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21
Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Just bought a Rhodes. I hate graduated hammer tips.
« Last post by Thelonius on May 21, 2019, 10:04:05 PM »
It’s not a Retrolinear issue. They did a great job.  It’s a a “Thelonius” issue.

My ears have always been partial to warm, soft tones. I just want to tame the clank or at least balance it out a little.

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Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Just bought a Rhodes. I hate graduated hammer tips.
« Last post by mvanmanen on May 21, 2019, 09:39:11 PM »
Hmmmm...

Any chance you could make a recording of it? Retrolinear has one of the best reputations in the restoration business. Without hearing it...I would not dream of making any recommendations.

What is your frame of reference for a Fender Rhodes? Most sampled or digital versions usually do not have the "character" that comes with electromechanical keyboards including the inherent noise of the upper registers from harder tips hitting shorter tines.
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Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Just bought a Rhodes. I hate graduated hammer tips.
« Last post by Thelonius on May 21, 2019, 09:08:45 PM »
Greetings,

I just bought a refurbished Rhodes from Retrolinear. It’s a 1978 73 suitcase. The one thing that is bothering me with it is the graduated hammer tips.

Initially, I thought the problem was worn out tips. The notes start to clank abruptly at the B above middle C. I removed the lid and noticed that none of the tips had grooves in them until that B. Then I learned that the B (note 44 of 73) was a point where the tip hardness changed from 70 shore to 90 shore. I’m guessing that replacing the hammer tips (which Retrolinear strongly advised against) is futile. I thought the grooves were causing the clank but I’m now guessing the harder tips develop grooves more quickly.

The sound goes from nice, warm and round to percussive and clanky. I don’t like it. It’s abrasive to my ears. The lower and middle registers have great bark when pushed a little and sound perfect.

Anybody else run into this problem?

Any good solutions for this?

Thanks so much for your guidance and expertise.

-Greg
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Parts, Service, Maintenance & Repairs / Re: Rhodes Janus I 50W Amplifier Crackling
« Last post by spacecho on May 19, 2019, 05:51:11 AM »
Hello All,

Following this thread, I too have a pair of Janus that i recently biased and adjusted. As part of that service i checked all rails and noticed that the 30v rails both measure around 38v on both units (measured at the caps), much the same as is the case with vanceinatlance's original post.

I don't see any voltage regulators for the 30v rails, just a Bridge Rectifier (which check out okay on both units). My units were a little crackly (when plugging in and out) until i adjusted the DC offset (which was quite out) and the Bias, now they sound great. All of the connections are switching jacks, and all of mine were oxidised - switch deoxit really helped here, as did fader deoxit for the pot. Also as mentioned in other threads, reflow the molex connections to each of the amplifier and regulator boards as the solder joints can crack (causing random crackling and issues).

There is a video that outlines how to calibrate and adjust the bias and DC offset for these amps - but please, don't even think about going in there unless you know what you are doing!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOdCPVJpzu4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnsf0lITQmg
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For Sale / Hohner Pianet Model M for sale Melbourne
« Last post by spacecho on May 18, 2019, 05:38:26 AM »
Hello All,

I have a clean Hohner Pianet M for sale. Very rare in Australia, this woodgrain model has built in speakers and phaser (and input / output via DIN connectors) and a really nice sound. It's built in phaser sounds like a very nice dyno / chorused rhodes, but sweeter. Beautiful tone and an interesting alternative to a rhodes.

email for photos and details etc, any questions please ask.

PRICE $1250
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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: 200-A Low & distorted output
« Last post by seanny_keys on May 16, 2019, 09:25:23 AM »
Just following up to my own post.

I played it safe and replaced the fuses with great success. Found some replacements online that cost next to nothing.

My wurly is singing once again!
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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Best procedure for re-gluing nameplate on 200 series Wurlies?
« Last post by Student Rhodes on May 14, 2019, 03:12:56 PM »
You may want to consider using very thin two-sided tape.  The quality stuff is very strong, and thin enough as to be unnoticeable.
Something like this...
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-17123/Double-Sided-Tapes/Double-Sided-Film-Tape-1-4-x-60-yds?pricode=WB0222&gadtype=pla&id=S-17123&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2fit0Oqb4gIVhMBkCh1-DgphEAQYBSABEgJkjPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Best,
Ray
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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Old 200A amplifiers
« Last post by beginnersluke on May 14, 2019, 10:13:41 AM »
It seems the business of replacement amplifiers for the Wurlitzer does pretty well, so my question is:

What do people do with their old amps?

I never see them come up on ebay or craigslist.

I am still working on rebuilding my 206A, but as these projects go, it's cost more than I wanted, and my wife (wisely) insists we should spend money wisely and not spend everything on music equipment (so the kids can go to college in a few years or something).

I'll slowly save and get a Warneck amp in the next few years, but for now would just like to add Vibrato to my current amp. (It sounded okay before really. I'll probably replace the caps and be happy.)

The kit from VV is like $110, which may be a fair price (the LDR alone is $25, even if I got all the other parts from Mouser or Digikey), but that's a lot to invest in an old amp when a new VV amp is $275.

But these old amps that get replaced have to be around somewhere right?

Thanks,

Luke
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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Best procedure for re-gluing nameplate on 200 series Wurlies?
« Last post by David68 on May 14, 2019, 10:10:33 AM »
I've done a few, and it's always a bit of a mess. What products/processes do you use to re-glue a Wurlitzer nameplate?

I've removed the old glue, which is the worst part.
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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: 200-A Low & distorted output
« Last post by seanny_keys on May 13, 2019, 10:01:55 AM »
Wanted to revive this thread for some clarification about the two fuses on the main PCB.

In the service manual it states you can replace the two fuses with some jumper wire as the "the fuse has been eliminated on later models".

I've got a blown fuse on an early 200a model (1974) & I am wondering if I am better off replacing the fuse or just using a jumper line. It sounds like the Original Poster of this thread had success just using jumpers, but I am a little paranoid and don't want to fry my piano.

I've provided a few screen shots of the manual to show what I am talking about.

Hope to gain to some knowledge from anyone's experience here.

Thanks
-Sean
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