Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Have I mortally wounded my Clavinova CLP-50?

Last night I sat down at my Yahama to get an early start in preparing for the next recital. Oh My Gosh...it sounded terrible!!

The lower register was so loud that it completely drownded out the middle register. And forget about the upper.

And it was so erratic...kept fading in and out, on its own.

I remember the salesman telling me that the piano needed to be played on a regular basis; otherwise, its electronic connections would get dusty or loose or something like that. Also I just read the documentation (I bought it almost 20 years ago) and I was supposed to keep it unplugged if not in use for a long period of time. Jeeeezzze....I should have read this BEFORE.

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't touched it for about...ahem, four years! I play on my grand. Who can blame me? Right?

I hope its sound will improve as I practice on it on a daily basis for the next few months.

Have any of you noticed this on your digitals? And, please tell me that it is just a temporary condition. Thanks.

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"Put all your soul into it." Chopin

maybe you should open it up(bad idea?) and spray it with air... I dont really kno much about the insides of them so for all i know all the keys might fall out if you open it. Im sure someone at a music store or repair shop could help you out

This may sound silly, but before you do anything drastic, try moving the volume control back and forth from 0 to 100% many, many times. Occasionally, dirt or corrosion on the contacts of the volume control's "innards" can cause this to happen on electronic products.

Then I would probably entertain the air duster idea, followed by the "electronics cleaner" with thorough drying route.

Thank you. But it sounds much better this morning. Maybe just that short time I spent playing it last night helped. But I will do the volume tip and then use a new can of air I just purchased.

I think it's on it's way back to good health, and I'll never let it slip back again.

Loves...,

If problems reappear,

Chances are (as pointed out above) you have a loose or slightly corroded connection.

To give it a good overhaul, I would carefully move it away from the wall so you can get at everything easily. Then go through the entire instrument, first cleaning off loose dust. Then disconnect and reconnect all pluggable connections. (Do this one at a time so you don't lose track of where things go.) As Terminal degree suggests, cycle all controls without power a few times. Then do the same when you've put it all back together and powered it up again. DON'T rapidly cycle the power switch when plugged in as this could damage the power supply.

Be sure to avoid static damage (especially when a circuit is disconnected.) Don't wiggle around on the rug. Touch the main metal chassis immediately before touching any circuitry.

I wouldn't worry too much about the advice in the manual to unplug the unit when not using it for extended periods. Good advice from an overall safety/fire hazard standpoint but not likely to cause any harm to the instrument.

This is all just my opinion on how I would treat an older but functioning unit to give it some extra life when repairs might be prohibitively costly.