Messages

Hey RJB - any update or pics you can share?  Would love to know how it went and whether you'd recommend this route to others.

Indeed TRM - I had to pull out the calendar and look at this closely. It turns out for every 365 day year, if they started week 1 on Jan 1, then dec 31st is the only day that falls on week 53.  I assume this must mean any Rhodes with a week 53 stamp, must have been completed on Dec 31st.

Interestingly, unless it is a leap year, no other days can fall in week 53 regardless of what day Jan 1-7 they would have started the week count.

Rhodes experts - I need your best intel! I've come across a Mark II stage 88-key with a date stamp of 5383.  Not a typo, not a smudge - a crystal clear 5383.  Can anyone tell me how this would even be possible?

Pic is below.

Hi everyone,

Working on a Mark 1 (20-1974) 88-key with significant hammer alignment issues and curious whether this is normal and how others approach repair?
- ~60 wood hammers appear to have been glued in to the plastic hammer arm at an angle (ranging between 1/64 to 7/64")
- Hammer flange drill hole alignment along the action rail appears to vary front to back creating variability in hammer height and slight misalignments in strike line.

Picture below shows the misalignment with the green line highlighting the edge of the plastic arm and red line for the wood hammer.

I've repaired ~40 of the hammers by clamping the hammer perfectly flat and heating the plastic arm close to the plastic/wood connection.  The repair seems to have completely corrected in nearly all hammers, but would love to know if others have had success with other methods and/or know the long term implications of reheating the plastic.

Restoring a 1974 88 Stage and hoping to find out if anyone knows what wood finish Rhodes applied to the harp rail plywood?  (Pickup rail and tone bar rails)