[sdiy] Yamaha CE keyboards ?

[Richard Wentk]

At 12:26 02/12/2002 +0100, jhaible wrote:
>This may look off-topic at first glance, but it isn't. (;->)
>
>Is anybody here familiar with the Yamaha CE keyboards?

Yep. Did a MIDI retrofit for a CE20 a long long time ago now.

>These were cheap preset FM keyboards which pre-dated
>the DX-7.
>I wonder if they have a decent keyboard action, if the keys
>have metal contacts (no rubber stuff)

This is going back some 20 years, so any of the following could be wrong. 
But for what it's worth, I seem to remember the keys used those rubber 
nipples that you'll find in things like the Roland Juno series.

>, and if the aftertouch
>works as a variable controller (and not just as a switch, as
>the user manual suggests.)

Definitely variable. The CE20 had a nice brass preset that only came alive 
because of pressure sensitivity.

You know, I'd be surprised if Yamaha didn't still have service manuals for 
these. I know it's been a long time, but that's where I'd start looking.

They were pretty rare though. I don't remember them ever being advertised, 
and I'm sure they can't have sold many. They were pretty cheesy - mostly 
monophonic, mostly quite crappy noises. (Apart from the brass, which was 
great.)

Oh look - here's a link:

http://www.yamahasynth.com/classic/older/d_ce20.htm

Richard