Hammond Keyboard Keycomb Repair

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Hammond Keycomb Repair...this is one method of tightening up the keycombs on your Hammond. If your keys rattle or click when you play, this will quiet them down and make the keyboard feel like new. To really do a top notch job, though, you should replace the up and downstop felts while you have it apart. You will be amazed at the difference.

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16 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 18

@gfh110 13 лет назад

I've got a project B3 that I acquired this summer that I'm currently restoring and the keycombs definitely need some work. I'll likely employ this method!

@paulj0557tonehead 13 лет назад

I bet this works excellent Bob. In repairing a Farfisa Fast 4 combo organ I learned a few things. First of all, nobody makes organs better than Hammond, structurally. The keycomb method is about as durable as it gets! Farfisa molded oval recesses on the key faces and employed a single tiny cylinder of felt to accomplish up,down,and side to side stability. Lowes sells felt sticky back pads (Softtouch #0054062). I imagine you could drill out that rivet, used the #005.., but taper backing from key

@wdilks 4 года назад

Yeah...gonna do this tomorrow on all of the upper keys on my '59 B3. I have the uppers removed, and spent the time today cleaning each one individually. Tomorrow I'll get the fabric and do a couple of octaves and see how it feels. I'm anticipating this to work well, can't see any reason why it won't. To be safe I'll use a 6mm fabric. I'm an old jazz player who started out in the Earl Grant world. So when I run the glissando up or down, the damned thing clacks big time...noisy as hell. Most white keys need it, even a couple of blacks. So I'll do 'em all. Also ordered up-stop and down-stop felts for upper/lower, and have on-hand the full set of the double black key felts for upper/lower. I replaced the ups/downs about 10 years ago, and they're already feeling a bit hard, tho' still quiet on the push-release. But may as well do it since the thing is apart and I have new black key felts. I realize that replacement key combs can be purchased. Hell, if my B3 was scrapped, I could sell mine. It doesn't mean they're any good. So I just don't trust 'em. They're likely going to be old, or not reliable, or not good enough. And I don't trust something like this to be re-manufactured right. There's just no market for this, and I don't want a thrown-together "something" that's not reliable or from poor quality workmanship. And I've seen vids on drilling out the stud / screwing in to tighten and spread the felt. But that felt being spread in my case is from 1959, and I don't want 61 year old felts as part of a short-term solution. I want something new for a long-term fix. Btw...worked for Hammond on Diversey back around 1982 as a product specialist after the mgmt crew from Conn joined Hammond. I can't blame them tho', the industry was on its way out. Was a nice run with Hammond, short, but nice. Next gig is 10/1 so I have time to do this, and an A100 in the house for the daily regimen. I'll post status. Appreciate your post, Bob. -Bill

@wdilks 4 года назад

They're now smooth as silk. I did most of the keycombs on the upper. Where it was too tight I used my pocket knife to ease one side. On the lower, I had a problem getting to the back of the keys. So I squeezed the keycombs with channel locks. That took care of most of it, tho' they may loosen up over time. I can go back once I learn the proper way to get the the lower keys for removal. But, all of that irritating "clacking" was gone. I did use a small strip of clear tape on the bottom 1/8" of the side of a few keys to remove a left-over glissando "clicking", that I really do a lot of during my playing. Temporary or bad idea? Maybe, but I can always easily adjust if/when needed. So this, with replacing upper/lower upstop/downstop felts, it plays great! Thanks for sharing your creativity. Works like a champ. I did try straight cloth, and the glue spread out and hardened even on the sides. I used more of a cloth-type ribbon, and the glue stayed put. All in all, it took time, was in no hurry, and it was worth it. As a jazz/Basie/Earl Grant gigging player of many years, it's really sweet...feels as good as when I got it back in '71.

@wdilks 4 года назад

Update: On a few I used too much glue, hardening the fabric on the sides as well. Had to cut some off. I used some medical cloth adhesive on the inside of a few keys, and a few low on the outside where it hits an adjacent key. One sticking key was due to not having the key seated properly on the pins by the screw. My '62 A100 now sounds like a clunker by comparison. I'll have to do that one soon.

