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Hey all,

Just received my new DP-603 in factory sealed box (no floor model). The spacing between some white keys is wider in certain areas most notably between the b and c notes. This occurs 3 or 4 times on other octaves between the b and c notes. Just concerned if I need to address this or if this is normal or manufacturing defect? I exchanged the first one i received because of this issue but the replacement has it too. I called some authorized repair shops and they are telling me this is normal and not to worry about it as long as the keys operate normally. It's not necessarily impacting my fingering or playing but it's unsightly and a distraction and I'm wondering if the keys will get worse over time eventually rubbing.

Anybody have experience with this on any other PHA-50 Roland keyboard? Am I over-reacting?

I've taken a picture of the worst gap. Here's two pictures of the same key.

http://666kb.com/i/dkdkby6xht2yia8t8.png
http://666kb.com/i/dkdkcsmyavkdeszks.png

Thanks!

I agree with the authorized repair shops. Just make music and drop the OCD. The keyboard is covered under, what a 5 year warranty. So enjoy your new board.

I am not sure if this will help put your mind at ease (I do not own a Roland), but you may want to try a quick check to verify that the lateral movement (or play) for each white key is similar, for both the "incorrect" ones as well as the "correct" ones. You can do this by pressing lightly on the front (vertical part facing player) of several keys while exerting a light lateral (left/right) coming and going movement and gauge whether they all exhibit a similar "play" (do this WITHOUT depressing the keys downward at all). If the answer is yes (I suspect it will be), the keys with larger gaps are probably only due to the way the stacks of keys are (invisibly from outside) grouped inside the keyboard casing and thus , may be in fact normal.

If I pay close attention, the gaps on my keyboard are not EXACTLY the same either, but the differences are in my opinion negligible and do not bother me at all visually speaking. This is true for both my digital piano as well as my acoustic one. It is hard for me to tell from your pictures whether yours are worse or not.

It's hard to tell if they are all moving lateral the same amount. The keys with larger gaps between them appear to move more laterally but that may be more of an illusion since they have the bigger gap next to them.

It sounds to me as if they are rather similar then, given that it seems to be hard to tell. I could see that there could possibly be an illusion effect as you say as well.

However for some similar comparison tests I have done in the past between keyboards, there was in fact a noticeable difference in key play, albeit not a large one obviously. However there was no question in my mind about the difference felt in lateral play. This is the reason why I suggested verifying this at your end in the first place. If it is difficult to notice, it probably means that things are fine, and even more so I would venture in the absence of mechanical noise anomalies when the keys actually depressed (thump or whatever) when compared to the neighbouring ones. This is somewhat reinforced I think given that you exchanged the first unit and that both exhibit this gap inconsistency.

I know this is not what you were hoping to hear, but it may just be the nature of the beast ...

I have to be honest, that's a larger gap than I was expecting to see.

Would I go to the trouble of raising the issue and trying to get a replacement or fix? Nah, probably not. But I can see it as being one of those "cannot unsee" things once you do notice it. If the keys all perform the same and the gap doesn't interfere with your playing, I'd probably leave it be, but I couldn't fault anyone for wanting it corrected.

I don't think I'd be too happy wi that; I'd be checking the music shops for similar. My Ivory G doesn't display this.
There have been many instances of similar on this forum. I suspect many more unmentioned.
Hope you get some satisfaction over this; I'd like to hear your report on the piano since it's probably the only one I might buy . . . next year.
If you live in the UK, and you send it back, It might sell for a reduced price . . . .I think it'd still go back! These things ain't cheap.
Now if you'd ordered the polished ebony model . . . .

FWIW Here are some photos of pianos that do not appear to have uniform gaps between the keys:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piano_Keyboard.jpg

https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-piano-keyboard-image627658

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-piano-keys-image2260351

I looked at they keys on my piano (PHA-50 like yours), and the gaps do appear to be uniform, however.

I agree with the suggestion to visit some piano stores and inspect their keyboards to give you more of an idea what the "normal range" is.

You're Joe King

Everyone o' those keyboards should go back. They're all uneven, or maybe it's my eyes . . .

