Hello, I’m hoping someone can give me some expert (perhaps inside) information here…

My old S90 is still going strong in every way but, perhaps, the most important, i.e. the action seems to have gone completely to hell. I can’t get through a set, much less a night, without having to manually lift sluggish keys back to their home position so that they can be re-struck.

I’ve tried all I know to try to get the board playable again; cleaned the keys and keybed, re-greased the (I think) original lube points (with white lithium grease, not the original grease)… I’ve swapped keys from the middle register (where I have the most problems) with keys from the top octave.

My technician checked my serial number with Yamaha and my unit is not eligible for a free keybed replacement, and Yamaha quoted me a new keybed at roughly $800 plus shipping.

I’ve scoured Google search returns and have found dozens of similar issues (but no solutions beyond what I’ve already done)… it seems like these keybeds just give up after a few years of use.

The heck of it is, my old S90 is still perfectly serviceable in every other way. The S700 piano is, in my experience, pretty much the best in the market and augmented with a Nord Electro and a Fantom rack sampler, I really don’t need more sound than the S90 produces. It’d truly be a shame to have to junk a great-sounding $2,500 instrument after eight years of use and even if I had another $2,500 to lay out for an XS, I don’t think I would, given that I’d probably wind up with the same (albiet new) keybed and would be facing the same problems again in a few years.

So… does anyone know if these actions can be reconditioned/fixed and if so, how? This seems to be a common enough problem that someone in the service (or manufacturing) trade should be able to tell me how the actions most often fail and suggest a service procedure/parts replacement…

...anyone?

Sorry, where in the world are you located?

I’m in Dallas, TX.

Anyone?

i used to have an s09 and had a sticking e key.  called yamaha and turned out they had a recall on the pad.  They repaired it no charge, and that is one reason because of such great service i went on to buy an motif xs8 AND and s90xs

i used to have an s09 and had a sticking e key.  called yamaha and turned out they had a recall on the pad.  They repaired it no charge, and that is one reason because of such great service i went on to buy an motif xs8 AND and s90xs

i used to have an s09 and had a sticking e key.  called yamaha and turned out they had a recall on the pad.  They repaired it no charge, and that is one reason because of such great service i went on to buy an motif xs8 AND and s90xs

Thanks, Mark. Not sure what pad you mentioned, but Yamaha does have a recall out on certain keybeds and my unit doesn’t qualify for replacement, according to my tech.

From reading posts on other forums Yamaha used to have a web-based query tool to check whether a unit qualifies for a keybed replacement, but all the links I’ve found for that tool are dead so I guess I have to trust my tech.

the keybed, is what i meant sorry.  Mine did not show up either on recall list, but i did just happen to find that someone mentioned it on some message board, so i said, what the heck let me try, and they honored it because it happened to be the same keypad used in other boards.  I would give it a try to call them.  I find that yamaha has great customer service.  Without it i think it was about a 200$ repair with pad.

To add to that, the lady at yamaha got right on the phone 3 way conversation with me and the company i was going to take the board to and gave express authorization for the repair as a courtesy.

found some youtube videos on this and looks like a pretty easy fix.

but i can’t find the parts manuals online.

found some youtube videos on this and looks like a pretty easy fix.

but i can’t find the parts manuals online.

So it is funny that the day after the post my middle a key went sticky, cocked to one side, etc… apparently this is common.

I found a real helpful walkthrough on youtube, Called yamaha, (Shout out to Tan who was AMAZINGLY helpful as always) and got keys in.

Total repair time… 30 minutes (with confidence) but probably 1 hour being extremely carefull.

Tips, keep a few cups for the screws taken out and put them in order of install.
Take the opportunity to clean out your inside of the keyboard.
Order the keys up and down from the broken key incase you break them installing the new one.
Don’t forget to unplug all wires and cables.  Especially power.

I can’t see however why this is such a common problem.  I have kids so i am thinking that one of my kids jammed the key up, but i do hear this a common problem.

Overall all, it was an easy fix.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

Hi, i have had this problem repeatedly and have fixed it in a crude but effective way several times. My s90es is 5 years old and used constantly.  The problem is with a very small(8th inch wide) locking notch where the back end of the key sits in the frame, and if you have taken individual keys out to check the lubrication point then you might have noticed this small NOTCH, it locks the back of the key in place....( I forget if it is on the key itself or on the frame.
I have always wore this notch down to where it does not lock the back end of the key in place anymore. Now for the crude part.

I actually take a thick needle and heat it red hot from a flame and melt a hole thru the very back of the key wall (vertical end) and continue thru the superstructure frame and then use 50 lb fishing line and tie the back of the key in place...not too tight. It holds it down in place in the back where the notch used to. You will have to experiment with the tightness of the knot...too tight and you lose key action. It will definitely keep it from getting stuck down since the back end of the key will no longer be able to lift up.

I have been doing this off and on for two years and it really works.I swear. Piano still works great although I have since bought the s90xs because i’m worried the board won’t last forever.But I am thinking of going back to the ES just because I like that piano sound better.

This is possible to fix, good luck!