Replacement Synthesizer Key Guide and List of My Stock

Pratt-Read keyboard assemblies found their way into a lot of early units. At least the ppg 2.2,2.3, Minimoog, Sonic Six, Satellite, Micromoog, Polymoog, Minitmoog and Multimoog, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Prophet 10 and Pro One, ARP Odyssey, Axxe, Quadra (some), Omni, Pro-Soloist 2500 and 2600, Oberheim 4 voice, OB-X(a), OB-1 and OB-SX, and a few OB-8, EML 100/101, Octave Cat/Kitten, Freeman String machine, 360 Systems, Honer Clavinet, and many Organs. (eg. Gibson G101, some Acetone if not all, wurlitzer, Conn Electric Band etc.) If anyone knows ones that are missing let me know. (I stock fresh Key Bushings!) Check for price and stock --$8 ea, $16 end when available and $7 for caps only when I have them for that key. Ordering Instructions. (NOTE: I see I have two styles of this in stock. One is as pictured, the other the part that drops down in front is flat instead of having sides on that part. Make sure to order the right one)

Akai AX73 keys are unweighted version of Korg DS-8/Kawai K1 it appears. I don't have stock of this key but a person could submerse a ds8 key (ie. drill on a non-marring surface with the key upside down and fill the underside where the weight is with water and keep filling it as it evaporates) and drill with a sharp bit to remove a bunch of weight and it would work fine I'm sure...or even swap it to a low position that doesn't get used in intricate passages perhaps and leave the weight and use a slightly stiffer spring. Ds8 keys are $5 each for white ones except the rare top key $12 if we can find one. Blacks are $7 each. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Akai AX80 keys are exactly like Oberheim Matrix 6 and Matrix 12. ALso Korg Lambda except they have the piece in the middle to strike the rubber switch housing. (instead of the rubber foot that sticks on the other more spindly plastic projection.) In a pinch a Lambda type key could be adapted to suit the purpose by adding a contact actuator underneath using cardboard or wood and something like RV goop adhesive. $8 for black keys, $10 for others except D, G and A are currently unavailable and rare top (prime) C key is $24 when available. Check stock with me then follow the Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Akai VX600 Identical to E-mu Emulator II and very close key to Korg Poly61 but some modifications required on the hook on the black key which projects sideways too much on poly. Usually old one can be cut/retro'd from old key I'm told. However I suspect these are same as the AX73 above! Photo courtesy of Thomas Rogers

Alesis QS7 Also fits Kurzweil K2000, Ensoniq Fizmo, SQ2, ALesis QS4 QS6 and QS7 and Peavey DPM2, DPM3, DPM3SE, DPMSi, and DPM4. Alesis Andromeda uses the same key with slightly bigger weight it would appear. One could use RV goop to hold some other material under there if they wanted to weight match to their old keys one of these. They are a Weighted version of Triton LE + cut for removal tool in back/top. The Triton LE Key I have modified in a pinch; cutting hole w/dremel for access to release lever in back. It's been a while so I'll have to get a refresher some day but for now note also that the General Music SK760 has keys of this type with the cut out for the lever catch in back, but they have a front that drops down to give a nice white smile in front. Otherwise identical I think. Check stock with me. $6 ea. $12 for end key. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Late Odyssey MkIII. Also fits Octave Kitten, later Axxe, Solus and SCI Pro-One. synthparts.com appears to have them in stock. Also Synthfool.com also has them he informs me (I saw an auction recently where someone had adapted original Pratt-read keys in place of the plastic ones. It worked fine. But for original parts hit Kevin up).

Late Quadra? I assume this is the later Quadra. These were also used in some Kimball Organs it appears. Thanks Dean of Five Star Electronics for the tip on this one! I also have a few octaves in stock. $6.00 each and 12 for prime (end wider) key when in stock.Ordering Instructions

ARP Solina keys. I was pulling the caps off old organs keys for a while that fit but were very hard to remove. But now I have two scrap units that fill both types of keys if you remove YOUR broken key top and glue the keytop I have in place. I believe we've seen two types. SOME though have the more angled front end. Look at the pic.Early Crumar Is that your Solina? If not then it should be the default pic at the beginning of this rant :-). PRICE (for top only. Frame not available): $14 each for more slanted version in default pic, $25 for end 'prime' key when available. For the Crumar DS type key from a Stringman we have $10 each (quantity discounts), $18 for end key if available (ask) and see pratt read bushings below that can be modified if originals are gone (.50 each)! Also plastic retainer/pivot (install at own risk! They often crack.) available for $1.00 each on request. Ordering Instructions.

