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The tittle says it all... Maybe this has been discussed before. Yesterday I noticed Thomann is selling some of the Vintage Vibes pianos online. Good news for rich europeans around

http://www.thomann.de/gb/vintage_vibe.html

[in]

As all the other options to get an stereo in and out panner are terrible expensive, I decided to try the behringer tp300. And I have to say that used with a proper power unit, it is pretty good, almost noiseless. I payed 20 euros for it, wich is dirty cheap. I don´t like behringer stuff, this pedal in example is made of plastic, but I know I´m not going to step on it, so it is ok

Hi, My name is Jorge, I´m from Spain.

After a long time wanting it, I finally own a Rhodes, an Stage Mark I of the year 1976 (I think). I´m loving the piano and its beautiful sound. I´m in the process of reading as much as I can, to restorate it, and make it fully playable. So, I´m afraid I´ll have a lot of question in the future for you people...

Ok, first problem I have, is the action. Is so hard that it is ridiculous. I´ve only played an electronic keyboard till now, and I believe that a rhodes will, by its own nature, be harder. But that thing is crazy. I almost can´t play a note with my pinkie.

So, I tried to see if the escapement distance was right. Without proper tools to measure it, and according to the service manual, the scapement seems to be too high. I´m not sure, because it is a difficult task to insert a rule between the tone bars, keep one key depressed, and looking sideways to read the distance.

So I tried to reduce the scapement by turning the "adjustable coil springs". I did it in middle C to middle F. That helped a lot, now these keys are easier to play. But the height of the tone bar assembly to the tone bar rail is now really short. I´m far away from the "factory setting" (3/8" or 9.52 mm) and more likeky a lowered position (3/16" or 4.76).



In this picture, you can see six of the tone bars lower than the rest, these are the ones I adjusted. They look very low, don´t they?

The service manual says you can adjust the scapement also by "adding or sustracting shims from the harp supports". What does it mean, I don´t know. But looking at the harp I noticed the particle board over the aluminium harp support is very damaged:

Right side:


Left side:



That´s probably due to lifting the harp without care. Am I right thinking this damaged particle board is the so called "shims from the harp supports"? Are these damaged boards the reason why my action is so hard? Would a slimer particle board make it easier to play the piano? If so, what should I replace it with?

One last question: As others pointed out, the action of the piano is softer when the sustain pedal is pussed, due to the relaxed bridle strap. Would I get a softer action by changing my damper arms for the ones vintage vibes offer?

Ok, that´s it for now. I know I make a lot of questions, sorry. Any help will be very wellcome