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Yes, I suspect this is the case.

I plan to ship my Rhodes off for a professional service as I think doing this myself is beyond my capability.

Thanks Mr Chibbs,

It's nice to have another "Mr" on the forum.   

I've not touched the Rhodes for a while (recently got a Moog synth which is getting all my attention ) but I'll post something here if I find anything that helps solve the issue.

If it actually is an issue, of course.

Mr Bailey

Thanks,

I will try adjusting the escapement and strike line with the harp lowered and see if this solves the hammer noise.

Hi,

Just a quick update in case someone stumbles across this post with a similar issue.

In the end I fixed the hammer noise by raising the treble end of the harp by 5mm.  I appreciate this was not the subject of my original post but was the solution to the root cause of my issue.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Thanks Ben & Sean,

Using channel 1 on my amp has helped a little.

I think that I will investigate the pickup wiring.  Soldering looks a bit dodgy in places.

Hi,

I have a 1979 mk 1 73 stage Rhodes which I bought a few months ago. I've not owned one before so am not sure if this is to be expected but the output volume is low to the point that I have to turn the volume on my amp (a KC-110) to full.  There is also an annoying hiss when a note is played which dissappears as the note fades.  This is especially noticeable when I use my Small Stone Phaser which "pulses" the hiss.  I have tried connecting directly to the harp RCA jack but this does not improve the quality of the output.

Possibly unrelated, I have seen photos online where a "grounding" wire runs from the RCA to a screw in the metal of the damper rail.  I do not have this cable on my Rhodes and do not an obvious appropriate screw on the rail.  However, I've read that not all models have this wire.

Any recommendations on how I might fix the hiss and volume issues would be greatly appreciated.    It is ruining my enjoyment of my Rhodes. 

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question.  I'll certainly follow the suggestions.

Hi,

I have recently bought a 1979 Fender Rhodes 73 key.  I have not owned one before and I am very excited about getting it.

The Rhodes itself is in good condition but some of the hammer tips are pitted and the highest 30 notes make a definite knocking noise which is noticeable when the amp is switched off and loud enough to affect my enjoyment of the instrument when the amp is on.  The area affected is directly related to the highest two levels of tip hardness and are also the most pitted.  The noise is definitely the sound of the hammer hitting the tine.

I've purchased a complete set of replacement tips from a supplier here in the UK but I was unsure if I should just replace them to the standard graduated hardness or if I should skip the wooden ones and fit the next level of hardness so that the tips are a bit softer.  I have read this as a suggestion on a forum but was not sure if this is a good idea.  I plan to replace one wooden tip and see how this affects the noise.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Something a bit different to the usual posts here.  I've been a fan of Nils Frahm for a while now.  He's a German musician/composer who uses a lot of synths and classic electric keyboard instruments, including a Rhodes.  He played the UK Proms in 2015.

His piece More is fascinating with its use of echo as a fundamental part of the composition.  There is a great clip of this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRj6G6RB7jc but you'll need to forward to 5:15 for the Rhodes section.

Interested to read what other people think of this.