KeyLessLab Controller

[Thomas Mavian]

Some time ago I bought a second hand Arturia KeyLab49 real cheap, like $50. Quite some keys were not responding so I took it apart and tried to clean the connectors. Worked for a few of the keys but not all. In time they have gotten worse again.

Yesterday I felt I had had enough of every fourth or sixth key not responding. Faders and the pad are still good so I decided to try and make a controller board of it.

Before:

Wooden parts, quite delicate work if I may say so:

After:

In place on top of my ancient QS8 (which faders are starting to fail me):

One thing to remember if you plan on doing this is to take the three-wired cable which connects to the pitch bend wheel and connect them all together, otherwise it sends random pitch bend data. Same with the two-wired modulation wheel cable.

Super satisfied with this "mod".

And a secret, the wooden ends on the KeyLab49 are plastic. On my KeyLessLab they are real wood

[Guy Rowland]

That's really nicely done, good work!

[Thomas Mavian]

Thanks Guy, it came out better than I anticipated. I built it kind of sloppy, as a prototype but I think I'll just keep it as is.

Sat a few hours today and it works really well. Added rubber feet to it today so no more slipping around.

[Lawrence]

That is really cool, Thomas! I have the 88 key model and if the keys ever start to go….

(I’ve always thought it was sort of an attractive beast.)

[Luke]

Well done, Thomas! That's quite beautiful and seems to make a great controller. Mine lay unused for years due to several keys having broken the mechanism that springs them back into position. Finally, a couple of months ago, I decided to try and fix them. A little glue later and it's now sitting on my desk as main controller again. It really is a good piece of gear and you're absolutely right to have put in the work to keep it around!

[Thomas Mavian]

That is really cool, Thomas! I have the 88 key model and if the keys ever start to go….

(I’ve always thought it was sort of an attractive beast.)

I have actually thought about replacing the QS8 with an Arturia 88. Now I'm leaning towards an M-Audio Hammer 88. Less than half price and now I have all the other controls already.

[Thomas Mavian]

Well done, Thomas! That's quite beautiful and seems to make a great controller. Mine lay unused for years due to several keys having broken the mechanism that springs them back into position. Finally, a couple of months ago, I decided to try and fix them. A little glue later and it's now sitting on my desk as main controller again. It really is a good piece of gear and you're absolutely right to have put in the work to keep it around!

Cool! My keys worked mechanically but the contact pads were real bad, couldn't get them clean enough.

[Thomas Mavian]

Well done, Thomas! That's quite beautiful and seems to make a great controller. Mine lay unused for years due to several keys having broken the mechanism that springs them back into position. Finally, a couple of months ago, I decided to try and fix them. A little glue later and it's now sitting on my desk as main controller again. It really is a good piece of gear and you're absolutely right to have put in the work to keep it around!

Cool! Nice work to get it up and running. Which model do you have?

My keys worked mechanically but the contact pads were real bad, couldn't get them clean enough.

[Luke]

Well done, Thomas! That's quite beautiful and seems to make a great controller. Mine lay unused for years due to several keys having broken the mechanism that springs them back into position. Finally, a couple of months ago, I decided to try and fix them. A little glue later and it's now sitting on my desk as main controller again. It really is a good piece of gear and you're absolutely right to have put in the work to keep it around!

Cool! Nice work to get it up and running. Which model do you have?

My keys worked mechanically but the contact pads were real bad, couldn't get them clean enough.

Same as yours, actually, the original KL49. Really like the controller functions (not so much the pads though, not sensitive enough for meaningful usage in my experience. Too bad about the key bed components, really. Lots of cheap plastic parts that break easily without major abuse. For a controller of that price class, they should really use better materials. My Arturia Matrixbrute by contrast feels like a far more solid and abuse-ready key bed.

Your craftsmanship is lovely, by the way. That wooden frame is gorgeous (and I'm horrified to find out the original "wood" side panels are plastic! Though now that I'm tapping them I can hear the plastic...)