Nord User Forum

Looking for long term review of HP key bed.
Does it get better/worse/no change over time?
Any issues, noises etc?
I would define long term as one year or greater of steady playing.
Thanks

I use my 3HP averaging about 1hour per day over the past 3 years. In my case I see what appears to be some wear-related degradation:

The middle two octaves produce more mechanical noise than the outer octaves. The outer keys produce the solid "thud" sound (if you have an HP you know what I mean). The middle two octaves exhibit some clicks (especially from sideways movement of the keys). Some HP users have noted this clicking immediately after purchase, but as I recall, Nord replaced some keybeds when this happened. In general this doesn't bother me, but it is noticeable when playing at low amplification.

I haven't noticed any appreciable differences in sensitivity across the keyboard.

I haven't had any stuck notes or loss of velocity sensitivity, but I keep it under a dust cover when not in use.

In general I am satisfied. I find it a good compromise between weight and action. It's not as satisfying or subtle as a full hammer action with escapement, but at about 1/3 of the weight it meets my needs.

There have been several threads on the TP100 keyboard used in the HP products. Just do a search and you'll find them.

I've been using my E3HP January 2013. Up until this past March, it was my everyday practice/rehearsal/gigging keyboard, seeing 1 - 3 hours of use everyday. It is still my rehearsal/gigging instrument, and is used about 4 hours per week. I've got somewhat of a heavy touch (I'm working on changing that), so it has certainly gotten used a lot.

As with many others, I experienced mechanical noise as time wore on to the point where playing it was downright annoying. About a month or so before the warranty expired, I had the keybed replaced, and it worked quietly for about 4 months. At that point I took it upon my self perform some extended lubrication on the action, also chronicled elsewhere in this forum. Just recently, I did another lubrication job, much more thorough than the last one. It plays wonderfully now.

Given that, the action was never damaged. I think the clicky noise just comes from the factory lubrication wearing down, as my re-lubrication efforts make it go away. Others have said the thunk is from the felts wearing thin. I have not had the thunking problem. The click is most annoying when playing quietly, as you can hear the noise above the sound of the instrument itself; it is undetectable in an actual playing situation. And, most important, it's not an indication that something is broken or about to break. The instrument plays just fine. It doesn't bother me if I have to lubricate the action every so often.

With regard to the action itself, that has become quite subjective. Some people do not like it, others do. It does not feel as nice as the TP40 action found in the HA instruments, but it is certainly very playable, specially if you are in a band or live playing situation. it works well for me.

Hi Rusty Mike,
Could you tell us how to you lubricate your keys ? Do you open your instrument ? what kind of grease do you use ? Is that recommended ? Any video tutorial for that ?
Thanks for your answers,

Cheers,
De fursaK

For plastic parts you can use "silicone grease". It will be inert to the plastic and non-conductive.

I'm going to chronicle the procedure as I performed it. I am stating up front that I did this at my own risk, and advise the same to anyone who tries it. Your results may vary, and I am not responsible for any issues that result that may result from your efforts. And please don't ask me for technical support. I'm not an expert, just a musician with a few loose screws and an odd sense of daring

I will also state that your first and best course of action is to take it to an authorized Nord service center if you can. That being said, here goes:

Make sure you are working on a table large enough to flip the top over away from you as the keyboard faces you, like a clam shell. This will be very important once you have all the screws out. I also worked with a large towel underneath the instrument.

The first thing to do is remove the screws that hold the keyboard action to the chassis. The reason I say do this first is that you have to flip the instrument upside down, and you won't be able to do that after the next step. Along the bottom, there are two rows of about 7 screws in each row. There is one additional screw on the bottom that is not in line with the screws holding the action to the chassis. It screws into a support bar between the top and bottom chassis components. Remove these and carefully flip the instrument back over.

There are quite a few screws along the back edge that connect the top to the bottom. Remove all those screws, as well as the screws on the cheek blocks.

The next step involves flipping the top cover open and away from the chassis, sort of like opening a clam shell. DO THIS SLOWLY! There's a ribbon that connects the electronics on the top to the stuff on the bottom. There is enough length in the ribbons to flip the top over, but not much more. As long as all the screws are removed, you should be able to carefully but easily lift the cover up and flip it over.

Once you have it open there are several ribbon connections that need to be unplugged. Two come from the keyboard itself, and they are unplugged at the circuit board; they do not disconnect from the keyboard mechanism. There are other disconnections the must be done, but I can't recall the specifics. Take pictures and make notes to remember how it reconnects.

Once all that is done, the keyboard should easily lift right out.

At this point you can attempt to lubricate just parts you can see without further disassembly. You will not be able to get to the black keys. I used an o-ring lubricant called Molykote 55 from Dow. That is as far as I went the first time I did this.

The second time (which was just recently), I took the keyboard action apart. There is a long metal rod that runs the entire length of the assembly that must be removed. Gently pull the cap off from one end and carefully pull it out, making sure not to bend it in any way. Once that was done, I removed every key and hammer, carefully placing them in order of removal. I then cleaned out excess lubricant and dirt from the key bed assembly.

There are multiple pivot points on each key as well as the hammer counterweight. Using toothpicks, I lubricated the pivot points as well as the front part of each key where it slides along the guide on the key bed assembly. You need to be generous enough to ensure proper lubrication, but not so heavy handed as to make a mess. I reassembled the key action, in order, as I lubricated the parts. Once the keys and counterweights were all back in place, I slowly slid the rod back in, guiding the keys as it went along.

I finally reassembled the entire instrument, keeping care with the connections and tightening the screws.

This entire process probably took me about 6 hours to do.

The results so far have been good. I hope it's a good year before I have to think about this again.

Hi!
How is this fix holding up over time? My NP2hp could use use some love and care

I traded up to a Stage 2EX HP a few years ago. I did the same thing with the Stage as soon as it was out of warranty, maybe 2-3 years past. I’ve had no problems at all in this time, and I’m happy I took the time to do the work.

Sorry to revive this old post,

Trying to repair my NS2 76

Mike, How did you remove that long rod? did you just pull it out carefully with pliars?
My key pivot has broken on a couple keys so I need to remove those and replace them

Thanks!

Yes, it pulls straight it of one end. You first have to break off the cap at the other end to be able to pull it through. Don’t worry about it sliding out after you put it back together, it’s not going anywhere.