1972 Fender Rhodes Executone (or is it?) I just aquired. Weird.

[LeonSpinks]

It's hard to tell by the color of the springs on the tines. Raymacs are coated with paint, but not always. They sounded like Raymacs but look like Torrington. Who knows? You have the older 1 inch magnet pic ups. Boy are they in need of adjustment!   
You want to lube the key pedestal felts. Saturate them good, let dry overnight. If the action is not faster in the morning, no lube will help. It would be time to replace them. Use an eye dropper for the pins. I could go on and on about that Rhodes but it's a full moon and there are deer to track.

Thanks for your insight.  Is it okay to get the lube on the paper spacers on the balance rail?   I haven't lubed anything yet;  I'm going to take the vacuum over and get as much dust out as I can before I do any more work on it. 

[LeonSpinks]

Also I noticed this for the first time:





It's only under the lowest dozen or so keys (I didn't count).  I'm curious as to it's purpose. 

[David Ell]

If done right, no lube will touch the papers. Also, the thickest cardboard washer should be on top of the papers, not under. It's not that big of deal to lube the balance pins. It's the key pedestal felts that need the spray lube. It will lighten the action and protect the hammer cam.
The block of wood provides tension.

[David Ell]

Spray the key pedestals outside of the piano. Install them and then lube the pins. Let the lube slide down the pins into the felt. It's also more important to lube the guide pins than the balance pins. I would just do the pedestal felts myself. You must use the right lube. You know what type by now.

[LeonSpinks]

Spray the key pedestals outside of the piano. Install them and then lube the pins. Let the lube slide down the pins into the felt. It's also more important to lube the guide pins than the balance pins. I would just do the pedestal felts myself. You must use the right lube. You know what type by now.

When you say "key pedestals outside the piano" are you referring to the felts?  I'm not entirely new to Rhodes' but I've never done anything like this, so the short-hand is mostly lost on me.  Thanks!

[goldphinga]

Spray the key pedestals outside of the piano. Install them and then lube the pins. Let the lube slide down the pins into the felt. It's also more important to lube the guide pins than the balance pins. I would just do the pedestal felts myself. You must use the right lube. You know what type by now.

When you say "key pedestals outside the piano" are you referring to the felts?  I'm not entirely new to Rhodes' but I've never done anything like this, so the short-hand is mostly lost on me.  Thanks!

Remove all the keys from the piano then spray the felt on the back of each key. Then put them back in the piano.

[David Ell]

Take a picture of the key pedestal felts from overhead and or at a slight angle.

[LeonSpinks]

Take a picture of the key pedestal felts from overhead and or at a slight angle.

Will do later tonight.  In the meantime the rca pre-amp cable needs replaced.  Look how fun it is to unplug from the amp:




Luckily you don't have to entirely remove the amp, which is a very difficult job.  What I wound up doing was removing three of the four chassis screws, lifting the damper bar out of the pedal to bend it outward, and rotated the amp back as far as it would go, using a drumstick to prop that end of the amp up.  That gave me enough room to unplug the angled 1/4" cable and plug a new one in.  So insane is this machine. 

[LeonSpinks]

Take a picture of the key pedestal felts from overhead and or at a slight angle.

It's all back up and running.  Horrifyingly loud.  Feedback is fun, though.

[vanceinatlance]

What a cool and unique find! Very interesting how that amp was incorporated into the piano. Hope to see some more videos of it soon.

Just saw your listing on eBay. It would be interesting to know what you get for it. I would be tempted myself, but at 25k, I don't even think selling a few of my battered internal organs would get me there.  It is unique, and who knows, you might even be under what someone would pay.  Best of luck!

[The Real MC]

Awright, who's going to cough up $25K?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Fender-Rhodes-Executone-1-of-15-or-so-ever-made-Insane-Crazy-Cookies-/290955113247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43be46b31f

[BerneseMtnDog]

That Rhodes sat on the Eugene CL for a long while at $400 with no takers.  No idea where the $25k comes from.

Steve

[Ben Bove]

I do wish there was a market for these pianos at those prices.  It's silly to me in comparison, where a vintage fender guitar can bring in 10s of thousands of dollars, when a Rhodes piano is so much more expensive and harder to make.

[David Ell]

 That's a good point bjammerz. The market for vintage Rhodes isn't where it should be at all. I fully dyno'ed a mint '78 stage including my pre amp and only made 200$ for 40 hour work week. Good Rhodes are not selling well. There is one on ebay that has been fully restored and it just sits there for months. We techs are putting our lives into the craft, we should be doing better. As the world falls into this left wing game of musical chairs, everybody suffers.
It got to the point where all I was getting was calls for free help so I took my site down. I would gladly help, but people wanted me to rebuild their piano over the phone. Some would even *demand* I bend over backwards. People these days want everything for free. They should open their own business and see what's it's like to really work. It's time for a right wing come back. I don't see it happening.
On another note, good Rhodes are becoming harder to find. I have not seen a mid 70's Rhodes for sale in my state for a long time. A '72? forget about it. I know I live where the nearest Rhodes is 8 hours away, but the economy is putting a "damper" on everything. The gas costs to travel are outrageous. 

[LeonSpinks]

Had a nice surprise a few days ago:  a client at my studio brought in a killer Rhodes player (and guitarist) to improv for a few hours.  Here are two examples of the Executone in action:

https://soundcloud.com/thegreyzone/rhode-and-plenty

https://soundcloud.com/thegreyzone/waitingfortheloop

Also I'm gradually lowering the price.   

[voltergeist]

In the video you say you're considering removing the reverb tank.  I would recommend against that.  Disable it if you wish, but leave it intact.  Too rare, too intact, and too unique to be tearing out original equipment.

[guvech]

Awright, who's going to cough up $25K?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Fender-Rhodes-Executone-1-of-15-or-so-ever-made-Insane-Crazy-Cookies-/290955113247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43be46b31f

the same piano now is $6,800  http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Fender-Rhodes-Executone-Prototype-Vintage-Electric-Piano-Mk-I-Suitcase-73-/161186306397?pt=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item258773d95d

[LeonSpinks]

Awright, who's going to cough up $25K?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Fender-Rhodes-Executone-1-of-15-or-so-ever-made-Insane-Crazy-Cookies-/290955113247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43be46b31f

the same piano now is $6,800  http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Fender-Rhodes-Executone-Prototype-Vintage-Electric-Piano-Mk-I-Suitcase-73-/161186306397?pt=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item258773d95d

Best of luck to him.  He was the highest bidder when I had it listed;  I suppose his more detailed listing might bring three times as much money.  He doesn't mention the bad treble pot or missing power cable junction. 

In case you're curious, I picked it up off craigslist for $350.  Put it on ebay for months and got zero bites, even in the low 2 grand range until he contacted me.  I wound up delivering it to him in Seattle for $2,200.  Nice guy with a really nice little store.  I played a Piano Bass for the first time.