Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
User avatar
By Askia Shaheed Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:56 pm
First off...I have to pay respect to companies like Forat, VST Service, MPC Stuff, etc for help keeping the legacy of the MPC around through their different services. However, I must blast them for the prices they charge for tact switches.

A well-kept MPC can last your for decades. But through normal wear-tear some things will need replacement. Among the first thing to go are the tact switches which reside underneath the numerous buttons on your MPC. As the switches get older, you have to press harder on these buttons. Depending on which MPC model you have...there are as many as 40 buttons. With minimal skills, you can replace the tact switches underneath these buttons. But contacting the companies above, you will pay as much as $7 for these switches. $7! $280 to replace all the buttons on your MPC? That's a nice sized investment. On the surface, that isn't so bad. But when the retail price of these switches are less than 25 cent. Yes, you read it right. 25 cent for tact switches that are being sold for $7. $280 vs $10 to replace the tact switches on an MPC?

Anyway...I am in the process if replacing all the tact switches of my MPC 2000. I will report back when its complete.
User avatar
By Askia Shaheed Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:56 pm
Mission accomplished. The tact switches I used cost 20 cent each. I found several local stores here that had them in stock. Since they were so cheap, I bought different sizes (taller versus shorter ones) to experiment with. I only needed to replace a few of the tact switches on an MPC 2000, I just purchased. But I decided to replace all 35 of the smaller tact switches. I didn't replace the tact switches of the 5 larger transport buttons. These tact switches are also widely available. These are larger and more flat than the smaller ones. I only used a soldering iron maybe once or twice before. It wasn't very difficult at all.

Lessons learned:
1. Wear proper PPE when soldering. If you were just doing a 3 minute job, you wouldn't notice any negative effects. But after spending 30 minutes plus..yeah. Lets just say I won't do that again without proper eye wear and a mask.

2. Buy 6 mm tact switches. The height is approx 4.5 mm. This is important. If the tact switches are too high for the buttons, you won't be able to press them down.

3. Being careful to properly seat the top case of the MPC 2000. At first it appeared one of the tact switches wasn't working properly or maybe I didn't full seat it in the mother board. As it turned out, I simply had to adjust the top case so that the buttons fully protrude out. Works perfectly now.

Now I have a new skill that would have saved me hundreds of dollars throughout the years.

Next project: See if I can find a company that can make buttons, knobs, and the actual pads for a cheaper price. Or can an MPC 2000 be modified with an adjustable LCD screen.

* By the way....I found a store that sells tact switches for 10 yen which is approx 13 cents. :lol:
By JVC Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:51 am
Good post. I wanted to post the same topic here before, never got to do it. Props to Askia to posting this.

I bought tact switches in bulk at ebay a few months ago, about 20 switches. it was less than 50 cents each, including shipping. Replacing tact switch on MPC-2000 is not technically too difficult task (time consuming though), although you should be fairly familiar with soldering. I replaced about half of 5mm tact switches on my MPC-2000XL. It is definitely worth replacing those old tact switches.
Luckily, all the larger tact switches on my MPC-2000XL are fine. But I'd like to know the specification of those larger tact switches. I'm pretty sure those are common tact switches though. Does any one know the part number.

Also I've been trying to find out part number (spec) of pot for rec gain and main volume knob.
By FatVonFree Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:55 am
where are yall buying actual plastic buttons from? my play and stop and record buttons are cracked, still work but when i remove my case i have to like hold them in place when i reinstall the case so they dont fall down....i dont wanna pay 3 bucks a damn button :(
By LZ Roberts Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:02 am
I've being trying to do a more thorough post on this subject:-

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=140732

I must admit that I get a bit of a buzz seeing my hit count go up and a smug sense of self satisfaction at saving the lives of MPC heads around the world. But, there are one or two thing that you may like to consider before just wading in. So, I hope a few people going through this thread link on to the one here and find it helpful, ..... and it'll further boost my smug sense of self satisfaction too.
By JVC Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:18 pm
OK, I dug up my email archive, and found what I ordered through . Please note that this tact switch is one of the most common tach switch.

