Topics

1

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / 01-2824 package...what tines

« on: April 04, 2017, 06:47:09 AM »

Hello guys,

I laid my hands on a original pack of tines and tuning springs with cutting chart. The part number is 01-2824. I was wondering what type of tines (torrington, etc.....) they are. Hope somebody has a clue or experience with this package. Thanks!!

--Roy

2

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / squeaky sound from damper (rail?)

« on: November 29, 2016, 06:46:44 AM »

Hello guys.
When I pushdown the sustain pedal on my Rhodes I can hear a sort of squeaky sound coming from the left and right side of the piano somewhere near the damperrail. Before I start to disassemble a lot of parts I was wondering which particular parts would be the cause or should be lubricated.

Thanks a lot!

3

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / C5 with low volume

« on: November 15, 2016, 02:43:11 PM »

Hello,

Since a few weeks I have low volume on c5 of my Rhodes. Here's a list of the things I've tried so far:
- a lot of voicing including altering the pickup
- applied different grommets
- installed a spare tine (what a waste was that)
- installed a vv tine
- swapped out hammer tips
- checked bump mod
- tried different escapement settings
- I've even been playing around with strike line 

I have to strike the key pretty hard with the pickup pretty close to the tine. With this setting it is acceptable but when striking the key normal it is producing a kind of dull sound.

I hope somebody can give me a tip. Could it be the pickup and how can I test that without solder it again.

Thanks!!

4

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Funky tuning spring

« on: October 25, 2016, 03:33:35 AM »

Hi folks,

I had this strange thing with C5 in my 73 suitcase. It had a sort of shrill sound (if that is a right english term to put it). I have tried a lot of different things, like different grommets, a new VV tine, an old tine which I cut to the right size, but nothing worked. A year ago I already replaced the hammertips in that section. Then by chance I saw a new VV tuning spring in my toolbox, so I thought I had to give it a try.

And yes, I got rid of this strange sound. It seemed to me there was enough tention on the old spring but I could be wrong. Did anyone ever experienced something stupid like this ;-)

Thanks.

--Roy

5

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / extra tuning spring

« on: October 12, 2016, 04:47:42 AM »

Hi guys

Is it normal to add an extra tuning spring when a tine is too short? At D3 the spring is almost falling of the tine and still the pitch is too high.

Thanks!!!

--Roy

6

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / new grommets from RetroLinear

« on: August 04, 2016, 02:40:33 AM »

Hello guys,

Yesterday I replaced the grommets and screws on a dozen of tonebars with the ones from RetroLinear. They have a perfect fit and were very easy to install. I used the method described by timengr1 in http://www.ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=8280.0

The basic tone and sustain are good but it seems I have less bark than I had before on these keys. I was wondering if there are more people with the same experience? Should I install them on a different way or go for a set from Vintage Vibe?

Thanks Roy

7

Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Secrets behind voicing a Rhodes

« on: June 05, 2016, 10:14:57 AM »

I am about to replace the grommets, screws and washers of the remaining 69 tonebars. The first 4 I had already done after replacing the tines.

I am wondering if you guys have any tips to voice the piano. I did voicing quite a few times (with my current and previous Rhodes 20 years ago) but my only references are the Rhodes manual, some nasty youtube vids and learning by experimenting

I also read a few threads on this forum but never found a short list with facts and tips.

From what I have learned the front screw (player side) sets the base of the indivudual key escapement. Setting this to low can cause problems with the damper (own experience). This screw also influences the tightness (hope this is correct english) of the spring underneath. Does this "tightness" influence the sound?!

The rear screw (pickup side) sets the timbre as described in the manual together with the distance of the pickup.

Making shims for a consistent distance between tine and pickup may not be easy in my particular case. In the treble section the tip of the tine passes the tip of the pickup (eg there is a overlap).

My idea is to replace the parts one by one to have a good reference of the neighbouring tonebars and tines rather than remove them all at the same time and start all over.

Any thoughts and tips would be very welcome as well as critical remarks to my ideas etcetera. Thanks!!

