Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards KAWAI MP10 Arrived! Couple of issues... (!)

chopin89,



As others have stated, this is also true of most acoustic pianos.

Within Kawai's acoustic piano range, only the EX/SK-EX concert grands use real ebony for the top portion of the black keys. I'm afraid I'm less familiar with other manufacturer's instruments, however I expect it's largely the same story - real ebony is only found on the most prestigious concert grand piano.

Kind regards,
James
x

Please note that my contributions to the PianoWorld forum have absolutely no affect on my salary.

Kind regards,
James
x

Sorry, yes acoutics do use plastic for the top portion of the black keys, but I'm pretty sure they are solid molded pieces of plastic right? When I played pizzicato on the MP10, I noticed they felt different from the whites, they didn't feel solid somehow. Well, upon close inspection of the MP10 and a display showing the actual action (RM3), I came to the conclusion that top portion of the black key tops were hollow inside. Funny, I took my dad with me that day to try out the MP10 and he was amazed, ok kind of laughing about how I could tell just by sound and feeling. But maybe I'm wrong, can someone in the parts dept can confirm?

No, they're hollow too.

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks for your confirmation, James.

As do I. You gotta love playing in F#, or Ab, or Eb. They just "feel" right to me.

Curt

By the way Curt, any news on your MP10 issues (from Sweetwater or Kawai) ?!

@James : I was just joking (of course it raises my bonus ;-)

No word yet. The way I left it with them was that I was backing away until they got it all fixed. That could take a bit of time!

Curt

Just want to inform that Kawai Germany has solved the problem with my brand new MP10 making a strange mechanical noise on 5 adjacent keys. It seemed to be caused by an electrical wire that should have been fixed with some duct tape but had come loose. The keys were hitting this wire hence making the noise.
It was too sad that when I got the piano back there was no sound coming from the headphone jack! Lucky for me my vendor (Goossens in Mortsel, Belgium) knew how to open the instrument where it became clear that some internal connection had come loose. This seems to be a known issue as this cable (and another from making the connection with the display) are too short, Kawai will use longer cables in the new manufactured models.

Duct tape! Surely they could use a more robust fixing method??

Regards. Rimmer

if its good enough for macgyver, its good enough for pianoworld forums lol.

and dont call me surely lol airplane reference. RIP nielson

This was exactly what I thought

Hey m8, there is no comparison---they are not towards the same market by all means.

I thought they used duct tape on the ISS? Gotta be good

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on pianoworld.

I just happened to order my MP10 from the local dealer in Toronto (Merriam Music) and finally picked up the instrument last Sunday, after giving it some second thoughts.

Although I was excited about bringing the MP10 home, I was a little concerned about the no-return policy of the dealer (which the salesguy only mentioned after having taken my deposit!). Then I thought to myself - what could go wrong with a reputable brand like Kawai.

On Monday, I started hearing some static while playing. I initially thought it was the cables or even my keyboard speaker. Having double checked everything, I listened through my headphones and realized that it was indeed coming from the MP10 and predominantly from the right channel. I also heard some exagerated damper noise that appeared to be random (even though I had turned off damper noise effect). I reset the MP10 (turned it off and on again) and this fixed the problem. On Wednesday, I encountered the same issues and came to the conclusion that my MP10 is definitely defective.

I contacted Merriam Music today to report the issue and request for a replacement of the unit given that it's only been 3 days since I picked it up. I was told that they have to send a technician to assess the issue and only if it cannot be fixed that Kawai will replace it.

Today (Thursday), I tried the DP again after talking to the dealer and, to my horror, it became a lot worse with unbearable static taking over the piano sound. I managed to record some audio samples directly on the MP10 to send the dealer and Kawai.

I don't know if I can post an mp3 version of the recorded sample on this forum. If someone could help that would be great.

I'm deeply concerned about keeping this unit now (even if they decide to fix it) as I believe I just got a lemon. I feel I cannot trust this unit anymore.

There are so many things I like about this DP (action, sound and layout being at the top of the list). But above all, you need an instrument you can trust in a gig, although I wasn't planning to gig with this monster.

Has anyone here come across similar defects with Kawai or other brands. If so, how did the dealer/manufacturer deal with the issue?

ykf, welcome to the forum.

Clearly there is an issue with your MP10, so you've made the correct choice to report the problem to the dealer. I would recommend waiting for the technician to examine the instrument - it could be a very simple fix, or even something that is corrected with a software update.

Kind regards,
James
x

Break one of your black keys and show us, please

Thanks for your feedback James.

I did check the firmware version and it is running the latest 1.04. Is this what you are referring to?

I understand there is a process in place for defective products. But, given my disappointment in this particular unit which is clearly a manufacturing defect, shouldn't Kawai replace it with another unit instead of trying to repair it? If the issue was to occur a few months down the road, I would understand Kawai trying to fix it before considering a replacement. But receiving a brand new defective unit leaves a very sour taste in the customer's mouth, especially given this is my very first Kawai product I've ever owned. I think as a matter of goodwill, Kawai should replace it outright.


Thanks,
ykf

Another bonus of Kawai's business/distribution model in the US/Canada region... having only one dealer within however many hundreds of miles puts the potential consumer at the mercy of whatever policies that particular store has with few ways around it.

Sounds a little suspect to me - the salesman waits until you're committed and then drops the "no returns" bombshell? They were probably very glad to offload that particular item.

Surely, if the item is defective, you can take it back to the store and get at least a store credit, if not a replacement or refund. What does Canadian consumer law have to say on this point?