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Messages - jwc44

#1
What Tim suggested is the way to go, if you can line that up.    There is a product called evap-o-rust that I used on the hardware that worked great but I was out of it so i just used steel wool, simichrome, and elbow grease.  Came out great but you will have sore fingertips for a few days  :o
#2
That stuff is cosmetic.  I went ahead and de rusted, cleaned, and polished all of the tines and tone bars, it had zero effect on tone, I just wanted to do it because Im not into corrosion.  It was a huge pain and time consuming job so unless you are OCD skip that.
#3
The side to side key wobble is most likely from worn key bushings (the red felts that sandwich the pin). You definitely dont want them too tight as the keys will stick with humidity changes as the wood swells. There is a key bush tightening tool that compresses the wood back to size. If you have a lot of keys that are crazy sloppy you may want to consider rebushing.
#4
Quote from: Chi on October 19, 2020, 12:12:36 PM
Quote from: jwc44 on October 19, 2020, 10:25:41 AM
Are you looking to increase or decrease?  I ended up taking off the particle board shims on the top of the rails and making new ones to get it where I wanted.  If you are looking to decrease the keydip you can use a thicker back felt, Avion has a green thicker felt strip.

Looking to increase the dip a little bit. Did you re-shim the harp supports to set the key dip or was that more for escapement? I think I've read that quite a few people remove the factory particle board ones - something about them being generic and not really the right thickness for each individual instrument.

I had escapement issues which is why I had to make thinner shims for the harp.  On my board I initially thought my key dip was a bit shallow at just under 3/8 and was going to shim the aluminum rails but once I screwed it back in and measured my keydip ended up somewhere over 3/8 and under 13/32 which feels nice to me.
#5
Are you looking to increase or decrease?  I ended up taking off the particle board shims on the top of the rails and making new ones to get it where I wanted.  If you are looking to decrease the keydip you can use a thicker back felt, Avion has a green thicker felt strip.
#6
My hammers at rest are not level.  I had the pure luck of getting to spend an afternoon with a great piano tech , one thing I learned is Rhodes (as cool as can be) are NOT precision instruments, not even close so don't have the expectation of all the hammers, felts and tips being in perfect height, they should just be in the neighborhood.  You can compensate some issues by bending the aluminum damper arms, (dont be afraid they were designed for that) just be gentle and take your time.  Escapement, bridal strap length, damper arm position and hammer tip height are are variables you will be dealing with, the geometry of pianos is such that everything has some effect on everything.  I know at first this can sound overwhelming but you will see as you get into the piano it's not too bad.  I printed out the manual and kept it on my bench at all times.  Start out with the recommended specs and adjust as needed.

As far as the bushings (the felts that are falling out) I chose to rebush mine.  To do it right is not inexpensive, I ended up buying all the mortise cauls and key bushing cauls and it was not a fun job, the piano tech loaned me a bushmaster felt cutting tool that made it slightly less painful.  If yours are not worn out I wouldnt mess with them.  If you do end up doing the job use hide glue, the previous tech used super glue on EVERYTHING and made all my repair work extra time consuming.  You're starting off in pretty good shape.  You are going to be really happy when you finish.
#7
To echo what Tim said, definitely DO NOT USE PLIERS.  The previous tech on mine did and the pins have the scars to prove it.  I ended up using a pencil cut in half ( a wooden dowel would have been a better choice) and gently tapped that against the pin with a rubber mallet until the key was squared up.  Shimming and leveling is a piece of cake its just kind of boring, grab a beverage and something flat and level and get to it.

You can totally do this job, lots of vids on youtube and outstanding support from the Rhodes community.
#8
I can sympathize, I had what is probably the worlds most infamous tech go through my rhodes and it was a complete and total disaster, so bad in fact is sat in storage for about 15 years.  The good news you can totally handle it yourself.  I had zero experience and tore mine all the way down.  I rebushed both rails,  leveled and regulated all the keys, replaced all the bridal straps, damper felts, damper arms, hammer tips, did the the bump mod, grommets, made new shims, re-established strikeline and escapement, revoiced...the works and it came out great.  That isnt to say I didnt make a few mistakes but overall I really enjoyed it and learned a ton about the rhodes and am confident I can now tackle any problem that might arise.  The other good news is you have the Retro Flyer which I also installed, it's really nice.  The guys at Avion Studios were so helpful and great to deal with, also worked with Vintage Vibe and they are also helpful.  The best advice I can give you is just move on from the bad experience and move forward getting that Rhodes up and running.
#9
I have the old version of the VV preamp rail when it ran on 3 9V batteries and just installed the Retro Flyer.  The Retro Flyer is pretty great.  I have the stand alone preamp from Fender Rhodes LA as well and will be doing a youtube video comparing all 3 in the near future.
#10
I cant speak to the Rhodes, but I have used them quite a bit with guitar.  I prefer them to the Twin, it just has a more hi fi sound and sat better for me in the mix.  I think it would probably be pretty great with a Rhodes and they are usually dirt cheap.
#11
Thanks for the insight.  Initially I wanted to use a thicker back rail felt to help with key bounce but that definitely made for shallower keydip.  I have the key dip under control, now its dealing with escapement.  I am making some new shims for the aluminum harp supports as the particle board is a bit too thick on top. 
#12
I have made pretty good progress on my 73 stage and am now in the escapement/voicing phase.  As it sits now I am seeing the escapement a little on the high side with 3/8 on the bass and 1/8 on the treble.  I am considering knocking off the factory wood shims and fabricating some thinner shims to get the escapement lower but unsure if it would be worth the effort as I dont have a good grasp on how it would effect the feel of the piano.  Any thoughts?    The clip below is what I am shooting for when voicing. 

https://www.fenderrhodesla.com/audio/1974-modified-73-suitcase-1.wav
#13
Much appreciated.  I can live with what I have so far.  Replacing the grommets and knocking the surface rust off the tines with steel wool today.  For anyone who is interested Simichrome cleans them up really well.
#14
A simple lead sheet with his chord voicings would be good for beginners and then you could do transcriptions of his licks in notation.
#15
Much appreciated Sean.  I took this Rhodes to ground zero, replaced the back felt, bushings, squared the keys, and leveled the keys with the keybed screwed in.  The key dip is right where I would want it without the felts on key pedestals so im 99.44/100% sure the follwing is TRUE

"Then the key travel is limited by the key pedestal travel between the rest position and the stop-lock position."

I thought about shaving down the bottom of the keys but for now I think Im going to run it until the perfectionist gets the better of me and the planer comes out.  It has been a really fun project so far minus undoing some of the mods from the previous tech.  Super glue is a mutha.
#16
Hello

I have a 1977 Stage 73 and have it completely torn down and cleaned.  I decided to replace everything, I have rebushed both rails, , new combs, new tips, damper felts, bridle straps, ect...  I am in the process of leveling the keys and then am going to do the bump mod.  I have limited keydip at both the bass and treble ends with 3/8 being the shallowest on the bass end with just the felt and no punchings.  This rhodes has the aluminum action rail.  Is there a protocol to get more key dip?  Also in a mock up I am finding that the name rail is too low pressing down the end keys and making it worse.  I figure I can just shim the name rail on the cheek blocks.  Any thoughts?  Thank you in advance.