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#1
Other Keyboards & Software Synths / Re: Hammond transformer inside...
Last post by Yaniv Brener - Today at 02:44:12 AMQuote from: DAtkinson on July 16, 2020, 09:02:49 AMThanks Jenzz. I was actually referring to the component kits that they each sell for around $20USD.
Hi DAtkinson - this is a long shot, but any chance you went with the clavinet.com rebuild kit for your restoration and can share any info? I just acquired a D6 in rough-to-decent shape and am hoping to fix it up.
#2
The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / New Suitcase Owner - Help
Last post by WurlieNewbie - December 07, 2025, 01:31:56 PMHey guys. I just got lucky and got my hands on a beautiful 1972 suitcase with a peterson preamp. I have two questions:
1) The vibrato isn't stereo panning and sounds more like a mono vibrato (the sound is going in and out as opposed to left and right). To test the speakers, I unplugged the peterson preamp and plugged in headphones into the speaker cabinet and plugged in a guitar to both external amplifier inputs on the cabinet. For input #1, I heard the guitar in my left ear. For input #2, I heard it on the right. Am I right in assuming this means both channels/speakers/amps are working correctly? Is the culprit most likely the peterson preamp and one of those pesky bulbs that's tied to the vibrato?
2) This model doesn't have an FX loop and doesn't have extra holes drilled into the rail to accommodate one. If I want to install a loop into the peterson preamp, will I have to drill into the rail AND the harp cover since the space there is so tight? Anyone out there have any experience with this and can offer tips on how to minimize the damage?
Thanks!
1) The vibrato isn't stereo panning and sounds more like a mono vibrato (the sound is going in and out as opposed to left and right). To test the speakers, I unplugged the peterson preamp and plugged in headphones into the speaker cabinet and plugged in a guitar to both external amplifier inputs on the cabinet. For input #1, I heard the guitar in my left ear. For input #2, I heard it on the right. Am I right in assuming this means both channels/speakers/amps are working correctly? Is the culprit most likely the peterson preamp and one of those pesky bulbs that's tied to the vibrato?
2) This model doesn't have an FX loop and doesn't have extra holes drilled into the rail to accommodate one. If I want to install a loop into the peterson preamp, will I have to drill into the rail AND the harp cover since the space there is so tight? Anyone out there have any experience with this and can offer tips on how to minimize the damage?
Thanks!
#3
The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: The Rhodes Mark 8
Last post by rockierhodes - December 04, 2025, 03:58:02 PMI purchased an mk8 in 2023 that was faulty.
It had a signal failure while powered on at unboxing that lasted 20 minutes. It had poor to no dynamics and sloppy action. I complained immediately and the Unit was inspected by Leeds head of production by skype.
The inspection did not include any signal analysis or checking escapement or the action response definitively. At that stage I was a touch unfamiliar with Electric Pianos and did not complain. The manufacturer suggested the unit was in order and although they had dismissed an intermittent signal fault as not important I trusted them and they left having declared the unit up to specs.
I own a Yamaha yc73 and a Kawais mp11se. I really couldnt understand the action being so sloppy and the single to double level volume increments in total as the units dynamic capability. I had stood before the inspection team and played a single key at various attack velocities. The volume hardly changed.
I ended up not playing the unit for nearly two years at which stage I decided I thought Rhodes may have made a mistake and contacted them again.
The hood at this stage showed to be a problem also. It is too low for the harp and makes contact with the harp under light pressure.
Sadly it has been now a two year endeavour to get a working and playable unit. Rhodes denied claims from the beginning.. Where Ben Bove suggested my unit (which arrived and powered on but did not produce signal for twenty minutes during unboxing) appeared to have " a number of serious issues none in the least insignificant or imagined" Rhodes responded that my sloppy action and non existent dynamics were classic Rhodes. My unit had a triple stroke key return action on most keys. Also significant lateral movement at the balance pins on some keys. Also I had a harp that hit the hood.
They suggested I had not powered the unit up properly, and that the action and dynamics were normal.
Nearly two years later I complained again and they put me through the wringer for three months and denied all claims pretty much despite damning evidence. Finally they cut me off from facebook groups and from email contact or any contact or request for specifications I needed to do repairs.
Yesterday I realised I have next to no white keys with a uniform width {key spacing width. Also half of the keys are tapered nearly a millimetre and have thin spots near the pedestal. I have key width values on the white keys ranging from 11.6mm to 14.0mm.
Rhodes is refusing to respond. I am really upset and tired and just want to fix my piano.
I know Rhodes were aware they sold me an inferior product, I just want them to allow me a way to fix it. I have achieved most of the action and other repairs myself, but I can not fix this. Also I feel ethically obliged to react to this. It is cruel and unusual behaviour.
