Kronos 88 and RH3 keyboard faulty

mathieumaes · Post by **mathieumaes** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 3:11 pm

I had an issue with the keybed of my Yamaha S90 after a few years of use (5 or so), it started to get faulty keys that went down much lower then the other keys.

It didn't bother me, but when I took my piano to a service center because of a broken power supply, this Yamaha-guy told me it was a production error and Yamaha offered a free replacement, even after the warranty period had passed.

My Kronos 88 doesn't have the problems described in this thread currently, but I hope Korg will have a similar policy in case the current keybed starts acting up in the future ... Just a thought!

KevinH · Post by **KevinH** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:03 pm

PianoManChuck wrote:
KevinH wrote:Did they mention how we can tell if the Kronos we're purchasing has the new keybed?
Interesting point... no, that wasn't mentioned. But chances are if you bought one right now, its the "current" (not the updated) keybed... and if it has the problem, its probably faster to take it to a service center and get it fixed than waiting for production/inventory to "catch up" to the point where you'd be purchasing one with the new keybed/software update. Most places you'd purchase a Kronos from have current stock to unload.

I see in the RH3 Keybed Fix Thread that it gets updated to OS version 1.5.2. So, I would assume that a quick check of the OS version at the store would let us know if we're buying a Kronos with the new keybed.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:13 pm

PianoManChuck wrote:
KevinH wrote:Did they mention how we can tell if the Kronos we're purchasing has the new keybed?
Interesting point... no, that wasn't mentioned. But chances are if you bought one right now, its the "current" (not the updated) keybed... and if it has the problem, its probably faster to take it to a service center and get it fixed than waiting for production/inventory to "catch up" to the point where you'd be purchasing one with the new keybed/software update. Most places you'd purchase a Kronos from have current stock to unload.

the key words is ' if it has the problem, '

Since this defect is publicized/known for a few months, any company, Korg included, should know where there defective boards are and should not leave them on the retail market place.

Since it has been a few months, I would find it ludicrous that any company is still waiting around , to see if customers will discover and complain they have a defective product.

DZarob · Post by **DZarob** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:58 pm

Getting my Kronos 73 back tonight with the replacement keybed installed. Will update the main keybed fix thread after..

My tech showed me a difference between the keybeds.

On the old keybed, there is a white part that hits the pink contact on every key.

On the new keybed, the white part was replaced with a bigger black part. It seems to cover a wider area of the pink contact below (which by the way appears to be the same).

Also he said the part number for the new keybed is exactly the same as the old keybed, except there is a letter P after the part number...

Anyway just wanted to share. Again I will update the keybed fix thread later today or tomorrow.

Bruce Lychee · Post by **Bruce Lychee** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:22 pm

Thanks for the info. The fact that the new keyboard has a new component and OS, coupled with the fact that some people, including myself, only experienced the issue after some period of time, should make it really clear to existing RH3 owners... Get your boards updated before the warranty expires. Does anyone really want to be left with the design that Korg felt the need to change?

Korg should really be handling this as a recall.

DZarob · Post by **DZarob** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:23 pm

Oh and by the way, it's still an RH3 series board. There is even an RH3 sticker on the new board.

aron · Post by **aron** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:15 pm

Korg should really be handling this as a recall.

Maybe they will when they have enough in stock.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:23 pm

aron wrote:
Korg should really be handling this as a recall.
Maybe they will when they have enough in stock.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Rich did say, that only keyboards showing the problem will be fixed. It would be fair though to extend the guarantee further for the keybed, like Yamaha has done in a similar case. But this is up to Korg of course.

EnjoyRC · Post by **EnjoyRC** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:33 pm

You would think that Korg would know the serial number range of units that could potentially exhibit the issue. My Kronos 88 is #99.

xtatty · Post by **xtatty** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:02 pm

I address the ones that have their keybed changed or have it in the service waiting to be repaired...

Can you please tell us witch country you're from?
I'm asking, because here in Greece, the technician told me that i must wait until the end of February to have my Kronos fixed?

Is anybody else from Europe that had his fixed?

DZarob · Post by **DZarob** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:23 pm

USA, Chicago, IL area. Getting repaired today.

aron · Post by **aron** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:35 pm

Other manufacturers have had this type of problem before. Yamaha with their P80 keybed and Roland with the JD800 glue problem. How did Roland handle this? Yamaha should have fixed their CS6X keybed problem too. I don't like random high notes appearing when you play grace notes!!!!

EnjoyRC · Post by **EnjoyRC** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:12 am

xtatty wrote:Can you please tell us witch country you're from?

USA, Missouri, St. Louis area. Should be ready tomorrow, or Friday. (Keyboard and Memory)

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:28 pm

EnjoyRC wrote:
xtatty wrote:Can you please tell us witch country you're from?
USA, Missouri, St. Louis area. Should be ready tomorrow, or Friday. (Keyboard and Memory)

I'm from Finland (Europe), and picking up my Kronos tomorrow. The keybed is exchanged and there were very clear differences between the old keybed and the new. My technician has tried it, and couldn't reproduce the cut off notes- issue. So my hopes are high!

BTW, Finland received 2 new keybeds last week. The first one found it's way into my Kronos, the second was damanged on arrival. It seems, that replacement parts are very sparse.

Sina172 · Post by **Sina172** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:18 pm

I wanna say one thing on this thread, with regards to the new KRONOS keybed I played at NAMM. It feels a LOT better than my 2 88's which use the older keybed.

I think I'm gonna take them in just to have the newer keybed. It feels completely different than the old one and now that I look at my 88's, I'm starting to see some slight uneven spaces that I haven't noticed before playing the new keybeds at NAMM.

I already have 4GB in each one. Took them to the shop immediately after the 1.5 update. And that RAM was NOT cheap!

I paid about $200 for each one plus another $150 for labor. I got what I wanted in the end, so I'm happy. But $200 for a 4GB RAM module is pretty steep, considering how cheap 4GB RAM is in the computer world. The wonderful difference between the MI industry and computer industry. If it wasn't for the MI pricing structure, KRONOS would cost less than half of what it does now, because the computer components inside it total less than $1000.

But due to all the R&D they put into these keyboards and the fact that the MI industry has to purchase the parts in mass quantities, the only way they can make money is by charging 2-3 times the retail price for each computer component they need. You add ONE thing to a product design that costs $10 more for the add on, the retail price goes up by $100. It's no wonder why my RAM cost me $200 instead of $60.

Martin Hines knows a lot more about this than I do, but this what I've learned over the years.

And again, the new keybeds are really a joy to play on. They feel much smoother and are just much more playable than the previous ones.

And Rich told me that they come from Japan directly.

Sina