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91

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Bad tine or normal for era of manufacture?

« Last post by eddie_bowers on June 24, 2019, 12:33:23 PM »

With the 1972 piano I picked up it had a package of spare tines stored in the lid. They are slightly different than what is in the piano in that the taper is shorter.

I had one tine that had the spring way out on the tip to get it in tune, so I thought I would try cutting one of the spares.
It functions, but it almost mutes when struck hard. The other tines sound awesome when struck hard. It almost sounded like a double strike. I put the original tine back in and found a heavier spring that kept it in tune without being on the very end. It sounds great.

So is that a bad tine, or can some of the later tines not handle as much dynamics? I'm just curious in case I pick up another piano with later tines.

92

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Sustain problem

« Last post by spradders on June 21, 2019, 03:11:50 AM »

Hi, what year? The early 70s Mk1 have a screw in the middle of the damper rail; it allows you to pre-tension the dampers so that they move the right distance when the pedal is depressed.  Your screw could be too tight, hence keeping the dampers off some of the notes. If not, then you need to look at the damper felts (are they working ok, not too floppy etc), the bridle strap tension (small cloth strap on the front of each damper arm; if too tight then stops the damper returning fully). Your harp shims could be a bit too big one end, stopping the tines resting low enough. Otherwise the individual problemtatic damper arms probably just need a little bend upwards so they make better contact with the tine.
Read this: http://www.fenderrhodes.com/org/manual/ch4.html#4-3

93

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Crossover from Fender Rhodes to Rhodes - late 74

« Last post by spradders on June 21, 2019, 03:07:53 AM »

Ah cool.  I like the look of the Fender logo ... but have kept my non-fender logos original.

94

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Sustain problem

« Last post by soulsystem on June 20, 2019, 11:14:09 PM »

Hey guys, need a little help. My Rhodes Seventy Three Mark I is having eternal sustain. I can take the lid off and lift up and set it back down, then its ok for a while. But eventually the sustain remains on for a bunch of notes. Is there a quick adjustment I need to make?
thanks,
Steve

95

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Crossover from Fender Rhodes to Rhodes - late 74

« Last post by Alan Lenhoff on June 19, 2019, 05:59:04 PM »

My '74 Stage (harp build date 23rd week of 1974; final build date 26th week of '74) has Fender-Rhodes logos on the name rail, the back, and the plate under the name rail volume and tone controls. But it has a Rhodes-only gold foil badge on the harp.

But the transition began a year earlier on the student models:  I had a '73 student model with a Rhodes-only name rail badge.

Alan

96

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Crossover from Fender Rhodes to Rhodes - late 74

« Last post by spradders on June 19, 2019, 06:30:10 AM »

Hi,

My late '74 Mk1 Stage 73 has the 'Fender' Rhodes logo on the back, but the name rail logos and serial number plate are just Rhodes.
So I guess this was made just as 'Fender' was being dropped from the logos etc, but they were still using up stock of the main rear logo.
The Rhodes is original, been in a studio for its whole life.

Anyone else seen a similar Rhodes with the mix of logos with / without Fender?  The fenderrhodes site says "Sometime in 1974, CBS Musical Instruments decided to drop the Fender name from the Rhodes line of products".... well we can be pretty accurate about when that happened.

Mike.

97

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Small keyboard to pair with Rhodes?

« Last post by Alan Lenhoff on June 18, 2019, 10:49:13 PM »

For me, with a very crowded music room, the Keystep's primary virtue is how compact it is. (I have the Keystep and the Model D sitting on top of an amp.)  It has a reasonable feel to it, seems well-built and I quickly got used to the compact keys and occasionally using the Octave + and - keys to extend its key range. The strips that sub for the usual  mod and pitch wheels are okay, but I'd rather have wheels. The price was right: generally $120, but I wanted the "limited edition" black version, and the only one Guitar Center had was an "open box" unit for $80. The Keystep also has lots of features I've not yet explored, including sequencing and aftertouch.

So, it does the job for me, but if I had the room (or I was gigging with it), I would prefer something with 49 full-sized keys.

Alan

98

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: New Member, with question re Bass Boost Mod on Fender Rhodes Mark I

« Last post by shmuelyosef on June 18, 2019, 06:09:58 PM »

Until very recently I was running my Rhodes (1974 Mk 1 Stage 73 Fender) directly into an off-board preamp and effects board, but decided to make another try at it. I wired up a version of the original, but with 250K and 1M potentiometers (special audio taper) from Emerson and appropriately chosen poly-caps. It sounds great, very low noise and perfect response.

99

The Fender Rhodes Electric Piano / Re: Small keyboard to pair with Rhodes?

« Last post by shmuelyosef on June 18, 2019, 06:00:52 PM »

Curious how you like the Keystep...I have an Arturia minibrute 2S that i drive with my Nord Electro when I want live action, but it's clumsy (for this purpose...otherwise the nord 6HP is phenomenal)
jeff

I have to give a shout-out to my Behringer Model D, Behringer's $299 version of a Minimoog, which I've paired with a 32-key Arturia Keystep.  I've never owned a Minimoog, but many who have claim the Behringer sound pretty much matches the real deal.
Alan

100

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Noise in the amplifier.

« Last post by Argi on June 17, 2019, 12:27:08 AM »

Hello again.
  Yesterday I spoke with the technician and explained the work. He told me that he can do it. He usually works with analog synthesizers and the reflowed procedure he usually does.
I'm lucky that he's in my city, he works very well!
I know he's going to do it right!
Thank you very much for your advice and help.
Greetings.