Paul Woodward

Hi all, I have a Korg Grandstage 73 and a Yamaha YC61. Perhaps somewhat divisive, I prefer the Korg for most things (especially pianos) but the YC does have more control over the organ sounds which is great. For a live set up, I may take the Korg and YC and I love the way the YC leslie speed can be triggered by simply tapping the sustain pedal. I also use Korg Module and that works the same. On the Korg, the rotary speed is controlled by pushing up/down the mod wheel, but when Im playing I am usually full on with hands on the board and looking for ways to do it with a switch or pedal. I have a Moog expression pedal, footswitch and sustain pedal connected but cant seem to find a way to control the leslie. I have tried setting all these to mod wheel CC#1 but doesn’t work. Great board and I will work around it but even Garageband and Korg Module have the option to use sustain, like the YC. Anyone managed to do this or know a work around?

Will do, I expect he is quiet this time of year. He actually offered to repair while i waited if I could kill a few hours, so perhaps its simpler on the YC than the MOX? If its not ready next day I am passing anyway, so not too much of an inconvenience. Also, he will ring to save me diverting if its not ready.

Lets see. As long as it gets fixed I am good. You wouldn’t expect the grease to wear off in 9 months from new, especially when it spent 5 months in a case.

Just watch out for the keybed, even if you buy new….

I did grow up at the tail end of analogue gear even though my first synth was digital (Poly 800 II). I used that with a Juno, Mono/Poly, SH101. Hell I even had an EDP Gnat at one point. Thing is, when it comes to vintage gear you need a roadie and/or a technician with you. Technology today can recreate most sounds well enough for the ears to enjoy for 3-4 minutes at a time. Easy to be precious about ‘authenticity’ but my back (and bank balance) prefer a lighter and more reliable option. I even use my iPad and apps to recreate Rhodes, Moog, Hammond etc. and they are good enough for an audience who are unlikely to even know what the vintage gear is nevermind recognise it. Horse for courses I guess. For me its how a sound enhances the track/song and how it fits in but admittedly I am not a concert pianist or Hammond expert.

They say it is a mechanical fix, a common issue, but one easily remedied once they get it on the bench and without a keybed replacement. Two Yamaha approved service centres seemed confident of this so we shall see next Friday when I rock up to collect it 🙂

I am familiar with how Nord libraries can be used to load whole sound sets and how Soundmondo is essentially sharing settings. Looking at the updates for CP boards, they add whole new pianos, organs etc. I wondered how much memory is in these boards (CP and YC) for further expansions. Do sound libraries get 'overwritten' by new code and, if we look at some of the new sounds such as felt pianos added to the CP, are any likely to make their way into the YC future updates? Just curious, already have a YC and I am happy with it, but I wonder how many 'updates' could be released in terms of 'more' stuff rather than tweaks or fixes 🙂

Always chose gear carefully, squeezed the most out of it then sold at decent prices to fund the next purchase. Last board that just didnt grab me was a Moog Sub 37…cant say why, just didnt find a use for it, but I sold it for more than I paid. Last(ish) purchase was a Korg Grandstage 73. It was just £500 with a quality stand and soft gig bag. I needed a controller for the studio and expected it to be worse for wear for that price. Came complete, boxed and pristine and I still love it. Would have paid at least double that now I know how good it is. Bought a Yamaha YC61 last week and was instantly disappointed with the keybed which has become noisy so I thought that would be the first bit of gear I regretted and thought about selling but ts getting repaired under warranty and I really do like it so, so far, no real regrets.

Went for the simpler version, works a treat 😁

We have a result. Got the original receipt so Yamaha agreed to transfer the 2 year warranty, and keybed repair approved. Even better, I can drop it off on my way south to work and collect the next day on my return so no cost to me at all. Must be Christmas… I was really enjoying playing this last night aside from those noisy keys so I will be well happy if it’s fixed. Have an audition on Wednesday too so I can still take the YC board 🙂

99 dollars to upgrade from Collection 3 to get the three new ‘synths’. Wouldn’t mind playing with this but it adds Kaoss pad and Electribe. Neither of which I want.

