Messages

Also keep in mind that the highest note on a Rhodes is not that high of a frequency, but the low end is very low. The low A on an 88 is roughly 27.5 hz but the highest C is well under 5khz

(I just looked it up, high C  is 4,186 hz)

Hi.
But keep the overtones in mind. depending on your voicing (pure fundamental vs overtones) 4kHz as upper limit has to be extended.

Mark II

hi.
try vintage vibe or http://www.ep-service.nl/joomla/
good luck.

Mark II

Hi.
nice piano.
basically those silver tops were made from 1965 to 1969
check this thread regarding age:
http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4931

the missing speaker should be no problem, check ebay or the usual culprits.

the hole in the silver top is more difficult to fix.
kind regards

Mark II

Ups, my bad.
Sorry Chris. Somehow I was mislead.
That was not my itention.

kind regards
Mark II

Great work, Chris.
Sounds realy amazing and the price is fair, in my humble opinion.
I wish you would have brought that to the table 4 years ago when I was searching for a peterson preamp.
kind regards

Mark II

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/rewinding-pickups.php
http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/pickups.php

As those pickup bobbins dont like the heat produced by a solder iron too much I would concentrate on fixing the broken connections/ pickups.
Rewinding everything is too risky in my humble opinion.

kind regards
Mark II

Hi Bing.
Check the grey RCA cable coming from the harp. Jiggle and twist it a bit.
kind regards

Mark II

Hi.
check this one:

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/parts.php

there is a Joao Coelho in portugal, but I dont know if he has tolex in stock.
Ep Service has it for sure. Any amp repair shop might do it aswell.

kind regards
Mark II

True. And using the cutter is much faster.
I have bought mine last year and it's build up pretty much like the one on the foto linked above. No PCB mounted parts. Easy to mod.
I cut out R28 and both Cs and I like the new sound.
Much more less harsh, as you described.
Thanks for your advice, Rob.
kind regards

Mark II

well, difficult issue.
I am no suitcase expert, but a suitcase bottom without preamp connected is without any input signal, so it could be quiet even if something is wrong there ?!?

Do you have a preamp outputs on your suitcase. some of the later suitcase cabinets have preamp output jacks where you could feed the preamp's signal to another amp in order to check if the preamp signal is clean.

I would blaim the suitcase amp for humming. bad/ old elcos in the power regulation, something like that.

good luck
Mark II

Brilliant post, Rob.
I have a phase 90 aswell and heard about the R28 mod but didnt thaught that it would be that improving soundwise.

I have just checked if I have a SMD version.
It's not, I have to warm up the iron  

Cheers
Mark II

hehehe Jim.
Well, actually it is still lying in my project box as the one I have built from scratch is working well.

regards
Mark II

Dear Paul.
there are 3 possilbilties:

buy one
build one from scratch
build one with parts

for solution 1 I made suggestion in one of the other threads
for solution 2: if you have technical skills: this is what you need. If you dont have technical skills forget it and buy one.
for solution 3: you could search for a 25 Volts regulated PSU with at least 250 Milliampere. some laptop PSUs might fit, I found a PSU from a handdriller with these specs. Be creative and google a bit. If you found one we will provede the information to finish your PSU.

kind regards
Mark II

Read somewhere yesterday there are 3 possible sellers speakeasy, vintage vibe and cae Who are CA E? I am in Australia I   doubt if there is any supplier of power converter boxes here >Can Anyone please advise?"Also how much in Us dollars do they sell for ? :idea:

Dear Paul.
Now that you know the names of the parts supplier please visit their websites and check the prices. Keep in mind that you will need a PSU with the right primary voltage, US has 115 volts, Australia 240 volts, I think.

check this:
http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/parts.php

kind regards
Mark II

yes, absolutely. for us europeans you did make a great deal - rip off.
Buy a power supply for the preamp at the usual cuplrits: vintage vibe, CAE, speakeasy.
It's worth it. I am playing the same setup, 4 pin preamp with power supply right through studio monitors speakers, a dream soundwise.

kind regards
Mark II

... and purchased a new faceplace, knobs, and name rail felt from Vintage Vibe.  

kind regards
Mark II

hi.
remove the front rail and take the key out.
check if there is something interfering with the key
kr
Mark II

hi
take of the harp cover and see whether the hammer is caught between two tines ?
Mark II

yup.



or jump wire the tone pot in parallel with the capacitor which leads to the same result: harp output connected with the volume pot only

kind regards
Mark II

you are welcome

full schematics can be found here.
preamp with sliders = 100 watt suitcase:

preamp
power amp

good luck
Mark II

Hi.
check this technote to answer your question:

the later preamp uses a +-15 volts power supply. from pin 2 to pin 1(GND) you should measure -15 volts, from pin 5 to pin 1 +15 volts.

kind regards
Mark II

indeed.
well done.

Mark II

check this one for dating your rhodes

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4931

kind regards
Mark II

hi.
did you search here as well ?
http://www.fenderrhodes.com/cgi-bin/service

kind regards
Mark II

Hi.
Did you check the sticky post in this section of the forum:

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

your description sounds like a bad cable or solder joint.

kind regards
Mark II

That looks like an ARP String Ensemble.

yes, 2nd vote for string ensemble.

kind regards
Mark II

Hello,

Well, I need explanation for two things, maybe better word is "clarifying"

1. When I use my mkI with janus system, I connect it with this 5 pin cable. But, that cable is really old, and it won't work sometimes.
Then I realized that I can have rhodes sound when picking up "send" signal (on rhodes, you have send and return right),and I can plug send signal to janus.BUT, then I can't have vibrato, right ? So, my question would be this : is this means that if something go wrong with my janus, I could not use my rhodes vibrato anymore?