I had also been told my unit was midi capable and only waiting on a firmware upgrade to be ready to use. This proved untrue, however Rhodes would not honour the recommendation the Australian distributor had made.
The distributor has refused refund and Rhodes will not contact me. Actually that is not unusual, the first time I contacted Dan he blocked me on facebook for no reason I could guess.
Video as supplied to Rhodes of my Unit is available on the facebook group "Rhodes mk8 factory faults"
This was my first piano (or supposed to be). It is still a work in progress and in repair despite having paid twenty thousand dollars for it.
I have also been cut off from the Fender Rhodes restoration group on facebook and my posts removed with no explanation. The same thing happened on gearspace.
Regards
Brett Chinnock.
It had a signal failure while powered on at unboxing that lasted 20 minutes. It had poor to no dynamics and sloppy action. I complained immediately and the Unit was inspected by Leeds head of production by skype.
The inspection did not include any signal analysis or checking escapement or the action response definitively. At that stage I was a touch unfamiliar with Electric Pianos and did not complain. The manufacturer suggested the unit was in order and although they had dismissed an intermittent signal fault as not important I trusted them and they left having declared the unit up to specs.
I own a Yamaha yc73 and a Kawais mp11se. I really couldnt understand the action being so sloppy and the single to double level volume increments in total as the units dynamic capability. I had stood before the inspection team and played a single key at various attack velocities. The volume hardly changed.
I ended up not playing the unit for nearly two years at which stage I decided I thought Rhodes may have made a mistake and contacted them again.
The hood at this stage showed to be a problem also. It is too low for the harp and makes contact with the harp under light pressure.
Sadly it has been now a two year endeavour to get a working and playable unit. Rhodes denied claims from the beginning.. Where Ben Bove suggested my unit (which arrived and powered on but did not produce signal for twenty minutes during unboxing) appeared to have " a number of serious issues none in the least insignificant or imagined" Rhodes responded that my sloppy action and non existent dynamics were classic Rhodes. My unit had a triple stroke key return action on most keys. Also significant lateral movement at the balance pins on some keys. Also I had a harp that hit the hood.
They suggested I had not powered the unit up properly, and that the action and dynamics were normal.
Nearly two years later I complained again and they put me through the wringer for three months and denied all claims pretty much despite damning evidence. Finally they cut me off from facebook groups and from email contact or any contact or request for specifications I needed to do repairs.
Yesterday I realised I have next to no white keys with a uniform width {key spacing width. Also half of the keys are tapered nearly a millimetre and have thin spots near the pedestal. I have key width values on the white keys ranging from 11.6mm to 14.0mm.
Rhodes is refusing to respond. I am really upset and tired and just want to fix my piano.
I know Rhodes were aware they sold me an inferior product, I just want them to allow me a way to fix it. I have achieved most of the action and other repairs myself, but I can not fix this. Also I feel ethically obliged to react to this. It is cruel and unusual behaviour.
I had also been told my unit was midi capable and only waiting on a firmware upgrade to be ready to use. This proved untrue, however Rhodes would not honour the recommendation the Australian distributor had made.
The distributor has refused refund and Rhodes will not contact me. Actually that is not unusual, the first time I contacted Dan he blocked me on facebook for no reason I could guess.
Video as supplied to Rhodes of my Unit is available on the facebook group "Rhodes mk8 factory faults"
This was my first piano (or supposed to be). It is still a work in progress and in repair despite having paid twenty thousand dollars for it.
I have also been cut off from the Fender Rhodes restoration group on facebook and my posts removed with no explanation. The same thing happened on gearspace.
Regards
Brett Chinnock.
#4
The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: 1977 Suitcase Speaker Ques...
Last post by Phathead - December 02, 2025, 03:29:31 PMMessaged.
Thanks!
Thanks!
#5
Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Two Problems with Rhodes M...
Last post by Jenzz - November 27, 2025, 04:59:32 AMHi :-)
I would highly recommend first to pull out the 2 power amp boards and the preamp voltage regulator board and resolder all Molex PCB connector pins.
Because of their thickness, there was often not enough heat distribution during the wave-soldering process, causing cold solder joints here.
...looks something like this:
https://vinatronic.com/blog/cold-solder-guide/
Jenzz
I would highly recommend first to pull out the 2 power amp boards and the preamp voltage regulator board and resolder all Molex PCB connector pins.
Because of their thickness, there was often not enough heat distribution during the wave-soldering process, causing cold solder joints here.
...looks something like this:
https://vinatronic.com/blog/cold-solder-guide/
Jenzz
#6
The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: 1977 Suitcase Speaker Ques...
Last post by Peter Hayes - November 26, 2025, 05:02:23 PM #7
The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: 1977 Suitcase Speaker Ques...
Last post by Phathead - November 25, 2025, 01:14:59 AMThank you so much for the confirmation Jenzz!
