Sparkletop vs Mark 1A

[onthegreenline]

First post here in years, I have a dilemma. I have a minty fresh '73 Mark 1A Stage I picked up years ago, it's in great shape mechanically and sonically. Love it, figured this would me my Rhodes for life. Until...

A '67 Sparkletop, complete with all original tonebars, came up for sale near me at a reasonable price. The only thing keeping this from being 100% original is that someone swapped out the felt hammers for neoprene at some point. Otherwise it's in good shape, going to look at it this weekend.

I can't afford both - I'd need to sell my Mark 1A to fund the sparkletop. I've lusted over one of these forever, and never thought I'd find one I could afford. I miss having a suitcase amp, I'm a student of the history of these pianos, and yeah, the Miles/Beatles/Billy Preston connection is fun. I also genuinely love the sound of the early pianos.

I have two concerns -

Will the neoprene hammers really sound THAT different from the early teardrop style? I know most of the sauce is in the raymac tines and larger tonebars.

Is this an idiot move? I know how special the Mark 1A is, but man, sparkletop...

[spave]

Personally I'd only go for it if you really love how it sounds currently a lot more than you love the sound of your 1A. Just because its "original" doesn't mean it sounds good and you might regret it if you give up a piano you love for one that will need considerable time and possibly $$$ to get sounding good.

With that being said, the neoprene will sound a bit different from felt but you can always swap out the neoprene hammer tips for some felt ones from Vintage Vibe in the future if you wanted to. (Also, I believe others have said previously that the neoprenes have the tendency to break raymac tines easier than felt but I'm not 100% sure.) https://www.vintagevibe.com/products/fender-rhodes-hammer-tip-kit?variant=4271276163

If the Miles/Beatles/Preston sound is only a small part of your Rhodes repertoire then it might make more sense to keep the 1A and just buy a plugin for the few times you want the sparkle sound.

Also, for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure the Beatles/Preston Rhodes was a 1969 sparkletop which would sound slightly different from a 1967 due to changes in the Raymacs and pickup magnets (and possibly electronics if it was one of the early Peterson preamp units).

[The Real MC]

A '67 Sparkletop, complete with all original tonebars, came up for sale near me at a reasonable price.

That's the magic year.  I also own a '67 sparkletop piano, used to own a 1972 stage many years ago.

Which should you own?  That depends...

Will the neoprene hammers really sound THAT different from the early teardrop style? I know most of the sauce is in the raymac tines and larger tonebars.

Like you, a former owner of my sparkletop piano had swapped out the felt hammers for the neoprene tip hammerset.  I played other pianos with the felt hammers and was not a fan of the sound, but I really love the combination of the neoprene tips with the raymac tines and large tonebars.  Listen to my piano.

I miss having a suitcase amp

My piano was missing the original preamp/power amp/speakers so I am using it as a stage piano (the empty suitcase speaker cabinet is a keyboard stand), I am taking the signal right off the harp.

Also the original sparkletop power amp is a poor design and they fail.

Do not use a newer suitcase amp with a sparkletop piano, they are not compatible.

The only thing keeping this from being 100% original is that someone swapped out the felt hammers for neoprene at some point.

I would not get so hung up on 100% original with the displaced felt hammers.  One of the main issues with felt hammers is premature wear of the hammer tips and warping of the wood shanks.  The former requires a piano tech to refresh the felt on the hammers, the latter can't be fixed.

1967 was the era of the old Jordan preamp/power amp, not the classic Peterson electronics of 1970s suitcase pianos.  Jordan electronics do not have stereo tremolo, they distort too easy, and they actually hurt the tone of the pickups due to impedance mismatch.  There's a magic tone hiding in the pickups of a 1967 piano.

Is this an idiot move? I know how special the Mark 1A is, but man, sparkletop...

I used to gig a 1972 Mark 1A, they stay in tune when they are moved.  My sparkletop went out of tune every time I gigged it.  Do not gig a sparkletop piano, keep them in the studio and do not move it.  Today I would gig with a plugin or ROMpler, Rhodes are just too bulky to cart around.

However - my 1967 sparkletop has the factory pedestal bump which has a MUCH better feel than my Mark 1A did.

One trick I love with my '67 is with a Countryman Type 10 DI straight off the harp, the tone varies between bell tone and fusion bark with dynamic playing.  With proper adjustment, I can get that fusion bark without hard playing, thus reducing the possibility of breaking a tine.  You can't do that with the old Jordan electronics.  I owned three other 1970s Rhodes and no amount of adjustment would duplicate that trick, even with the same signal chain.

[onthegreenline]

Well I went to check it out today and fell in love. All electronics working, clean sound with almost NO mains hum after I plugged in a new 1/4 cable, and the mono tremolo is just so creamy and warm. Time will tell if I end up selling my '73, but this thing sounds magic and I haven't even had a chance for basic voicing or regulation. Up next - hammer tips and I'll need to source new tonebar felts.

[The Real MC]

I haven't even had a chance for basic voicing or regulation.

Do your regulation and voicing BEFORE you tune the piano.

The pickups on these old 1960s piano sound great but their magnetic polepieces are a little strong.  They can pull on the vibrating tine and throw it out of tune.  I found out the hard way when I voiced the piano by adjusting the tine position relative to the pickup, and the tine went out of tune.

With the longer tines in the bass end, the magnetic pull is worse.

[onthegreenline]

I haven't even had a chance for basic voicing or regulation.

Do your regulation and voicing BEFORE you tune the piano.

The pickups on these old 1960s piano sound great but their magnetic polepieces are a little strong.  They can pull on the vibrating tine and throw it out of tune.  I found out the hard way when I voiced the piano by adjusting the tine position relative to the pickup, and the tine went out of tune.

With the longer tines in the bass end, the magnetic pull is worse.

That's crazy! I've got it torn apart for cleaning right now. 3 of the green pickups replaced at some point with red, already ordered replacements on eBay. Hammers are a full on swap for an early Mark 1 with wood/plastic. Ordered a felt kit from VV to get as close to the teardrop sound as possible. Damper arms are original - anyone got a recommendation on the right felt to use?