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Modifying a Roland DP-10 to act as a Yamaha FC-3

 Background:

I had already purchased a Roland DP-10 Half-Damper pedal and wanted to use it with Yamaha synths. I didn't need to use it on a Roland anymore so I've decided to simply rewire the internals to make the Roland pedal match the Yamaha FC3 (or FC3A).

After analyzing the wiring on the Roland and Yamaha FC-3 half damper pedals, I modified the Roland pedal as described below. 

Note that both Roland and Yamaha half-damper pedals use a similar potentiometer (~10k-ohms). So AFAIK, there's no real risk damaging the internals of the Yamaha synths. In any case, do this at your own risk.

Preparation:

To open the pedal, use a screwdriver and remove all the screws.

Opening up the Roland DP-10
  
 
 
Pull out the circuit board:

Original DP-10 wiring

Modification:

Take note of the wiring before the modification: 

  1. White (Tip)
  2. Black (Sleeve)
  3. Red (Ring)

Initial DP-10 wiring
 

With a soldering iron, rewire as follows:

  1. Red (Ring)
  2. White (Tip)
  3. Black (Sleeve)

Modified Roland DP-10 wiring to mimic a Yamaha FC3

Represented logically:

Roland DP-10 vs Yamaha FC3


Testing:

To be sure I rewired and reassembled the pedal correctly, I plugged the modified DP-10 into my Yamaha CK-61 and MODX M8 and started a MIDI monitoring app on my Mac. I was able to confirm the full range of values from 0 to 127.

Value range from MIDI monitor

See Also:

 
 
 
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2026 at 5:45 AM

    I read at the below link that :

    If we consider the order like
    1) wiper of the pot
    2) +
    3) ground

    Roland DP-10 half-damper and expression pedals like EV-5 are
    1) tip
    2) ring
    3) sleeve

    Yamaha FC7 expression pedal is
    1) ring
    2) tip
    3) sleeve

    Yamaha FC3/FC3A half damper is
    1) ring
    2) sleeve
    3) tip

    ref: https://forums.musicplayer.com/topic/177295-roland-dp-10-in-continuous-mode-doesnt-work-with-montage-8/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eric PJanuary 4, 2026 at 6:00 AM

    OK good, thanks for the info and the reference. This matches my handwritten diagram in the above post. It also helps to confirm that my rewiring was accurate. I'm still using my Roland DP-10 on my Yamaha MODX M8 and it works like a charm!

    ReplyDelete

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