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I have replaced hammer tips in this area and while it has helped the tone a bit, it has not fixed the issue.  I have narrowed it down to the damper arms, and Chris Carroll saw a clip I posted on Facebook and said that it is specifically due to weak damper arms, which apparently happens a lot to older pianos. 

I've ordered some new damper arms and felts and am hopeful this will clean up the clangy noisy low end section on my piano. 

Thanks everyone for helping me chase down this issue!

This idea makes a lot of sense to me, as I've experienced the same piercing high notes.  It certainly seems possible to split the harp and would only require a few bits and bobs plus a bit of soldering to achieve.  Seems to me there are advantages (and probably disadvantages) to being able to process different halves of the harp as you please. EQ/FX/Amps could all be applied separately.  Sounds fun. Good luck!

This the typical sound of hardened grommets + and a slightly off-set striking line or too hard hammertip. Move the harp back and forth, there will be a point were the 'zing' will reduce to an acceptable level...

I believe the grommets are ~5 years old and in decent shape.  I just tried to adjust the strike line but found no improvement in the problem area.  It might be my hammer tips as they are a bit worn.

As the grommets are OK, and you've moved the pickups closer to improve the sound, you may need tine stabilsers to stop them from oscillating/wavering.

This might be the culprit.  I've ordered some stabilizers from Vintage Vibe with fingers crossed.  Thanks!

Spradders:  it appears that the dampers are clear from the tine when it is struck.  Judging from these photos, new hammer tips might help my overall sound, but I don't know if it will solve this issue. 

Here is a picture of the hammer tips, most of them have tiny grooves in them:
https://i.imgur.com/Uf3uYCj.jpg

and a picture of the hammers and dampers:
https://i.imgur.com/o2shKDT.jpg

Thanks all for your input!

The grommets were changed out 5 years ago and they appear to still be in good shape.  I'll open the piano up and see if the pickups are too close.  I recently moved the pickups closer to the tines overall and the sound improved quite a bit, but I believe the oscillations were happening before I moved them. 

Sorry, the link is fixed now.  Here's the working link:

https://soundcloud.com/user1444781/rhodes-issues/s-yWc1B

Hey all,

First off, I've learned so much from the years and years of posts in this forum, so thank you all for the education.  I've managed to get my 1972 Stage Mark 1 (with a 1980 harp) into much better shape with all the tips I've picked up here.   

Moving on, I have an issue with several of my lowest keys.  The tines respond with a kind of clang when struck.  It is particularly bad on a few keys.  I've adjusted escapement (via screw) and voicing, but not improved the sound.  I've even pulled the tine out and realigned them with the tone bars, which didn't help. 

Here is a recording:  https://soundcloud.com/user1444781/rhodes-issues/s-yWc1B  -- the issue is more noticeable when I play softly, so that's mostly what is heard in this recording.

Is this a problem with tine oscillation which would be fixed by stronger springs under the escapement screw?  Or is this a damper issue?  Thanks in advance for any insight!