Alesis Fusion

[Jokeyman123]

Re new/old fusion 8HD recently acquired and restoring. Frustrating mechanical problem with key assembly...
I have dis-assembled this prepairng for memory upgrade and new SSD-no problems there-plays well, all software functions are good as is existing OS (1.24 I upgraded already and 40GB HD. Here's the joker-the back of the black keys are hitting-just barely-the front lip of the top metal cover and looks like it had been that way since i see wear marks on that metal front lip. Frustrating part-no matter how I try to adjust and refit the top panel-I have had to repair the end caps but these fit properly AFAIK-had to epoxy 2 screwmounts back on, reseat several brass screw inserts, but its good. I cannot seem to get this top panel to sit even a tiny bit back to clear these black keys-I have tried-carefully-to bend the back metal panel backwards to get the top to sit further back-but it still doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm thinking the endcaps are pulling it back forward whenever I seat it back together-i will work on this more today. But if anyone can give me any insight-I've done many mechanical and electronic keyboard repairs-this one has me stuck-a shame as otherwise this thing is a monster, great fun, much great programming has been done for this one already, and loving it chief! (sorry stuck in the house watching "Get Smart", Barney Miller all the shows I missed when I was gigging years back!)

[Jesse]

It helps us to help you if you can post pictures of problems so we can visualise where they are, see what is wrong and possibly be able to make suggestions on how to fix them

Take care ... Jesse

[Jokeyman123]

OK asap-what format does this group use-.jpg, .img, .png? And can I embed right here, or do I need moderator approval posting through a PM first? Thanks Jesse.

[Jesse]

jpg is good

[Jokeyman123]

Here are 2 views of a section of the keys-the problem is ocurring all across the keybed and is driving me crazy, it is only off by about 1/16'-1-2mm. Every part of the frame in the front, the back and the end caps look right-not bent except for a minor dent in back which is certainly not causing this problem. All screws line up-I have had the entire top and end caps off to be sure-one thing I've noticed, although loosening the screws under the keyframe is not allowing me to move the key assembly at all-after studying some photos of new 8HD's, it appears that there is an unusually large gap in this one from the front of the keys to the metal strip in the front of the keys as showing in my photo, the gap looks bigger than other 8HD's I've tried to study, which tells me that perhaps the entire key assembly is not in place-although I don't see how it's possible. wow, could I use help on this one, I am stumped. I am fearing it has been defective like this from new, and no-one ever bothered to deal with it.

fusion key front.jpg (48.35 KiB) Viewed 7520 times

Fusion clanking keys.jpg (46.72 KiB) Viewed 7520 times

[Jokeyman123]

Key clacking problem solved-sometimes I am blind to the most obvious but was still a bit tricky-in case anybody else runs into this problem-as it must have been caused by repeated dropping on its back panel, even in a carryt case apparently this can happen. This is what cost me 2 days to figure out.

In addition to the obvious row of large screws underneath that are anchoring the entire keybed-there are 2 additional screws I would never have guessed without being inside-I'd never seen this type of construction before. Apparently-2 of the pads w/screws that act as feet underneath-are also holding the keyboard assembly. And 2 of the other feet rests are missing underneath-and have nothing to do with attaching the keyframe underneath-so i never thought the others would do this until I examined the frame inside-carefully.

All I needed to do was take out all the key assembly screws underneath, including those which I had missed-and the entire keyboard assembly now slides forward back into what must have been the original factory installed location-about 1/8"-1mm maybe a bit more forward almost touching the front metal trim in front of the keys, problem solved. I have to think the entire keyboard assembly had somehow-being slammed on its back probably many times-eventually shifted the entire assembly so the back of the black keys were hitting the front edge of the panel. Whew, for awhile I had no idea what could have been causing this. So if recently acquired a used 8HD-being it is rather hefty-you might find the same problem, and this will be the solution-not the other 6 things I tried before I got it right.

[Jesse]

It looks like your key bed is not set properly in the case/housing

What are the two screws in the front bottom case for?

My keybed looks like this

20201205 Alesis Fusion keyboard 01a

20201205 Alesis Fusion keyboard 02a

[Jokeyman123]

Glad you asked-glad you posted your pic-those are not 2 screws-my eagle-eye photography skills managed to capture the rarely seen 2-knob cabinet pulls underneath-I had this on my furniture bureau temporarily as I re-machined-yes-remachined the bottom steel panel in order to correct that which-agonizingly to me at first-was causing the keys to be mounted inaccurately. As per my last post-after realizing nothing else was misaligned-side panels, IC board frame-jackboard frame-all was perfect-how the h** could the keys be like this? Mine had at least 1/8" gap between that front metal strip and the front of the keys-all the way across. OK, I thought..I got this. Loosen up the screws underneath-including the elusive 2 screws underneath that were mounting the rubber support feet-and also part of the screw system to hold the keybed in, which I had originally missed. So problem solved...WRONG!

