Help Dating a Mk.1 Suitcase!

[robmaile]

Hello! Brand new here.

Just got a Mk. 1 Fender Rhodes Suitcase 73 that appears to have lost its 4-digit date codes. The pickup rail has no stamp whatsoever, but rather perplexingly, the tonebar rail does have a stamp directly above the serial number sticker. Weirdly, it's only 3 digits: 190. I've never seen a 3-digit stamp in that spot on any other Rhodes, so I'm baffled.

Intrigued, I searched the piano top to bottom for more clues, and there's only one other stamp: on the underside of the pickup rail, there is a stamp that reads "APR 9 1970."

More info for reference:
This Rhodes has hybrid wood + plastic hammers.
The action has the factory-included "bump" mod.
Peterson preamp without FX loop.

How do I get an accurate date for this piano? Feel free to ask for more info/pics! Cheers

[spave]

The April 9th 1970 stamp would have been when the pickup rail was finished at Turbo Jet. The pre 1971 Rhodes don't have the TBJ stamp in the top right corner like the later ones do. You should be able to find another date on the low E key which would indicate when the keys were finished.

Your Rhodes was most likely finished in late May or early June 1970.


Also, what is the serial # of your Rhodes and does it have felt or neoprene hammer tips?


Edit: Just out of curiosity, is your Rhodes the one from Reverb in Las Vegas?

[robmaile]

Thanks a bunch for the reply!

Low E key reads April 13th 1970. Serial #FR-7054. Neoprene hammer tips.

And wow, yes probably! There have been a couple in Vegas recently , but yes, it was on Reverb.

[spave]

Low E key reads April 13th 1970. Serial #FR-7054. Neoprene hammer tips.

And wow, yes probably! There have been a couple in Vegas recently , but yes, it was on Reverb.

Wow, how funny is that? I only mentioned it because that's the only other Rhodes I've seen with the 190 stamp on it. Pre 1971 Rhodes are often unique in the stamps and marking they have compared to later models so its hard to know for sure but I think the 190 decodes to the 19th week of 1970. I looked it up and that translates to someday between Monday May 4th and Friday May 8th !970 which matches up with my previous estimate for the finish date.


Some other cool facts about your Rhodes that I noticed in the Reverb listing:

-It has the rare center latch on the lid. This was only done for a short time in 1970.

-only 1 harp support instead of the usual two.

- the rare double bend raw metal tonebars. These were only done briefly before they went to the gold colored plating that all later Rhodes had.

-Pickups with the stronger 1" magnet

-Raymac tines (you should check to make sure none were replaced with later tines)

- This Rhodes originally came with felt cube hammer tips.


Overall you have a very special Rhodes on your hands. Rhodes changed a lot in 1970-71 so those years have an ability to sound different from the later models. They were also made in much smaller quantities as they were still very niche intsruments that were mostly handmade. I made some estimations on a previous thread and I came up with something like only 800 1970 suitcases being produced. https://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=10606.0


Also, FR-7054 is the model number for the MK1 suitcase. It looks like your serial # is 73F 30I2 which is a unique number that connects to the sparkletop serial number codes. I believe the 5x,xxx serials started in late 1970 to make it look like there were more being produced then there really were.

[robmaile]

Wow. I am totally speechless. That is AMAZING. This is my first electric piano and I'm very new to the history and lore of the Rhodes/Wurlitzer and other instruments, so it feels incredibly special to own and restore a piano like this. Fired up the Peterson preamp today, which surprisingly works, but is suffering from pretty strong 60-cycle hum so I'm recapping it. After that, it only needs voicing to be back to its old glory.

Thank you SO much for this info. I can't believe I have a 52 year old Rhodes! I'll have to throw it a birthday party next week!