How do I switch the polarity on my sustain pedal?

[chad_strung1977]

I have a Yamaha FC4A. When it's plugged in and i hit a note, the note sustains forever. I can't turn it off without unplugging the pedal. I've tried to understand the manual. I need help. This is driving me bonkers. Thanks.

[maxpiano]

HI

NE4 manual - page 17 "Sustain Pedal Polarity".

Enter the menus by pressing and holding Shift and the System, MIDI, B3 or Rotary button (Prog 1, Prog 2, Prog 3 or Prog 4) . Select a function with the Up/Down buttons and change the setting by pressing and holding Shift and the Up or Down button . Exit the menus by pressing a second time on the Prog 1, 2, 3 or 4 button .

So the setting for Sustain Pedal Polarity is #5 of System Menu, steps and buttons to press are:

1) Shift-Prog 1  to enter the menu
2) Up button till you get to #5 item
3) Shift-Up (or Down) to change the value 
4) Prog 1 to exit

[be lee vit]

Hi chad_strung,
a very warm welcome to this wonderful forum with lots of nord enthusiasts. Maybe it‘s of good help for all your further steps to know that many buttons of your NE4 have two functions. The one which is printed above the button is the one that you reach by just pressing the button. The second function which is printed below the button is being reached by pressing and holding the „Shift“ button and additionally pressing the button with the second function of your choice. Cheers and stay healthy everybody. Complete lockdown here in Germany sets time free again for this and that.

[chad_strung1977]

i switched the polarity. The Yamaha pedal doesn't do anything now. I wonder if it's broken. I plugged in a Hosa pedal I have, but it's a latch pedal, so it'll turn on the sustain, but i have to click it, to turn off the sustain. so what I need is a momentary pedal, right? The Yamaha should be that, but it's not doing the job. Is there anything I else I should try, before selling it and finding a different one? Any recommendations? Thanks for all your advice.

[maxpiano]

It could be that your FC4a is broken then, before buying a new one you may want to give it a last chance and open/test it with a multimeter (if you have one and know how to use it), otherwise just buy a new momentary switch "piano-sustain shaped" pedal of your linking as a replacement (any brand/model is OK as far as it is a momentary one, best if with switchable polarity for future uses with other keyboards).

[baekgaard]

As maxpiano suggests, try to open the pedal and check the wiring.

I have repaired many - often it is a wire that has been torn apart from its connection point, or the wire has been bent too sharply and had an internal disconnect, or in some cases the switch is broken internally. If you have a soldering iron it can be a 2 min job, a wire replacement (if you have a spare lying around) or some temporary repair.

If it cannot be done quickly, it's not worth the effort and you should discard it or give it away with a description that it isn't working.

But it does sound like your pedal may be broken.

Sent from my phone in brevity

[alex78]

Have you configured your pedal in the system menu?
Copied from the manual: Different models of control pedals have different specifications (resistance, offset and linearity).
To simplify setup and to optimize the response of the pedal for the Nord Electro 4 HP/SW, the most common pedal makes are preconfigured, and you simply select the type of pedal you connect.
Range: R5 (Roland EV-5, default) , R7 (Roland EV-7), Y7 (Yamaha FC-7), K0 (Korg EXP-2 & XVP-10), Ft (Fatar & Studiologic VP/25)

1) Shift-Prog 1 to enter the menu
2) Up button till you get to 9
3) Shift-Up (or Down) to change the value to Y7 (Your pedal may not be FC-7 but it's a yamaha at least)
4) Prog 1 to exit

[maxpiano]

Have you configured your pedal in the system menu?
Copied from the manual: Different models of control pedals have different specifications (resistance, offset and linearity).
To simplify setup and to optimize the response of the pedal for the Nord Electro 4 HP/SW, the most common pedal makes are preconfigured, and you simply select the type of pedal you connect.
Range: R5 (Roland EV-5, default) , R7 (Roland EV-7), Y7 (Yamaha FC-7), K0 (Korg EXP-2 & XVP-10), Ft (Fatar & Studiologic VP/25)

1) Shift-Prog 1 to enter the menu
2) Up button till you get to 9
3) Shift-Up (or Down) to change the value to Y7 (Your pedal may not be FC-7 but it's a yamaha at least)
4) Prog 1 to exit

The OP is talking about Sustain pedal, not Ctrl Pedal, Alex (and he did try to change the SusPed type and also tested with a different on/off pedal, see his last post)

[alex78]

You are absolutely right Max, I focused on the brand of the pedal and not on the function.
Now I came up with a question that may be silly: Let's assume the OP has pluged his sustain pedal on the sustain input and it is configured to work as rotor control for organ and sustain for piano and synth, (system menu page 7, value>rt) and at the same time there is also another pedal plugged in the rotor port. Could there be a conflict between the 2 pedals due to the wrong configuration of the first? In this occasion the manual suggests that the value in page 7 should be SU.
The Op didn't mention anything about rotor pedal involved so maybe this is not the case, but I wonder what would happen in such a situation?

[maxpiano]

You are absolutely right Max, I focused on the brand of the pedal and not on the function.
Now I came up with a question that may be silly: Let's assume the OP has pluged his sustain pedal on the sustain input and it is configured to work as rotor control for organ and sustain for piano and synth, (system menu page 7, value>rt) and at the same time there is also another pedal plugged in the rotor port. Could there be a conflict between the 2 pedals due to the wrong configuration of the first? In this occasion the manual suggests that the value in page 7 should be SU.
The Op didn't mention anything about rotor pedal involved so maybe this is not the case, but I wonder what would happen in such a situation?

The case you mention (2 pedals configured to act as a rotor pedal) is a different one, I have no direct experience on the Nord Electro but on the Nord Stage you can do the same and simply you have... 2 ways to give the same command, same as if you use the rotor panel button+pedal (and the logic iirc is that the last you use "wins")