Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Does anybody mod digital pianos so they don't resonate?

So many digital pianos have flimsy structures that buzz and resonate with some key presses. Wondering if anyone has mounted the innards in a more rigid and damped (more acoustically inert) structure. I used a Yamaha P80 and KX8. Both had superb key actions but buzzed and were very noisy because of particle board/plastic construction. If one replaced that with solid wood that was acoustically damped, it might transform the instrument.
Also wondering if anybody replaces the felt so the keys aren't so awfully noisy. There is key depression noise as well as key return noise. The key return noise seems to be worse in most keyboards.

Wait, the P80 doesn't have speakers. This makes it hard for me to imagine what you mean by buzz. Are you referring to pianos that do have speakers on that one or is there a buzz associated with the action you are referring to?

I totally know what you mean about the loud key depression and return noises. I think over time the felt (and whatever else) compresses and gets noisier than it was originally. In fact, I think manufacturers should be more careful to make that stuff quiet. Some manufacterers are better than others. I remember that my P80 was much louder and more abrupt in its key action than the Kawai I replaced it with.

When you have headphones plugged in, it makes quite a difference to others in your house.

I'm almost sure I've seen someone replace a strip of felt in their piano. Might not have been on this forum.

Good question, though. I wish digital pianos were a little more serviceable (or perhaps we just need to be a little more willing to tear into it and improve things). Probably as DP's proliferate, piano technicians will start doing some of this type of work.

gvfarns, you said :

"Wait, the P80 doesn't have speakers. This makes it hard for me to imagine what you mean by buzz. Are you referring to pianos that do have speakers on that one or is there a buzz associated with the action you are referring to?"

But pw2u is saying that the structure itself (body, panel or parts) resonates in sympathy with the key action - this is nothing to do with amplification & speakers or even sound generation.

I had this problem with the control panel on the HP302. A tiny rectangle of plastic cut out of a disposable razor cover, inserted between the red felt and panel above the penultimate key stopped the vibration.