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Technics organ, digital piano, keyboard repairs

Technics - a great range of organs, digital pianos and keyboards.  One of the leading names but sadly no longer in production.
The good news is that most of these organs, digital ensembles, pianos and keyboards can still be repaired.  Most repairs don't need special Technics parts - just a Technics repair specialist ... enter Mike Barden!  Contact details at bottom of each page.

The bad news is that nearly all replacement circuit boards are no longer available.  However, most can be repaired unless damaged by accidental spillages.  It's always worth checking to make sure that your house contents insurance covers such events on a replacement as new basis.  Info about INSURANCE CLAIMS on page headed "Digital piano repairs, keyboard repairs" - click on top left of Navigation Bar.

It is really important that I get a good description of the fault, plus any other symptoms you can think of - and details of any previous repair history.

Typical faults in some of the PR series digital pianos - also called "digital ensembles" e.g. PR602, PR702, PR603, PR703 and others
1) sometimes won't turn on properly (just get blue backlit display but no writing appears) no buttons light and keys won't play - sometimes the buttons do light but the keys won't play - sometimes turns on normally but only plays for a short time (control buttons may stop working/lock-up/freeze, keyboard may stop playing) - may start working by itself or you may have to switch off and on again to get it working.  This is a MAIN BOARD fault and needs extremely specialised repair work which must only be carried out by someone like myself who is an expert in surface-mount rework techniques and has the proper tools for the job.  If a non-expert attempts work on this board it will almost certainly be damaged, possibly beyond repair.  I can usually repair main boards if they have no damage from previous repair attempts. 

NOTE - Problem 1) above is usually found only on PR603, PR703, PR903.  Problems 2), 3), 5) below can affect all of PR602, PR702, PR902, PR603, PR703, PR903, PR604, PR804 and maybe others.

2) when playing, sometimes (or all the time) the sound is distorted on left-hand-side or right-hand-side or both sides - may sometimes hear nasty, fizzy or squeaky noises even when not playing.  Check using headphones - you should find that it sounds normal on headphones.  The distortion is probably due to an amplifier fault (but also see "speaker faults" later on).  NOTE - IF IT HUMS TOO - THIS IS IMPORTANT!!  Ring me with the model number of the piano and I can advise whether you can send me the faulty board for repair.  On the models listed above (IF NO HUM) the pre-amp board can be unplugged quite easily and posted to me.  If you're lucky you won't get the next problem aswell, although it has been known to happen.

3) piano went "pop" (or maybe went "BANG"!!!) or may HUM on left-hand-side or right-hand-side or both sides (usually a loud hum) and may stop playing.  This is also an amplifier fault.  Usually the output transistors have blown, quite probably caused by a faulty preamp board.  In this case I need the entire amplifier board to repair.  If the output transistors have blown there is the possibility that this may also have blown the speakers.  Once again, ring for advice.  In one instance this happened after a customer replaced the pre-amp board which I'd just repaired and tested.  Unfortunately I did not know that the piano had been humming aswell, otherwise I would have asked for the entire amplifier board (or the top of the piano) in the first place.  

4) speaker faults - can affect any loudspeakers having foam surrounds which perish and disintegrate with age leaving the speaker cone floating unsupported.  The symptom is distorted sound.  If you continue to use the piano the problem speaker will eventually damage its speech coil.  If you're lucky the speaker goes open circuit and just stops working.  If you're not so lucky the speaker will go short circuit and blow the amplifier.  If you have distorted sound, try using headphones and if okay on headphones get the speakers checked.  When foam surrounds perish and disintegrate it's usually fairly obvious because there are lots of bits of the old foam (often black) lying  below the speaker.  Note - when this happens it's a fairly safe bet that both speakers will need replacing.  DON'T carry on playing the piano if it sounds distorted because you will eventually blow the amplifiers aswell!!

