Like every program, we have a few posts that have gone to a better place.  I am trying to replace them and even have some extras on hand. 

Main problem: how does one go about getting out a post broken off inside of the slat?  I have 4-5 posts like this between our four outside marimbas.  I thought about drilling it out, but I am less creative with tools than music.  :)

Thanks for any help!

Better question... where did you get new posts?!  I have instruments that would breathe new life if I replaced them!

I have no idea.  They were here when I got here.  I imagine a call to Lone Star Percussion (or similar) would yield results in this regard. 

I can operate a drill and screwdriver, but what I have tried to do with drilling out the posts has only broken drill bits.  :(  I am usually pretty smart about common sense things like fixing broken stuff.  We kinda have to be able to fix stuff since that is about 25% or more of teaching percussion!  :)

Thanks for any clues!

I would try drilling a large-enough hole centered in the bar, on either side of the center of the post. That should let you get a pair of needle-nose pliers around the post while minimizing the structural weakening of the bar and allowing a new post to fit in snugly.

I ordered my replacement posts from Lonestar percussion. They had both marimba and vibe posts for our Yamaha boards in stock and were between $.80 and $1.50 a piece. To remove the broken post, I ended up using an icepick-looking sharp tool that was floating around the bottom of our band toolbox. I inserted it into the side of the hole and just pryed the piece out. It causes a little bit of damage to the surrounding wood, but nothing I would lose sleep over.

Make sure when you order them that you are VERY specific as to what model keyboard, what manual, whether it's an end post or not, etc. I tried to get as much information, and even found a few of the part numbers on Yamaha's website, in advance before calling up Lonestar and this made the process a breeze.

Best of luck and let me know how it goes!

_brandon