Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:27:25 -0400, Meat Plow
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:12:42 +1000, Sylvia Else
wrote:

The sustaining pedal on my Yamaha electronic piano is become rather
flaky. Sometimes it doesn't sustain when pressed.

Which Yamaha model piano? Most Yamaha pedal mechanisms made in the
last 20 years have been optical, not mechanical. For example:
http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail.html?CNTID=5037157
"# Interference-free optical key, and pedal sensors"

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetailPF.html?CNTID=1379&CTID=202200&LG FL=Y
"Sustain and shift pedals are equipped with continuous-position
digital optical sensors"

So I disassembled the piano enough to get at the mechanism, (removed 12
screws, and 6 bolts), and was rather surprised to see that the business
end consists of a potentiometre.

Ummm... thanks for not calling it a rheostat.

Why on Earth would I do that?


I'm not really surprised that it's failing. In fact, the surprise is
that it's lasted so long. When a piano is played, the sustaining pedal
is in constant use. I can't help feeling potentiometres were never
designed with that kind of use in mind.

The design seems rather primitive.

Sylvia.

Probably just needs a good cleaning. I own an old Yamy pedal. Used it
with my Kawai keyboard for decades.


This FC-4 piano pedal?
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-FC4-Piano-Style-Pedal/dp/B0002F52EW

It's the sustaining pedal on a 7 year old CLP-970. The sensor looks for
all the world like a pot.


If so, I also have one. The one I've been using on my Korg DSS-1 has
lasted about 15 year so far. I haven't had to tear it apart yet, so I
don't know if it's optical or a pot.

However, I do have one problem with the FC-4. Despite the anti-slip
rubber tread on the bottom, it still manages to slip around the
carpet. I keep wanting to bolt it to a piece of plywood, but never
have bothered.


Fortunately, the CLP-970 is heavy enough to require two people to lift,
so there's no problem of its moving around.

Sylvia.