Casio CZ1000 appears to be same as CT-655, CT-5500 and ALL CZ full size including CZ-1000, CZ-3000, CZ-5000. SAVE a perhaps rare exception. SOmeone bought a CZ1000 thinking they would get keys off it. THe keys were totally different with Roland style springs! So BE SURE TO CHECK before ordering FZ keys...which appear to be modifiable to work. I had 2/2 success pulling weights out so far. Heat with hair dryer.:-). Check for stock. $5 each for all but end (prime) key is $12 when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Casio FZ-1 Probably fits CZ-1 also as they are velocity sensitive. Possibly can be modified it appears to use this key for other CZ full size units by shaving the contact 'bumpers' off and replacing them with a rubber foot or something of the same thickness at the right spot to push down the contact on these non-velocity sensetive models. PRICE: $8 each, $16 for end key. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below! And here's a link to someone's nicely done Replacement instructions!

Early Crumar See service pic in DS-1/2 page for metal part of keys on that unit. They have the spring at the rear like the Orchestrator. These tops are also used I see in the Crumar Stringman, Multiman, Roadrunner, and Orchestrator and appear to be near identical (in the plastic part) to SOME ARP solina as well. I would guess MOST of the old Crumars use the same tops. When ordering just let me know if the spring is on the end or more towards the middle.. The early ones like Stringman and Multiman though have springs that use a plastic washer and they are more in the middle of the metal frame rather than on the end. These are kind of similar to Pratt-Read but they use glue instead of a screw to hold this top on the metal. $10 each for whatever we can get to you that will work. Again write and let's make sure we have a photo match. $20 for end ones if available. Ordering Instructions and if you need bushings the pratt read ones at the bottom of page can be modified to work if we run out of originals which are .50 each in good used shape for now!

Elka Rhapsody 490 variation of many EP keys (crumar roadrunner etc.). I do not have this key, only scrap EP's

Elka Rhapsody 610 variation of many EP keys (crumar roadrunner etc.). I do not have this key, only scrap EP's

Mirage1 These are in the Ensoniq Mirage DSK-8 (metal case) (Link to Syntaur; thanks guys for making these available!) I have the bushings for these Pratt Read variations below.

Early Ensoniq These are in the Ensoniq Mirage DSK-1 (plastic case), ESQ-1, E-Mu EMAX and EMAX II. Ensoniq SQ1(+) and Crumar Bit-One. Similar to some Siel DK Keys below except weighted. I have a scrap ESQ-1 metal case unit (display gone already, other parts available!). Keys $7 each and 12 for top C. Write to check stock. Ordering Instructions.

Later Ensoniq are in the ASR-10, EPS, EPS-16 Plus, SD-1, SQ-80, TS-10, VFX, VFX-sd. These appear to be yet another rendition of the keys used in Korg CX3's and Kawai K5000. Did Fatar make 'em? (Link to Syntaur)

Early Fatar These are in the Crumar Performer to at least the Trilogy and also some Siel like the Cruise, Orchestra 1 and Orchestra 2, OR-400 and ARP Quartet and SCI Prelude and Fugue version of the same. As well as JEN SX-1000 at least. Note metal clip that spring hangs from that slides in from top of that back piece. $10 each, $20 for end when available. Ordering Instructions.

Early 80's Mini Fatar These are in the Siel DK-70. Functionally same as Roland E35 types. The front is a short 'waterfall' on the Siel where the E35 key below has a 'lip' then a few mm of drop below that. In a pinch they can be substituted with that cosmetic variation. Also the DK-70 uses a spring contact and a plastic extension exists below the 'loop' that limits the travel around the rubber bushing on the key bed. A contact guide is installed on the plastic extension. So to use the more modern keys for DK70 one would have to plastic weld a piece on there. $6 each or $12 for end when available. Ordering Instructions.

Early 80's Fatar Near same as Siel DK600, DK700, DK80, Crumar Bit99 and Ensoniq ESQ-1. Elka EK-44 uses this key shown by an esq1 key for comparison. I don't think back plunger does anything so removing that allows key fit. Add weight in front to total 40g for same feel. NOTE: Noticeably browner 'black' keys on DK80 than DK600. I don't have the brownish for sale. Paint the black. $7 each or $14 for end when available. Ordering Instructions.

Alesis QS6 keys above except 1) The weight is in the very front instead of in front of the bushing skirt. 2) There is a skirt in front on the white keys that starts angling down at the wider part of the key, rather than angling up to a narrow front. I have these keys but inquire always to be sure. $8 each and $15 for end ones while they last. Ordering Instructions.

