Kawai ES920 Issue With The GFP-3 Triple Pedals Damper/Soft Pedal Jack (Failure)

[bill88]

I’ve had my Kawai ES920 for a little over two years, and after taking it out approximately 150 times to play gigs, the Damper/Soft Pedal Jack has failed. The pin receptacles on the back of the keyboard have become stressed and have shorted out from being plugged in and unplugged that many times. Not too happy about that and it is definitely an engineering weak point. There should be a better way to design this connector because many of us use the keyboard for gig playing, as opposed to those who just leave the keyboard in their living room or studio and never unplug the triple pedal.

I contacted Kawai about the issue and they were very quick to respond to me and follow up. I live in Kansas City and they were able to hook me up with a authorized Kawai technician who can fix it. I have an appointment with the technician next week to see if he has a solution. In their opinion, this is a “wear ‘n tear” issue and not covered by the ES920 three-year warranty. The technician tells me that this should not be an expensive fix; somewhere in the $150 range. The actual cost is TBT. If this estimated cost pans out, then it’s not much of a concern, so the warranty issue may be a moot point. If it turns out to be something more serious, then that will be another issue.

Has anyone out there in the forum world experienced this with their ES920 GFP-3 triple-pedal? I’ll be posting updates here as I move through the process of hopefully fixing the connector.

Bill

 

[rikkisbears]

Hi , I bought an es920 when they first came out. I don’t gig though, so my 3 pedal set was never plugged or unplugged. Just when I bought it, and when I sold it, The guy who bought it gigged and didn’t need the pedal set and stand.
Are you saying your 3 pedal set failed, or the single sustain pedal?
sorry , not yet h help.

 

[bill88]

Finely got it repaired: loose jack clips on the triple-pedal female DIM jack. Replaced with a new mini-board/jack connector (Part # C11-KEP-776-001). Parts and labor came to $105. Kawai considered this normal “wear and tear” and it was not covered under my 3-year warranty. I tend to agree with them.

I was very pleased with the process from Kawai. They responded to me the next business day and hooked me up with a technician here in the Kansas City area. The part was shipped immediately.

I’m a happy camper.

Bill