Help!!!

I only recently purchased a Yamaha Clavinova. It was second hand but I have had it for about 3-4 months, maybe a bit longer, and it was working fine. Until now!

I turned it on in the last couple of days and tried to play it, but no sound came out... now all of a sudden it has this yucky reverb noise coming out of it and really scratchy notes to say the least... is it broken? It's second hand so would like to know if it is worth fixing? Is it something inside the Piano itself? I do have it next to my living room window.................


Advice please on my poor sick Joanna!!!

Try turning it on whilst holding the very top white key down. This reverts everything back to factory settings on mine. Worth a try anyway. Also ensure your mains lead hasn't come loose where it plugs into the piano.

Good luck

Hi!

Tried both of those and it still either doesn't make any sound or sounds really crackly....... I'm really worried now!

We used to have an old hammond organ and that's exactly how that sounded when a family of mice had taken up residence inside and nibbled through some vital bits of wiring

Try turning it on while holding the topmost B down - this if I remember correctly is what does the factory reset on mine.

Can you tell if the different sounds are a change of setting (the reverb sounds as though it is) or bad wiring (which the scratchy notes sound like it is)

Settings are easy to fix, and the factory reset has been mentioned already.

Wiring is a little harder but still do-able.

Also, which model is it?

Were you affected by the storms last week?

One of my students clavinovas stopped working (they think) because of lightning hitting the house. Would be interested to know if I'm just a little gullible or if it could actually happen, I know TVs can go if aerial is hit.

It is possible that the circuit board need to be replaced, or that one of the speakers is faulty and causing some distortion. I would look for a reputable keyboard repairer/ technician, and ask him about it and and ask for an estimate.

Thanks guys!

I have tried restoring factory settings and it doesn't seem to be working....... to be honest I can't tell the difference between scratching and reverb at the moment, they sound like one and the same at the moment.

Not sure of the model (I'm at work at the moment!) but will look it up when I get home and post it up. We have had rubbish weather down in SE London lately but not so bad that my Clavinova would be messed up by it to be honest with you... but then I have been out a lot so it is possible my house would have been hit by lightning and I don't even know it! The worse weather is coming today I think...

Will have to get it checked out I suppose but I don't know anyone in my area.... any ideas of where to look for someone?

if your'e in London or nearby regions, clavinovarepairslondon.com

Thank you for that website, I'll take a look!

The model of my Yamaha is a CLP-360, if that helps any?

Try holding down the first F key (F0) and turning the power on. If I remember correctly, that's the reset function for the CLP 360.

FYI,

The CLP 360 was released in 1990 and 17 years is a long time for an electronic instrument. If the reset doesn't work, it might be a hardware fault and you may have trouble trying to find parts. (I'm not sure about this though as I've never known anyone personally that's had a problem with Clavinovas)

Hopefully a good technician will have you back up and playing in no time!

Hmm - well I had a problem with mine 2 or 3 years ago (a CVP 87A) - and I was told that spares are kept for only 3 years, so yes, finding parts is not necessarily simple. Since mine is about 14 years old, I wasn't too hopeful. The fault corrected itself, happily, but otherwise there may have been no solution.

One major downside of digitals is moments like this!


At least it's back to normal now!

Yes - their "lifetime" is comparatively short given what they cost - at least it seems that way.

A lot of it is down to luck, I suppose.

I do find it shocking though that Yamaha charge so much and only keep parts for a few years. They should keep them for 10 years minimum.

Mine has done exactly the same thing!

It went a bit wonky aroud Christmas time - at first it wouldn't power up, then I was suddenly woken in the middle of the night by an aweful noise. It was as if every single key was being held down with the volume turned right up.

Strangley enough it then worked perfectly for a couple of months, but then is started making the most dreadful out of tune noises. I've conatcted the repair man, who said that the best thing is just to replace the circuit boards.

Well, I have tried everything and it is still not working... I think I have no choice but to get someone out to repair it! Thank you for all your advice though everyone!

Hope you poorly instrument soon recovers!!

Am horrified. Anyone know how long Roland keep their spares ? What would you estimate the life expectancy of a Roland 2800 (I think that's the right number). The Association I work for bought it eleven years ago and it has been used constantly for teaching and moved around a fair amount - including being loaned out recently to a riotous wedding party. There were raised eybrows when after last week's end of year concert I said the poor instrument was "tired" and we needed something more technically up to date.
It hasn't actually behaved like the Clavinova but it - well I'm no technician - it just sounds worn - if anyone knows what I mean.