Farfisa Professional- We now have the dark grey and white reverse Farfisa keys used PRICE: $12.00 for non-blem ones each (May have a 'deal' in a key you can get by with or do minor touch up on etc. unit was beat)

Fender Rhodes Chroma (not Polaris.. it takes Korg DS8 type keys below) - Arti has a set of these for sale! Deal with him if you need them! Write Arti

Kawai K3 Also used in SCI Prophet VS. Identical to Korg Lambda key with weights. Remove the weights and they work in AX80 and Lambda etc. but very difficult to do (unless you patiently fill key with water and drill with it on non-abrasive surface til the metal is mostly gone. lol). Check Kawai and let me know if they have no stock. These are often hard to find keys and I have working machines that could use them some day but if you can't find one let me know and we'll figure some price maybe. Photo courtesy Kawai. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Kawai K5 Similar to K3 but different. Photo courtesy Kawai. They have replacements.

Kawai K5000 keys are also used in Quasimidi Raven, and possibly Cyber6. I see that the Nord Electro also uses a very similar key. and again Korg CX3 key with a different key weight area cover. photo courtesy of Ivan Schwartz See Kawai for replacements if I'm out but currently I have stock of 1 ea. of the keys new. $7 ea. $12 for C prime (top) See Ordering Instructions.

Korg EPS-1 uses this variation of the poly type panasonic key. As you see they are taller and lack the 'features', and rather are more flat on bottom. I don't currently have any of these and not sure what else uses them.(Photo by Ken Andrews)

Early Korg keys come in two minor variations and one incompatible one and are used in 700/K-1, 700S, 800DV, 770, PE-1000, PE-2000, M500, PS series, MS-10, MS-20 and Sigma. Also see later Moog synths above. Teisco SX-400, 100P, 100F, 110F, 60F and others? The early keys used in my Korg 700 are about a mm or so shorter than some ones I've seen So hey you can always file some off like someone did. But recently we noticed some are 139mm from back to black key 'cut'. Others 141mm and also are 15mm tall instead of 13mm. Skirt is flat on these, rather than having angled to sharp point or slightly angled sides (The main variation in the otherwise compatible ones; tolerating or sanding the sub mm length variations). The older ones have the key type STAMPED BY HAND it almost appears and the newer versions are identified in the molding process w/a sharper 'font'. Check for stock. Price $9.00 each except C, F, A, D and G are 14.00 and $22.00 end ones when available. Ordering Instructions. Also the late Kevin Lightener bought Fred McNiff's stock though he is out of some types (Synthfool.com). Photo courtesy of Mattias Moller.

Korg CX3- NEW VERSION. Not aware of anything else that it fits exactly. K5000, Quasimidi Raven/Cyber6, Nord Electro and some Ensoniq are same except weight part which can often be modified with dremel tool etc. See below for pricing. Check for stock (black n/a at the moment) $4.00 each Ordering Instructions.

Korg DS8 keys are used in DP-80 (and perhaps other Korg DP2000 and DP3000?), Fender Chroma Polaris, Kawai K1, K1 II, K4 and K11. Also E-mu Emulator II I'm told and Akai AX73 uses unweighted version. $5 each for white ones except the rare top key $12 if we can find one. Blacks are $7 each. Ordering Instructions.

Korg DSS-1 keys. Used also in DW8000 and some EARLY DW6000's. Check stock. PRICE: $7 each and end $14 ea. Ordering Instructions.

Late 70's Korg keys for Delta, Lambda Trident and old CX3/BX3. With minor modification these also may be used in Akai AX80/Matrix 6/12 and these can always be subbed in for Lambda etc. Check for stock. Price $8 ea for black, $10 each white except D, G and A are currently unavailable and 24$ for end for types that use it when available (lambda has no prime wide top key) Ordering Instructions.

Korg M3 keys are shared by Korg Kronos 61 and Kronos X61, Hammond XB2 and probably other Suzuki hammon products. Also some technics keyboards have them. I have all keys at 7.00 each and 14.00 for top C prime. Ordering Instructions

Korg Poly keys fit MonoPoly, PolySix, Poly61, Poly800, RK-100, Kawai SX-210/240, and MemoryMoog, and Oberheim OB-8 (OB8) after first few I hear which still used Pratt-Read. Some SCI Six Trak also use this key at least. They may have changed production at some point since I had SixTrak listed with MultiTrak keys below. (The Akai AX60 and later SCI are nearly identical and can be substituted in a pinch with some modification I'm told) The DS-8 above is weighted and has a slightly shorter and narrower hook (the poly one actually sticks out sideways at the bottom causing it to interfere with certain situations I'm told). Check stock. $5 each except A is $7 and $18.00 for prime end key when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Korg X3 keys. Appears identical to Yamaha Ridged keys below. However recipient of some of these tells me he had to do a slight mod with xacto knife to make springs set in deeper. When back end cracks I've gotten by super gluing the pieces back together and searing the edges of the crack with a hot soldering iron though. See Yamaha ridged keys below.

