Yamaha CP-70 CP-80 CP70 CP80 resources

updated: 16 January 2007

Some resources for the CP-70 and CP-80

Keywords: Yamaha CP70 Replacement Power Supply CP-70 CP70B CP-70B CP80 CP-80 CP80 CP-80B

A source for CP-70 strings!

One night I was quietly playing the CP-70 and a string broke... ka-BAM!. Scared the shit out of me. After I got my heart out of my larynx, I opened up the lid and saw that one of the double-strung notes, the G below middle C, had snapped. A local piano tech made me a new string out of a conventional wound piano wire, but it sounded goofy - it had a really predominant and grossly misplaced second harmonic. This artifact was probably caused by the replacement string having a slightly smaller gauge winding than a real CP-70 string. After a week of letting it stretch in, things didn't get any better. I couldn't take it anymore and went back to using one string for this note. I had been searching high and low for replacements, and finally found a source. The Mapes Piano String Corporation in Tennessee (423-543-3700) sells replacement strings for the Yamaha CP-70, CP-70B, CP-80, and CP-80B. They're very friendly folks, and get this: my replacement string set me back all of $6.35. Gotta love it. You'll need to know the string number (not the note number) when you call. (dtc 06/13/2001)

Replacement Yamaha CP-70 Power Supply HOWTO

Have you lost, broken, or detonated your power supply? Do you want a replacement? If so, this page is for you.

Unfortunately, I don't have one for you to buy. I'm almost certain you're never going to find a used one for sale anywhere*, but I know how you can make a replacement. One day if I get real motivated I may make a batch of 'em, because you would not believe how much email I get inquiring about replacement CP-70 power supplies. I suppose that nobody loses a CP-70, but apparently that's not true for the power supply.

I've already told you the bad news: you're not likely to find anyone who's gonna sell you a CP-70 power supply. I'm fairly certain of that. The good news is I'm going to show you how to build one, for free!

Disclaimer: I offer this information without warranty, guarantee, or anything else. These are merely observations that I have made, which I am offering to you for free. If you follow these to a T and still blow up your CP-70, that's not my problem, okay? Okay. If you can live with that, please read on.

The weird CP-70/80 power connector

As you probably know, the CP-70 power supply uses a really funky two pin XLR-like connector for the power supply. This is going to be the trickiest part, finding the connector. I did some poking around, and it looks like Cannon is the only company who manufactures this part. (Cannon invented the XLR connector, so I guess this makes sense).

The part you want is Cannon XLR-2A-11C. You're going to need to find yourself a local electronics house that can sell you one, but if you contact ITT Cannon they might be able to steer you in the right direction. Here's a link to the data sheet for this part: http://www.ittcannon.com/products/datasheet.asp?PN=XLR-2A-11C

Please note: the photograph at the top of this data sheet is misleading, because it depicts an ordinary three-pin XLR. If you look at the description and the drawing, however, you will see it clearly is a two pin connector, which is what you're looking for. I would print this data sheet out, and take it with you when you visit your friendly local electronics supply house. March up to the nearest clerk, hand over the data sheet, and say "sell me one of these, right now, please!" The trick is going to be finding a place that will sell these in single-unit quantities. Your best bet might be to contact Cannon directly, and get in touch with your local distributor. They might be able to tell you who buys these connectors, and perhaps you can sweet-talk them into selling you just one.

A couple years ago I was strolling through the stalls in Akihabara, in Tokyo's famous electronics district. It's an amazing place, not to be missed. There are hundreds of tiny stalls where you could buy, in single-unit quantities, all sorts of electrical components, relays, switches, and connectors. At one stall I found a guy selling this exact same Cannon connector. I bought one and brought it home, but I don't have it anymore. But if you've got Tokyo connections, there's a lead for you.

The power supply

The power supply itself is basically just a wall-wart of the most unspectacular variety. It's labeled 12VDC @ 200mA. You can easily buy a replacement at Radio Shack or wherever. I'd be surprised if you can find one with a current rating as low as 200mA - of course, any current rating equal to or greater than 200mA will do just fine.

Hooking It Up

You'll notice both on the data sheet, and by looking at the connector, that the connector is "keyed" by having a long flat side, and a rounded side. You'll also notice that the two pins are skewed at a jaunty angle, with one pin closer to the flat side of the connector, and the other pin closer to the rounded side. The end of the power supply that goes into the side of your CP-70 looks something like this:

Note that this is a mirror image of what's shown on the data sheet; they've shown the socket, I've shown the plug. Anyway, the two pins of the plug are labeled as shown. Pin 2 is +12 vdc, and pin 1 is ground. Note that the connector case is "floating" - it's not connected to either Pin 1 or Pin 2. On my genuine CP-70B power supply, I measured pin 2 at +18.5 VDC. This is under no load, fairly typical for an unregulated power supply. I could easily believe this drops to 12 volts under load.

I think this info will tell you everything you need to roll your own. If this information was useful or you have a comment, please feel free to email me at the address above.

*update: a source in Europe

Reader David Piccolo informs me that he's found a Dutch company selling these Cannon connectors as well as complete CP-70 power supplies. Check it out: http://www.ep-service.nl/.