Messages

Depending on what I'm doing, I run my Rhodes (and Wurly, and Nord) through one of three amps- a Vox AC15 C1 with vintage 25w alnico, a 1970's silverface Twin Reverb, or a Yamaha G100-212 (which is an amazing value in a vintage solid state amp). I give my Rhodes a bit of grit using a Spaceman Aphelion Harmonic Drive pedal, which adds that really sensitive and dynamic overdrive so important to my perfect Rhodes sound.

Of course, the ideal end result will involve my MK1's suitcase re-loaded with speakers and both channels working perfectly, something I'm working on currently.

Got it, thanks for the advice! I always thought that while reading resistance to DC was nominal and not accurate, it was a good ballpark... and both these speakers read 30-40 ohms.

Well, regardless of impedance, these speakers would need to be re-coned anyway and I'm thinking it would just be easier, faster, and perhaps better for gigging if I just bought a decent set of four matched 8ohm speakers to replace them. Does anyone think it would be terrible to do Jensen Mods or Celestion Rocket 50's? I know they're both lower end speakers, but I'm trying to make my leeeetle bit of money stretch.

Hi barjack,

I've just finished refurbishing my '78 suitcase and unfortunately had preamp/amp problems in the process. You may want to contact Steve Hayes at Speakeasy Vintage Music. He did a great job repairing my preamp and amp!

By the way, my speaker cabinet has four 8-ohm JBL Model K120 speakers wired in parallel.

Good luck!

Charlie

Dang, K120's- that must be a very nice sounding Rhodes. That might be too rich for my blood, I'll have to try and make do with something not quite so fancy!

Cold solder joints aren't always easily visible, but once you start looking closely you'll see the cracks.  They're normally on the harness pins on the power amp PCB boards. 

As a note - the 7710 amp (5 pin, black grill) should have 4 8-ohm speakers, not 32-ohm.  Has to do with loading the amp correctly.  You can get 2 speakers facing you, but if you're gigging the unit I'd suggest having speakers face the audience to be heard.

Thanks! That's weird, the cab has original-looking Fender speakers in it, both are most certainly not 8ohms unless my multimeter has gone insane. The business end of the amp has no speakers but its obvious someone removed them.

Hi everyone, I've begun refurbing my late 70's MK1 Suitcase and have a few questions that I hope are not too redundant for folks around here.

First, My FR7710 Intermittantly looses one or both power amps once it's been powered on for a bit. Everyone I talk to says an amp that powers on and works for a bit before losing signal is certainly indicative of worn out caps... so should I just order a complete set and have both PCBs rebuilt? Also, I'm not super familiar with soldering symptoms, so is a cold solder joint something that may not be visibly loose but will lack conductivity regardless?

Second, does anyone on here have more modern, aftermarket speakers in their Suitcase? Mine came with only two of the 4 32ohm speakers (one registers as 45ohms, weird) and they're not in great condition. I'm planning to gig the whole unit and have been considering just buying two nice 16ohm speakers to face towards the player rather than four 8 ohm speakers. Does anyone have advice on speakers that are not simply close-to-factory replacements of the original models?

Thanks!