KRONOS REPLACEMENT TOUCH SCREEN UNAVAILABLE?????!!!!!

lonelagranger · Post by **lonelagranger** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:24 pm

At least you guys paid cheap money for what Oasys users paid for their keyboard.

A point well noted. I just can't imagine the frustration with that scenario.

seapea · Post by **seapea** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:34 pm

kshacklett wrote:The "service manager" at Korg USA, not having big enough balls to call me and explain the situation, has relayed the message that the manufacturer no longer supplies this crucial replacement part.

.

danatkorg wrote:I've confirmed that these parts are available to authorized Korg service centers.

I have heard that you may now be in contact with an authorized service center, so hopefully that will straighten things out and you'll be up and running again soon.

Best regards,

Dan

So what's the latest?
This is where this thread left off, leaving contrary views as to whether screen available. Is it or isnt it available? What you found?

MoonMusic · Post by **MoonMusic** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:14 pm

seapea wrote:So what's the latest?
This is where this thread left off, leaving contrary views as to whether screen available. Is it or isnt it available? What you found?

If I understand it right, the screen is only available for replacement through an authorized service center so you can't just order a replacement and do it yourself....You'll have to send it off to an authorized service center if you want it replaced.....Definitely a much more expensive and time consuming route...But it's the only way to get it fixed if you want it operational again....moon

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:16 pm

seapea wrote:
kshacklett wrote:The "service manager" at Korg USA, not having big enough balls to call me and explain the situation, has relayed the message that the manufacturer no longer supplies this crucial replacement part.

.

danatkorg wrote:I've confirmed that these parts are available to authorized Korg service centers.

I have heard that you may now be in contact with an authorized service center, so hopefully that will straighten things out and you'll be up and running again soon.

Best regards,

Dan
So what's the latest?
This is where this thread left off, leaving contrary views as to whether screen available. Is it or isnt it available? What you found?

It's not really a matter of "view," but of fact. The screens are available to authorized service centers.

Btw - Korg in the USA is out today for the holiday; I'm just checking in here on my time off.

seapea · Post by **seapea** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:41 pm

danatkorg wrote: It's not really a matter of "view," but of fact. The screens are available to authorized service centers.

Thanks for that Dan. Glad it can be replaced .

So kshacklett, in fairness to Korg and the rest of us, I presume you will be able to report to us, that you got your screen fixed OK. How did you go? We havent heard the end of your story.

Mike Conway · Post by **Mike Conway** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:28 am

MoonMusic wrote: If I understand it right, the screen is only available for replacement through an authorized service center so you can't just order a replacement and do it yourself....

That is correct. However, service centers are run independently, I imagine it's possible to get someone to order you one or two screens. I could see this being the case, if the service center was not in your state. Or,....if Parts is Parts actually stocked the damn things. I believe they do, just not when you need them!

Like I said on page 1 of this thread, I went through this same scenario - Parts is Parts was all out, so I went to a service center and even became friends with the guy. Parts is Parts aren't going to necessarily give you a better deal than Korg's price (around $200, if you need both parts, like I did.)

As you can see, it's all fixed - Kronos screen, above OASYS:

lonelagranger wrote:
At least you guys paid cheap money for what Oasys users paid for their keyboard.
A point well noted. I just can't imagine the frustration with that scenario.

Rarely was there frustration with OASYS' build quality, which is very impressive, as are the keybeds. I felt it was some of the best money I ever spent on a product. The OASYS is built like a tank and opens for easy user access. I got mine in 2005 and now, in 2014, it remains my main board, which I play Kronos with.

For 4 years, Korg treated us very well, while adding more and more features to it. (It only started with 3 engines). The people who were most frustrated were late buyers, who thought it would continue to be developed, but saw it get discontinued.

When Kronos came out (for less than 1/2 price), with its SSD, EP-1, SGX-1 and newer OS, people wanted to see the OASYS do that. Frankly, a lot of us thought it could have been done (with a disk and/or motherboard swap), but that was Japan's call.

