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A panel of rubbery, textured drawer and/or cupboard liner might give you a sufficiently-grippy surface. I've got a Mark I with a rounded. top. I bought a roll of black liner at a dollar store and cut a piece as long as my synth is wide. It works.

That's what I use too, I've got my whole home studio on top of my Rhodes and everything just sticks to it.

I bought an old spring reverb unit that was built as an external effect a while back but it was cleary built for the range of a guitar. It couldn't deal with the heavy bass comming from my rhodes, so I had to turn the input volume down so much that the output became a hissy blurry mess. Maybe that's als something to keep in mind when you choose your reverb unit.

I sprayed the white felts on the hammers of my '76 Rhodes with silicon spray myself AND I live in the Netherlands! Worked a treat and I didn't even need a tech to hold my hand.

James Brown, "Blind man can see it", off the Black Ceasar soundtrack album...and many others, but that is one I distinctly remember as a tune that made me want a Rhodes.

I would advice you not to go for a cheap guitar amp, because you will have no bass whatsoever, which is pretty much the whole left side of the piano...I tried!

I was checking cheaper/smaller ranges of fender guitar amps the other day and found that the super champ had a nice sound with a guitar. Then I asked the guy to try it with a bass guitar to see if it could handle the lower range of my rhodes piano and the sound just went flat and horrible! My advice is to get a cheap bass amp instead if it's just for practice at a relatively low volume at home.

I use wine bottle corks to balance all the stuff. It seems alcohol related items are best for balancing stuff on your rhodes...

My whole home studio sits on top of my rhodes round top, but to stop things slipping off, I used the stuff you put under a rug to stop it from slipping on a wooden floor. It works a treat! Currently, I've got a four track recorder, a mixer, a pre-amp, a multi effect, a drum computer and my microkorg sitting on that cover haha...

Maybe you should look into getting a nice pre amp instead?

I bought it and returned it the same day...I hated it! Didn't like the reverb and hated the "random" pops that are programmed to appear at stupid moments. What I hated most, was the thin sounding signal that came out. This beautiful warm and dynamic sound goes in and somehow gets killed and compressed when it comes out. Rubbish!

This post would have been so helpful when I did the bump mod on my '77 piano...I left the felts on the hammers and after some slight alterations to the harp position, it works a treat and it made a huge improvement on the action.

Great post!

I tried the newish xk1 and the clavia nord C1 in the shop for a bit and I hated everything about the clavia (like the draw bars that only look like draw bars but actually work with tiny up and down buttons that you can never use while you're playing, but mostly the horrible sounds) and I loved xk1. I bet if you put it next to a real B3 with a leslie it's horrible too, but as far as a clone goes, the xk1 is the best I've heard so far. I guess the xk3 must be even better but I think the price difference between the xk1 and the xk3 is too much to justify the xk3.

It might be that the tine is about to break, that's what happened to me once...

Great blog, thanks for sharing!

If I plug in my laptop into the same extension lead as my music gear and connect my laptop to my four track, I do get major interference. But when I plug my laptop into another plug hole (though it's part of the same group) I get no problems...I do have tons of gear on top of my Rhodes, all connected to the same extension lead, but that doesn't seem to matter, until my laptop becomes part of the equation. No idea why...

Reminds me of a friend of mine who used to work in a record shop where people would come in and hum random things and ask "Have you got a record that sound like that?"  

Bouncy Rhodes in Superstition?

I think you might be right! congratulations on a real bargain!

I fixed it! It was exactly what you said it might be Mark II. Thanks for giving me the courage to open this scary modern thing and take it apart. It really helped knowing what I was looking for.

Hurray!

Thanks for taking the time to explain everything so thoroughly. I think I will need a swig of that cleaning stuff to give me some Dutch courage, but I will have a go and I will let you the result (don't worry, I'm not holding you responsible!).

Cheers!

That's the problem, now a dirty rubber sounds plausible, but getting in there to clean it is what worries me...have you opened one of these before?

Thanks.

Hi Guys,

I can fix about anything on my rhodes but I have no idea about synth (toys) like my MicroKorg.

One of the keys has lost its sensitivity and only gives a note when it's completely depressed (which is making me somewhat depressed too).

Has anybody got any experience with this and should I even atempt to fix it myself? I'm afraid to open it, only to find the contents spilling out and never being able to get it all back in!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated...

I broke a tine not so long ago too on a rental rhodes (never happened on my own rhodes) and first it went off key and lost sustain and when I managed to tune it quickly it broke 2 minutes later, explaining why it went out of tune in the first place...It was the middle a, so it just gets hit a lot...

Thanks for jumping in guys, that's the stuff I mean. I don't think it really matters which exact one you take, as long as it has that "non-slipping" quality to it!

I've got a mark I with the round top with all sorts of gear on top. To stop stuff sliding off, I use that material you can put under a rug to stop it from sliding around. Works really well!

Congratulations, they're looking real good!

I use this one at home:
http://www.magdonmusic.com/amps/Fender/images/product/lg/fender_frontman25ba.jpg
Does the job for me and the neighbours have not complained yet...
You should be able to pick one up for under a 100 euros/dollars...
It's no good for playing out, but the living room is ok.
I use a preamp with a tube for that warm feeling  :wink:

I love it!

It would be great to have different cloth covers that you could pull over the tolex, so you could have themed covers for all your projects...(when I say "great", I mean "kind of fun"). Let's get sowing!

Fair enough, I'm just being selfish 'cause I want to hear what it sounds like... :wink:

Well, get a Rhodes once you've moved and play this one in the meantime?

