Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha flagship Clavinova CLP-990's Natural Keyboard Action

It's called capitalism, dude

That's a bargain .... That's the best DP yamaha have ever made.

[/quote] ..., but I don't like Kawai's wooden actions and Yamaha's GH3, NW because of their after-touch. Just too soft and unstable. [/quote]

Finally Aftertouch on my DP action !

(I know - cheap , but couldn't help it...)

Nice pics by the way. When was this beauty first introduced ? I wonder how old it is and how 'far' we've come since then.

Good job.

Hi everyone,

As promised, I've re-opened up my CLP-990 and mesured the keys of the Natural Keyboard action:

Black key:



White key:



I can say that the key length (key front to pivot center) is less than Kawai GF but a little more than Kawai RM3.

Kawai RM3:



Kawai GF:




I've tried the Kawai CA 95 yesterday. I like the touch GF very much, but not the sound, neither the cabinet's look.

I've captured a short clip of the key movement too:

Natural Keyboard action movement

Compared to the MP10 nekids it seems to me of about the same length as RM3, not longer.

Above all was this not a real all wooden keyboard, not only with a flimsy wooden layer glued on the side of plastic keys as a fake on later "Natural" Wood keyboards of Yamaha?

@trandinhnamanh,

Thanks for the great photos of the keys and action along with the video clip that demonstrates the escapement simulation, below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D62G49_Rws

Thanks for the details! Interesting piano.

Unless I'm mistake those are sensors under the keys as well as under the hammers, similar to what's done in the AvantGrands. Cool stuff.

Does the Yamaha action have escapement?

The Hybrids do

It does have the escapement, as I've made the test in the video clip.

Have a Clavinova CLP-990 for sale, if you'd like.

Hi - I'm new here because I've searched infos to my own CLP990 which I've bought here in Germany in 2001.
Please excuse my rosty school-english - I'm an older man.
Still today I think this CLP-990 is the best digital keyboard YAMAHA has ever produced. And my enthusiasmn playing on this piano is still the same as in the first days when I got it.
I'm only an amatuer-player and the most I play without sheetMusic only from what I've heard.
My rage starts with JSBACH and end in Jazz and Blues.
The CLP-990 itself is a rudimental toy-box - nothing for people which want to get complete music only with one-finger tip. No - the CLP-990 is a real piano with only few sound. But for me its enough. Mostly in softer Music I use the grandpiano mixed with soft-stings (here an improvisation about an old german pop-song. Recorded via Headphone-connector to an iKEY-MP3-Recorder - sorry in between I've switched down the gain a little - but what you can listen to is the REAL sound of the CLP-990):
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzQwpPH9AlUgV1R2X0R2SVFlSUU/edit?usp=sharing

So far to the sound. My intention here is another one: - Thanx 4 the very interesting pictures und youtube-link. But what I'm looking for is a replacement of the Floppy-Drive in the front to something with USB.
So I ask you: has someone experiances in replacing this floppy-drive to a Floppe-Emulator???
All I can find are floppy-emulators for PC like this: http://www.ipcas.de/produkte/usb-disketten-emulation.html
I dont know if those boxes can work with my CLP-990.

@trandinhnamanh,

Yes, the CLP-990M that I now own does have a subtle escapement simulation as you mention which also allows you to play softer "pp" notes from the escapement point, or, "off of the jack" - just like an acoustic grand piano.

Also, here is my review and a few recordings, here:

Premier recording & CLP-990M review

It's amazing that a DP I bought brand new over a decade ago that I play everyday is still the talk of the town all these years later, and still plays like new.

A decade since the CLP990. Today's Clavinovas use a folded action, do not feature 88-note sampling, and remain at 5 velocities. No physical modeling whatsoever, and no soundboard (a la Kawai).

Yamaha had something here .... they need to ask themselves WTF happened ...

I would imagine they wouldn't want it competing with the NU1 and N1.

It couldn't have been cheap and if they were to have this model instead of, say, the NU1, they would have to explain why it's better than Kawai's CA or CS line. That's harder than explaining why the NU1 might be better.

How very true - which speaks volumes for the quality of the CLP-990M.

And, to think that I was actually able to locate and buy a 12 year old piano (i.e., CLP-990M) and get it shipped well over 750 miles to my place with a long distance piano mover. Not an inexpensive venture - if you do this.

It was worth every penny to own one, though!

I reckon to be an old man by the time one comes on Ebay . . . Good grief, I just looked in the mirror . . .!