Well let's see David ...... I can understand the "cost effectiveness" of simply replacing the control box with an iQ box and plugging in the iPod or iPad to drive the unit. Lots of people own iPod and iPads these days and so THAT expense is already over with on such an upgrade. For demonstrative purposes, let's say the iQ box costs $1000 to replace.
After 15 years of existence, the rubber tips on the key solenoids are hard. The new ones are soft and give a bit when pushed sideways and the plunger rod is specially machined to hold them in place so all the solenoids will have to be replaced.
The driver boards may look the same but after a close inspection, the new ones are far more capable to run at higher data speeds hence more key control during the stroke.
The new power supply is really light weight and so the old boat anchor needs to be lowered out of there with some effort and replaced with the new ones.
The new pedal solenoid is metric and should be replaced so that it is new as well. It only takes a minute.
The new CPU board is no longer rail cover mounted. It's about the size of a large post card and gets mounted somewhere outside of the rail cover.
Let's say this whole set up costs the customer $5000 ..... parts and labor. These are numbers for comparison purposes.
Cost effective?? That's for the customer to decide. I've had only one customer agree to this upgrade so far.
Ethical?? The factory encourages kit sales. They provide a discount for an incentive to upgrade. The customer ends up with a state of the art player once again ........ on location. No piano move needed. The piano plays immensely nicer than it ever did and as an added plus, it's mechanically quieter, plays softer and doesn't miss notes. Software is downloadable online and a record is kept of the transaction so that as storage media changes, the owner can get credit for previously purchased software. They have an exchange program in place called Legacy Exchange for people that have floppies or CD's that need to be converted to current media storage devices. Yeah there's factory support.
The one thing I miss is being able to make some software adjustments using a 128plus control box. The new power supply won't accommodate the plug ins. I could use an old power supply but that's more crap to haul around.
Hazards ......... the pedal solenoid nut is large (one of them is). Some installers cut off part of this to accommodate the installation. The new one, being metric, won't work with the old nut so the portable bench with vise was very useful for making the cut with my reciprocating saw. I then used an angle grinder to pretty it up from there.
Older ones will need the rails replaced hence the bench vise again to hold the new rails as you make your cuts.
Somewhere in this particular player's life, the sostenuto mechanism was messed with and I had to replace a wrongly installed return spring with a new one and improve the installation so that it didn't happen again.
The sustain pedal pivots didn't have long enough screws in them and so during the disruption of removing and reinstalling that mechanism, the screw holes wallowed out and came loose again in a matter of days.
Numerous trips from the piano's location to the work shop area (back of car with portable work bench) are neccessary. Slippers that can be readily put on and off help reduce the number of pine needles and mud that gets tracked in the house. You'll make points in a big way with this one ....... providing you wear socks that don't have holes in them.
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Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
360-256-2999
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-24-2011 12:21
From: David Andersen
Subject: PianoDisc upgrade
Wow. This is shocking for me to hear; both of the "quality" installers here in L.A. told me unequivocally that upgrading systems that old was impossible, costs more than it's worth, etc. etc. What's the real story? Is it supported by the company? Is it "ethical?" Does it work as good as new equipment?
Thanks so much for letting me pick your brain.....
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David Andersen
Los Angeles CA
310-391-4360
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-24-2011 10:43
From: Larry Fisher
Subject: PianoDisc upgrade
For what it's worth, and for those of you that are PianoDisc techs, I just did my first in home upgrade from a 1998 128 plus to Silent Drive HD. All solenoids and all electronics were swapped out and it took about 6 hours nonstop. I'll be going back to spend another hour or two to handle some minor details I over looked.
To swap the solenoids I sat in the rear hatch of my Honda wagon using a portable workbench made of a 2 X 10, collapsible horses, bar clamps and a bench vise clamped to the horse and plank.
The record cable interface was not mounted properly and the pedal mechanism needs some longer screws and some leather to make it work better.
I'll most likely be posting some pics covering the record interface disconnect if anyone is interested.
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Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
360-256-2999
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