Triton LE- keys are also used in N264, N364, Prophecy, Karma, Oberheim OB-12 and Waldorf MicroQ I'm told. Adaptable to Ensoniq Fizmo, SQ2, MR61, ALesis QS4 QS6 and QS7 and Peavey DPM2, DPM3, DPM3SE, DPMSi, and DPM4 with addition of weight THOUGH see Peavey DPM-SI keys for precise match. All in stock. $4.00 each (quantity discount) $6 for prime C key. Ordering Instructions.

Kurzweil K1000 keys have a similar design to the Crumar Performer in the metal clip used to hold the spring, but as you can see a weighted key of different design in other places. The K1200pro has the SAME KEY it appears...but uses a spring that hooks into the top hole instead of the spring/clip combination of the K1000 unit. It was sprung lighter which really annoyed me since double triggers would occur in my style of play, and I adjusted the springs...all 88..to my specs! It's been my main controller ever since. No idea where to get replacements for either of these. Hate to scrap such great sounding and usually repairable instruments to get keys.

Later Moog are used in Prodigy, Source, Rogue, Liberation, MG-1 and Opus-3. These are the same as the Korg PS, MS, and Sigma below in design. Check for stock. Price $9.00 each except C, F,are 14.00, A, D and G are 18 and $22.00 end ones when available. Also in a pinch I can fab a few from keys that had a taller profile, shorter front slightly and fatter hinges. I did a few and they look great on top. Ordering Instructions. Also Kevin LIghtener bought Fred's stock (Synthfool.com). Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Memorymoog keys are same in design as Korg Poly keys. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Oberheim Matrix 6 is the same as Akai AX80 so click that link. (Thanks Martin Weetman for that photo)

Peavey DPM SI Also fits Kurzweil K2000, Ensoniq Fizmo, SQ2, ALesis Quadrasynth QS4 QS6.x QS7.x and A6 Andromeda, Peavey DPM2, DPM3, DPM3SE, DPMSi, and DPM4. This key is very similar to Triton LE except it has a weight and a cut out in back to stick a screwdriver in to release the plastic 'catch' so that the back of the key can lift up. Check for stock. $7 each, $15 for prime (end) keys when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Early Roland SH-1000(2nd version**), SH-1, SH-3(a), SH-5, JP-4, and probably ProMars take these. F Key #106-015 to Black key #106-023. Many early manuals only give number for the entire keyboard's they used. From those numbers (which only have suffix differences) and the fact that it is unlikely Roland would have introduced a new key for such similar products, I'd guess all the early ones take the same keys**. However the 2000 had after touch so, who knows! (** The earliest SH-1000's had a slightly different key design but the white's are compatable it appears but the blacks are not! ALso there were different springs for the black keys and all springs are the same on the later SH-1000's. ) Check stock. $9 each (quantity discount) and $22 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions.

Roland early 80's are in SH-101, Jupiter-8 JUNO-60, JUNO-6 and VP-330. Very minor difference to the keys used in Juno-106 in that 106 keys have less contact area where the 'webbing' of plastic is underneath towards the rear center. These APPEAR from drawing in manual to be IDENTICAL to the keys for JX-10 below, which are weighted. (I've tried to remove weights on the S-10 keys. Impossible on whites without a slow milling process. On blacks you can drill the lead out until it's so weak that you can remove it if you are good with a drill. SO in a pinch that's your options. ) Part #'s sequential ending on black key 106H032. Check stock. PRICE: $7 ea., $5 ea. for black keys and $15 for end keys when available Ordering Instructions.

