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thanks for all the advice.  can anyone recomend an amp guy in NYC (preferably brooklyn or manhattan) that i could take this to?  don't have the time or expertise to do it myself.

Hadn't thought of that.  The guy I bought the amp from said that a tech had told him it was the magnet that needed to be replaced.  I don't know exactly what reconing involves and if it would address that.  The current speakers are scorpions, don't know if those are considered good or not, and would be worth repairing.

I just got one of those old peaveys with the tube preamp and solid state power amp (VTX Heritage).  However, it needs new speakers (12 inch), and i have never had to buy speakers before and know nothing about them.  Any recommendations on speakers that won't break the bank (the amp was only $150), and will sound good with the rhodes?  Looking for something that sounds buttery and is capable of bringing out the bell tone of the board.  

Thanks

checked out the amp.  it's no good at all.

I'm looking for an afordable amp for practice and maybe some light gigging. Has anyone played through a Vox Cambridge Reverb? They have a tube pre-amp and tremelo, so seem pretty ideal. I'm going to check one out today, but, as is always the case, there will be no rhodes to test it with, only guitars. If anyone has tired this amp with a rhodes and has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm looking for an afordable amp for practice and maybe some light gigging.  Has anyone played through a Vox Cambridge Reverb?  They have a tube pre-amp and tremelo, so seem pretty ideal.  I'm going to check one out today, but, as is always the case, there will be no rhodes to test it with, only guitars.  If anyone has tired this amp with a rhodes and has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

ditto.  also check out roxy and elsewhere, another zappa and the mothers live album.  he takes one of my absolute favorite solos ever in "achidna's arf".  he also does some crazy playing in  "Bebop Tango"

i would probably have to say a keytar of some sort.  the best way to gig is to play exclusively "lead" keyboard, and to do a lot of dancing.  

awesome.  once again, the super site lives up to its name.  

Thanks all!

no need for specific thickness or type?

does anybody know a good source for a new namerail felt?  mine has turned to a sort of rust/dried blood red color, wouldn't mind seeing it in that bright royal red it's supposed to be.

could you provide teh site for the free tuning software?  I've been meaning to try the stretch tuning on my rhodes, but need something that is sensitive enough to tune to the nearest cent.  I have until know been using an old strobotuner, really neat, but doesn't allow you to tune to the cent.

I am installing new tips on an old stage, and am unsure what orientation to place them in.  The problem arises from the fact that the old tips (in the low range) are cubes, and the new ones are like wedges.  Although I imagine that they should be in the same orientation as the high range tips, with the edge of the wedge towards the front of the piano, i don't want to install them incorrectly.  This issue was discussed a couple of months ago, but the picture someone posted that resolved the discussion is no longer available.  

Another issue I anticipate dealing with is low end escapement, since the new tips are significantly shorter than the old ones.  If anybody  has dealt with this successfully and has any advice I'd really appreciate it.  

Thanks,

Dom

i used a copper and brass polishon corroded tines and it worked great.  others on the forum have recommended wenol metal polish.  

good luck.

you guys are the greatest.  me and the clav send many thanks.

anybody know of a good clavinet tech in nyc?   i tried on clavinet.com but to no avail.  my duo is in desparate need of a setup, and i have neither the time nor expertise.

What is up with that little piece of tape(?) that is over the pickups? On the board i am fixing up, it is positively grody, and in one part i'm pretty sure chewed up by mice. I'd like to take it out, but if so, do i need to put a new one in? Rather, a new what?

-d.p.

I've purchased a set of those keycaps on ebay and I'm happy with them. It takes alot of filing down but it looks good. So far I've only used them to replace badly chipped keys , so it was very easy to remove them.

which key caps are you refering to?  the stuff i've seen on ebay is all whole keys, and from what i've seen on the postings here it sounds like different model's keys might not fit each other.

If anyone in NYC is looking for one, some guy is selling a real clean looking one on craigslist.  

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/msg/274140419.html

Thanks for all the advice.  I think the best option for me as a novice repairer with no real tools to speak of  is to have them fixed up by a shop.  I got an estimate from speakeasy, but it was a little expensive, i'll see if a local piano shop can do it for less.

Unfortunately that set on ebay is no longer available  :cry:  

Does anyone hwave any recomendations as to a good polish to restore the white on keys that are not otherwise damaged, just a bit yellow?


thanks,

-Dom

Super Glue it is!!