@wdilks 4 года назад

OK....the B3 is for gigging. I loaded up in the trailer for a gig later this week. But now I'm spoiled. I have an early '62 A100 at home for practice. The keys were noisy as hell...clicking like an old IBM Selectric under a fast typist. I went simple today on a fix, as I just couldn't take it any longer. I was used to it, before I worked on the B3. Now it drives me nuts. I used medical tape from the local drug store, and medium channel locks for the key combs. For the worst keys, I gave 3 hard squeezes...one at the base of the top, one on the rivet, and one on the end. For others, depending on the "play", I went less, usually just on the end. On a couple of keys I put tape on a lower side (so it wouldn't show) and up inside so the comb hits it. On others, I would put a 1/2" to 3/4" square on the lower side of a key almost to the front and tuck it up inside the hollow. On a couple I had to tape both the moving key and the key it was hitting. Made a BIG difference. Now it's usable. I didn't have to unbolt the keyboards. As I only had to unscrew the top, the drawbar rail, the front rail and not the keys themselves, it only took a couple of hours from moving it out from the wall to pushing it back ready for use. We'll see how long it lasts. For now, it's much much better than it was.

@helio85384 9 месяцев назад

Very good !!!

@chrisstewart5354 9 месяцев назад

Can you make a video on how to fix the bass pedals on a hammond concord. The plastic inserts are broken on my organ.

@jhelmwaterw 12 лет назад

Hi Bob! Another great video. My question/concern lies with the material. I am guessing a synthetic "slippery" cloth material is the best to use? It looks like you are using some kind of mildly ribbed material. I wonder about the durability of synthetic vs. natural fiber. I wonder if either breaks down faster or starts to fray with repeated contact. Any feedback from players on this repair technique?

@asmodeo1984 2 года назад

heat-shrink tubing is the perfect thing to use, but it’s a secret. 😉 The glue always makes every material that you use too much hard.

@bobmann107 2 года назад

I have used heat shrink a couple of times. The issue I had was that it was the right thickness in only a few keyboards. The fabric can be had in many thicknesses. The glue is only applied to the top, and not to the sides, so the fabric is not affected. Bottom line, there are many ways to accomplish tightening the keys, this was just one. Do what works for you. Often I got good results squeezing the rivet with vise grips, spreading the felt enough to tighten side play. Never had a complaint about the keys loosening back up. This only works if there is not an excessive amount of play.

@dtimm612 11 лет назад

Any chance of getting a video on key contacts/busbar cleaning & lube? Also, I've heard using the busbar shifter is a bad idea. Any thoughts?

@bobmann107 13 лет назад

The glue I used in this instance was "Loctite Repair Extreme". Duro makes a similar type adhesive...many types will work. Check out your local hobby/craft store. The fabric may be different depending on the amount of slop you need to take up. My wife does a lot of sewing, so I just chose a fabric that worked best. You should be able to wrap a piece of something around the felt pad and put the key back without gluing to see if it will work; then either choose a thicker or thinner fabric then glue

@ronwachter7616 4 года назад

Prior to gluing a fabric wrap over a key comb, what is the best way to check the effectiveness of the wrap.

@bobmann107 13 лет назад

I would be concerned with removing the rivet and sticking a pad under the keycomb. Long term I would think the adhesive will fail and the pad will come loose. The glue I use is going to remain solid forever. This is not the kind of thing I would want to redo to replace a pad, especially on the lower manual.

@keyboardtek 6 лет назад

I see a complete set of restored keycombs for a B3 series is selling for about $175. Would it not be cheaper to just purchase a new set?

@bobmann107 6 лет назад

Depends. Most times there are only a few keys that need this level of repair, and very seldom do any of the black keys need any repair, so we are not usually talking about a lot of keys. If the entire keyboard is shot, I would rather replace than try to restore, you need to determine how much your time is worth. Also I would be wary of anyone who claims to have restored the keycombs. Although there may be someone out there who does, in fact, replace all the felts, I am going to bet that it is more likely that someone parted out an organ, dusted them off and is advertising them as "restored". I would ask specifically if the old felt was removed and new felt riveted in place. I see too much of this shady advertising, especially when it comes to the organs themselves. A Hammond will be advertised as "restored" but when pressed, it turns out that all that was done was a little bit of superficial clean-up. No actual electrical components were ever replaced, the drawbars, switch boxes and scanner was never removed, disassembled, and cleaned, nor was the keyboard removed, keys cleaned or bussbars cleaned. My definition of restored is when the entire organ is taken apart, cleaned, and all necessary components replaced. People who do this to a Hammond will not be selling it for $2000.00