Roland early-mid 80's I have confirmed that at least JUNO-106/HS-60, Jupiter 6, Alpha Juno 1, W-30, D-10, D-20, HS-10, EP-11/piano plus 11, VK-1 and some JX-8P take these. (Some JX8P have keyweights. Always specify if your JX8P has weights or not. ) Part #22575140 for black key. Part #'s are always in a sequential order, like C/F key ends 136, according to service manual. Originally Juno keys it appears lack the understructure to support hitting of the second contact. So you can NOT take these keys and put them in a JX-8P without retroing them to create a flat surface extending further back underneath. At some point Roland likely began supplying only the JX-8P key for both synths. I've never tried them in the earlier yet units. But wait, it gets worse than that. A customer is requesting keys today who has a JX-8P with weighted keys! The type below should sub in fine for these though they have more understructure than needed. Check stock. PRICE: $7 ea. for white keys, $5 for black keys, and $18 for HIGH C (aka prime) keys when available. ALSO I have a limited number of Black, A, C/F and B/E new keys for $12 each while they last. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland mid-late 80's are used in D-50, JX-10, S-10, and maybe EP-6060. #22575212 for black key. (Weight for Black key is 25g, G or A is 29.1g, E/B or C/F is 29.3g, while D is 31g). The KR-33 and WEIGHTED version of the JX-8P (metal contacts) take a key that is identical save a slightly heavier weight (Add 8.1g for white keys and REMOVE 1.8g for black keys. Go figure! I've cut lead sheeting and used RV goop to hold it in on top of the other weights. So check before ordering for JX8P which version you have! ) Also HP-60 and HP-70 use similar but older part number so til I weight one, not sure which they're closest to. Check stock. Price: $7 ea. and $16 for prime (end) when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland Later 80's weighted- The U-20, JD-800, D-70, Model 660, Model 760, KR-55, and KR-500. Part #22575261 on U20 for black key. I'm informed that these are very similar to others in design except they use some horrible epoxe that melted down in certain conditions often ruining things. Check for pink/red epoxe. I've never tried to fix..but it could be some adhesive that doesn't react could cover over the problem. These also had a guide bushing issue which Roland issued an extended one to fix. Check stock. $6 ea. and $12.00 for C' (top) Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland Later 80's unweighted- D-5, EP-3, EP-5 is same key as above w/out weight. Check for stock. Price: $5 each, $10 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland weighted 90's- AT-50, AT-70, JV-80, JV-1000, XP-30, XP-60, XP-80, VK-1000. These also suffered some of the bad epoxe episode. Check for the pink/red epoxe. Check stock. Price: $7 each, $16.00 for prime when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland unweighted 90's- (same as pic above but without weight) These are used in the JX-1, JX-305, SK-88pro, JV-30, JV-35, JV-50, JV90, XP-50 and JW-50 it appears at least. JV-90 was errantly included in Roland's weight fall bulletin. Pay no attention because these keys have no weights. Check for stock. Price: $6 each, $14 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Roland yoke hinge- These are used in the JP8000, XP-10. The VK-7 and VK77 is a weighted version of the same so you can always melt out the weight on a broken key and transfer it to one of these. Black keys are same as U20 etc. above. Check stock. Price $6 ea. Ordering Instructions.

Roland Skirted A- EP-7, PT-8, PT-1000, These also suffered some of the bad epoxe episode. Check for the pink/red epoxe. Check for stock. $5 and $12 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions.

Roland Skirted B- AT-30, AT-80, AT-90, EP-9, KR-350, KR-650, also suffered from the red epoxe syndrome. Improved epoxe in AT's with "R" suffix and VK-77. Photo anyone? I believe I have a D for sale here only. (Well and black ones since they are the same I believe as JV90 etc...the 'weighted 90's above. The skirting is the only difference on these.) Check fot stock. Price: $7 ea.Ordering Instructions.

Roland E35 ~5.8" long Fatar mfg. Also fits Roland E-14, E-16, E-28, E-35, E-68, E-300 Replacement KeyAX-1, AX-7, PC-200 MkII, Clavia Nord lead 2x and Quasimidi Sirius and are functionally identical to Korg I series and X5, X5-D X5D, and MS2000, and Alesis Ion. Also Korg Kontrol 49, Alesis Proton use a very similar key that has a whiter color and a contact actuator that extends further. These are also nearly identical to Siel DK70 except without extension to hold spring actuator. Check for stock. Price: $5 ea. (quantity discount) $12 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? I do have some unused contact strips from AX-7! Also Check the good news below!

Roland RD250- Also fits KR-4700, MK-80 and MK-60. New Black keys only. $8 ea. White keys, if I have them, 18.00 each used/polished. Only have 1 C, A and F now it appears.

SCI MultiTrak- These are identical to Akai AX60, Korg DW-6000 and Akai X7000, and are used in Prophet 600 and newer Sequentials Circuits units it appears and also compatable with Korg Poly6/61. Note a slight but insignificant variation, at least when swapping keys into the Korg. I haven't tried it the other way but am sure it probably works fine. FIts all later SCI units except I have a SixTrak here with the earlier polysix keys which are nearly identical. P600 probably also has two key versions and T8 uses wood keys. VS uses Kawai K3 key. Check for stock. Price A key is $7, others $6 each and $18 for end key when available. Ordering Instructions. Trouble with bad key contacts? Check the good news below!

Early Yamaha synth keys are found in the SY-1 and 2, CS-10, CS-30, CS-50, CS-60, and SS30. Check for price and stock. Price $9 ea. $20 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions.

Later Yamaha synth keys are found in the CS-5, CS-15, CS20M, CS-40M, CS-70M, CE20, and the SK series probably as the SK-20 has them. Also DX21, DX27. Check for stock. PRICE: new- $10 ea. if available good used- $7 ea. $14 for END/prime key Ordering Instructions.

