Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

> Pedro,
> 
> Ed wrote: "Since the difficulty is intermittent, it does seem like
> something is 
> amiss in the controller, perhaps faulty contact with the element at 
> the pedal's top position." 
> 
> 
Ed, 
Some thoughts on the HH65.

When I first opened the HH65 up, my first impression of the pedal (having an
engineering background) was "this could be a potential long term design flaw
in the basic design and contruction" and that I should just figure on
replacing the rubber wedgy piece every few years.  The concern I had was
that by using a flexible material like rubber for the wedge, that although
it does provide excellant shock absorbtion, it is also can lead to wear and
tear and stretching. This stretching would lead to the first notch on the
bottom of the wedge to lay continuously on the first contact point of the
FSR and thus eliminating the "open hihat sound" permanently. By lifting up
the pedal and wiggling it, it might let the wedge spring back enough to no
longer make contact with the FSR. 

With an acoutics hihat the spring that keeps the top hat raised are pretty
strong and reliable, so that a many hours of use everyday, year after year,
there isn't a problem with the top hihat drooping down and making permant
contact with the bottom hat.

Since your foot rests on the hihat pedal in the closed or semi-closed
position the overwhelming majority of the time, it is not a problem for the
acoutic hihat, but could be a concern with the HH65. By having constant
downward pressure on the hihat pedal (HH65), you are stretching the rubber
wedge. It is secured at one side only (heal side) and the distants between
the ridge on the bottom of the rubber wedge and the FSR is very small, it
would not have to stretch too much before a problem would develop. 

Although I have not encounter the problem yet (and will probably never have
one since I have three HH65 that I swap around to distribute usage time), I
can easily see where it could develop into a problem. I am sure that Yamaha
torture tested it my opening and closing it with a robot tester, but I have
to wonder if they ever just left it in a fully closed position for a year or
so to see if the rubber overstretched.

OGD


 
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