5) very high-pitched whistle - sometimes not audible to humans but may be the reason why your dog foams at the mouth and runs repeatedly into walls!  Sorry, back to normality for a moment.  The main board produces some high frequencies which, although annoying if you can hear them, may be tricky to pin-point and silence.  Check to see if it's the main board whistling by turning down the master volume or plugging in headphones (don't put on the headphones).  If the whistle can still be heard it's the main board so explain to the dog that you may be packing his bags.  A main board whistle could be coming from a choke (coil) vibrating at high frequency and might be cured with the right kind of glue.  If the whistle disappears with master volume or headphones it might be something you could do yourself so please ring for advice on this.

Typical faults on some of the PX range of digital pianos - PX103, PX105, PX107 - dead - won't play but amplifier works (check by connecting audio to LINE IN sockets) - send me the main board - ring for advice on how to remove this. 

Common faults on PX336, PX338, PX552, PX554, PX664, PX665 and others - dead, may have gone "pop" or "bang" or may make a VERY LOUD HUM ... do not switch it on again to see if it's got better by itself!! (remove the mains lead and hide it so no-one else can switch it on) - usually the amplifier and speakers will have blown.  It's not a cheap repair but it is cheaper than buying another piano.  Also I can modify the power supply to considerably reduce the likelihood of a repeat occurrence.  The reason I say "do not switch it on again" is that if you are extremely lucky (and it has happened a few times) the amplifier and speakers will still be okay - but if you turn on the piano again you may well blow them!!!   You may also find problems 2), 3), 4), 5) listed above for PR range could be relevant for the PX range.  Prevention is far cheaper than repair on these models  If you have one of the above PX series which is still working properly it is definitely worth having the power supply modified if you intend to keep the piano - it's at least £200 cheaper than having it repaired after the amplifier and speakers have blown.  You can bring the top of the piano here to have this done or you could send me the circuit board but it's a bit tricky to remove and slightly trickier to put back.

NOTE - I do not have a range of Technics pianos here on which to test boards.  This means that if you only send me a board I am unable to test it unless there happens to be a customer's piano of the same model here at the time.  The best solution is either for me to come out and do the repair on site or for you to bring me the top of the piano.  If you bring the top of the piano (and the speaker box if there is one) it is not only cheaper for you but I can be certain that everything is working properly before you come to collect it.  If you want to do this please ring me for advice on how to dismantle the piano safely.  If bringing the top of the piano without asking for advice 1) disconnect mains lead, pedal lead, speaker lead (only on models with speaker box below top of piano)  2) tape down music rest if non-removable  3) close and tape down keyboard cover if present  4) prepare vehicle for transit - IMPORTANT - if piano has plastic boxes protruding from underside you must put packing under the piano to prevent the weight of the piano resting on these boxes  5) remove screws fixing piano to stand  6) two people required to lift piano off stand and into vehicle  7) if you have loud hum or distortion problems and the piano has a separate speaker box please bring that aswell for testing  8) if any pedal problems bring the pedal unit - this is usually easy to unscrew which saves having to bring the whole stand with you.

WORTH NOTING - main board faults listed above are not related to the other faults listed above so if you have the main board repaired one week and next week you get distortion it just means that the amplifier, pre-amplifier or speakers decided to go wrong very soon after the previous fault.  Generally speaking, a main board fault will not cause an amplifier fault.  However, an amplifier fault might possibly cause a main board fault due to over-voltage but this is far more likely to be caused by a damaged pedal lead.

A few tips to help you avoid the expense of unnecessary repairs:
1) Electronic musical instruments DO NOT NEED SERVICING - they only need repairing if they go wrong ... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
2) Initialise.  Sometimes the instrument behaves very strangely or may not play at all because its operating system has got itself in a knot. It's always worth trying the "initialise" procedure on most Technics products before calling out a service engineer. Initialising will lose anything you have written or recorded ... so now you'll wish you'd done that saving to disk first!
3) Damaged pedal lead may blow up your Technics piano.  Take care not to damage the lead which goes down to the pedals. Surprisingly (not a nice surprise either) this can cause extremely expensive damage to the main circuit board!

 

UNASHAMED PLUG  Most Saturday nights I'm out playing bass guitar with a function band.
I've always had a great sense of satisfaction repairing electronic musical instruments but I think live performance is my main reason for being!
Have a look at our website www.famousfiveband.com and see what you think.