Yamaha Mini keys - used in CS-01 (CS01) and DX100 (DX-100) and I don't know what else. Part numbers from yamaha are CB040400 = B, CB040410 = C, CB040420 = D, CB040430 = E, CB040470 = F, CB040480 = G, CB040490 = A, CB040440 = C' or F', CB040450 = blk. Please just let me know the actual key you want (eg. F) when you order. C' is the wider key always on the top usually on most keyboards. Some have F' on these I guess. Not sure which models. Check for stock. Price $4 ea. $10 prime key when available. Ordering Instructions.

Yamaha DX7 keys are also in SY85, SY77, SY99, EX5, PF10, KX76, ES6, ES7 and Motif7 (and others that have semi-weighted keys). Korg M1, WS, 01/W, Trinity, Prophecy, and Triton except for LE and 88key also use a key that can be interchanged. Probably other boards as well. Let me know if you use one that has these that isn't listed.(PS. Yamaha still has KX88 keys) In stock. Price $7 ea. $10 for prime key when available. Ordering Instructions.

Yamaha Ridged press long contact strips rather than discrete key switches. Used in the DX11, DS-55, SY22, SY35, SY55, V50, EX7 and AN1x. S-30 appears identical but it's NOT in mine I see. I had to modify using a soldering iron underneath to 1) melt the forward spring hold forward 2) melt away some of the support for the rear spring holder (you'll see what I mean...it's recessed on the S30 and flush on the keys I have here.) PN on S30 is VL570x00 where 'x' starts as 0 for C/F, and walks up to 6 for black keys in the order C/F, D, B/E, G, A, C', black. Meanwhile for the keys I have here they follow the same order but with the form VA850x00. Also some combo organs and consumer electric pianos from the late 80's to early 90's like ME-6, HE-8, ME-50, U-1000, EL-50 and spring said YPR9 so possibly it also. Also PSR9000 and Korg X3. Furthermore Yamaha switched part numbers on the black keys to a near enough identical design used in the YPP15 I know. The spring angle is slightly different. The white keys for the YPP have a full length skirt in front though. They could be chopped down in a pinch I suppose. Thanks Joseph Rooney for the info/pic! Check for stock. Price $5 ea except for C/F and black keys $6 and $10 for prime (end) key when available. Ordering Instructions.

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS:


IF there is no delivery track (eg. if you are ordering something that you want sent for the minimal postage in a letter envelope, since everything else now has delivery confirm, OR if you are in a country that doesn't yet have e-delcon service for envelopes/parcels) AND if you'll be paying with paypal or other non-cash payment methods COPY/PASTE AND SIGN THIS STATEMENT into the front of your order:

"I __________________ (fill in your name) will take full responsibility for the type of shipping I select. IF I choose to not ask for/pay for registered mail or some other tracked service then I recognize there is no guarantee of deliver and will absorb the full cost of item if lost"

As of March 2014 USPS now offers E-delcon (delivery confirmation built in to First class rates!) to the following countries: Australia. Belgium. Brazil. Canada. Croatia. Denmark. France. Germany. Great Britain. Israel. Netherlands. New Zealand. Spain. Switzerland. So if you are from there or the US it's very affordable to get delivery confirmation now. OTHER countries may still want to use Registered mail at 14.00 extra usually to verify delivery.

(NOte: In cases like recently where I packed a key in evenlope and they broke the key I sent out replacement at no charge. But if it just doesn't arrive that's the postal service and it rarely happens but that's where the end user needs to take account for their choice not to pay for cost of insurance etc. It's not my job to pay for what the postal service might do. THe prices of the products on this page do not have that wrapped up in their cost. So calculate that into the cost if you want that using the USPS page or whatever type of shipping you want.)** (see graphic examples of orders gone wrong)

* SET UP YOUR ORDER: (AFTER you make sure you have FINANCES to cover it. No pre-emptive inquiries please. My mailbox gets much too cluttered. It's ok to just ask if I have a particular key so you can know if you want to buy a keyboard or whatever. Just let me know that so I'll delete your inquiry when I'm done responding or my mbox gets too cluttered. Thanks.) FILL OUT THIS FORM and EMAIL it to me at e-mail to set up an order. PLEASE PUT "PARTS ORDER" in the 'subject' of your email to me, so that it gets delivered to the right folder. Thanks.

Name: _______________________

Address: ________________________

         ________________________

         ________________________

         ________________________

Parts you are requesting: ____________________________________________________________________

(be specific. eg. "C" key not just 'white key' :-) Do you need springs?  Be sure to tell me!)
                          