One other random question, that was probably covered here at some point, but i can't find it by searching:

What is up with that little piece of tape(?) that is over the pickups?  On the board i am fixing up, it is positively grody, and in what part i'm pretty sure chewed up by mice.  I'd like to take it out, and if so, do i need to put a new one in?  Rather, a new what?  

-d.p.

I'm replacing some bridle straps and i was wondering if anyone had recomendations for glue to use.  

Thanks

man, i thought you already used up your one crazy new music toy per year quota.  you know have officially the most ridic keyboard collection of anyone.  mark v, a-100, d-6, moog, ughhh.  you have every category covered except for a grand piano.     hint..

dammit swatkins, you and your JP-8000 again.  

WHY MUST YOU PLAGUE ME SO??

Sorry that this is off the rhodes topic but...

Does anyone know if these cheap cases on ebay are any good?  The price seems too good to be true.  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATA-CASE-for-HONER-CLAVINET-KEYBOARD-New_W0QQitemZ150083680182QQihZ005QQcategoryZ29552QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

was the top of the suitcase damaged at all, or just the bottom? if the top is good, you could put it on a stand and bypass the preamp, still have a rhodes.  

but know this.  you have now convinced me to never marry.

beautiful job man.  

do you know the aproximate dimensions of the tolex that need to be cut?  i'm about to do my first re-tolexing, and the tolex on the existing board (a '71 stage 73) is so beat up it won't provid much of a template.  

thanks!

http://www.lopoline.com/vinyl.html

if you don't feel like cutting little squares, check out the checkerboard.

checkerboard is pimp.  i'd say either white or black for the top.  

i'm also retolexing my rhodes, and i was wondering if anybody had the basic patterns for the pieces i'd have to cut.  the existing tolex on the rhodes is pretty ripped up, and won't provide a great template.

you might want to be careful with the steel wool.  I don't know where the pick ups are on that bad boy, but someone on here warned about polishing tines with steel wool because the little pieces get into the pickups and can cause humming and buzzing.  someone else on the board recommended wenol jewlers polish.  i've acutally jsut oredered some fromt he hardware store to get going on a 71 suitcase i just picked up in god awful condition.

Thanks for all the help --

I've been talking to a local rhodes tech, and he made it sound like he could fix them for me fairly inexpensively.  Otherwise i figured i would try to pop them off myself, just foloow the instructions in the service manual, but I think you've talked me out of it.  I'll let you know how it turns out, thanks!

well, mine is a 71 stage 73, and he says his are from a 81 88 key.  does anyone know if the keys were redisigned in that time, at least in a way that would make them incompatible?

also, any luck with the key cap measurements?  

i asked vintage vibe what they did, and they said they sand the key and then use compound and buff it.  Unfortunately, that invovles a bit more equipment than I have around.

i saw these on ebay, and look to me like regular wood keys with regular plastic caps, but they are advertised as plastic keys.   Can someone with more experience tell me if I am right or not?

Thanks,

Mike

http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-Of-88-Plastic-Keys-For-Fender-Rhodes-Piano_W0QQitemZ270076727604QQihZ017QQcategoryZ16220QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

located in NYC.  i guess i could have someone do it if that's the only way,  but i'd like to do it myself.  The whole point of getting this beater was to refurbish it on my own to learn how to do it, before tackiling my suitcase.

thanks for the reply.  as for originality, i'd gladly take a non-original but shiny and uniform white to the non-original crevassed yellow i have now.  

keep me posted on the key size.

thanks,

dom

i have a real beater i'm trying to fix up, and a bunch of the keys have cigarette burns (a very common issue that never ceases to amaze me, i mean, c'mon, don't put a lit cigarett on your f'ing rhodes).  I was wondering if anyone knew whether acoustic piano keycaps would fit the rhodes' keys, or any other source of new caps.  I believe mine has the one piece caps.  I saw that i could get new ones from the dutch repair shop, but they are pretty expensive ( i think like $10 a piece), and entire sets of acoustic paino caps are under $50.  

thanks

Any suggestions on a good stand  for a rhodes?  

I would need something sturdy enough to hold both a rhodes and another 100 pounds or so.  I up till now have only played with a suitcase or a rhodes with legs, but recently picked up a beater without legs, and need to put it on something.  Any suggestions would be helpful, it seems like one of the X style stands would interfere with the sustain pedal, so i'm not sure if i'm just better off getting some legs for it.

