tiny pins that need to get into holes in the board. Maybe check that?

+ 1 and check also the orientation of the sensors (to avoid swapping the high and low trigger contacts), the pins are of different size and place in a way that should prevent this error, but I remember someone wrote on this forum that it may occur.