WK3200 mod project - looking for experience

[montequi]

Ok, I have both a WK500 and a WK3200. The 500 is now my prototype, and the 3200 is my baby.

So, anyway, I plan 2 mods. Wonder if anyone here have tried these before:

1. This one I'm going to do on the WK500 first and perfect there...then move to the WK3200. I purchased small adhesive weights that are used to balance car wheels. I plan to stick these inside each of the keys of the keyboard to create a semi-weighted keyboard. If necessary, I'll be adding a strip of foam (the kind you use to cover water pipes) under the keys to make them a little heavier, as adding the weights will actually make the action a little lighter than it already is, and I don't want to over-stress the rubber thingies that sit under the keys. What this mod mainly does is make the keys bouncy, similar the action I had on my old Kawai K4 and Korg DS8. I've already done a little prototyping by sticking weights (temporarily with tape) to the underneath of the white keys on my WK3200. Since I could do that without opening up the keyboard, it was easy to test. The result was amazing!! I couldn't believe it was so easy. So, anyway, I'll post my results here.

2. On my WK3200, I plan to see if I can tap into the circuit board for the modulation button, and add a jack (for a footswitch) that I'll primarily use to change the leslie speed for the drawbar organs. I did a mod like this many years ago on a Korg Poly-Six (routed the "hold" button to a jack, so I could create a simple sustain-like pedal). I realize this could be tricky...soldering onto a circuit board...but I think I can be careful enough not to fry it (I HOPE!!!). I'm most nervous about this, because the 3200 is my main keyboard...and I hate to mess it up. I'm currently using a Behringer BCR2000 via MIDI to trigger the leslie with a foot pedal, but I'd like to be a bit more compact (because it's overkill to lug that unit around just for this one function).

Anyway, has anyone out there tried these mods before??

 

[montequi]

Ok, I'm done with adding weights to the keys on both my keyboards. The result is awesome!! While this doesn't solve the noisy (clicky) key issue, the resulting action is very Fender-Rhodes-like. It makes the keyboard much easier to play. I don't flub notes as much because the keyboard is too light. I recommend anyone with a CTK or WK casio that wants better keyboard action to do this. I can post the exact instructions.

I also found I CAN patch into the circuit board on my WK3200 to add a leslie/modulation footswitch. Now I just need to buy a 1/4" jack and drill a hole in the back (there's actually a spot for one, where the WK3100 has a microphone input. All the other WK3*00 keyboards don't use this space in the back. There's even a circle on the inside marking where to drill and how large to make the hole). My main reason for doing this is so I can work the leslie even if I'm running on batteries. The Behringer BCR2000 requires a power outlet, so it's not useful if I don't have one close by.

I also found something interesting about the WK3200 (that should be the same for the WK3000). Neither of those boards have a modulation knob, but the space on the circuit board still exists and....it actually works!!! I'm thinking I could patch in a stereo plug for an expression pedal, or, possibly, add a rotary knob where the modulation would go. What I can't figure out is what the keyboard does when you use the modulation knob AND the button (none of the Casio keyboards have both). It appears that once you use the button the knob stops working (the button overrides the knob). Unfortunately, I couldn't get the knob to start working again without disconnecting and reconnecting it (but it might have been a bad connection doing that...since I laid the wires on the board with tape because I didn't want to solder something to it yet). So, while the possibility exists to do this, I don't know if I'll do it. I can still use my Behringer BCR2000 to do the same thing. I'll probably wait and see if there's a day when I really miss not having a modulation knob. At this point I haven't found a need for it.

 

[The Y_man]

Well done mate.

The Y-man

 

[montequi]

Another update. Since I had to go out to Radio Shack anyway (to get a 1/4" jack), and these jacks come in packs of 2, I decided to get 2 stereo jacks and put in both the footswitch AND expression pedal jacks. Once I got everything soldered in (so I didn't have an loose connections), I found it works perfectly!! If you activate the expression pedal it will override the switch/button. If you hit the switch/button it will override the pedal. The one that takes precedence is the last one used. It appears someone at Casio thought about this, even though there are no Casio keyboards that actually have both features. I imagine somewhere at Casio there is a prototype keyboard that has every possible function in one package.