Ha, go for it then, you can't go wrong!

Never heard of it, but I really like the look of it. I would love to hear what it sounds like....

To raemon80: if you have the chance to buy a Mutron, just buy it! They are so hard to get hold of that if you don't like it, you'll have no problems selling it again.

I played a Rhodes with a Mutron once, but I must admit that I wasn't blown away by the way the two combined. It seems to work a lot better on a bass or a guitar (in fact, I love it!), but maybe I didn't give it enough time to really find the right setting...

My Rhodes came with some extra inputs/outputs too, but it was done in true handy man style by a "band technician"...He'd also installed a pre amp whith a litre of glue (which received foreign radio stations). I just ripped it out and reconnected the cables from a complete spaghetti pile of loose cables! Look at how this guy just drilled those holes without any regard to the logo...oh well.

http://imajr.com/rhodes-controls-1089326" title="Click to view rhodes-controls-1089326.jpg on Imajr.com">http://thumbnails.imajr.com/rhodes-controls-1089326.jpg" border="0">
(click to get a larger picture)

If you do a search on this forum you will find many posts on this issue, but don't worry, it's usually a real easy fix. Just open up your piano and have a good look.

nice pictures! thanks for posting them.

Great! I saw one in a shop as an ornament and I was completely obsessed with it (it didn't work though). I would love to play a working model...

It looks great! Thanks for sharing.

I just bought a behringer Mic 200  valve pre amp and I'm really happy with it. I bought it with really low expectations, given the low price (59 euro) but it really made my rhodes sound better, warmer and more balanced. Anyone else who tried it?

Piano Serial Number:
k 722348

Badge:
Silver Badge with Rhodes Logo top right of harp

Name of "Model" on Badge:
Mark I

Harp Production Start Date
upper right hand corner of harp, and color of stamp
4277 (black)

TBJ Number if visible
Upper right hand corner of harp
010254 TBJ

Harp Production End Date
Lower right hand corner of harp or upper right hand corner for most mk2s
-

Do you believe the piano is all original, possibly modified, or definitely modified/switched around?
A 'soundman' built in a pre amp for the first owner (I'm the second). I pulled it out again, because it was done really badly and receiving radio...
___________________________________________________________________________

Additional Information (No disassembly required)

Tonebars:
Standard Gold Numbered ONLY Tonebars (not sure)

Pickups:
not sure

Hammers:
Full Plastic Hammers

Hammertips:
Standard Neoprene

Logos:
Rhodes logo (on Namerail, Back of Piano, inner SILVER badge)

Namerail:
Standard Mark I Ribbed Aluminum

Faceplate:
Rhodes Silver Faceplate

Knobs
Silver outer with Black Inner

Harp Cover:
Black Round Plastic

Harp Support Blocks (on the left and right side where the harp sits ontop of)
Wood (not sure)

Keys
Wood Based

Keycaps
Later 2-piece keycap set (Whites-side wooden, flat top, Blacks-very glossy, more rounded edges '76~'83)

Sustain Pedal:
Black with Silver Rogers hihat Stand, Wingnut tightened

Legs:
Standard leg set with Braces

Leg Brace Knob:
Round Brace Knob with grip edge

Hardshell Case lid:
Straight slope at keys side, all tolex  (not sure)

External Side Case Latches:(make sure they're not just missing, check screw holes)
Later Clamp Latches, 2 on each side (4 total)  (not sure)

Rear External Case Lid Hinges:
no idea

Latches on Lid Leg Compartment:
Straps with Snaps

___________________________________________________________________________
Other Information (Some disassembly required, removal of namerail)

Sustain Bar Mechanism:(viewable with Harp removed or swiveled forward)
Endpins held in by spring loading

Key Pedestals:(if you know original configuration, not if you have a bump mod added later)
Flat, bare wood (white felt on bottoms of hammers)

Dampeners:
Grouped Metal Arms

Front Keypin felts:
no idea

Hi Randy, I meant sound quality: less hiss, clearer sound and less interference. I must admit that the old cables were really old and bad, so any new cables would have been an improvement! Still, it was really noticable, so I've decided not to get those cheapy ones anymore. I didn't get the most expensive ones either, just not the cheapest.

I used to get the cheapest cables but when I got my Rhodes I thought it was time to spend some money on cables and it really made a big difference on my set up, so I would recommend it.

My guess is it's a talk box: a tube and a microphone taped together.
The sound from the synth goes into the talkbox (which is a box with a speaker in it and a tube coming out of it), then the sound goes through the tube into his mouth and mixes with his voice which in turn is picked up by the microphone.
Maybe you knew this already, but maybe someone else didn't   .

I think it was me who asked about it a while back...
Well, I bought it, tried it, absolutely hated it and returned it the same day.
It's crap.

My rhodes came with a custom pre amp built in really shoddyly in the 70's. By the time I got it, it was just receiving radio signals! I just ripped it out and now I don't use any pre amp, I just keep the volume and bass fully open and do the eq on the mixing desk.

I got all parts for my rhodes and the ones I fixed for other people from these guys:
http://www.wurlitzer-epservice.nl/
Nothing but praise for them.

I also found picks and coins in mine...I would've been so disappointed if I wouldn't have!

Thanks for the links.
I had seen those too and I agree that the sounds seems to be rather bad, but that could be the speakers or even a bad mic on the camera, so it's not fair to judge from these particular recordings...
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last we'll ever hear from the Zarenbourg. I still think the idea was good though.