This is what you need to order the tact switch on MPC-2000 series:

Tact Switch 6*6mm 5mm Through Hole SPST-NO 50mA

A. It is 6mm by 6mm, and its height is 5mm.
B. SPST-N means Single Pole, Single Throw, Normally Open (most common type)

ALPS and OMRON make tact switches, and they are top brands. The one I got from seller was most likely generic brand, but it was fine, and so cheap. It was $1.00 for 15 switches, I ordered two bags, shipping was $2.50, so $4.50 for 30 tact switches.

MPC Stuff charges those tact switch for $8.00. with 8 bucks, I could've ordered 5 bags (75 switches) from the same seller.

I believe Radio Shack also carries the same switch, and it should be around 1 dollar each.

For the plastic switches, Those are strictly Akai parts, so I guess you have to go through MPC parts dealers.
User avatar
By Askia Shaheed Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:12 am
JVC wrote:OK, I dug up my email archive, and found what I ordered through . Please note that this tact switch is one of the most common tach switch.

This is what you need to order the tact switch on MPC-2000 series:

Tact Switch 6*6mm 5mm Through Hole SPST-NO 50mA

A. It is 6mm by 6mm, and its height is 5mm.
B. SPST-N means Single Pole, Single Throw, Normally Open (most common type)

ALPS and OMRON make tact switches, and they are top brands. The one I got from seller was most likely generic brand, but it was fine, and so cheap. It was $1.00 for 15 switches, I ordered two bags, shipping was $2.50, so $4.50 for 30 tact switches.

MPC Stuff charges those tact switch for $8.00. with 8 bucks, I could've ordered 5 bags (75 switches) from the same seller.

I believe Radio Shack also carries the same switch, and it should be around 1 dollar each.

For the plastic switches, Those are strictly Akai parts, so I guess you have to go through MPC parts dealers.


Yeah...I tried to clown one of the dealers mentioned in these threads for theft/robbery for the prices they sell tact switches for. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are giving tact switches the Air Jordan treatment. Although I now have the knowledge to not get ripped off...I am still pissed they are charging folks $8 when it takes only a few cents to make the switches. At $8, they should be actually installing the switches for you.....

Anyway...as far as making MPC plastic knobs...here is a start:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6797957_make-mo ... -home.html

or even this perhaps: http://warmplastic.com/
User avatar
By locotesmjr Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:22 pm
Askia Shaheed wrote:First off...I have to pay respect to companies like Forat, VST Service, MPC Stuff, etc for help keeping the legacy of the MPC around through their different services. However, I must blast them for the prices they charge for tact switches.

A well-kept MPC can last your for decades. But through normal wear-tear some things will need replacement. Among the first thing to go are the tact switches which reside underneath the numerous buttons on your MPC. As the switches get older, you have to press harder on these buttons. Depending on which MPC model you have...there are as many as 40 buttons. With minimal skills, you can replace the tact switches underneath these buttons. But contacting the companies above, you will pay as much as $7 for these switches. $7! $280 to replace all the buttons on your MPC? That's a nice sized investment. On the surface, that isn't so bad. But when the retail price of these switches are less than 25 cent. Yes, you read it right. 25 cent for tact switches that are being sold for $7. $280 vs $10 to replace the tact switches on an MPC?

Anyway...I am in the process if replacing all the tact switches of my MPC 2000. I will report back when its complete.


This will also apply with the color LED's they sell those LED's like if they were designed exclusively for Akai, but those are common LED's and most probably you can find them for 10 cents each! nowadays it is not a secret about how Akai used computer parts to make them MPCs although you can find several peeps trying to sell you floppy drives, Zip drives, RAM memory, HDD, CF cards, etc as Akai's manufactured, anyways it is on you to do a little research and find the best way to save your money and of course you should share the knowledge :lol: .