Recent posts

#1

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Janus Power Amp rebuild FA...

Last post by sopranojam85 - August 04, 2026, 03:11:32 PM

Figure out what burned up. Replace those things. Then power only the power supply, no amps, and verify operating voltages, before reconnecting either amp.

To prevent damaging speakers, attach 16 ohm 100w dummy loads to the speaker jacks when testing the amp channels. Dim bulb tester is also essential when doing a "smoke test" to prevent future smoke.

#2

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / 1967 Sparkletop with Tines-N-R...

Last post by The Real MC - July 30, 2026, 03:21:45 PM

Back in 2010 I bought this handyman's special 1967 "sparkletop" Rhodes in a store for peanuts. "Sparkletop" was the unofficial name given to these 1960s pianos with their attractive fiberglass shell with a silver base coated with shellac mixed with metal reflective flakes (a boat company made them for Rhodes). It was missing the original electronics but still had the 1960s era tonebars pickups and tines. A previous owner had done a lot of monkeying with the piano - the original felt hammerset had been replaced with the wood/plastic hammerset from the early 1970s (they are interchangeable). These pianos with its original 1960s-era square tonebars has a unique sound. The 1960s-era pickups also contribute to the sound, their tone is dynamic depending on how hard you play, gets everything from that bell tone to fusion bark, very controllable. The key action feels great.

I never liked the sound of Rhodes with the felt hammers, but this mutt with mixed era components has an awesome tone. With two exceptions all the original Raymac tines were intact (two Torrington tines from the 1970s had replaced the broken ones but they don't sound any different). I saw no point in restoring it to "vintage original" as I never liked the tone of the 1960s Jordan preamp and power amp or the felt hammers. I used to own a newer 1976 stage piano - despite duplicating the sound chain I could never duplicate the dynamic tone of that sparkletop. The pickups make a huge difference.

Eventually I fitted the bottom cabinet with four Celestion 75w speakers (same ones used in guitar amps) and drove them with a Tubeworks MosValve stereo power amp. Rhodes used to stuff these things with crap sounding speakers. Since I take the signal right off the harp, I experimented with outboard preamps and effects between the piano and the amp.

Two years ago I acquired the Tines-N-Reeds RhodeStar preamp (now rebranded TineMachine) which sounds great and is very flexible. Here I am demonstrating the chorus effect with a Supertramp song. I would never had guessed that I could get a Wurlitzer electric piano sound out of a Rhodes! No the song ain't perfect, I was just monkeying around with the camera running.

#3

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Hammer sticks

Last post by pianotuner steveo - July 30, 2026, 02:09:49 PM

No, do not add weight to the hammer. Extra weight may cause the reed to snap. Try running a hair dryer back and forth in the area of the sticking hammer(s). Never use a heat gun  (like from Harbor Freight)they are so powerful, you can actually char the wood or even start a fire, especially if you put Naptha in there at some point.

#4

Other Keyboards & Software Synths / Re: Hohner Electra - Tremolo V...

Last post by Jenzz - July 10, 2026, 08:13:49 AM

Hi :-)

Hohner Electra is allways without tremolo....



Jenzz

#5

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Radio Report on the Rhodes...

Last post by Alan Lenhoff - July 08, 2026, 01:44:49 PM

He does get busy!  If you PM me with your contact info, I can text him.

Alan

#6

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Radio Report on the Rhodes...

Last post by Barking1978Rhodes - July 08, 2026, 12:41:01 PM

Thank you very much Alan  .

Actually I have written to him at retrorentals last week but unfortunately he has not yet answered...

#7

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Radio Report on the Rhodes...

Last post by Alan Lenhoff - July 08, 2026, 12:17:07 PM

Here's your guy:

Ben Bove, co-author of the book and documentary film "Down the Rhodes: The Fender Rhodes Story." He also an amazing Rhodes tech, and owner of this vintage instruments rental company in Los Angeles, https://retrorentals.net/about/.

Alan

#8

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Radio Report on the Rhodes Pre...

Last post by Barking1978Rhodes - July 07, 2026, 03:57:32 AM

Good morning  ,

we'd like to do a feature on the Rhodes Pre Piano for the German national radio station Deutschlandradio Kultur. I'm looking for a knowledgeable interviewee for this.

May anyone of you be able to recommend me such a person? (Maybe there is something like a museum in the U.S.?)

I'm also looking for Pre Piano recordings. If anyone of you might recommend me one I'd be very grateful  .

Thank you very much in advance
Michael

[INSIDE]

#9

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Repairing 73 Weird Sound

Last post by gacki - July 06, 2026, 07:18:20 AM

Wouldn't it be more useful to do a video of the INSIDE of the piano (read: the tines) when this happens?

#10

Amps, Effects & Recording Techniques / Re: DOD Phasor 490 Phase shift...

Last post by gacki - July 06, 2026, 07:17:13 AM

...those are actually more common than opto-based phasers.

AFAIK the FET based phasers are the most common ones; that's what I wanted to say.

Also, afaik the Oberheim Phaser/Phasor isn't OTA based.