Rhodes Piano

Is there already a Rhodes Piano thread?

Well I finally took the plunge after years of trying to find the perfect Rhodes sound and being afraid to buy vintage (not being able to afford it either) due to the restoration and maintenance etc etc. I found one near me on Ebay for $400 ($450? idk)

It's a classic Fender Rhodes mkI 73 keys (early 1971 model) really good model year. apparently a pretty sought after model / year.










So I've been getting tips from guys on the EP forum and it looks like (may not be apparent from the pics above) its well worth restoring and not in that bad of shape. I've since cleaned it up and removed and reset all the keys so they all play now with exception of the 3 with broken hammers. have even played it a bit with tracks I've made on the MPC. Still got a ways to go to get it in top shape

1. replace hammer tips & felts
2. replace 3 broken hammers
3. clean tines
4. adjust action
5. buy and install an internal preamp

Another project... Thank god for places like https://www.vintagevibe.com/

little sound demo
http://instagram.com/p/csh5NlJlys/

in the lab

She's beautiful!!!

Sorry she came to you so rough as far as the key are concerned but a little TLC will go a long way...

BTW... I'm jealous as hell!

$400 is a great price - though yea it looks like you paid for it with restoration. still very glad you did it - great work.

props.

for 400.........

I would've bought that allllllll day

Thanks. I call her Smokey
yeah for the price it could have been worse. I always stayed away from these because you never find them for any less than $900 in semi ok condition but mint condition ones easily go for no less than may $1600 and up (way up depending how well restored).

Cats on the EP forum said I could restore this nicely for about $200. buy parts and put in some sweat. so it looks good so far but there is still a lot of work under the hood. i'll buy parts here and there. slow and steady wins the race.

Thats a nice price for the real classic Rhodes. You can sample the real sounds now.

that is cool... does it have a chorus or something on it?

Install Internal Pre Amp

No Not a good idea ... It's a Stage Piano .... if you mean the Tone control ... then that just needs rewiring if its not functioning correctly ... if you have to replace that then it must be the same date in pots !! but i would do everything to keep the existing wiring!

The beauty of a stage is that you can constantly have new tones with different preamps and insert points.

To get that real Suitcase sound you are best to get a Fender Twin Amp ... for that VIBRATO swirl that made the piano so famous ...

That is why the Suitcase Model is so Expensive .. you have the complete Fender package ... having said that the Stage Model is ideal to get New EP sounds with experimenting on different setups .

The Fender Rhodes has a more nostalgic feel over the ~ Rhodes Piano ~ but both have there own place in good music .

You don't need the Tone Control at all , many Recording studios take the output directly from the Harp Output (that Grey RCA at the back left of the tone bars!) This gives a direct full body sound that is full and clean especially if you have Tone control issues .

OK Enjoy ))) and get sustain pedal if it doesn't have one because its a real piano with 73 key Polyphony !

JZA

jazzur wrote:Install Internal Pre Amp

No Not a good idea ... It's a Stage Piano .... if you mean the Tone control ... then that just needs rewiring if its not functioning correctly ... if you have to replace that then it must be the same date in pots !! but i would do everything to keep the existing wiring!

The beauty of a stage is that you can constantly have new tones with different preamps and insert points.

To get that real Suitcase sound you are best to get a Fender Twin Amp ... for that VIBRATO swirl that made the piano so famous ...

That is why the Suitcase Model is so Expensive .. you have the complete Fender package ... having said that the Stage Model is ideal to get New EP sounds with experimenting on different setups .

The Fender Rhodes has a more nostalgic feel over the ~ Rhodes Piano ~ but both have there own place in good music .

You don't need the Tone Control at all , many Recording studios take the output directly from the Harp Output (that Grey RCA at the back left of the tone bars!) This gives a direct full body sound that is full and clean especially if you have Tone control issues .

OK Enjoy ))) and get sustain pedal if it doesn't have one because its a real piano with 73 key Polyphony !

JZA

Good advise. Yeah I planned to get this preamp deal from VV. but no I dont need it. not a bad idea to get a good amp. I met a dude that was one of the designer for the original fender amps. he has his own company now and offered to make an amp similar to the vintage ones . I have no clue on the cost though. But anyways yeah looking forward to bringing it to its former glory. I guess an internal preamp mod wold ruin the "restoration" factor. one to grow on.

why is it that (almost) everyone with a rhodes on youtube knows all the cool chords though

psr wrote:yeah for the price it could have been worse.

Even if you have to spend $500 to get it back in great condition it'll be worth. You'll also be able to fix it if things go wrong in the future.

AntonPD wrote:why is it that (almost) everyone with a rhodes on youtube knows all the cool chords though

Minor 9th chords...
https://www.google.com/search?q=minor+9th+chords+piano&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS519US521&oq=minor+9th&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l3.5277j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Coz wrote:

psr wrote:yeah for the price it could have been worse.

Even if you have to spend $500 to get it back in great condition it'll be worth. You'll also be able to fix it if things go wrong in the future.

Yeah that is true. I've learned so much about the Rhodes already. really not too tough. Vintagevibe.com has any and everything i could possibly need to restore it too. including repair video with step by step instructions.

BTW I was going to get this one place in LA to restore it for me. Cat saw the pics and said $1000.... psssssss... please! I can handle this.

Man, I want one too...

apparently, this company is making new ones:

AntonPD wrote:apparently, this company is making new ones:

yeah but you'd have to choose between a commuter car or a new EP where price is concerned lol

BTW I played one of those at NAMM 2013. it sounds so incredible. they are pretty but damn expensive.