My suitcase amp has been dead for a bit    and so i picked up a cheap amp for the interim:  I found an old acoustic 135.  Since tubes are in right now, some of the vintage solid states are cheap, and some are not bad.  to wit, the Roland Jazz chorus is a solid state i believe.  either way, this amp has plenty of juice, and although it does not deliver the clear bell like tones of a nicer amp, it has a really nice 70s sounding bark and delivers some nice crunch when cranked up.  add in real spring reverb, and a true vibrato (unfortunately no foot switch control), and you have a pretty solid amp for $150.

thanks for all the advice.  

my suitcase (1973) amp has not been working for a while, although when powered up the light on the side goes on, and there is a bit of a hum.  the solution i have settled on is to remove it from the cabinet and take it to a tech.  out of an abundance of caution (and the fact that the last time it was brough in the tech told me it needed a new amp which he couldn't get)  i bought on ebay a "working" peterson amp section from a suitcase for $20, in case that's what needs replacing.  I'll let you all know how it turns out.  There's a chance it I won't need the amp at all, in which case I'd be happy to pass along to someone who does for the $20.  

i guess one last question comes to mind -- is there anything I should be checking in the preamp that might be an easy fix to this?

hey  apianoineveryhome,


are you looking to sell your flat cover, or trade it for a curved one?  I was actually thinking of getting a flat one on my mark 1 for better synth support.

i have a friend who runs his rhodes through a yamaha e1010 ( i think thats the model) analog delay effect, and can get some pretty gnarly ring mod effects out it a la jan hammer.  I defintely think it was ring mod, and not pitch bend that you're hearing on those jan hammer tunes.  unless you're talking about miami vice, for which i believe jan used the "supa smoov-i-fier" 1984 effect.

Thanks for the heads up.  I have been looking on ebay for amps, and although there are some cheap "woking" ones available, nobody seems to know where they came from, hence the question as to whether the amp part was interchangeable.  I'll take your advice and bring the bottom half to a tech.  Any chance someone has a recomendation for one in the NYC area?

man, i want a Mark V....    

Are you repainting the harp cover?  if so, what kind of paint do you use?  does one need to prime it to prevent chipping?

snakeskin and checkerboard were high on the list, but i kind of wimped out and went for gold tolex.  going to try and find a paint that will adhere to metal and repaint all external hardware pieces as well.  

ps.  i heard they replaced you with John Anthony.  bummer.

My suitcase powers up, but makes no noise, jsut hums a little.  I had a tech tell me that it was the amp that needed replacement, but did not have any extra amps.  As I am looking for parts, 2 questions have arisen:

1.  Could the amp from a different model suitcase (4 pin) be used on mine (5pin. 80 Watts)?  

2.  Is replacing this part something I should attempt to do with no experience?

Any help would be great.  Thnks.

That thing looks awesome.  

As someone who is into pimping out your rhodes, you wouldn't know where to get those diamond cut (or pattern, or whatever they're called) chrome plates for the front, would you?  I'm taking mine apart to fix it up, and figure i might as well make it look all special.

looks like this: http://www.elecedge.com/nickrolfe.html

was that the same free a-100 in the NYC area?  i sent that person a bunch of emails trying to convince them that i would give it the loving home it deserved.  no dice.

works been slow and i spend all day looking for keyboard bargains.  this week someone named  "michelpinao" on ebay outbid me at the last second on three different mark I fixer uppers.  i almost half expect he/she is somehwere on this forum....   if so, spread the love.  you can only play one at a time.

Thanks, i'll definitely give it a try. But one more question:  what is the difference between the miracle mod and the pedastal modification available at vintage vibe?  Form the description on line it is hard to tell what the mod really does to the pedastals.  

Well, I guess two questions:  How much tolex is necessary for the top of a 73 (not the cover, but the keyboard part)?

Thanks a bunch -- just found out about this site, and it is pure gold.

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to rhodes repair, but would really like to see my suitcase in better condition and avoid paying hundreds for a house call (live in NYC with no car).  One thing I would like to do is re-tolex my rhodes.  I've taken it all apart once a few years back to redo the dampers, and i remember the wood being in pretty bad condition around some of the screws.  I figure I'll have to epoxy them with a filler if i take it apart again.  Does anybody have any suggestions for a good compound to use?

The other question relates to the action in my rhodes.  It has extremely heavy action, much more than on any other one i've played.  Often time fast runs, grace notes, etc. just don't sound.  Is there a way to deal with this?  

Any advice would be greatly apprecieated.

Thanks!!