Keyboardpartner-Forum

About the smooth Uhl springs please contact Uhl himself.

He has produced this springs himself so no other source for buying
is known.

Hi,

does anyone know where to get smoother springs for the Fatar TP/80 keybed, like they are used in the Uhl Smooth organs?

When buying a bottle BLACK & WHITE You pay for both :mrgreen:

happyfreddy hat geschrieben: I´m using FATAR Keys since 2011 in my first HX2 organ.
From start they work little harder than other keys ............
but as longer as in use they become more and more smoother.

I can confirm that with my 2 Doepfer D3M keyboards which surely have FATAR inside.

And there must be a difference between black and white keys as Ray Charles already knew
He said to his audience: "You only pay for the white keys, the black keys are for free!" :D

Gruß

Frank

Hi Paul,

will get my smooth keyboards installed next week.
I will report back of course.
One of the best-feeling organ keys I played was the
Numa Organ 2, hope the "smooth" feels the same
(but I guess!)
;-)

Cheers
Markus

I look forward to hearing some feedback about the new UHL Smooth keyboard. They only sell directly so it's difficult to get to try one here in Belgium.

The XK3 keyboard, in my opinion, feels terrible. It takes much too much effort to hold the keys down. It is nothing like a real Hammond. The Smooth UHL should be a vast improvement. The adjusted Mojo keys are much better than the XK3 and standard Fatar as well.

I had a second try at changing the key depth on the XK3 keyboards - the travel is now reduced by just over 2mm. It doesn't sound much but it makes a noticeable difference. The keys are no lighter, of course, but it encourages a lighter touch. Worth a try for anyone using an XK3 system with their HX3. I didn't change the lower manual as this one is also used to play external stuff like Rhodes etc.. I believe the actually midi trigger point can be changed mechanically but that is a discussion for the XK3 forum!

The new firmware beta is working perfectly which is why my attention changed to the keyboards :-)

Paul

Thanks Markus,

I also have the feeling that the XK3 keyboard is pretty good as standard, though I'll be interested to hear what you think when you have your 'smooth' keyboards. I'm guessing this is done by changing the spring rate. The XK3 springs are all easy to access though I've no idea where to get similar springs with a lower spring rate to try a swap!

Meanwhile I tried to lower the key depth by adding material to the felt strip that the keys hit. I'd like to add 2mm to match the striking distance to the real B3. My first attempt added too much so it resulted in my accidentally triggering adjacent keys too often - I hadn't thought about the relationship between the depth and the fingers clearing the key cleanly - but I'll have another try with less added material. My impression is that there could be an improvement in the 'feel' this way (I think it's probably natural to use the full depth of the keys even though the trigger point is high and velocity is not recognised) but we'll see.

Paul

Paul,

I played a XK3/XK3c System from 2004 or 2005 to 2013 before I switched to the SK2 and than Uhl/HX3...

The XK keyboard is (IMHO) the better keyboard. It feels more solid, no "strange noises" and a more even
feeling overall. I hadn't the feel that it is as stiff as the Fatar in the SK and the Standard TP80 in the
Uhl X3.
What's obivious is the difference between the black and the white keys and I also feel some
small difference between the upper and lower manual on my X3-2.... that's a litte sign on the
"italian" Fatar tolerances!
;-)

I wouldn't change the XK keyboard to Fatar...

Hope that helps
Markus

P.S. I will get my X3-2 fitted with the "smooth" keyboards soon.... should be an improvement.
;-)