piano tuner not move the pickups around, since that will obviously change the installation. The
position of the pickups is rarely in the tuner's way, yet they often have a tendency to move the
pickup brackets out of the way and not move them back when they're finished.
Troubleshooting
As durable as the Helpinstill systems have proven to be over the years, any instrument can
malfunction.
Sensors It is important that care is taken not to puncture the outer plastic casing of the sensors.
The sensors are made to be flexible and durable, but contain hair-fine wires on the interior which
could possibly be broken under extreme treatment.
If you suspect that a sensor is not working, measure it with an ohmmeter at the output plug
between pins 2 & 3. Each sensor should read between 50-200 ohms. There should be no
fluctuation of this measurement with bending or tapping on the sensor. If this measurement is
consistent, the sensor will definitely work properly in the system.
Buzzing Noises Aside from mechanical buzzing of the strings against the pickup or wires,
buzzing noise or hum of an electrical nature has two primary causes: ground problems between the
unit and the mic line it's plugged into, and electromagnetic interference in the vicinity of the
piano.The Model 280 was developed with humbucking-style coils that virtually eliminate any
chance of hum pickup. Any hum is probably a result of interconnection with the sound system and
can be isolated as follows:
If the piano signal seems to accentuate the notes at top end of the highest pickup too much,
use the screwdriver pedestal adjustment to move that pickup further away from the strings on the
high end rather than rolling off the high frequency equalization on the piano channel, since that
would dull the tone of the whole piano. In general, the two pickups under the strings need to be
about the same distance from the strings at either end of the pickup. If they are slanted in height, it
will be impossible to adjust the volumes across the whole keyboard to be smooth and balanced.
Play test notes on the piano in the following order: first, play notes at near either end of each
sensor; this will insure that the brackets are level. If they are not, use the screwdriver pedestal
adjustments to balance. Then, play notes on either side of the junctions between sensors while using
the control box volume knobs to smooth the transition between pickups. After this procedure is
followed, the entire keyboard is now being reproduced at uniform volume.
In a permanent installation, such as a church or club, it is always a good idea to request that the
