Classic Roland instruments

D70 Clicky Keys

5 Sep 2018, 20:58

I recently removed all the keys from my D70 because there were a couple bad keys and all of the black ones made a slight 'tick' noise when first pressing down. I re-greased all the keys and touch points and now ALL the keys make this metallic 'tick' noise upon first press. The 'tick' noise is only on the first pressing - subsequent presses don't make the noise...until it sits for a few minutes...then its back. It seems that it must be the little metal spring (since its a metallic sound), but before I rip this thing open again I thought I'd see if anyone has experienced this. It's odd to me that EVERY key now does this when they didn't before (only the black keys did). So it must have to do with how I put the keys back in, though I just can't fathom anything intuitive based on the simplicity of the mechanism and the seemingly only 'one way' to mount these keys. Otherwise this D70 is in 100% mint condition...but the keybed noise is annoying...almost as bad as the whining backlight I replaced. Anybody out there have an idea? This may apply to other old Roland keybeds as well. Thanks!

Re: D70 Clicky Keys

26 Sep 2018, 21:29

Update: I pulled off all the keys again and re-greased with a plastic safe white lithium grease where the spring contacts the key (I used 100% pure silicone grease the first time). I also put some grease on the end of the spring that rests up against the keybed frame (there was no grease at this location from the factory as far as I could tell). The latter is the only place there is metal to metal contact in the mechanism.

This effort, like my first effort, resulted in reduced clicking of the keys for a few days. However, the metallic 'tick' sound on first key press has returned.

← Back to Classic Roland instruments