Well, some positive news. Its £120 to fix this. They say it's mechanical rather than replacing the keybed so, with shipping there and back, hopefully under £200. However, Yamaha now say the standard 2 year warranty is transferable, just not the extended warranty, so with proof of purchase, it should be covered. Down to the seller now to see if he can help there...

I have a Grandstage and love the action 😃

I have seen the KORG D1 going used for as little as £200 and that's a full 88 RH3 keybed same as the Grandstage and Kronos. It's only got midi but adaptors are cheap enough.

One more thing of interest, I set up the YC with an ipad playing Korg Module. I was playing the CFX on the YC and the default piano on the ipad and thought both were the same sound. There was no noticeable difference in the middle ranges. Impressive for an app.

Simple 'mechanical' upgrade. Will see how the basic shape fits then try this one. Will let you know how it goes 🙂

To be honest, I first played with earphones on and never noticed an issue. Might be the placebo effect making me think it's springer than it is when I hear the noise. It plays like an old board that has had years of playing rather than something 'broken'. Interestingly, I stood the board on its end today and tried the keys. They were not as noisy... As for gigging, I'm sure it would be fine. My issue is practising next room to where the bedroom is and wifey won't like this noise as she sleeps. Anyways, Yamaha told me to contact PMT and they won't transfer the warranty so it's down to 'HQ' now and if they would authorise the repair given the circumstances.

Great solutions, pretty sure these tubes are 25mm internal so a bit bigger external, will need to check. Might still try the 3D printed version.

Shame if it does have to go as I am liking the setup.

So, got my keys set up for a live set and wanted to incorporate my iPad with a Roland A800 Pro. Plenty of room on the side there but the damn thing slips off so....I have a 3D printer. I am going to see if this works before I look at commercial solutions. I just need it to stop slipping forward and there is a groove on the A800 above the keybed 😉 I am lacking some accurate measuring equipment at home so it will be a card template and a bit of trial and error but lets see how it comes out.

Yamaha online have suggested I pass this on to PMT where it was first bought. They say they can arrange warranty if its within its 2 year warranty but didnt address me being the second owner. The service centre have sent their request direct to Yamaha so we will see what PMT and Yamaha decide between them. The original owner is happy to help, it just seems ridiculous sending it back to him for Yamaha to collect, return, ship back to me etc. for the same outcome and I am conscious that he doesn't need all this hassle. At the end of the day, it they acknowledge its a defect, like most manufacturers they should recall it and repair.

I am game to open it if Yamaha won’t fix it, but I would also consider selling it on with full transparency depending how much this irritates me. With earphones on, or on a loud stage you can’t hear the problem and it’s not too noticeable when playing normally (not hammering the same key). To be fair to the seller, he played it twice for a promo and it’s been boxed up for the last 5-6 months, was even running on older firmware. The item is pristine in every respect so I don’t think it has been damaged. It was also in a well padded Nord gig bag as well as original box and wrapping. Manual is still sealed. The mic on my phone is pretty good so the ‘noise’ sounded louder than it is and looking back at Woody’s video where he revisits the YC after a few months, mine sounds very similar indeed to the problem his brand new model developed in just a few months.

I have had a few Yamaha stage pianos from the P100 through to the P250 and, more recently, the CP4 which was a great instrument. I think the YC board, its features and sounds are fantastic to be honest. It integrates with my ipad and allows me to use the audio in to run a second board without a mixer. I even like the keyboard where it’s not noisy or loose, and it compliments the Korg Grandstage RH3 nicely. I was fortunate to buy it shipped overnight with a Nord gig bag for under £1000, but its retail price still implies it would be better quality than it is. If it can be fixed or improved without further cost to me then I will be happy with it…but this is a lesson learnt for buying ‘blind’.

looks like my nearest centre would be Norwich but we shall see what they say.

You will have to let me know which centre is best then 😉