I will start looking for two more speakers.
I will start looking for two more speakers.
#8
Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Rhodes 73 (stage, 1975) ha...
Last post by spave - November 24, 2025, 08:42:48 AMThe tone of the whole piano is subject to personal preference, so if you like the other sections already I would leave it the way it is.
One of the worst mistakes I made with a Rhodes was changing things just because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. I picked up a 1971 that had been stored for 20+ years and it still sounded fantastic but I thought that it could sound even better if I took it to a specialist that would obviously make it sound better right? WRONG! After spending $$$ getting all new hammer tips, grommets, and getting it re-voiced, it sounded terrible (to my ears at least). I spent countless hours trying to re-voice it back to where it was before the work but I was never able to and I ended up selling it because of it.
Moral of the story: Only fix what you currently dislike and don't mess around with the other (mechanical) parts unless you would be comfortable not getting them to sound that way again.
Hope this helps!
One of the worst mistakes I made with a Rhodes was changing things just because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. I picked up a 1971 that had been stored for 20+ years and it still sounded fantastic but I thought that it could sound even better if I took it to a specialist that would obviously make it sound better right? WRONG! After spending $$$ getting all new hammer tips, grommets, and getting it re-voiced, it sounded terrible (to my ears at least). I spent countless hours trying to re-voice it back to where it was before the work but I was never able to and I ended up selling it because of it.
Moral of the story: Only fix what you currently dislike and don't mess around with the other (mechanical) parts unless you would be comfortable not getting them to sound that way again.
Hope this helps!
#9
Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Rhodes 73 (stage, 1975) ha...
Last post by Jerome - November 23, 2025, 06:53:49 PMHi Spave,
Thank you for your reply, I will most likely go for the first option.
I've already tried in the past to voice those notes toward "pure fundamental ," back up the pickups, and change the escapement, and the annoying attack is still there.
Furthermore, I went back to the original listing for this Rhodes, and the previous owner did mention that he changed some hammers, but he did not mention that he changed the hammer tips.
So, most likely, the hammer tips have not been changed for a long time (if not ever).
For now, I think the best course of action for me will be to order a few "mid" hammer tips, either for Vintage Vibe or Avion Studio.
But if you believe that I should change every hammer tip based on what you heard in my audio (or if you heard note problems), feel free to tell me.
I'm still new to the world of electric piano repair.
Thank you very much
Thank you for your reply, I will most likely go for the first option.
I've already tried in the past to voice those notes toward "pure fundamental ," back up the pickups, and change the escapement, and the annoying attack is still there.
Furthermore, I went back to the original listing for this Rhodes, and the previous owner did mention that he changed some hammers, but he did not mention that he changed the hammer tips.
So, most likely, the hammer tips have not been changed for a long time (if not ever).
For now, I think the best course of action for me will be to order a few "mid" hammer tips, either for Vintage Vibe or Avion Studio.
But if you believe that I should change every hammer tip based on what you heard in my audio (or if you heard note problems), feel free to tell me.
I'm still new to the world of electric piano repair.
Thank you very much
#10
Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Rhodes 73 (stage, 1975) ha...
Last post by spave - November 22, 2025, 04:34:02 PMHi Jerome,
That c# is typically where a harder range of hammer tips starts on the Rhodes. If those are an older set, they likely will be harder than usual which would cause the excessive percussive sound. If you're happy with all the rest of the notes, you could probably just buy a dozen or so new tips for that section and that would probably fix most of the issue. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0666/2821/files/Vintage_Vibe_Hamer_Tip_Guide_Placement_4ffdd7a5-b86b-4b5e-9b38-84e14f4ddf54.jpg?3389212589356662533
If you want to try a quicker/cheaper fix beforehand, you could also try moving those notes further away from their pickups and/or adjusting them to be closer to the "pure fundamental" voicing (see link below) and see if that gets rid of most of the problem being amplified.
https://www.fenderrhodes.com/org/manual/fig4-8.gif
Hope this helps!
That c# is typically where a harder range of hammer tips starts on the Rhodes. If those are an older set, they likely will be harder than usual which would cause the excessive percussive sound. If you're happy with all the rest of the notes, you could probably just buy a dozen or so new tips for that section and that would probably fix most of the issue. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0666/2821/files/Vintage_Vibe_Hamer_Tip_Guide_Placement_4ffdd7a5-b86b-4b5e-9b38-84e14f4ddf54.jpg?3389212589356662533
If you want to try a quicker/cheaper fix beforehand, you could also try moving those notes further away from their pickups and/or adjusting them to be closer to the "pure fundamental" voicing (see link below) and see if that gets rid of most of the problem being amplified.
https://www.fenderrhodes.com/org/manual/fig4-8.gif
Hope this helps!