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:30 pm

danatkorg wrote:As I wrote earlier: if something seems too crazy to be true, it probably isn't true.

I have confirmed that replacement touch-screens are available from Korg USA. These are available to authorized service centers only. The Kronos is not user-servicable; if repairs are needed, contact an authorized service center. Your national Korg Distributor can help you to find an authorized service center; for a list of authorized service centers in the USA, see http://i.korg.com/dealerlocator.

Dan,

Just a question, from myself, as somebody who has just moved to Korg (the Kronos is a bit more exciting than current Yamahas

) and who is also a time served electronics craftsman with an electronics apprenticeship, a HND and 30+ years of experience with general electronics, microprocessors and computers.

Is it not reasonable for electronics savvy people to be able to repair keyboards themselves? Especially when the keyboard is out of warranty. Of course to do that, you need access to a supply of parts.

I have performed key repairs myself on my Yamahas by ordering parts from Yamaha. I know that the LCD was available for my SY77 from Yamaha when I looked at replacing it, but at the cost quoted, I went the 3rd party route. I have performed display upgrades on my SY77, TG77 and SY99. I have repaired friends' keyboards when I have been asked to do so. I have performed complete strip downs and reassembly of keyboards when needed, for example to do those display upgrades, and the last time was when some idiot at an "intimate" gig managed to spill a pint of beer over the keyboards.

I am only an amateur musician, but the show had to go on, and there was no option to send the keyboard off to a service centre! I was back in service for the gig the following night. Whilst in that situation if I had needed a part, I would have been stuffed for that gig, I don't think I would have had a problem ordering parts from Yamaha. And ordering parts and fitting them yourself will always be quicker and cheaper than sending the board off to a service centre.

So "no user serviceable parts inside" is from the perspective of individual competence. I am as competent as anybody in a user service centre to repair my keyboards, and am happy to accept the risk of fixing my own.

Are you saying that with my new Kronos, once it is out of warranty, that I have no options to fix things myself if I chose to do so?

Like Kerry, I am not terribly happy about that! And would like to take that up with Korg.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:24 pm

I completely agree with Derek here.

I do understand that Korg wants to rely on service centers for active warranty time. But I fail to see what buying parts out of warranty time should have to do with it, or why then any Kronos user should be forced to get his repair that way.

I might be one more customer concerned one day, and if I can fix it fast, it makes ten times more sense if a part reaches me, than if my Kronos travlels for days or weeks at additional costs without proper reason.

Parts should simply be available for customers, even if at moderately higher prices than for service centers.

One more word: Dan, we all know how well you have accompanied us Kronos users. I for one am very thankful for that, and hope you can separate high respect and sympathy from most in this forum from questions concerning company decisions and guidelines, meeting critical user feedback casually.

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:38 pm

jimknopf wrote:I completely agree with Derek here.

I do understand that Korg wants to rely on service centers for active warranty time. But I fail to see what buying parts out of warranty time should have to do with it, or why then any Kronos user should be forced to get his repair that way.

I might be one more customer concerned one day, and if I can fix it fast, it makes ten times more sense if a part reaches me, than if my Kronos travlels for days or weeks at additional costs without proper reason.

Parts should simply be available for customers, even if at moderately higher prices than for service centers.

One more word: Dan, we all know how well you have accompanied us Kronos users. I for one am very thankful for that, and hope you can separate high respect and sympathy from most in this forum from questions concerning company decisions and guidelines, meeting critical user feedback casually.

100% agree with the extra points raised by Jim

, and of course I hope that my feedback is taken back to Korg HQ by Dan as a constructive message but a genuine concern from somebody who has just joined the Korg fold, but who is used to getting the parts needed to maintain my keyboards.

