Opinion needed- defect Stage 3 and repair costs

[jrcornelisse]

Dear friends,

Could I ask your opinion on my next steps regarding a warrantee issue?

I bought a Nord Stage 3 HP 76 new, in 2018. Have had it out to gigs +/- 20 times, always in the Nord bag. It never hit anything and looks like new from the outside. I used it once a week in my studio. In the years, I had my keyed repaired twice (for free under warranty) and my broken mod wheel once (warranty) in the first three years.

In July last summer, I booted it up at a gig and it said: "piano not found", not able to play any piano. Rebooting, installing image etc did not work. I brought it to my reseller (tried the same things but did not succeed), and he brought it to the importer (country reseller) in Belgium. Did not work either, so they sent it back to the factory.

Now, it is 6 months (!) later. In December, they told me a piece of hardware was defect and they did not have it anymore, so they ordered it in Asia. Now, the piece is available, but my reseller give me the price quote: I need to pay EUR 1500 incl VAT to get it fixed. He said he tried everything to convince them to do it for free or deliver a similar keyboard back. They said they brought it down from EUR 1800 and this is the price. Until now, I have not been able to talk to Nord directly. My reseller is of great help, he borrowed me a Nord Grand 1 for the whole period for free, and says he does not touch up the amount from Nord.

I really don't know what to do. Of course, it is 6 years old and yes, it can happen that I have been very unlucky. But seen the state of it, the new price and the age - it does not seem to be a fair deal. I mean - if it would have been a Porsche, they would ask me 100k (half of the new price) to get it fixed. And of course the machine is useless if not repaired.

Amy thoughts on your side? Would you accept it or do you have any hints? Thanks so much, appreciated!

[maxpiano]

The cost is high, but looking around the whole mainboard costs almost 80% of it, see https://syntaur.com/Part-11870-Main-board-Nord-Stage-3.

Assuming they would go for full replacement, add to that repair labour (including reloading the keyboard calibration, which you cannot DIY) and shipment to/from repair shop and you get where probably the number they proposed to you comes from.

[cphollis]

Sometimes the universe sends you a message that it's time for a new keyboard

[FZiegler]

It's 'only' a HP which seems to often have its issues, but I don't think it's worthless. It could be both at the same time: Worth a repair (for you or a buyer) and worth swapping for another keyboard. What about getting it repaired and selling it in a fixed condition?

[jrcornelisse]

Thank you for your thoughts and reply. Indeed - they said the mainboard should be replaced. In that case - happy to hear that these are so expensive which explains the price.

Yes, getting it fixed I would probably still get 2500-3000 for the machine. And indeed- perhaps the universe is telling me something haha. I would probably go for a Stage 4 upgrade, of switch to midi based MainStage solution. Having more than 300 single programs (also with the forums help!), makes me a bit hesitating in programming it all again..

Keep you posted on how it will end..

[jrcornelisse]

Hi all, quick update to close the topic: I finally decided to reach out to Nord via the websites contact form. I have to say that I am impressed by how it was picked up. Apparently my stage was in a repair shop in France, is now fixed and being returned to the Netherlands and is fixed for a more than reasonable price, including an explanation of how the price is build up. Although the throughput time of more than half a year is quite long, I am happy that they fixed it. Thank you for your help here as well.

In the end - I decided as well to immediately change my Stage 3 for a Stage 4, although I am not looking forward to program it all over again Thanks!

[jrcornelisse]

Hi all - another short update: after receiving a very good price for my repaired Stage 3, I decided to switch to the Stage 4. So happy with it. The keyed is so much better than the HP76. Only downside so far is the weight, but as long as I don't lift it, I don't care

Still one question left (although I do not know - do I need to transfer it to another section??) ->

I only have my Nord Stage 3 backup file left, NOT the program files separately. I would love to use the file viewer to recreate a couple of my synth presets from my Stage 3 on my new Stage 4. Is there a possibility to do that with only the backup file?

[jrcornelisse]

I only have my Nord Stage 3 backup file left, NOT the program files separately. I would love to use the file viewer to recreate a couple of my synth presets from my Stage 3 on my new Stage 4. Is there a possibility to do that with only the backup file?

Yes. Make a copy of the backup file and rename it to .zip then unzip it (using a good unzipper like 7zip on Windows or Unarchiver on Mac)

[jrcornelisse]

That worked, thank you so much. Perhaps useless to say - but see here again how enormous great value this forum has. An adequate answer within a couple of minutes. Thank you so much Max!