To all Members Who Modified Their (New Style) Pads--

I'm referring to any modifications to reduce the gap between the rubber pad and the sensor. I want to tighten up this annoying gap. Can anyone share some wisdom as to what they put in between the pads and the sensors?

I read about people using silicon glue, carpet tape, poster board... etc... How are these things working in the long run? I had an MPC500 where I narrowed the gap with small drops of silicon glue, but that stuff had a nasty smell that didn't go away!

hm, never noticed a remaining smell with my silicone glue fix. i used "clear household silicone" pretty generic stuff

i posted a large HOW TO on this a while back...here it is

this is what i sent to JACOB OF DURBAN when he asked about it:

Quote:
i did make it a public post, a while ago, but there wasn't a lot discussion. most folks weren't interested, which is unfortunate, because my pads are MUCH more playable now than they were when they were shipped to me.

i'd make a video on how to do this, but i already did it to mine and don't feel like pulling it all apart. also, it's impossible to convey the before/after feeling on Youtube.

the glue is a wallmart brand "clear household silicone glue." it should be available in most hardware stores. before you put any on your mpc, drop some on a piece of paper and observe it after it cures. it should feel/look like a whitish clear rubber.

now, look at your pads. do you see those 4 nipples used to secure the pads into the metal frame on which the sensors sit? if it weren't for these 4 nipples, the pads would sit flush against a flat, holeless surface.

what you're gonna want to do is build a curing stand. i used a cooling rack from the kitchen - something with holes in it for the nipples to poke through and allow the pads to lie flat. then, cut a large rectangle of VERY FLAT cardboard and use a knife or a hole puncher to punch out 4 holes for the nipples.

set the cardboard on the cooling rack. now, take some plastic wrap and stretch it taut over the cardboard. use tape to make sure it's both taut and flat. use a pencil to poke 4 holes in the plastic wrap to allow the nipples to go through.

now, turn your pads on their face so you can see their underbellies. place a fingernail-sized dollop of silicone glue on each rounded pad surface. not TOO too much - you don't want to fill the entire indentation. you just want to augment that rounded surface, kind of creating a "peak" if you will. use your own judgement for how much to apply - and try your damndest to keep it somewhat uniform. using too little won't do you much good and might give you unpredictable corner hits. using too much will not allow the pads to lay flat and it'll cure funky/give you mad ghost notes.

once you've applied the glue, drop the entire gooey pad mess directly onto the plastic wrap. line the nipples up to the holes and drop it in. don't move it side to side. if it helps, bend the pad set and put the nipples in 2 at a time.

let it cure in room temperature, overnight. remove it from the plastic wrap by peeling the plastic wrap away. using your finger (w/ glove cuz you're technically not supposed to touch this glue stuff) shore up the edges of your silicone add-on. don't get any extra silicone on TOP of the peak you created, but instead along the sides - only if necessary.

then put your mpc back together, boot up os2 and turn your pad threshold to 16 (lowest it can go i think). play your pads - the most gentle touch should now trigger a hit. you'll notice that you may have to change the way you hit your pads to avoid double-hits, because if you use 2 fingers it'll read both fingers hitting the pad, it's that sensitive.

much like the sensitivity of earlier mpcs as well as the padkontrol and others.

Thanks man! Not sure how I missed this when searching... I think I'll give the silicon glue idea another go... if I can find a less smelly tube.

I'm trying to visualize exactly what you did. After adding the glue, did the plastic wrap make contact with the wet glue? Did the pads dry with the glue side facing up or glue side down?

Also, the glue is permanently attached to the underside of the pads, right?

plastic wrap did make contact with the wet glue. i used it to flatten the glue.
the pads dried with the glue side facing down, smushed against the plastic wrap, to flatten the glue where the cured glue makes contact with the rubber.

the glue is permanently attached to the underside of the pads. i guess i could peel it off, but i will never want/need to. even if i were to sell my machine, i wouldn't remove it because it's a major performance enhancement

elevated wrote:Thanks man! Not sure how I missed this when searching... I think I'll give the silicon glue idea another go... if I can find a less smelly tube.

I'm trying to visualize exactly what you did. After adding the glue, did the plastic wrap make contact with the wet glue? Did the pads dry with the glue side facing up or glue side down?

Also, the glue is permanently attached to the underside of the pads, right?

I did the Glue fix and it worked very well.

I eventually got the Black Pad Set and it seems to not have the gap problem.

Really? I have a set of black pads from VST and they seem exactly the same as grays, in terms of gap. When and where did you get yours?

my black pads feel exactly like my mpc2000xl pads. i dont notice a gap. not anything that would cause any bad triggering or anything.

Lunaticbastard-- Out of curiosity, where did you get those black pads? Mine are gappy as hell compared to a 2000 or 2500. They lack the same sensitivity to light touch, as a result of the gap.

mine came from vst. but as far as i know they are all produced out of the same factory. the difference in tolerance will be strictly due to batch runs. die's are tooled to a machine to make these. so one week they may be making 1000 pads. then the next week they set the same machine up with the 2000\2500 pad die's and do a run. then the next week they might switch back to the 1000 pads if the demand is there. each time the set the machine up there are minor tolerance dif's in the die's. as long as they are within an acceptable range they continue the run and make the pads. but that means they wont be "exactly" the same as the first or second run.

Cool post... I feel a bit enlightened

Nym-- I got one more question, before I do this with your method... Doesn't the plastic wrap become glued to pads?

If so, are you able to peel the plastic wrap off? Or the did the wrap become like part of the pad sheet?

Thanks again... I'm hitting Walmart after work to find that less smelly silicone glue.

peels right off, the glue feels just like rubber.

I know this is an older thread on this subject, but would cutting off the four nubs as mentioned in the instructional post create the same effect?

I guess they are there to keep the pads aligned correctly once installed?

For the record-- It's actually 6 nubs.

I feel like you could get away with cutting them off, honestly. The pads end up being held in place by the face plate anyway...

So, hypothetically- if the nubs were gone would that take care of the gap problem?