Hi Mirko.
yes, the send signal is mono, right from the harp. the 5 pin cable supplies power to the active preamp with effect section. Without the janus you will loose the power and therefore the active preamp with tremolo.
you can buy power supply units from the usual cuplrits (CAE, vintage vibe, speakeasy, epianoservice.nl). Look at the service section of this site for further infos.

2.Those facts leads me to think that rhodes is mono, right? But, Janus is stereo, and vibrato is stereo. So, when I use vibrato but want to use stereo effect with rhodes, how do I do this ? Because I used effects this way : from rhodes send - effect pedal- rhodes return, but this way it is mono.

Thanks

the signal become stereo due to the integrated tremolo or better panning effect in the active preamp of the rhodes piano. after that the signal is stereo, so the janus has two discreet audio amplifiers built in. if your janus has stereo sends you will be able to hook stereo effects. I dont know the janus system so I have no idea. some suitcase amps have stereo send and return (called "preamp outs" and "power amp input"), see this picture.
So, if your janus doesnt have those stereo sends and returns you will not be able to use stereo effects.

kind regards
Mark II

... I don't want to touch ground on the preamp plate and preamp connector, however, shield is there for protection, probably radio protection...Any thoughts...

Milos

Hi Milos.
Yes, absolutely correct, shield is a protection for the inner cables against all kinds of interference.

kind regards
Mark II

Milos,
yes, connect pin 1 for sure.
"pin6" is up to you, if you notice problems with hum or other interference it might be worth givin it a try.
kind regards
Mark II

looks good.
what did you do against the rust ?
kind regards
Mark II

[Schematic Pointer-Outer Service]

If you tell us what your piano looks like, our Schematic Pointer-Outer Service in Germany will tell us which schematic to look at.  Maybe even the PC board layout too.

Who ?  

here is the schematic. Unfortunately there is no picture of the PCB.

this is a picture of my 4pin preamp with new parts. tell me which part you think is broken and I will tell what to buy.
BTW. Vintage Vibe offers a repair kit for the 4pin preamp that covers the most critical parts.

kind regards
Mark II

- lots of people in the Rhodes community seem to like the MXR Phased. Maxon does not distribute in UK - any other suggestion?

Thanks
Cosimo

check out the EHX small stone.
kind regards

Mark II

1,200 pounds??? What is that in dollars,like $5,000?

so, steve, fall on your knees and praise for being born in the US.
kind regards

Mark II

Hi.
If I remember correctly it is not possible due to a reduced thickness of the suitcase base. they used thinner wood for the bottom board of the suitcase than on the stage model.
Use a table stand instead.
Kind regards

Mark II

Hi.
Did sou connect it to accessory jack #1 ?

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=518

What amp are you using. take of the harp and jiggle with the grey RCA cable coming from the harp. check the connection on the harp at the RCA socket.

kind regards
Mark II

where are you located ?
US ebay seller musicpartsguru used to have some name plates.
I bought one from him: cheap, good quality, smooth transaction (incl shipping to Europe).
recommended.

kind regards
Mark II

It's the concentric knob version, right ?
Check the parts of the astable multivibrator. You have already said that you have changed the capacitor. but doublecheck them, they are responsible for switching both states of the multivibrator (left and right in this particular case).

kind regards

Mark II

He is sitting at a Wurlitzer.
model 200 !?!
the experts should feel free to correct me.

kind regards
Mark II

Okay, everybody, did I miss a step?

I dont think so.
Brilliant post, Sean.

kind regards
Mark II

welcome in the neighborhood.
check this thread first

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4357

kind regards
Mark II

common, 2 threads below is a topic called Backcheck Mod from Vintagevibe
that gives an overview, nice pictures and a person to contact with further questions.

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=5543

kind regards
Mark II

hi martin.
resistance is somewhere between 170 and 190 Ohms.

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/pickups.php

sorry, I dont have a multimeter with C and H measure methods.

kind regads
Mark II

Hell yeah, Jim, where the hack have you been ?

but when you play with the speaker cab it sounds normal, panning left to right etc. ?

kind regards
Mark II

The accessory jack output will not work without power to the preamp.This is different from the stage models.

nope, the accessory jacks on the rail are plain send and return jacks. so instead of plugging your amp directly to the harp you can plug it to the accessory jack

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=518

kind regards
Mark II

doesnt your preamp have accessory jacks ?
I would look for a power supply for the preamp instead.
kind regards
Mark II

awesome, Ben.
thanks for posting.

kind regards
Mark II

A guy who has been pretty smart  - in contrary to me - has once said:

de gustibus non est disputandum

which means something similiar like: there is no disputing about tastes

please let us all think about it
kind regards

Mark II

Hi Sam.
this is pretty normal.

the tine is in motion due to your first hit. depending on where it is on its swing the hammer might not hit it again but move to it and interfere it's swing. this results in a thud sound.

kind regards
Mark II

hi, check this thread and the linked ones:

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=3714

kind regards
Mark II