Sustain Pedal Not Working?

[MiddleC]

I purchased a Yamaha DGX 660 3-4 weeks ago. It came with a sustain pedal.

I've been taking lessons, and of course not using it at all. Tonight during practice, I decided to see how it sounds. When I press it, there is no difference between pressing it and not pressing it.

Anyone know if there is something I need to do that I'm not aware of to make it function? It is plugged into the Sustain Pedal port on the back.

[FlatPanda]

The "sustain pedal" does not change how something sounds, but how long (it sustains the sound, duh!)

Try the following:
- hit a key (let's say MiddleC ) and release it → the sound is cut of instantly
- now press the sustain pedal, keep is pressed, hit the same key and release it → the sound stays, as if you were still holding the key

What the sustain pedal actually does (in a real piano): it lifts all the dampeners, so that when releasing keys, the strings are not muted (dampened) instantly, but they are let to ring out.

Have a look here at the inner workings of a piano during play: https://youtu.be/ugfUPWIC1i8 from around 1:10 in the video: do you see in the middle the things, which are moving up and down? Those are the dampeners. From around 2:00 one can see clearly how they are attached to the sustain (rightmost) pedal.

[MiddleC]

Thanks, @FlatPanda, for the detailed reply.

I actually do know how the pedal is to work. I worded the post poorly.

That being said, it was not working when I wrote the post. But today,which of course is subsequent to a turn off of the keyboard, and back on a day later, it is working.

I haven't studied the video you linked yet, but I do plan to.

Thanks again.

[SJunior22]

Hello MiddleC!

I just wanted to jump in and provide a tip.

I play on a yamaha P-115 and the sustain pedal can act as any of the 3 pedals on a normal piano. Anyway, I have it specific as a sustain, however, it also can have reverse polarity; meaning, if I hold down the sustain pedal as I'm turning on my piano, the pedal will always sustain. I will have to plant my foot onto the sustain pedal to stop it from sustaining any note. Just thought I should pass this on as this might be a feature on your piano as well.

The moral to this post is keep your foot off of your pedal when you are powering off or on your piano.

Hope this helps ya just in case you encounter this issue. Keep on keepin' on!

[MiddleC]

@SJunior22, thanks so much. I may never have realized that. I just tried it, and it did the same thing.

I'll be asking one of these days how to get it to do what the other pedals do.