--Roy

8

Classic & Modern Fender Rhodes Artists / Polish Rhodes stuff

« on: May 10, 2016, 08:07:06 AM »

I found another interesting polish band (underappreciated if you ask me)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt4gcNlZUW8

The guy on the Rhodes is Władysław Sendecki, his solo starts at 3:20

I don't understand a word Krystyna is singing and the Google translater makes a mess of it in Dutch :-)

9

Classic & Modern Fender Rhodes Artists / Workaholic

« on: April 17, 2016, 04:45:01 AM »

I stumbled upon this (rare?) track which I never heard before.
http://youtu.be/SymR9ddv10c

(Perhaps with better audio)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hj6H5KZNkAU

Solo starts at 2:15

To me it's good example of how a Rhodes should or could be used. Very mellow sound and nice blend with the horn arrangements. I just thought this one deserved a bit attention.

--Roy

10

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Spaces between white keys

« on: March 20, 2016, 05:02:07 PM »

I'm having some extra spaces between white keys. This is mainly between the b and c and one between e and f. So that's where no black key is in between. Is anybody familiar with this problem or is there someone who knows how to fix this or avoid these gaps in the future?

I have been looking at a lot of pictures on the internet and noticed more pianos with these extra spaces between b and c. I really don't hope they are warped and that it would just be a matter of adjusting key pins?

I took one b key out of the board that looked of skew and caused a serious gap. Just by visual I couldn't notice warp and I also placed it on a flat surface on which it looked quite flat all the way.

Just a guess but could it be caused by the fact that these particular keys are not being striked at the middle of the key/pedestal?

Thanks

--Roy

11

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Hammer tips

« on: January 30, 2016, 05:15:14 PM »

After tuning my Rhodes and some minor repairs I started to voice the piano. In the mid range of the keyboard (G#5-F6) I noticed 10 notes of which I couldn't get rid of a bell like sound (which I don't actually like). No matter what I tried by voicing again and again and adjusting pickups, that metal/bell like sound remained. All of the other keys have a very smooth sweet sound and you can really dig in to it if you like.

Tonight I discovered that the hammers of these keys had different tips with a yellow line on the back. It also seems these tips are slightly bigger than their neighbour tips. They're not higher though.

It is a mid 1976 Rhodes (week 26) with tapered graduated hammer tips. I believe there are more different makes of tips installed but only the yellow striped ones give this bell sound. 

I have a few questions and I hope somebody can give me advice

1. Can it be true these yellow tips create a different sound or can there be another coincidence?

2. By coincidence I was already trying to find out if it is possible to replace all the tips by squared ones. I learned the squared tips all have the same height so I wondered if it is necessary to adjust the harp with the shims. I hope there is a possibility to apply the squared tips sound wise but also I wonder my piano was one of the first with the tapered design hammer tips?!

3. Which hammer tips would you recommend for this vintage of Rhodes when you keep in mind I don't prefer the bell like sound?

--Roy

12

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / New tines? Could use some advice!

« on: January 12, 2016, 03:38:01 AM »

Hello Rhodes people. I have a few things on which I really appreciatie your advice. (please forgive my poor English  )

I just finished tuning (equal) my Rhodes (suitcase 1976 with tapered hammertips) and noticed a few things which I hadn't noticed before. 

First, the tine of D3 is too short. To make it properly tuned the tuning spring is almost falling of from the tine. This means the spring instead of the tine is kinda oscillating in front of the pickup. This note sounds too soft and has almost no bark. From the damaging on the screw that connects the tine to the tonebar, my guess is that this tine has been replaced before (could be 20 years ago?... I own this piano 4 years now).
The same goes for A#3 but the spring is fully around the tine, the sound is good but always has an initial beat (even when tuned on the exact cent).

Second, E6 (I think it is #61) has almost no sustain. The damper is coming of properly and the neighbours tonebars don't touch each other. Could this be a tine issue, the tone bar screw (grommets) or do I have to add a tone bar clip?

I can sell new tines and screws etc at http://ep-service.nl/rhodes-tine-long (official reseller VintageVibe in the Netherlands) from VV, but how will they sound? I read a few thing about this in other topics, but I couldn't find clear statements and experiences from other Rhodes owners. VV claimes these new tines can be used on any Rhodes from 1970 and later but how are they sound wise? Do they only blend in with early Rhodes pianos (about '73)?

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=8010.0 just stopped without any conslusion of http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=1649

Thanks Roy