Nord Electro 5 HP 73 solving keys bouncing

the "weighted" (Fatar) keys of the Nord Electrio HP (part 1 - 2022)
how to solve the problem of bouncing keys / sounds ?
First I want to let you know that it is not my intention to criticize anyone, or a brand. I just want to share my experience with you regarding the playing pleasure of a good keyboard bed; I have been a pianist all my life.
On stage I played the electric Hondo upright piano and Yamaha CP70, both with real strings (heavy !). Nowadays I own a KAWAI MP7 with the touch of real piano, at least; close. Nord uses the MP7 action in their Nord 5 Grand ! I live in Greece and had a gig in Holland, my home country. So I ordered the popular Nord, an Electro 5 HP without seeing or playing it first... (73 keys and light weight) I was quite disappointed in the way the HP plays. You can't compare the HP with a MP7, but I read good reviews about the playability of the HP. The weights and balance ratios of the keys used in de HP are not correct. This causes the hammers to bounce when struck, the plastic cover can even crack (see video) Very annoying, especially since the sounds bounce too. A soft touch is almost impossible. I experienced a Fatar (Italian) before with mij Ensonic TS12 and didn't like it then. Back in Greece I decided to adjust the Nord HP keys to my taste. You should know that I took a piano technique course, so I know about key balance and weights.
In the video you can see how I did it, and maybe you can do it yourself; it was about 2 days work.
It's not difficult: pull the axle out of the frame and all the hammers will fall out by themselves... They don't need to be numbered because they are all the same. On a real piano however the high keys play lighter than the heavy bass ones. My first attempt was just to drill a hole in the iron, but the weight remained too heavy. The white keys all weigh 30 grams, and the black ones weigh 20 grams each. I sawed off the white mallets to 23 grams (high notes) increasing to 27 grams (lower keys). The central area has 25 grams. I made the black hammers 16 to 18 grams. Sawing by hand is a lot of work, but no damage is made. It is not recommended to use a grinding wheel, because then the plastic melts I noticed. To prevent the iron weights from falling out, I used 16 and 22mm shrink tubing, heated by a paint burner in the lowest position (125 degrees). Before putting the hammers back in, I applied some more grease to all pivots. There is enough excess grease to use. Replacing the axle is a bit tricky, but doable with some patience. I couldn't wait to try out the playability....
The result was astonishing: hardly any bouncing keys !! Soft play is now possible and sliding with the organ is also much smoother. Incomprehensible why Fatar or even Nord has not tried this.
I am happy, and hope to play the Nord Electro 5 HP for many more years, and hope you all do too !! It also weighs less ;-) Greetings from Greece.

NORD Electro 5 HP73 adjustments PART 2 (2023)
After playing with the modified Nord for a year,
I decided to lower the weight of the hammers even more,
because the Nord still played too heavy for my liking.

This time with the grinder with a very thin metal grinding wheel,
immediately afterwards in a bucket of water to cool
and pushed back the weight with water pump pliers,
trimmed the edges - went fine and fast (in one day)
white keys now to 19-22 grams descending from high to low (=heavier)
black keys to 16-18 grams.

The next day shrink tubing was applied and everything was mounted and lubricated again.
The Nord HP now plays completely to my taste !!
Some keys do not return fully into position,
which I remedied by spraying the rotating parts with some WD-40.

[planetdog]

Nord wants and extra $600 for this sub par action? Waterfalls are better for the lightweight models.

[nacholabrada]

Hi, amazing job! Im thinking about trying it myself. I have two questions that would be great if you could answer.
1 - do you feel it changed too much the weight of the keys, does it feel too light after doing the job?
2 - I have owned a Nord stage 2 hp with that same action for over 5 years now and its been a pain in the ass how often single keys go dead or loose sensitivity due to debris. It happens every two month or so. Has this happened to you??

Sorry for the long message and thank you!!!

[larryfinke]

Dang that’s great. I went through 2 HPs and finally couldn’t deal with the bounce. Nord wouldn’t acknowledge it was an issue. I found it impeded any fast repeats.

[LizardKingdom-obkp]

Yo how did you manage to pull the axe out of the frame ? I'm trying to reach the contact rubber for a velocity loss to clean them but can't even reach underneath the keys ...

[jordanbrant]

What average 2:08 person on earth understands what the hell any of this is? 😂keyboard sounds even noisier than usual LOL

[MrSynthnut]

Piano tech here, Please don't do this to your keybed!!!! all you have to do is add 3/8" strips of precisely cut cupboard eva foam [usually black] to upper and lower felts, [pita] I used 4 -10"x3/8" lower & 4- 10"x3/8 upper [strong two way tape] [weight keys to gang lift sections] shock absober eva foam kills the bounce, kills the noise, super fast retriggering, 1000 percent more playable, I couldn't keep this board without his modification, easy to undo if by chance you prefered the unplayable bounce