I don't think the gaps in the OP's pictures of the DP-603 are acceptable either. I'm with Pete on this one. My Kawai CS11 has very slight differences in key spacings (and key heights as it happens) but it's very minimal indeed and there's nothing offensive about it. Regular big gaps between Bs and Cs would trouble all of my aesthetic sensibilities!

peterws Well yes, of course they are all uneven, that was the point. I was just surprised that when I looked at images of keyboards so many of them showed gaps. The OP wanted to know if other keyboards had uneven gaps, so I was just basically saying "yes," apparently so.

I also suggested that the OP look at pianos in showrooms: If all of the floor models have perfectly even keys, that would imply something different than if they tend to show slight variations. (This is not something I have focused on myself when looking at pianos, so I wouldn't know, but it is something the OP could easily find out.)

However, all of the above is basically irrelevant, because the bottom line is that the gaps really bother the OP a lot, and will continue to do so. Therefore, the OP should indeed return or exchange the piano for a different one (DP-603, HP-603, FP-90, or perhaps even a different brand entirely).

Thanks for all the replies. I really love this DP-603 and want to keep it but will likely pursue getting these odd keys aligned either through repair or replacement. I can't believe Roland allowed these to leave the factory in this shape. No quality assurance? Very sloppy.

I called Roland to ask about the gaps and the lady acted surprised about it and told me to call an authorized repair person. I have to imagine Roland is aware of this issue. I will be calling them again.

Here's another picture. Thoughts?

http://666kb.com/i/dkeiln2iwmu30db18.png

My Fp90 looks identical to your last picture. Enjoy your piano!

I think I'm goin' crazy looking at straight lines . . . . I had a look at my own again. And started worrying about what lurked beneath the cracks . . and, yes. One or two were a bit pronounced. And the black notes wobbled more than the whites.
Come to think of it, some of 'em were heavier than the others too. a lot heavier. . . .

Don't worry man! Enjoy. Your last picture didn't seem nearly so bad.

I think your last photo looked better, too, perhaps because it wasn't taken at an angle where the camera's wide-angle lens was accidentally emphasizing the particular gap you were focusing on (phone cameras have wide-angle lenses, & I assume that's what you used?). Anyway, when I first looked at my piano, my perception was that all of the gaps were perfectly even (which is what I posted earlier). But the other day when I was staring at the keyboard, all of a sudden I noticed that some of the gaps looked very slightly different, but it wasn't between the B and C keys, it tended to be between the E and F keys. Then I noticed that the gaps toward the front of the keys looked slightly larger than the gaps between the white keys at the other end (by the black keys). It was almost like one of those trick pictures that changes the more you look at it. I stopped looking at it for a while, and when I returned it seemed perfectly normal again. I took some photos, and uploaded them to Flickr, but was unable to successfully post them (I don't know what I am doing incorrectly--casinitaly had to get my avatar installed, so obviously I'm not having much success in that area). Now when I go to the music store for my lesson this week I am going to have to take a look at the keyboards on their pianos!

The gaps are real despite what some on here may think. Let me know what some of the digital pianos look like at your music lesson, especially if they have Rolands! Much thanks.

Yes, my lesson is Thursday, so I'll look around when I am there. I didn't mean to imply that your gaps aren't real, just that they looked better in some photos than others, perhaps because of the difference in the angles they were taken. And the thing with my piano was real, too, where the more I looked at them the more I noticed things I hadn't noticed previously--yet if I didn't concentrate on it, they looked OK (maybe because the differences are smaller than on yours?). I do think there may be something to the idea that the keys are installed in "banks," yet if that were the case, I don't see why yours would split between B and C and mine would split between E and F when we have the same PHA-50 keyboard.

Well, I don't seem to be able to get the photos to post inline even using the Image Tag, but I think you can see them with the link.

If anyone knows how to get the Image Tag to work please let me know. I notice that some folks are able to post photos inline with their posts.

At any rate, here are 4 photos I snapped with my phone. See what you think.

http://forum.pianoworld.com//ubbthreads.php/galleries/2657085.html#Post2657085

Yeah , I wasn't directing that "gaps are real" comment to you. There were some earlier posters questioning my sanity haha.

Your keys look much more well aligned but it could be hard to tell unless in person.