Korg Forums

Will these contacts work n a K61?

I,m just asking, are the keyrubbers in the new Kronos of better quality ?
Because i wanted to buy a kronos X88 model 2.
And if iTS so that this rubbers must changed every two three years, i,m not going to buy.Sadley.

I service keyboards for a living. Rubber contacts are in EVERYTHING. There is not one keyboard made that doesn't use rubber contacts. The last metal contact keyboard was the Motif ES6/7. There are some very few exotic products that use light/photo cell keying but not in any keyboard.

The metal contact system used by Yamaha was probably the best system made. Robust, serviceable and very long lasting. Think DX-7.

The change to rubber was a cost decision. One of the more expensive parts in a keyboard product is the keybed. If everyone used the Yamaha keybed of old, then there wouldn't be any issue as far as competition goes and we would all be paying a littler more. (count me as one who would gladly pay more for that) Once someone figures out how to make the keybed cheaper, (rubber contacts) then everyone else has to to stay competitive.

I just replaced the rubber contacts in an old Kurzweil Mark 10...for the third time! The owner loves the MK 10 and gladly pays to have it repaired. The good thing is once you replace them, it's just like new again.

How fast they wear is a direct relation to how hard and how much it's played. Last night I was recording a click track in real time. I was thinking, great, I'm going to wear out the low C contact right here!

Geo

The Korg M1 and Wavestation / Wavestation EX both had metal contacts that don't have to bend much and are still going strong, after all these years.

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voip wrote:The Korg M1 and Wavestation / Wavestation EX both had metal contacts that don't have to bend much and are still going strong, after all these years.

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Those were Yamaha keybeds. Same for Triton and others. Korg used Yamaha keybeds for years.

Geo

geoelectro wrote:

voip wrote:The Korg M1 and Wavestation / Wavestation EX both had metal contacts that don't have to bend much and are still going strong, after all these years.

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Those were Yamaha keybeds. Same for Triton and others. Korg used Yamaha keybeds for years.

Geo

Absolutely, Korg used Yamaha's FS keybed in all top of the line synths from the M1 to the Oasys (M1, T series, 01W series, Trinity, Tritons, I series, Wavestation and Oasys 76).
To me it is, and always will be the best keybed system ever designed, both in feel and construction quality. All my old Korgs are still going strong after more than 20 years of constant playing. All it needed was a key guide clean up and relube, and its new again

I hate those rubber contacts. I had them in my CS6X and right in the middle of a ballad it would shoot out velocity 127! Also shot out some random notes too if I was (un)lucky.

I didn't realize all the keyboards have rubber contacts now.
That totally sucks.

I mean, with my Kross, I expect it, but I didn't think the Kronos had it as well. Thanks for the info.

aron wrote:I hate those rubber contacts. I had them in my CS6X and right in the middle of a ballad it would shoot out velocity 127! Also shot out some random notes too if I was (un)lucky.

I didn't realize all the keyboards have rubber contacts now.
That totally sucks.

I mean, with my Kross, I expect it, but I didn't think the Kronos had it as well. Thanks for the info.

Ooo I know very well what you mean mate, that happened to me all the time with the digital pianos and it was a pain
However the rubber contacts have always been a standard in modern digital keyboards all the way since the late 80's, with exception of high end Yamahas and Korgs untill mid 2000's.
It have been a standard in every 88 weighted action keybeds too. The only exception to that was the T1 and 01W ProX that had Yamaha's weighted action keybeds with a version of the FS action keybeds with the same metal contacts, and that lasted forever. The Yamaha FS keybeds have always been the high end exception in connection and quality. But like everything these days, the current rubber contact boards have little to do with the first ones quality wise, materials tend to be cheapened out as years progress to reduce costs and increase profits. Early rubber contacts would last 2 or 3 times longer than anything made today

I read recently that Fatar introduced the rubber contact in 1990. However, Lowrey Organs were using them in the mid eighties with their Genuis series. Those contacts were bad and haven't been available for many years. Oberheim used them in the Matrix 12 as well as the later production OB-8 when it switched to a Panasonic keybed.

Geo