CP88 and YC88 -Get a Grip

[Coker]

I’ve seen a couple concerns voiced about holding onto these keyboards when lifting them, because their profiles are rounded and texture is smooth.  You may want to apply some nonslip material where you typically grasp the keyboard.  I bought some self-adhesive, textured rectangles that were applied on the back, bottom edge about 1/3 from the right end and on the front, bottom edge 1/3 from the left end.  I no longer have ANY concerns about losing the keyboard when lifting it.

[nursers]

Great idea!

[eric]

Cool idea, thanks for sharing! I have for decades used a lot of Velcro applications on various keyboard rigs, and I usually apply the soft Velcro on the keyboard...which may provide a similar kind of grip point...probably not as effective as yours.

[ElmerJFudd]

Korg SV rounded design aesthetic can also slip through the fingers I’ve  noticed.  

[Adam Burgess]

4 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Korg SV rounded design aesthetic can also slip through the fingers I’ve  noticed.  

Yes, which is why my red/black edition SV1 has a few black keys that are now white, and a few red keys that are now black!!

[allan_evett]

I'll be doing this too. I have some of this material left over from securing our basement stairs. Might also apply some to my Nautilus 61; it's kind of awkward, with those waterslide-style curves.  I did something similar with the sides of a Kronos 61, and used a rubberized coating. Wish I'd done that in 2012 with a Kronos 88. Holding onto that keyboard was like juggling a 50 lb slippery eel; those shiny plastic side panels were all-but greased.

 

Not sure why manufacturers don't consider this across their entire keyboard lines. Korg at least does this with the Kross 2, 61. Why not make this type of material standard for side panels and underside grip points? 

[drawback]

6 minutes ago, allan_evett said:

Not sure why manufacturers don't consider this across their entire keyboard lines. Korg at least does this with the Kross 2, 61. Why not make this type of material standard for side panels and underside grip points? 

Kurzweil has designed their shells with lift points, and Dexibell has lift friendly end caps. 

 

But underneath is where I’ve had to stabilize where a slab meets the stand. I’ve always just used foam tape on the stands, though. I’m not one to use heavy duty tapes and Velcro except to mount Leslie switches (because Velcro is still better than drilling holes). I like to pass them along in mint condition when it’s time to sell.

[AnotherScott]

42 minutes ago, drawback said:

Kurzweil has designed their shells with lift points, and Dexibell has lift friendly end caps. 

 

Yup. A topic that has not come up here nearly as much as expected, considering some of the other stuff we obsess about endlessly. ;-) Some companies are good this way, obviously having put some real thought into the ergonomics of moving the things. Viscount Physis had a great design, with grip handles built into the sides (and the back and front were curve-free for gripping the short way). Even some lightweight boards have had handles for even easier portability (Korg X50, Casio CT-S1).

 

Even if there's nothing obviously engineered to be a handle, per se, many designs at least have the good sense to not actively impede moving them. Hammonds and Casios have been easily movable in my experience. At a bare minimum, a chassis should be designed to "do no harm." Then anything they can do to make carrying even easier is a bonus. But on some of these boards, aesthetics trumped functionality, as on these Yamahas and the aforementioned Korg SV1/SV2 and original Kronos. I had been thinking I'd put up with it on this YC73 because the board is not so heavy as to make it really terrible, but it did bother me. I love this idea to add grip strips of some kind. 

 

1 hour ago, drawback said:

I’m not one to use heavy duty tapes and Velcro except to mount Leslie switches (because Velcro is still better than drilling holes). I like to pass them along in mint condition when it’s time to sell.

 

3M makes some velcro-kind of stuff that is supposed to be easy to remove. There's also always Goo Gone which takes care of a lot of this... but not if removing something takes off paint, which I suppose could sometimes be a possibility as well. I'm looking into some strips for this on Amazon, I see at least one that says you can easily remove it without leaving residue by heating it with a hair dryer and then peeling it off.

[drawback]

36 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

3M makes some velcro-kind of stuff that is supposed to be easy to remove. There's also always Goo Gone which takes care of a lot of this... but not if removing something takes off paint, which I suppose could sometimes be a possibility as well. I'm looking into some strips for this on Amazon, I see at least one that says you can easily remove it without leaving residue by heating it with a hair dryer and then peeling it off.

I've been using these 3M Command Velcro style strips (if this is what you meant) for awhile for many other things and they're great. Not as heavy-duty as Velcro, though, to withstand slapping a Leslie switch, but they can hold up under a surprising amount of stress and are very easy to remove by pulling the accessible tabs.

[Coker]

Just to clarify, these strips are more “textured” like very coarse sandpaper than sticky like a cell phone pad for the car dashboard.

[drawback]

3 minutes ago, Coker said:

Just to clarify, these strips are more “textured” like very coarse sandpaper than sticky like a cell phone pad for the car dashboard.

Yes. Please excuse veering off on a tangent.

[AnotherScott]

I've been looking at tons of variations of this on Amazon, but most of what I'm finding is textured like sandpaper. Fine sandpaper (80 grit), but sandpaper nonetheless, which doesn't sound so hand-friendly. I was hoping for something more of a rubber. Does anyone have a suggestion on a specific product? Or do people think the 80 grit stuff is fine?

[timwat]

New startup idea: Keyboard condoms. 

 

Textured and ribbed, for your lifting pleasure.

 

Magnum, for those with an 88.

 

okay, maybe that's far enough...

[Coker]

11 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

I've been looking at tons of variations of this on Amazon, but most of what I'm finding is textured like sandpaper. Fine sandpaper (80 grit), but sandpaper nonetheless, which doesn't sound so hand-friendly. I was hoping for something more of a rubber. Does anyone have a suggestion on a specific product? Or do people think the 80 grit stuff is fine?

I am actually using the sandpaper-like stuff.  When I ordered it, I thought it was going to rubbery and grippy, but I really like the  coarse texture.  It’s not hard on your hands at all. 

[stoken6]

 

Anyone tried the stuff used to stop rugs from slipping on wooden floors? That shouldn’t be hard on your hands.

 

Cheers, Mike

[AnotherScott]

I'm leaning toward trying 2" CatTongue grip tape, which is available on a roll ($19.95 for 10 feet of it,) or in pre-cut strips (7 strips of 8.5" each for $12.99, which should be enough unless I end up wanting to use it for other things... but while pre-cut is convenient, I also like the idea of being able to determine the sizes myself as I could on the roll). It comes black or clear, but the clear doesn't look quite so transparent so I think black would be the way to go. Things I like, just from the descriptions...

 

... it's supposed to come off cleanly if need be ("This soft grip tape will never scratch or damage any surface or equipment or leave behind any gummy, sticky goo or residue, unlike traditional friction tape")

... it seems more grippy than sandpapery/abrasive (though Coker's experience indicates that may not be an issue anyway)

... it looks easy to install (some have you use something like a roller to apply, and then leave some hours to set, plus a roller would be awkward on a curved surface)

... it seems find for bending around curved surfaces (as long as they're not too thin), whereas some stuff may be too stiff (customer photos show people using this stuff on curved items, not something demonstrated by some of the others I found, so that's a bit of extra reassurance)

... it's not too thick

 

But if anyone knows of anything sub-optimal about this stuff, or thinks something else would be better, I'm all ears...

 

As with all things, not all reviews are positive. Some people complain about it coming off, but it's hard to know how relevant that is, without knowing things like what kind of material they were trying to get it to adhere to and what kind of usage it was getting. There are contradictory comments about using its adhesion on smooth metal/painted surfaces, which is of concern.