So the pedalboard now works....well sort of! I have now broken 2 reed switches. It is probably just me being clumsy but I think a more robust solution is called for especially as I plan to use the pedalboard as part of my organ rental business (more about that later).

Instead of reed switches I'm going to use reed sensors. What's the diference? Not much really. A reed switch is just the fragile glass capsule. A reed sensor is a reed switch mounted in a housing. They are used for burglar alarms, limit and level sensors etc. The ones I'm planning to use have the switch epoxied into a plastic case. All of those wooden blocks I carefully crafted all for nothing!

I'm just about to order 3 pistonless CMK3 keyboards from Classic Organ Works. I was tempted to buy Fatar TP/60L keyboards from one of the UK suppliers but the price of the CMK3, which includes MIDI controller, was just too competitive. The only downside is that I'll have to pay and wait for delivery from Canada.

I'm going to use either Klann or Syndyne pistons and arrange them in a more traditional layout than the Classic keyboards. Cool thing is the Classic MIDI controller is the same for all of their keyboards, with or without pistons. This means that I don't need another controller for the pistons. I will, however have to diaode matrix wire the switches. Luckily 1N4148 diodes are 1p each from Farnell!