Total Cost you calculate from below before shipping: $______________

I'll also add that we now have A set of Fender Rhodes 73 keys. I know there are many different ones but I'll be posting measurements when I get a chance so that you can just take a caliper and see if you have the same keys. Also We're scrapping several Farfisa and vox units. We have a wood key Jennings Continental that has keys in useable shape most of the way across. And a Clavinet movement. Farfisa VIP345, Professional Piano, Artist Piano for scrap. Most of the valuable chips were in the 345. I stock a good number of used keys and some new, all of which you can see an example of a normal white key in these images. Pricing structure is typically just sub retail for more common keys (since although they are used, all the keys are in practically new condition). Ones which are no longer commercially available however special end keys are at least 2x the price. Also more rare keys are scaled up with the value of the synth in mind.

** EVEN WITH delivery confirm these losers will let the Card company charge back and there isn't a thing they can do about it because they agreed to let them dictate I guess. (as it turned out months later I got back at least the amount Valentijn had admitted receiving. Absolute lunacy.

Please thank thieves Jack Valentijn and Mr. BOZIDAR RISTIC for messing it up for everyone. If you have to use credit card...for domestic orders just log into paypal and hit 'send money' with my sounddoctorin@gmail.com ready to paste into place! (As soon as I confirm I know you well enough and we get the prices/availability confirmed via email or phone) Otherwise money order please. Thanks. For international orders I need to have some way to establish your credibility. Sign the statement above if you aren't selecting registered mail or another tracked service.

1 strip of 75 disks - $22.00 (add 1.50 outside US **)
2 strips of 75 disks - $42.00 (add 1.50 outside US **)
3 strips of 75 disks - $57.00 (add 1.50 outside US **)
4 strips of 75 disks - $76.00 (add 1.50 outside US **)
5 strips of 75 disks - $92.00 (add 1.50 outside US **)
10 strips of 75 disks - $165.00 (add 2.00 outside US **)
20 strips of 75 disks - $310.00 (add 3.00 outside US **)

** No reasonable track option exists now international mail. It's more sane to assume risk on your end if post office fails than to pay a good fraction of the merch. value for some insurance internationally. On average you would pay near 10,000 usd for extra insure to have the privilege of using probably 30 dollars of time to get a claim processed on whatever amound of merch. got lost after 100's of shipments. It just isn't worth it. If any international person would like to become a distributor we could justify sending a large quantity insured to you but even w/ 20 strips i sent to notorious Jack Valentijn, my solution was split up into 3 lower risk envelopes; last of which he claimed didn't arrive. One other Netherlands 2 strip shipment didn't arrive it appears a few weeks ago and those are only 2 losses out of hundreds sent; and Jack acted like he was lying but not the recent guy. So judge what risks you'll take based on that data. The last thing I want is people saying they didn't get them since it saves me so much time just doing letter envelopes! Just registered has no actual track and that's 20 usd or so to get a delivery receipt!


(continued information on contact disks) YES I've managed to finally get the ultimate solution together for replacing the contacts in the common keyboards of the 80's (and to many current models) which have the rubber 'bubble' strips with the little round carbon impregnated rubber contacts in them which are pressed against open gold or carbon traces on a circuit board normally. A few years ago I seemed to be having good success using the cleaning and 'trimming' techniques discussed in my general tips section. However I ran into a polysix that ate many many hours and still wouldn't all work right! It kept reverting in a short time to contacts that would go intermittent. Very frustrated I began to contemplate a solution.

My experience with the 'conductive paint' was hit and miss. I'd seen ones I had to tear back open and hadn't really had a high degree of success. It initially would work usually. Sometimes uneven application would create problems also though. And of course there's the economic factor. If you do an entire keyboard it costs about 40.00 plus your time mixing the stuff and waiting for it to dry and hoping you don't have to redo any! (Unless you happen to have multiple keyboards that you can do within 72 hours. THen yeah I guess you can have at it and do as many as you can for 40.00 But for most techs they run into a keyboard with the problem and they just need to get it done and move on...not leave it in the stack somewhere until they have 10 of them to do :-) ) SO I engineered a much better solution.

Using a material that was originally designed for NASA, we've constructed disks that have a quality 3M adhesive backing. In my first several units which I hand cut I had a couple keys that were iffy and I simply stuck a new disk on and they were perfect. They've been in operation with customers for many months now with no complaints. THe material is much more stable appearing than the original material. And the electrical characteristics are identical pretty much. Around 200 ohms when I measure with my probes which is really excellent. It's very thin film material so you don't have to worry about the spacing from what I've seen. Near always it's about .015 to .020" so about a factor of 10 clearance!

I've also tried this on the Peavey DPM3SE and it worked great! You need twice as many disks of course since there are two per key on velocity sensetive units. The Kawai K1, K4, Korg DS8, Chroma Polaris and Kurzweil K1000/1200 and some others I think use concentric ring contacts. One could use the disk on the middle contact but it will obviously affect velocity scaling so..not recommended unless you want to do that. We may create a die to cut the outer ring part eventually if demand is sufficient. However I've usually been able to clean these and they just work so it's not a real priority I don't think. But the Peavey DPM2, DPM 3(SE), DPM SI, and Kurzweil K2000 use the side by side contacts so two disks for those will get you back in good shape! And they do fail sometimes so this is good news.

