Messages

Wow. Is that with the cover on?

Nice find, Rob :-D

No worries, Chris. The only reason I'm even attempting to restore my Rhodes and Wurlitzer is because of the efforts of you and everyone else at Vintage Vibe. It's because of your guidance that I felt I owed you my business. I also owe a debt of gratitude to everyone on this board. I've spent dozens of hours reading through posts and taking notes and have learned so much from everyone.

This is a great community and I'm very happy to be part of it. I hope to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the community someday. In the meantime, be prepared for lots of obsessive questions, as I'm someone who strives to do things in the best way possible ;-)

Wow. Incredible. How did you set up the drums, bass, and strings to play behind you? Did you just EQ the Rhodes out of the mix somehow?

Yikes. Ok, I get it. Although, I think I could have fashioned better tips than that :-) In my defense, shaving the tips wasn't my idea. It was something I read in Steve Woodyard's tech notes, whom I understand is a reputable tech:

"The hard black tips are especially prone to spot-hardening. Shaving the tip with an exacto knife just under the hard spot will restore the softer strike edge (if this is desired). Because shaving changes the tip height, it is only recommended to do it twice."

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/hammer-tips.php

I wasn't trying to be cheap. In fact, I have already purchased 2 sets of your hammer tips. I'm also not a hack and am willing to put in the time and money to restore it properly. I'm looking forward to trying your new hammer tips when they're ready. I have a feeling that they will give me the sound I'm looking for.

Based on what I've seen them selling restored Rhodes for on their web site, I'd be surprised if they're under $4K, especially since they're made to order.

So, Fred... When can we see you lighting one of these up on YouTube? 

I'm guessing he saw the Rhodes 54 that was included at the end of the series.

Hi, everyone.

I hope I'm not spoiling the big unveiling, but I just found a picture gallery on flickr under "vintagevibeepc" with a "VV64" piano that looks like a Rhodes/Wurlitzer hybrid.

Let me just say that it looks *awesome*!! It looks like a Wurlitzer body with 64 keys and a Rhodes Stage pedal. It has a pre-amp with 3 knobs (presumably volume, vibrato, and tone?). The finishes are amazing, too. They have silver, red, light blue, and light green (all sparkle top), and a very elegant looking high-gloss black.

I'm not sure if this is all that they're planning to unveil. Maybe they're planning to offer a series of pimped out hybrids. In any case, you will all drool when you see the pics. I can't wait to hear it!

Take a look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagevibeepc/5304054787/in/photostream/

Chris, sorry if I'm spoiling the surprise, but I assume it's ok since your gallery is open to the public. Nice job, by the way. I'm sure it will be out of my price range, but maybe I can get a poster of one for my wall like the one I had of a Ferrari when I was 10 years old ;-)

Andi,
Ever play it (or a Rhodes) through a Weber California or Chicago? I'm wondering how the C12 compares. My main concern is to have tight, articulate bass and no harshness in the high end. A little bit of speaker breakup would be nice as well.
Thanks.

Hi guys,

I just picked up some basswood and craft plywood from Ace Hardware. It's in thicknesses of 1/16", /8", and 1/4". 

a) Do you think that this type of wood is suitable for shims or is it too soft?
b) How thick do shims typically need to be? I'm guessing they usually need to be very thin, so I should look for some veneer somewhere that's 1/32"?

Thanks!

Great news! Will they be square or the profiled tips? When can we expect them? I'd like some of the new tips as soon as you have them ready :-)

Thanks, Chris. Do you mean that you have keys with or without the skirted key cap (or both)? I thought that you guys didn't sell the skirted key tops.

Hi everyone,

I'm just wondering how others have been transporting their Wurlitzer. I found a few sites that sell flight cases, but I'm not sure how well it will actually fit in it.

http://www.swanflight.com/wurlitzer-ep200-keyboard-flightcase.html

http://compare.ebay.com/like/370421979540?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=190227157715&crlp=1_263602_309572&UA=M*F%3F&GUID=3ae762e312b0a0e203c2edf2ff38d3b3&itemid=370421979540&ff4=263602_309572

I have a feeling it's a stock size that they try to market as a case for anything small enough to fit inside. Also, there's no place for the pedal, legs, etc.

Apparently, there were some original cases that came with the Wurlitzer that look like this, but they seem very difficult to find and probably impossible to find in decent shape:

http://www.oaktreevintage.com/web_photos/keyboards/Wurlitzer_200_Electric_Piano_Case_collage.jpg

Would love to hear what others are using and how it's working for you. After putting so much work into fixing it up, I definitely don't want to cart it around unprotected.

Is it possible to move skirted key caps from one key to another, or would removing it damage the key in a way that it cannot be re-used?

Also, since the early models had skirted key caps, does that mean that the keys are narrower than the later models? I guess they would have to be to accommodate the extra space that would be required to fit them over the key, right? If that's the case, would using the key cap replacements that are available cause a large gap between the keys?

What is the bet method for shaving old, hardened hammer tips. You would probably have to take the hammer out, right? I was thinking I could just use an exacto knife, but am afraid I won't be able to do it very precisely. Anyone have a good method for making sure that the cut is straight?

Also, can anyone speak to the difference in hardness between the tips of the different suppliers? I read another post saying that the Vintage Vibe tips are a little harder than others. Has anyone else ever compared them? I have some from Vintage Vibe and they're not giving me the tone I want so I'm thinking about buying some others and comparing. From the photos on their web site, it looks like Speakeasy's are the same though, and I don't want to buy them if that's the case.

Hey everyone,

I have been struggling with the same problem that a lot of us have. When you reach the B above middle C (where the hammer tip shore changes from 70-90), it sounds too clanky for my taste. I know that some people like that and you can EQ some of it out if you don't, but I just want a slightly softer attack.

Therefore, I thought maybe I could fashion my own from a sheet of neoprene with a shore of 80, which seems pretty widely available on the Web. Since my Rhodes are from '71 and '74, I need the square tips, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get them to the proper shape.

It seems like this might be too obvious and that someone from one the suppliers (VV, Speakeasy, Major Key, EP-service, etc) would have tried this. Does anyone know if anyone has tried this? Any ideas on how one could effectively cut such hard rubber into squares? (after reading through several hundred posts, I think Rob A would be the guy to try something like this -seems like a clever fellow ;-)

Thanks!

Being jazz musicians, maybe they sold the harp cover to pay their rent.  

Seriously, though... One reason could be that they are bypassing the Rhodes pre-amp and plugging directly into the harp. Or, maybe they just like to see the action as they play. I recently saw a video of Dave Kikoski playing a Mark II without it as well.

Yeah, you would think that since it comes in shore level increments of 10, it would be easy to make tips with a hardness of 80. I wonder why no one has done this yet, especially since it seems to be in such demand. Perhaps there's a good reason. Maybe Chris from Vintage Vibe will respond and let us know why this hasn't been done.