I have my Yamaha S900 since Monday, October 1. I play it every day –no problems.

I just shipped a keyboard to California – Bubble wrap, pop corn, and extra support in side the carton. I was surprised, when I got my S900 the packing protect was a little below acceptable, I don’t know how it got to me without any damage. This could possibly be what has been causing the problems.

Over 17 keyboards have been shipped to me in the past years, this was the worst packing job yet. My Tyros 2 was packed like a tank.
John C.

Hi YamahaUS1 ,

I have been looking at the `S900 and had a chance to try 2.

The first one the rubber buttons would stick and the second one the rubber buttons worked , but had very little tactile feedback.

It truly is the best " bang for your buck " as far as A/KB`s go.

I have also played your new Motif XS6 , and found it to be of very high quality , with very good action.

So my question , if I may , is :

Why not build an A/KB with the keybed of the Tyros / Motif with real button switches with plastic coverings like the Motif and Tyros ?

Yamaha sells the `S900 for X amount , I for one would gladly pay the price of a Motif XS6 for the S900 if it had the same quality ( ie: plastic buttons / with switches & FSX keybed )

To me that would be the perfect keyboard , not too big , but quality , something you could play without worrying your going to break something.

The Y2K thru Y3K all had plastic buttons covering a membrane contact surface , bad idea , but that is history.

Yamaha can`t change the S900 now , I realize that , however is there any hope in getting an all-in-one arranger keyboard like i mentioned.

Thank you for your time.
Gary

I am grateful that Steve Demming is addressing this issue here on the forum. I am extremely satisfied with how my problems were resolved. Sweetwater let me keep my defective keyboard beyond the 30 day return (I was able to gig with it despite the problem with the Data Select Wheel), because there was a delay in their second shipment. And Yamaha accepted a return that I had scratched instead of telling me to get it repaired under warranty.

The 2-3% of unhappy owners sure make a lot of noise. Enough noise that I think it would be in Yamaha's interest to test these keyboards more thoroughly before they go out.

It is unfortunate that these many keyboards are defective, but I don't think it's a reason to stay away from this remarkable keyboard.

I have heard of two or three Europeans with defective PSR-S900s on the PK Owner forum, but the vast majority of owners are without problems.

The PSR-S900 really is creme de la creme. I am getting a fantastic response at my gigs. I think that it would be misguided to get a lesser instrument because of the fear of getting a defective PSR-S900. The two units that I am playing now - one for gigging and one for practice/studio - are very stable. No glitches whatsoever.

I am really surprised that the amount of PSR-S900s sold in the USA are in the hundreds - apparently less than 500. That's less than 10 for every state in the union! Of course, the keyboard has only been out for a little over a month, but that's really little. Yamaha being the most popular brand, it makes me wonder how many Ketron's sell here.

Beakybird

Thanks Everyone,
I'm in Australia not the USA, hence the reason for asking if the problems were mainly confined to the USA.

I have a dealer about an hour away, so I'd be picking up.

Thanks Steve & George, sounds like someone has mishandled the faulty ones prior to the owners receiving them, rather than any manufacturing problems etc.

Makes me feel way more confident.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rikkisbears:
[B]

That was only conjecture on Steve Deming's part although it may have indeed happened.

Steve is saying to go ahead and buy with confidence but I can understand why some people may be hesitant to do so. I myself can't think another recent arranger product by Yamaha that has had this many issues this quickly. Most places do have a 30 day return/exchange policy so if you don't mind the possible hassle and loss of time with boxing back up a bad one and either shipping it back for a refund or replacement or driving to the location you purchased it from to do likewise then go ahead and buy with confidence.

When the S500/700/900 first came out and I was able to demo them in person that was one of the first points I made about them was they looked and felt kind of shoddy in workmanship and materials compared to the PSR 3000, or the PSR 2000 for that matter. Mind you, that's an observation on the outside of the keyboard but if the outside happens to be suspect (at least that's what I thought from my initial observation anyway) then something may be going on with the innards too. Kind of like where there's smoke there's ... God forbid, right? And it's interesting if they are made in China because China has for the last year or so experienced massive quality control issues on manufactured products. Could that be where the real problem lies? Instead of that bonehead in Yammie's warehouse?

Although for Yamaha's sake I hope that it is only relegated to a small internal issue that is of limited scope.

You're rolling the dice somewhat but I would estimate that 9 times out of 10 or better you're going to come out a winner. And those are fantastic odds really. Although I myself am personally not a gambling man the analogy is still a valid one in my opinion. So all things considered I am with Steve on this one. Go ahead and buy with confidence. >> Be advised though that I am in no way liable if after taking my advice someone happens to get stuck with a lemon. But with all things considered the chances of that happening are very slim in my opinion. And if there is something bigger going on then Yamaha will waste no time in getting to the bottom of it and rectifying it asap. You can count on that. Their name is at stake and they don't want any kind of black eye out of this that's for sure. Nuf said..

Mike