Triiming the lip off of plastic synth keys.

[Baldwin Funster]

I'm looking at the Axiom 49 pro. The keys are at least piano style keys not synth keys but look like they have the lip that keeps them from being more like waterfall keys. Has anyone trimmied that bit off?

[Phred]

I am not sure how well that would work, seems to me that it be sharp un less you sanded it, and I am not sure how weel the keys would take to sanding,

 

If you decide to do it, good luck..

[mate stubb]

It's not just the front lip of waterfall keys that can't be sharp, also the edges of the keys.

[Aidan]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me - as Moe points out, it still wouldn't give you waterfall keys as such, plus you'd probably be undermining the physical integrity of the keys themselves. Even if you achieved a neat result, I wouldn't be surprised by subsequent breakages.

 

[tarkus]

Why bother?

 

Save your money and buy the keyboard with the features you want.

[ITGITC]

 

If you trim the keys, I predict the resale value will drop to nothing.

 

 

 

[opdigits]

Not to mention the probable pain, blood, and gore when you attempt your first smear.

[JeffLearman]

Unless you've played a real Hammond for ages, it's easy enough to adapt to piano-style keys. I played NIB4 for a number of years on a hammer-action keyboard and didn't have any problems doing smears. (The biggest problem was when I switched to an NE2, whenever I'd do a smear, the NE2 would go flying to the right and I had to grab it fast! I had to learn to use a lighter touch. :-)

 

If you have lots of years playing a real Hammond, I doubt you'll find the Axiom very satisfying, even if you do trim off the lip.

 

That being said, if you have a machine shop and some skills, I bet it is possible to dramatically reduce the lip without reducing the key integrity. Check the underside of the key and make sure there's plenty of plastic at the upper forward edge -- chances are, there's enough that you could do this. But doing it to all keys evenly, and figuring out how to grind a nice new finish into it ... not a simple job, IMHO.

 

If you're serious, see if you can buy a replacement key, and experiment on that first. If you can manage a good enough job on one key, and can figure out how to do them all evenly, then good for you. But you may find that there's no hope.

 

I'd look for something used that's what I want, rather than modifying something that's not.

[David Loving]

spray the keys with Pledge

[Rockhouse]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me - as Moe points out, it still wouldn't give you waterfall keys as such, plus you'd probably be undermining the physical integrity of the keys themselves. Even if you achieved a neat result, I wouldn't be surprised by subsequent breakages.

 

This.

 

Keybeds are not manufactured to have any of their structure modified. If there's plastic there, there's probably a good reason for it.

[wmp]

Sorry for being such a pest about the word keybed.

 

Aside from that and the use of Pledge, I agree with everything else.

 

I'd probably destroy the value, but I could do a very neat job of unsharpening the key edges on a 1939 Hammond D I played a few years ago. It looked like one of those silky smooth '50s '60s consoles from a distance, but it was like playing on sharks teeth. I tried to be careful but we both got covered in blood.

 

If you're going to sand plastic, you have to wet sand to keep from melting it. The keys have to be removed. You can't remove much material. I'd start with 320 grit and work my way up to 600.

 

Being lazy, I'd want to avoid all that and just get the instrument I want. It'd cost a lot more than the Axiom 49 pro for sure. If you're going to hack up a keyboard, it's probably better to hack an Axiom 49 pro than a vintage Hammond D.

[Cloner]

I'm going to show my total lack of mechanical and electronics knowledge - would it be easier to replace the existing keys with actual waterfall replacement keys? I know with mate stubb's masterpiece Hammond controller, waterfall keys were part of the design of the overall system, but it does prove that it can be done - or at least, something like it can be done. I'm thinking consideration would have to be given to the contact points under the key and how they attach under the front panel.

 

Okay, confession - I've always wanted to build an 88 note keyboard using unweighted waterfall keys. Since my abilities are stretched at lining up the plus and minus when installing batteries, it will probably just have to be a dream. Cue Lionel Ritchie, "I had a dream, I had an awesome dream...."

[Rockhouse]

Sorry for being such a pest about the word keybed.

 

 

I'm just going by the term that factories use to denote a frame with keys on it as a single assembly.

[Rocket Man 2]

If you choose to sand the keys (which I don't recommend) You have to remove the keys and sand them elsewhere, for the grit and dust will get into everything, and THAT you would regret.

[wmp]

Sorry for being such a pest about the word keybed.

 

 

I'm just going by the term that factories use to denote a frame with keys on it as a single assembly.

Fatar.

 

Others too, I know. Piano makers call it an action. Sorry. I'm old school.

 

[wmp]

If you choose to sand the keys (which I don't recommend) You have to remove the keys and sand them elsewhere, for the grit and dust will get into everything, and THAT you would regret.

 

I guess I neglected to mention the remove the keys part. That'd be a problem with wet sanding too.

 

I'd suggest a nice M3 for $50 to $100.

[JeffLearman]

Replacing keys only works in specific cases, when the manufacturer makes one action assembly with different key sets. Fatar has several action assemblies like this, where waterfall, piano, and diving-board keys are interchangeable. But they have quite a few more that aren't interchangeable.

 

Sometimes they're "almost" interchangeable. That's why the NE/73 has a low F key. Fatar sells 61-key actions that accept either waterfall or diving board keys. It sells compatible 73- and 76-key actions, but doesn't make a complete set of waterfall keys for them: there's no low E key (without a cutout for Eb) in waterfall style. No doubt this is why they went with the abominable low F key: there really wasn't an alternative. I sure wish they could have talked Fatar into making that one extra key!

[Baldwin Funster]

So i'll take all this as a no.

[AnotherScott]

Sometimes they're "almost" interchangeable. That's why the NE/73 has a low F key. Fatar sells 61-key actions that accept either waterfall or diving board keys. It sells compatible 73- and 76-key actions, but doesn't make a complete set of waterfall keys for them: there's no low E key (without a cutout for Eb) in waterfall style. No doubt this is why they went with the abominable low F key: there really wasn't an alternative.

Unless I misunderstand something, I think there was an alternative... 73 C-to-C instead of 73 F-to-F. It seems to me that every key in 73-key C-to-C must exist, by virtue of there being a 61-key C-to-C, so this would seem to me to have been a much more sensible solution, as opposed to leaving out that bottom E. I know, not everyone is a fan of 73 C-to-C, but I think most people would at least find it equivalent to or better than the 73 F-to-F compromise.

[Bossbandbob]

I saw a guy on CL awhile ago who was advertising a Roland VK-8 with VK -7 keys that he swapped and installed as he "liked the 7's tone better but wanted WF keys." He was selling each with the swapped keys. I think he did sell both for about 800$ (400 each).