Yamaha GH3 Action Substitutions

I recently had a client request I replace the stock GH3 action in her Yamaha CVP-305 with a Yamaha Natural Wood action, and so I had an opportunity to do some experimenting.

The Yamaha GH3 keyboard action can be replaced with the NW-GH3 action, the GH3X action, or the NWX action. All four of the actions below seem to be interchangeable, with the features as listed:

Her favorite action was the NW-GH3. Although there’s some subjectivity, we mutually agreed that the natural wood actions felt lighter than the plastic equivalents (which is a bit counter-intuitive initially), and that the escapement added perceived weight.

In other words, we found that the NW-GH3 action was the lightest action, perceptibly, and the GH3X was the heaviest.

It’s important to note that although the GH3 actions seem to be substitutable with one another, the GHD and GHS actions are not compatible. If you have a 2-sensor Yamaha action, you cannot swap a 3-sensor GH3 action in its place.

If you’re wondering if this applies to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can quickly look up your keyboard and see if this might be an option for you.

If you’d like to try to look it up yourself, you can use the form below. I can’t guarantee it’s 100%, but it’s pretty close! Alternatively, you can check product descriptions for your keyboard on Yamaha’s website to see if they include the keyword “GH3” or “NWX.”

Note that the above application will ignore dashes and case. “CLP-625” and “clp625” will both work. This script also will identify nonexistent models as likely not compatible.