Anyway, I now have semi-weighted keys, I can activate the leslie with a footswitch, and I can work the variable parameters (vibrato, phaser/LFO/tremolo speed/depth, wahwah, etc...) with the expression pedal. The keyboard plays like one that costs $1000 or more, but I actually only paid about $130 for it (off of eBay). I'm sure some of these mods are possible on the newer models (WK7500, etc..) too. I'm going to be curious to see what the keyboard on the XW-P1 and XW-G1 will feel like. The keyboard weight may be worth it on that as well!

 

[montequi]

Well done mate.

The Y-man

Thanks Y-man!

 

[montequi]

Ok..I thought I was done, but after making the mod on my WK3200, a couple other issues presented themselves:

1. Playing hard was noisier on the WK3200 (not so much on the WK500) because the keys are heavier.. The felt under the keys is quite hard (probably dried out). Since the 3200 doesn't have waterfall keys, this felt is exposed, so the sound is loud.

2. The noisy-clicky keys (that all new non-weighted Casio's seem to suffer from) got noisier, because they "bounced" now (so the noise repeated for each "bounce").

So, this lead me to do 2 more things:

1. Dampening the keys was the easy part. I was considering replacing the felt altogether with softer stuff, but I decided, instead, to add some weather stripping (soft rubber stuff) immediately in front of it. I was able to do this without opening up the keyboard. The trick is to add something that will last (I opted for rubber over foam) and that isn't too hard or thick (or it will interfere with the operation of they keys themselves). I found a perfect one at Home Depot for $5. It's actually 17 feet. so I'll have enough for the WK500 if and when I decide to try this on that one.

2. The clicky keys was a huge mystery. I have repeatedly tried to fix this by adding dampening between the key sections (using masking tape) but nothing seemed to work perfectly. After trying a few things I finally found where the noise was coming from. The keys fit into vertical plastic slots. These slots are also thin plastic. They are there to keep the keys from moving sideways and bumping into each other, but if the keys vibrate at all, they vibrate against this plastic...hence, causing a click. To avoid this (supposedly) Casio added grease (some cheap white stuff). Well, over time most of this grease was gone (part of it was probably from me removing and replacing keys while trying to fix the problem!!). So, anyway, I had some multi-use grease I bought years ago for car repairs (Slick 50...you can find it at auto-parts stores). I added a generous amount to each plastic slot and the noise was reduced significantly. Unfortunately, the problem is in the design. Unless there's a way of replacing or coating the plastic in the slot itself (so it isn't so noisy) the noise will likely return over time (as the grease gets worn off). Also, the noise isn't completely gone. It's just more tolerable now. Now that I know what the issue is, I'm sure I'll come up with some idea to fix it eventually. Filing the slots down may be an option, but the result may be a whole other issue.

 

[DickR]

A great series of usefull info. I am sure some people will find use for it if they are handy enough to do these things themselves or have someone who can do it for them.

Regards
DickR

 

[montequi]

Thanks DickR!!

Here are links to the materials I used. I'm not sure how long these links will be valid.

Wheel Weights (these were the perfect size and weight. I used 2 per key. This auction gave me enough for 2 76-key keyboards. I preferred to use non-lead weights for safety reasons):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stick-On-Ti...t=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item4cf74fcd27

Weather Stripping (I don't have the box anymore, but this looks like the one I used):
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...Id=-1&keyword=weather+stripping&storeId=10051

Grease (I used Slick 50, but scanning the internet I found Slick 50 doesn't make grease anymore because they were sued by Dupont for copyright violations. Any of these silicone greases should work fine)
http://www2.dupont.com/Consumer_Lubricants/en_US/products/grease.html

Besides that, some thin wire, solder, and a couple open-circuit TRS 1/4" jacks from Radio Shack. For the footswitch I used only the tip and sleeve to create a "mono" jack.