Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Any help with this would be much appreciated. A key on my Korg Trinity got mashed down after my its last time in the car (along with two pots off the top of the Roland). At first I was able to just pull up on it and it clicked into place, all was ok for about a week. Well today I was getting a little to rambunctious and it went down for the count and wasn’t coming back up. So about a hundred screws later I finally removed the key action part.

My question is: I can buy the keys separate, but when I go to put this key in and open up the frame am I going to have 61 springs simultaneously popping out all over the place?
Here’s a picture of the frame:



And here is the offending key:

Geesh the phone takes lousy pictures. It’s the smaller of the black fuzzy little boxes.

I don’t see any way of fixing it in place, the plastic part where it hooks on the back has snapped off. Not to worry I’m accountable for my own actions, so a wrong answer isn’t going to make me freak. It’s unusable as it is now, so I really have nothing to loose. I’m just looking for a best guess on the matter.

OMG I'd be peeing blood about now. I don't know how to fix it, but I'd donate a kidney if it would help. I am always fixing this or that and just the mention of 60 some odd springs makes me motion sick. lol

RFLMAO Captain.

When I first looked at it, I pictured removing the top and have it going off like a minefield of mouse traps.

By looking at the edge I found out no springs it has metal tabs and they seem to be anchored in place. I’m going to order the key and give it a shot. Nothing to lose and the key will cost all of $7.50. It’s my favorite, but even if I can’t get through this I can’t complain one iota. I’m amazed it’s lasted as long as it has with the pounding it takes.

Yeah but it's like your favorite instrument..

I have 1 guitar that I prize more than all the others. It's my magic guitar and if something happened to it, I would surely have to fix it or die trying.

It always stays in tune and always sounds like a million dollars, even when I feel like the national debt.

It's magic, plain and simple. When i play it, I can do no wrong. It always sounds amazing. Sometimes I look at it after I play it and I wonder what was done to it to make it as magic as it is. I know down deep that other guitars may have wonderful tone, but they don't help you play the piece.

This one does.

Order the part and round up the techs, surgery is scheduled for later on. Be careful with the anesthetic and monitor the heart beat at all times. Keep the crash cart nearby and never let the patient slip away. Post a nurse at bedside until fully healed. "And I'll send you my bill". lol

Lalong,

I've replaced many broken keys on my Yamaha SY55, and that Korg looks similar. You should be able to still find replacements on line someplace. Nowadays, it might make more sense to pick up a whole other keyboard on E-Bay, and use the more beat one for parts. It may be a big pain in the ass to replace those keys, but , at the price of labor, its probably worth your while to "operate" yourself. (just don't get drunk while you do it)
So start guttin' her ol ' buddy, its probably the only way it will get fixed. Think of it as a challangeing puzzle.

good luck! (you can do it, it might not be that easy, but you have nothing to fear but fear itself)

Howlin'

P.S. If you find a rubberey "Touch sensitivity strip" in there, (the Trinity may not be the same as mine, so it may not even have one) Check for "pin holes" where the key tang makes contact. If it looks worn, consider replaceing it while you have it apart.

Thanks Howlin, it’s a good idea. I found the key available for $7.50. I have it broken down to that level, so I might as well go for it. If I really mess it up, then the eBay suggestion will come in handy. The worse case is it erupts into a lot of smaller pieces and the cat swallows a few, or I have parts left over.

Reminds me of some surgery humor, the last thing you would want to hear them say is: “Has anyone seen my watch?”

Hopefully everything went well for you and all is ok, get better man, and thanks for the encouragement. The intoxication warning may fall on deaf ears though, it can't be a whole lot worse then messing with this stuff while wired out on coffee either.

Nurse is here. Lets get to it.

Need the donor key first, can’t operate without that. Tubesandmore.com has them for $8.00, from what I have run across it seems to be about the right price. Howlin, the action part is a long strip of mechanical micro switches. I’m surprised by how well put together this thing is. It took a generous amount of coaxing (er cussing), just to get the key action part out. I’ll clean the contacts before I put it back together, might as well.

Sounds to me like you would not want to go back in there for a loong time.

I get faint at the sight of instrument blood and innards. lol