Most commonly we see failures on the Korg Polysix, Poly 61, Poly61M, DW6000, Memorymoog, Oberheim OB8 OB-8, Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, but also Six-Trak, Split-8 (Pro-8) (and ..I can't recall what the setup is on Multi-trak since it's velocity sensetive and I haven't seen failures on those anyway), Possibly MAX also uses those contacts and were all made by Panasonic I believe. Oh and the Akai AX60, AX73, AX80, VX600 probably and X7000 I believe all have this type also. The Roland Juno 106, JX3P, JX8P, JX10, Alpha Juno 1 and Juno 2, D50, D10, D20, D5, U20, JD800, and probably a bunch of other ROland products have compatible contacts with these disks also! Most Yamaha products either use the metal contacts like the DX7 which also many Korgs from M1 on use. But also many Yamaha's use contact strips that are just one long hemisphere of conductive film or something. I haven't tried using the disks on this. Not sure how well they'd stick since it's not a flat surface. But I'll likely try it at some point since some of these fail and I haven't found a good solution. Some like DX100 are totally unavailable replacement parts. So it'd be worth a shot. Maybe somebody else can try that and let me know.

INSTALLATION IS EASY! (Easier now. Here is a really well done Installation PDF done by Alexander Odden! OR this Installation Video!. FIRST PREP the surface of the old contact. Get any micro debris off etc. I recommend rubbing with acetone as I note in the video if there is any doubt about the cleanliness of the surface. A little on a cotton swab and just scrub til there is a little black on the swab. Then just take a sharp blade/ scalpal preferrably and carefully get the adhesive sticking on the edge of it. Then lay the new disk where you need it on the old contacts and carefully with a clean fingernail tag it down. It can be a bit of a challenge at first and occasionally a disk will go sailing like a frisbee if you handle it wrong :-). I'm about to do yet another polysix with them. My own Mono/Poly also needs a few done (update, it's been working great!), my P600 (update, this is the only machine anyone's heard of so far that has continuing problems with two keys. It's something with the contact board i believe...I have to tap them every time and then it's fine! grrr! Cobler's shoe syndrome. lol) , my Memorymoog, poly61M (update it's worked beautifully!), and even the Kawai SX210 I think has one that is going (and AX60 I see). Did I mention that I'm happy to finally get something that will fix all this stuff the right way!!? :-) Just use Ordering Instructionsfor keys above and ignore the shipping amounts.

WARNING: If you have trouble with contacts not working after installation it might be what I experienced tonight. I could see nothing whatsoever visually wrong with the gold contacts on a polysix. But the whole lower half save a few notes didn't work *at all* after installing new contacts. Everything was in tolerence so I just figured I had to scrub the gold with breath and paper towel. That eventually did the trick. Some..film I guess was on that half of the keyboard. Those were the ones that were worst before I put in the contacts. Hmm. Works great now anyway.

Here's a testimonial about the switches for the Roland JUNO-60 synth which can be taken apart and resurfaced!

Steve Hanker Said:

Just wanted to let you know the contacts arrived today and worked perfectly in my Juno 60. Thanks a lot! Hope this helps you add some information about these being compatible with Juno 60s on your site. I'll be in touch again if I or a friend is having similar synth issues.

Take care!

----------------------

Here's a testimonial from Vince Ferragamo who used these on his '84 BUick remote control.

W O W did they work great. It took me about 5 minutes to place those pads in the remote Their size was exact perfect. In fact it took me more time to walk out to the Buick. Worked perfect. Maybe you should make a video " re-do auto remotes." If you don't make a video just mention it in one of your other videos. You can't buy a new remote for a 94 Buick. You made my day.

Thanks again

Vince





Problem with contact disks on gold contacts?

(update 4/14/2018)

I worked over a poly61 the other day that had a TERRIBLE issue initially. IT went from a few keys not working/ working intermittently to like 12 working ok when I installed contact disks. I saw the first few could be made to work well by putting a little spacing as I've seen but then it got ridiculous where I was having to put too much and so I went with the other thing we do on gold contacts and got some GREAT DATA THIS TIME! I'd just never seen one with that many bad! So 1500 grit sandpaper..about 10 swirls on each contact. Perfect. So apparently what is happening is, the carbonized original silicon rubber surface plates out something invisible that doesn't easily wipe off and it's dissimilar in some way to the nasa contact material! Glad to finally confirm this with like 40 some problem keys that all worked like new with 10 swirls with the super fine paper. A few less with 1200 probably but I wouldn't go any coarser than that.