The Rhodes Mark 8

[derreny]

Thanks for the link ! A good read and like you Id like to see exactly who this product is aimed at. The considerable price aside, its not totally clear (maybe it shouldnt be).
But truth is, I can get a lot of synth and piano for 10 grand.
No midi out of the box !?
P.s. have i missed something, or have vintage vibe stopped making the clavinet ?? (Understand this might not be the correct bit of the forum for such a question).

[spave]

https://rhodesmusic.com/rhodes-authorised-dealers/

Saw this on the Rhodes site today, looks like they are setting up a dealership network. I'm guessing its just for merch and parts (at least for the time being) as it seems the MK8's will only be available on their website. Maybe the network is laying the groundwork for a possible MK9? that could be sold off the shelf like a normal digital keyboard?


Interestingly, only one location on the list is considered a service center. That probably means the setup process is different enough for the MK8 that they don't feel comfortable giving that designation to places like CEPCo or Fender Rhodes LA without training them first.

[dnarkosis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljoG7TaDpv0

[Dave]

The MK8 will be at NAMM this weekend. If anyone checks it out, let us know what you think. It's received a lot of hype — can it live up to it?

[spave]

The MK8 will be at NAMM this weekend. If anyone checks it out, let us know what you think. It's received a lot of hype — can it live up to it?

How about a demo by none other than Mr. Stevie Wonder?

https://youtu.be/HB-T95ZdQ2Y?t=818

Dr. Mix happened to be at the Rhodes booth when Stevie was there and caught a good portion of him playing the MK8. Stevie doesn't say anything about the MK8 itself in the video but he clearly enjoyed playing it.

Hearing Stevie play the MK8 makes me want to try one even more. It sounds really good in this demo and with the upcoming midi option it seems like it really could be the ultimate keyboard. I also heard a rumor that Rhodes might be leaving a demo unit in LA so I'll have to see if I can try one out soon.

[The Real MC]

Played the Rhodes Mk8 at NAMM 2023 in April.

As a Rhodes player since 1978 who has gone through four pianos looking for "the one", the new Rhodes is excellent.

Dan was maniacal about making a quality piano with the best traits of pianos from each era, and he succeeded.  They have great action, the pickups sound excellent and can get anything from that bell tone to fusion bark with playing dynamics.  That is a feature I love with my '67 silvertop and was never able to duplicate with the later Rhodes.  Dan was aware of the superiority of the early pickups from '65 to '72.  I played the basic model and the one with FX, both had the same feel and raw sound.  Finally someone is making a Rhodes that is consistent from unit to unit, which Fender could never do.  The new Rhodes is almost half the weight.

Yes there are thousands of used Rhodes at a fraction of the price, but they varied all the map due to CBS/Fender ruining the product through corporate bean counting, inferior parts through poor substitution (which drove Rhodes engineers nuts), and stopwatches to monitor production rates that resulted in forced inferior product out the door.  Many of the deficiencies of the older pianos aren't easily fixed.  Frankly my experience with buying used Rhodes was a crapshoot until I found my silvertop.

Cyril Lance designed the preamp and effects and I know Cyril from his days at Moog Music.  I asked him some engineering questions regarding his design, and I liked what I heard.

The effects include compressor, chorus, phaser, and delay.  Nothing fancy but they fit the Rhodes well.  Compressor is nice for getting that Herbie Hancock vibe.  The other effects are stereo.  Chorus is effective, phaser sounds like the EH Small Stone.  Delay is stereo and I found it most effective at short delays combined with chorus.  The FX model has a headphone amp with the jack in the left side cheek.  I neglected to check for MIDI ports.  There are buttons right at the name rail for toggling the effects in/out and are easily accessible while playing.

The preamp in both models feature volume, envelope, drive (overdrive), three band EQ with sweepable mid, and stereo tremolo with selectable modulation waveshapes.  One thing they missed is that the classic Peterson stereo tremolo is modulated with a trapezoid waveshape LFO.  The new Rhodes offers square, curved ramp, triangle, and sine - no trapezoid.  The closest to trapezoid to my ears is sine; I mentioned this to Dan, apparently there is a feature to remedy this in firmware but I haven't played with it.

Complain all you want about the price - you're getting quality that Fender could never have dreamed of.

I passed the Rhodes booth multiple times at NAMM and the booth was busy every time.

[Alan Lenhoff]

Thanks for the review and insights...

I'm quite happy playing my beautiful'74 Rhodes Stage, which I bought it maybe eight years ago for roughly the cost of the sales tax on a nicely equipped Mark 8. But my hat is off to those who are building new tine pianos. Given the plentiful supply of vintage pianos, they took on a lot of risk to bring these new models to market. (They are fortunate, however, that the huge run-up in vintage Rhodes prices in recent years makes their new piano prices seem more reasonable than they might have appeared a decade ago.)

Just wondering: Have you also played the Vintage Vibe Tine Piano? If so, discounting the electronics built into some of the Mark 8s, did you prefer one over the other?

Alan

[The Real MC]

Just wondering: Have you also played the Vintage Vibe Tine Piano? If so, discounting the electronics built into some of the Mark 8s, did you prefer one over the other?

No I haven't, and I always wanted to.

From what I heard on VV's YouTube demos, their piano sounds like my sparkletop with the felt hammers replaced with wood/plastic with neoprene tips.  Which sounds great but isn't the atypical Rhodes sound.

The Mk8 sounds more like the atypical Rhodes.

Both are great sounding pianos, can't really say I have a preference.  I would definitely prefer them over the vintage deal, because so many of them are crap!

[Jenzz]

Hi :-)

There are some interresting pics from the inside Mk8 at NAMM on the german 'Musikerboard'...


https://www.musiker-board.de/threads/namm-2023-the-transition.740533/post-9502871



Jenzz

[goldphinga]

Hey folks. Here's a brand new demo of the MK8 FX model piano we laid down, showing the unique power of the built in analogue FX and preamp. Hope y'all dig it!

https://youtu.be/vbF_d1-ekFs?feature=shared 

[ZeroZero]

Hi Folks,
Quite surprised to see how old this thread is. I just ordered a Mk8 and am awaiting for it to be built. Does everyone know that the new Mk8 of Namm 2025 now has MIDI? The orginal analog circuitry is still the same and of course it is still real tines etc, but now it can control MIDI too. I have played one and do love it. This keyboard needs a stereo output. I have heard it through a mono out and it neuters it.
I have never seen the MIDI version, though this is what I have ordered, Does anyone have experience of it? The website is light on facts so far.

Z

[sean]

Great.  With MIDI, you can trigger your DX7 samples.


Groan...

[rockierhodes]

I 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.