Yamaha FC4 Reviews

Andrew Oberg
from Berryville AR
April 22, 2013Music Background:
pro keyboardist

My favorite

The only sustain pedal that I buy. I have four of them. Very dependable, sturdy and cost effective

Floyd Gorham
from Ocala, Florida
May 19, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Fantastic Device

Does a great job and stays in place on the floor.
Yamaha design of quality for sure. Sweetwater carries only the best!

Harold Reeve
from Modesto, CA USA
September 25, 2006Music Background:
Just for fun.

Just what I needed at a great price.

The FC4 sustain pedal works well and does just what I need. The action is responsive enough to give good control and feedback to my foot. OK, a Steinway grand sustain pedal is better, but this costs a lot less and is attached to a $200 keyboard for music in a children's division at church. It does a very good job for this purpose.

The pedal function was reversed (up was sustain) when first plugged in, but a simple power down of the keyboard set it right again.

I rated this a 4.5 instead of a 5 because I was not "blown away" by the FC4 sustain pedal - just completely satisfied. If I was going to rate Sweetwater here I would give the company a 5 out of 5. Where else can you get a great price, free shipping on a small order, great service (two phone calls just because they wanted to make sure I got great service), and a handful of candy in the box!?! I even took the time to review this product and their fulfillment of my order, and I have never done that before!

Jesse
from Kansas, USA
November 21, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Squeaky after awhile, but feels solid

For a sustain pedal, this is really great. It feels solid, has a nice rubber grip on the bottom to minimize sliding around on the floor. I use it with a Yamaha S90 XS, and it does excellent.

The biggest problem with it is the squeak that it developed. I called Sweetwater the first time it started squeaking, and they replaced it - no questions asked. The second one worked great for awhile (can't remember, but I think it was several months), then started to squeak again. I didn't want them to have to replace it again, so I pulled off the bottom cover, and greased the squeaking part. It has been several months since I did that and it hasn't squeaked at all that I am aware of. It was a really easy fix, and wouldn't deter me from purchasing them in the future, it's just something to know.

Martin Horn
from Redding, CA
December 21, 2011Music Background:
pro musician, composer, performing on piano and guitar.

Yamaha FC4 Sustain Pedal for digital piano's

A smooth operating pedal, since I did not have to adapt my playing style to this pedal and have played without thinking about the pedal, must be a great pedal. A great pedal is one you don't think about ever, just when it stops functioning properly and this pedal feels like it will go a long time before failure.

Jeff Miller
from Chehalis, WA
November 6, 2007Music Background:
Recording Eng., Pro Musician, Hobbyist

The pedal does what it's supposed to do, but...

Here's the thing - if you read the other reviews about the pedal you'll note how it will reverse itself if plugged in AFTER the synth is powered up. I bought a new Yamaha Synth from Sweetwater along with this pedal and I guess I expected it to work right out of the box (which it does, save this one peculiarity) - Otherwise the pedal is just right, seems to be built sturdy enough for my heavy foot.

David
from Baton Rouge, LA USA
March 15, 2009Music Background:
Musician

One more tweak to your expressiveness

This pedal offers a great advancement in half damper effect without any line noise. It is excellent when recording audio piano tracks from line outputs. It adds one more piano â€œauthenticâ€ aspect to entertain the acoustic piano listener.

Yamaha could make two improvements to this product.
-- First, the amount of pedal travel before the effect engages should be adjustable or closer to the top end of the pedal. The pedal has to be pressed nearly halfway before the effect engages.
-- Second, rid the pedal of the squeak in the mechanism. This squeak is aggravating. It is distracting especially in softer passages. The noise is aggravating to others when the player is practicing with headphones. Anyone present will have to put up with the aggravating squeak and grinding of the pedal. In these situations, I recommend just swapping back to a FC4 sustain pedal.

Overall the FC3 pedal is a great addition to a digital piano domain. It adds a realistic dampening effect, just as it was designed to provide. And in recording or just playing, lets you add one more tweak to your expressiveness.

Andy
from philadelphia, pa
September 14, 2010Music Background:
composer, educator

Not for Casio

I love the feel of this pedal. I love the fact that it does slip slide away from me when I'm playing. HOWEVER, the polarity on this pedal is reversed from many popular brands of synth. I have a casio synth that this pedal does not work with. When the pedal is up, i get full sustain. But, with the pedal down...nothing. So make sure you ask your sales associate to check the inventory notes to be sure this pedal works with your synth. Another good substitute is the m-audio SP-2. It looks and feels the same, but it has reversible polarity.

Mark
from Crystal Lake, IL
January 9, 2012Music Background:
Composer hobbyist

Reliable and does the job

I purchased this pedal for my Yamaha keyboard. I like my sustain pedal to look and feel like a sustain pedal ( not like some tiny foot switch, which comes with keyboards these days). This pedal works fine and feels right. My only complaint is that it tends to slide away from me when I'm not hard floors like wood or tile. I'm going to add a soft rubber skid to the bottom of it to keep it from sliding away from me. That's really my only complaint with it.

Frederic Chopin
from florida
April 28, 2009Music Background:
pianist

not good

its a year later, and granted, maybe its because things rust here in Florida... but well, it squeaks now. with every little tap. so yea. annoying as hell. im now in the market for another pedal.

Fred K
from Stratford, CT
May 1, 2005

Looks good

This sustain pedal is good for the price. Sweetwater delivered the pedal quickly, no complaints.

Be careful when you plug it in. The piano should be unplugged first, then plug in the pedal, then plug the piano back in. If you don’t, you may end up with polarity problems, where the sustain on / off will be reversed when depressing the pedal. When I first plugged in, the sustain was always on, and disabled when pressing the pedal. Fixed it with the above steps.

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