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Hi, I'm refurbing a Suitcase which has a 5-pin Janus pre-amp / amp... it's a MK2 piano with a Mk1 rail/amp, which looks nice
I want to change the pots but can't find replacements from the normal Rhodes parts suppliers. I want to get it right... can I just order generic pots of the same resistance etc from local electrical suppliers?
They are 5k (vol), 25k rev (vib speed), 100k rev (vib intensity).  I guess they are 6.3mm dia shaft but haven't checked.
Any advice for me?

Hi, my Suitcase (1982) came without a working sustain pedal setup. I have the pedal, the square wooden rod that runs vertically inside the speaker cab, and a short (4") threaded metal rod that goes into the top of the wooden rod.  This all seems good... but even if I adjust it so it pokes out the top of the speaker cab - it will only protrude by a max of 1cm, which won't be enough to make contact with the wooden sustain down inside the piano which makes contact with the damper rail.
Am I missing something? I can't find any good pictures or diagrams, nor any relevant spare parts!

Hi,

My late '74 Mk1 Stage 73 has the 'Fender' Rhodes logo on the back, but the name rail logos and serial number plate are just Rhodes.
So I guess this was made just as 'Fender' was being dropped from the logos etc, but they were still using up stock of the main rear logo.
The Rhodes is original, been in a studio for its whole life.

Anyone else seen a similar Rhodes with the mix of logos with / without Fender?  The fenderrhodes site says "Sometime in 1974, CBS Musical Instruments decided to drop the Fender name from the Rhodes line of products".... well we can be pretty accurate about when that happened.

Mike.

Hi all! Been a while.  I have a question relating to a 1974 Rhodes Stage 73.

How should the main keybed assembly be screwed into the case? The diagrams I can find show the later screws (2 large, 2 small) but these older Rhodes don't have those.  Mine currently has 4 screws along the front and another 2 part way back - but these are straight through the tolex into the keyframe ... pretty sure they're not original.

Thanks!

Hi,

Instead of buying a new harp cover I'm thinking about making one out of acrylic / plexiglass. I think the curved top might be hard to get looking good, so will follow the approx design of the MKII cover.  Does anyone have a decent drawing (with exact dimensions / CAD) for the harp cover?

Or has anyone done this and can share their experience?  I found a photo of a nice cover, plus a pic of a full plexiglass cased Rhodes, but no info.
This Mk1 version looks tasty but would be difficult:


And yes, I will put colour changing LED strip inside (and no it definitely will NOT look tacky :-) ).

Hi, after a break of a couple of years (since this restoration: http://spradbery.com/blog/ - see the 'finished' pics) I have just got another Rhodes!
The stamp is 4352, which makes me think it's 43rd week, 1975, 2nd work day. Does that sound right?
It has all plastic hammers, flat pedestals (no felt), but the old style small hinges, and four latches (2 on each side).  The case lid has the straight (diagonal) sides without a flat bit near the keys.
I think it must be one of the earliest pianos to move to the plastic hammers? Fenderrhodes.com says that the change was made in 1976, but this suggests it was made earlier.
The piano is a rust bucket, but the hammer tips and felts are almost as new, and it still has the feet on sustain pedal and legs etc - I don't think it had much use before being stored somewhere wet.
Any comments appreciated!

Hi, spotted this on ebay UK... I am not the seller (nor affiliated in any way), but it seems like a rare bargain.  £200 for a genuine new old stock Mk1 suitcase namerail and pre-amp.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221340240358?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Tempted... to fit to my 73 stage!

Here's an odd one... I have a note which hardly rings, it's the G which is 12 tones above middle C.

BUT if you touch the top of the tone bar screw (either one) with a screwdriver if rings really well.  You don't need to apply any pressure, just touching it is enough.

So you'd think it is some sort of grounding issue... MODIFIED: the tone bars are grounded via the rear spring which is in contact with the tonebar and the foil strip.

So what on earth is causing this to stop ringing? And why does touching the screw make it ring?

I have changed spring tension, removed the tine and reattached, but it makes no difference.  The thing that fixes it is touching with a screwdriver (or spanner, or...).

Help!
Mike.

Hi - I wondered if anyone had found a suitable generic tone bar clip (for improving sustain of higher notes).  Surely they can't be that hard to find... but if I google 'spring clip' I get about a billion results!

Thanks,
Mike.

Hi folks,

Thanks again for your help, my Rhodes is really taking shape.  Just two more questions.... 

1. I seem to recall that the harp sits on one piece of fibre board (each end) on top of the main aluminium (late Mark 1) frame ends.  You know where you bolt the harp to the main frame.  Is this the case?  If so, can someone tell me the thickness?  My steel harp is sitting directly on the alu frame but I reckon the tines will be too close to the hammers etc.  Someone has drilled some very odd holes in the harp frame at some point so I wonder if this is why.

2. The clear tape around my pickups look nasty where it's coming off.  Do you bother to try and re-tape them? Or superglue the old tape back down? Or remove the tape? Or live with it?  I also need 5 new ones, if anyone has some 3" pickups to sell (hoping to get 5 for approx £30 or $50 delivered).

Thanks - I'll update the photos when I've made a bit more progress......

Mike.

Hi,

I am about to fit a new hardware kit to my 1976 Rhodes Stage.  I've had to restore the old case and make a wooden lid for it... so now I don't know if I should countersink the holes where the corners screw to the case.

Do I just screw the metal case corners through the new tolex to the case, or do I need to countersink the case first, ready to take impressions on the metal corners?

I hope that makes sense...

Pics of my restoration are here: http://www.spradbery.com/blog

Thanks,
Mike.

Hi all,

I'm restoring a 1976 Rhodes Mk 1 Stage 73.  It was in a poor state when I got it so I've stripped it back to bare wood.  It was missing the bolts that mount the main internal frame to the case; it did however have the screws that secure the front of the frame (where the cheek blocks go).

I can't work out how the mounting bolts work with tolex - are they supposed to have a washer around them (like the mounting screws), or do they somehow go under the tolex?  Perhaps someone could take a picture of the underside of their Stage piano that shows the edges, where the tolex seam is, so I can see how the mounting bolt and screw are supposed to work?  I can't find the answer on google / flickr etc!

Thank you very much indeed!
Mike.