Brand new Minibrute with 2 broken key bumpers and faulty fader knob

[Varthdader]

Hi all!

I hate to make my first post about a quiality issue and not about how amazing my Minibrute sounds, but here we go.

Right after taking my precious Minibrute out of itīs box, I found the middle C and E keys sticking way up.

Apart from this, the dark gray line inserts in the light gray, rectangular plastic fader knobs were missing in a couple of faders from the amp envelope section. Found one of them and kind of stuck it back in on one of the knobs, but I now have one with no insert and it is kind of distracting.

I opened up a Support Case, it is Case 141523.

After reading these forums for a while, I see that Bruno seems like a very diligent mod. My case was opened back in Sept. 26, so I would love to have a course of action to correct this before a full month goes by.

I am into DIY synth making, so I know my way around opening a case and general assembly work that might be needed. Have most tools too, so I would love to get the needed spares to perform the repair since I am located in Argentina and shipping my unit back would be nigh-impossible.

I also hope that the plastic material that holds the bumpers and is broken off in 2 keys is not at fault because then I might have more keys breaking in the future and I would like to have my Minibrute with me for many years!

[Bruno@arturia]

Hi,
You will only need a new keybed ans a slider cap. It's quiet easy to replace if you can deal with a screw driver.
I'm sure my dear colleagues at support will answer you soon.

[Varthdader]

Hello Bruno,

I have been contacted by support and have been requested to re-submit my photos and address.

I have been requested my shipping address and I confirmed that I want a replacement keybed and 2 fader knobs.

They said it would take 1.5 months for the new key beds to be in stock.

I have sent 2 emails recently (about 2 weeks ago) and have had no reply with the shipping info of the spares.

Is there anything you could do to get David to solve my issue?

I have this amazing synth since October and have not been able to fully enjoy it because of these issues.

I have a Microbrute now that is dying to partner with his older brother the Minibrute!

[Varthdader]

Ok this is getting weird.

David form support contacted me today to ask me again (must be the 4th time) if it was possible for me to return my Minibrute to where I bought it because unfortunately Arturia was out of new replacement keybeds again.

I explained again that shipping to Germany from Argentina (where I am located) would be cost prohibitive and that I could perform the keybed replacement myself. I told him that this is what we had agreed upon a month and a half ago. I know Arturia must be dealing with many support cases and e canīt remember all of them, but please.

I have been with my Minibrute waiting patiently for the 1.5 month period I was told I had to wait and now again?

I hope that a new keybed is found for me!

[Varthdader]

Now that the frantic holiday period is past us, do we have any kind of schedule to have the affected Minibrute faulty keybeds replaced?

I know there was an official communication about it, but I failed to see any dates, it would be enormously helpful if we could know what to expect.

[inkuplex]

Any evidence of a solution would help me in deciding how replace my broken-out-of-box Minibrute as I'm worried replacement may just yield another DOA Minibrute from the same batch.

[Bruno@arturia]

You will have the official statement soon.

[Varthdader]

Hi Bruno!

Now that the wonderful NAMM2014 is past us, and about a month from the "news soon" announcement for the keybed replacement, is there any target dates?

My Minibrute is awaiting a new keybed and 2 fader knobs since Oct. 2013, and it is a shame that his younger brother Microbrute is seeing all the action and he is watching from the sidelines.

Congrats on the Beatstep announcement looking forward to get it to complement the rest of my setup!

[Varthdader]

I am bumping this without any replies from Arturia.

I sincerely hope they get their stuff together and are able to quickly resolve the keyboard issue with the Minibrute.

The Minibrute does not deserve to have this reputation.

[stevism]

it's been 5 months...clearly you've been had

[katalyze]

I had the same issue with two keys on my brand new Minibrute stuck up (one can be pressed down but doesn't work, the other is just wedged up).

Anyway, I'd read on these boards and elsewhere online that Arturia have been dragging on fixes/replacements, so I'm going through the store I bought it at. Means waiting on a new one from Arturia, but I'm hoping that having the store doing the legwork will result in a faster response...

It sucks that so many people seem to have this issue (one guy on here tried 3 machines before quitting)... I love the synth, but man, it's not good for their image to be sending out so many faulty ones.

I really hope you get it sorted.

[Dav1d]

Finally, this is an official announcement.

"We are of course aware of the issue that affected some Minibrute units in two specific production batches from 2013.
We did investigate and found the cause of the issue. (At a certain points during the production of the keybed parts, the injection of plastic into the mold was not done at constant temperature. This created a weakness in some keys.)
This concerns in fact a limited number of products even if people having issues are naturally more vocal -and have all the rights to be. Less than 4% of the keyboards within these two batches were affected. Still Arturia did replace all keybeds in their entire stock and so did their distributors as well. We are aware that some units have reached end-users this is why we extended the guarantee to three years on the MiniBrute keybeds. Of course we have put more quality controls on the production following this problem.
In any case the Special Edition comes with keybeds that have been tested right. So you should not be scared.
As a conclusion we understand the frustration of customers who trusted us and got issues with the MiniBrute. We have replaced faulty units as quickly as we could, along with our distribution partners and we will keep on doing so when needed. But it should not affect the value of a good product that is reliable and used by many musicians now."

We just received a shipment of containers in regard of the Keybeds issues.
Depending on the warranty period, we can send the new Keybeds directly from you or from our distributors:
==> http:// [url]http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/buy/distributors.html [/ url]

For the US : us_support@arturia.com

For the rest of the world, If you have not received a reply or you're out area, please write an email to the following address:
distributors.support@arturia.com

We need this specific information:
1/ A picture showing the issue
2/ Your address and phone number
3/ For the warranty, a proof of purchase of the product.

Please note that we will do our best to provide you with keyboards in Timely Manner.