It's no different to my approach in life on many tasks. I can do 95% of any DIY tasks that I come across , so why would I pay money to get somebody else to do work that I can do, sometimes better than the pros (often because my time is my own so I can take more time on a job to get a better result)? I am a complete disaster at plastering/rendering, mind. So that's when I will pay somebody to do the work, or rope my brother-in-law into doing it for me!

phil55 · Post by **phil55** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:14 pm

If the nearest 'Best Buys' can fix my KRONOS in a day or less, rather than send it 1000 miles to the nearest 'authorized Korg centre', then it's off to Best Buys for me.

You never know if the board gets damaged in transit too..

kshacklett · Post by **kshacklett** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:36 pm

A strange thing just happened: Korg USA called me and offered to send a touch screen free of charge. After I managed stop saying "humina humina.." I gladly accepted their offer.

I asked what happened that they would come through like this and I didn't get much of an explanation, but the woman told me that they would probably take one from an existing unit. I expressed a little concern that they would have to go to so much trouble, and that I still wonder why the manufacturer does not assure them adequate replacement parts. But of course that's not my business, so I thanked them and that was that.

So, hats off to somebody somewhere. I'm very glad I don't have to make a bigger stink about this than I already have, although my hope is that Korg will take whatever action is necessary to see that this doesn't happen to anyone else.

I want to thank everyone at this forum who expressed concern or helped resolve the situation, especially danatkorg. I'll be very happy to be back in business with my Kronos, since it is the heart of my pro rig.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:59 pm

What a weird resolution, but I'm very glad to hear of it and also that you don't have to drag Korg through the virtual mud

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:05 pm

kshacklett wrote:A strange thing just happened: Korg USA called me and offered to send a touch screen free of charge. After I managed stop saying "humina humina.." I gladly accepted their offer.

I asked what happened that they would come through like this and I didn't get much of an explanation, but the woman told me that they would probably take one from an existing unit. I expressed a little concern that they would have to go to so much trouble, and that I still wonder why the manufacturer does not assure them adequate replacement parts. But of course that's not my business, so I thanked them and that was that.

So, hats off to somebody somewhere. I'm very glad I don't have to make a bigger stink about this than I already have, although my hope is that Korg will take whatever action is necessary to see that this doesn't happen to anyone else.

I want to thank everyone at this forum who expressed concern or helped resolve the situation, especially danatkorg. I'll be very happy to be back in business with my Kronos, since it is the heart of my pro rig.

Well done, Kerry.

I would still like the official position clarified, mind.

jimsweb · Post by **jimsweb** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:34 am

it's so nice to hear that Korg is ready to help you out.

But, i doubt if it's going to work in the long run. Would they be able to give free replacements for all those who start a thread here? unbelievable! Ideally Korg should have taken necessary steps to bring in more keyboard parts for everybody.

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:44 am

Derek Cook wrote:
danatkorg wrote:As I wrote earlier: if something seems too crazy to be true, it probably isn't true.

I have confirmed that replacement touch-screens are available from Korg USA. These are available to authorized service centers only. The Kronos is not user-servicable; if repairs are needed, contact an authorized service center. Your national Korg Distributor can help you to find an authorized service center; for a list of authorized service centers in the USA, see http://i.korg.com/dealerlocator.
Is it not reasonable for electronics savvy people to be able to repair keyboards themselves? Especially when the keyboard is out of warranty. Of course to do that, you need access to a supply of parts.

Take a look at Parts Is Parts. Many Korg parts are available to users. Some are not. Availability will certainly vary from time to time - as has been the case here. I expect that you would find the same with any other high-tech musical instrument company.

Korg does not, in general, support user-servicing of current models. This includes the distribution of service manuals, which are available only to authorized service centers. Again, I expect that you will find the same is true with many other companies.

I am not responsible for this policy, but I can imagine various reasons for it, including liability. The company has been around for a long time, and as far as I know this general policy has been in place for a long time. Policies may also vary from nation to nation, depending on the Korg Distributor for that nation.

At any rate, I'm glad that it's been confirmed that the part in question is in fact still available, and that Kerry's damaged Kronos should be up and running again soon.