Good thing I hung around years ago with auto body friends who had an auto-body shop-helped my music chops learning to bang and bend metal-hold on i'm getting there. The entire keybed-somehow-I have to think it had been this way since 2005, can't see any way it could have gotten this way over time, no matter what happened to it-was misaligned with the bottom mounting plate-so that no matter how I set the screws-pulled the keybed assembly away from the front-into the top cover. There was no "latitude" to shift the screws at all-this is the way it was constructed, to my dismay at first. No wonder this looks new-I bet whoever had this originally-once they found this defect, left it for dead-to my betterment. Thanks to Wilson's Auto Body (he still chops and channels custom cars 45 years later) I knew how to drill steel, had the right oversize bits, and FINALLY AFTER 3 DAYS, by drilling larger holes in the bottom plate-for quite a few screw mounting points, was able to shift the entire keybed into proper position, cleared the top cover, and tighten the screws back in-now had larger holes in the bottom plate so I could tighten the screws, slightly (or not so slightly) offset from the original smaller holes sufficiently to reposition the entire keybed so it now looks like the picture I see in your post.

The most difficult part of this-aside from moving this rather heavy-but elegantly designed workstation-and recovering from my double hernia now-was sussing out what was wrong. Definitely not what I would have thought. The keys-feel like new though since I am probably the only one who has ever played this for longer than 5-10 minutes without getting postal with what was an extremely unpleasant "clacking"-but only the black keys-would have been fine if you stayed in the key of C major or a minor-a bit limiting, especially for blues, jazz, classical, rock, fusion, comedy, pop and any other style beyond perhaps modal music in the 13th century, or rap.

2 other off-topics-which other 88-key workstations have aftertouch which is a very pleasant surprise, and which "obsolete" keyboard workstation has this level of support? i know-but i won't tell you!!!

[Jokeyman123]

Hopefully-my last post about this-just a few pictures for the curious-closeups showing how I had to offset the screws-what you can't see is the oversize holes I had to drill in the bottom steel plate-carefully so as not to hit the threaded sockets inside that are part of the keybed frame, which would create an even bigger problem....which I do not need. If you need to do this-make sure you do not get any metal filings inside the Fusion or you might have fireworks....and a melted Fusion.

These are only 3 screws-I had to do this with quite a few others just to get this keybed right-fortunately several screws fit properly without drilling out all of them. Harbor Freight is my friend. And now, so is this Fusion.

[Jokeyman123]

Now I've gone over the edge...need some "validation" I did the right thing....I preface this with the caveat-I admit playing too many weddings might have done something permanently to my thinking....anyway-

Another Alesis 8HD for some reason at a ridiculous low price appeared on e***shmoo. It has the famous 1070003 error, otherwise it looks, well like new. I felt bad for the dealer. No-one would bid on this-so I directed him here-telling him he could probably get it up and running if he did a little research here at this group. And-to make sure he got a least a fairly decent (or indecent) amount of money for this-I bid on it, thinking there's no way i will not be outbid-2 of these monsters seemed excessive, even in my excessive musical world. I had no real intention to win this. After all, there was another bidder. And I, being a manipulative and conniving musician (I learned this form others in the business bid-again. After all, if this guy thought he'd get it for cheap-I'll fix him! Yes I'm fun at parties....Thinking that's that-I forgot about it-until yesterday when I saw the auction was over, it had sold, I was greatly relieved certain I had been outbid and wouldn't have to add another room to the house. Surprise-i discovered-it had sold-to me......apparently the other guy didn't think it was worth more than-250 US dollars which i disagreed with. By 5 dollars. My monthly electric bill is more than this!

Feeling very guilty for my transgressions, my wife is still allowing me to live here, so far anyway. Thanks to all of you-I am pretty sure this will be another fully functional Fusion 8HD-maybe better than the other which as you've all read, did need quite a bit of course correction, an amazing machine. If I go truly mad, which I might soon-I could always install both of these in a Hammond B-3 shell-have a double-manual 88 key double secret probation workstation and only weighing at about 110-120 pounds.....and make the guitar player and drummer carry it to gigs. Hey, its karma-I had to carry quite a few of these Hammonds and Leslies for the keyboard guys when I was a drummer as a kid, how I learned to play one..its payback time!

[Jesse]

Hey man, take care, I currently have 3 8hd's, one not totally working, I have the top halve working properly [that is the good part of owning more than one of the same units you can swap parts around from the working unit to the non working unit to help you figure out the problem ], but there is a problem with the bottom half and i believe it is the Main PCB $$$. I purchased a used Main PCb that is supposed to be good, but have not yet had a chance to connect it and test the unit

You can make money, but you can not make time (except with your girl) when it's gone it's gone

Take Care ... Good luck

[Jokeyman123]

Jesse so right, my wife is a saint-been with me for many far away gigs-late nights-years of long teaching hours/shows/performances. Musi's been my life-one more piece of equipment here and there-we all should be so lucky. I pay it forward as they say-give free music lessons locally when I can-volunteer work-I assist with music activities locally whenever i can-the pandemic has been tough on everybody.
So lucky to have these groups. Until we meet someday, thanks.
Joe