Ensoniq KT-88 - sustain pedal works opposite the way it should

Is this the correct sustain pedal for this unit? It sounds like it should be a momentary button type. I would look into that. Some have a push to work type of switch and some use momentary. If it is, I would open that pedal and clean the switch with contact cleaner, as it appears to be sticking.

Yep... Roland pedals are reversed, that is, normally closed contacts. Unlike some Yamaha keyboards, the Casio doesn't have an inversion function available. You have two choices to solve this: 1. Buy a pedal with the corect sense 2. Open the Roland pedal and MAYBE with a soldering iron you can move a wire to select a contact with the opposite sense.

every sustain pedal got different polarity.. normally just go to global setting on your keyboard and change damper polarity setting to plus or minus (select which one work with your sustain padle).

Assuming this has worked in the past (otherwise if you have changed to different pedal that is the problem) the usual thing is the machine samples the state of the pedal at power up and assumes the polarity of the pedal is at rest. Make sure you are not pressing it as you power up. Also verify the pedal is COMPLETELY plugged in... sometimes they are not quite fully in and that causes a problem, especially with the two stage versions that are sometimes used.

You may have a pedal that is ROLAND compatible which is OPPOSITE sense from what the Yamaha requires. The Yamaha takes a NORMALLY OPEN contact.

Some Yamaha keyboards such as TYROS have a parameter that you can set to permit using either type pedal.

Some pedals have a switch to change them to use with either type keyboards.

The answer is NO... Roland uses the opposite sense switches on foot pedals... They use NIRMALLY CLOSED and your Yamaha is a NORMALLY OPEN switch.

SOMETIMES you can open these pedals and find that the pedal has the opposite sense switch available and you only have to unsolder and move one wire to make it a NORMALLY CLOSED pedal.

Refer to page 222 in your PA800 user manual regarding calibrating the polarity of the damper pedal. The setting in your unit MAY have gotten clobbered.
It is NOT clear if you have a PA800 or M50-88. If you have the latter, then read page 22 of your user manual where it says in certain modes the sustain can be set to affect only certain voices. Again, see if internal parmeter settings may have been clobbered to disable the sustain.

What I figured out is that when i turn on the keyboard, if i hold down the pedal by accident, it will work in reverse. I dont know if this is what you mean. If it is, just dont touch the pedal when you turn it on. If it isn't, try to return the pedal. I dropped one, it had this problem, and they gave me a new one. Your cord for it might have been bent (?). Also, turn the keyboard on with the pedal already plugged in. It's not made to be plugged in while it's on. Hope this helps. - Matthew

I found that if I plug in the sustain pedal BEFORE turning the power on, it works fine. If I plug in the sustain pedal AFTER turning the power on, then it works in the opposite way. Probably just the design. So I would try playing with that before doing anything drastic.

Not if its like mine, its a completecircuit vs.incomplete circuit problems.

I had the exact same problem with my Casio keyboard and a Yamaha sustain pedal I bought.

I'm not an electrical genius, but I was able to get it to work by opening it up and doing a little modification. Of course I first just tried switching the white wire with the black one but that didn't change anything at all when I tried it. It turns out the Casio wants the circuit completed to sustain, and broken for no sustain, which is the opposite of what the Yamaha pedal does.

I opened it up and mine had three three flat metal strips let's call them Top, Middle and Bottom. The Middle and Bottom ones were joined together on the right side, and the Middle and Top ones were touching on the left side when the pedal was not pressed. These seperated when the pedal was pressed, thereby breaking the circuit because the wires were on the top plate and on the joined Middle/Bottom plate.

So to flip it I:
1. Unsoldered the Bottom wire
2. Cut apart the Bottom and Middle plates on the right.
3. Bent the Middle plate on the right to touch the Top plate instead and soldered those together.
4. Soldered the Bottom wire back on.

That's it! Once I figured it out, it took only a few minutes to fix.
Good luck!
Paul