Sparkle Top - 49 Key - Piano Celeste (?)

[hobsound]

First post here.  So I'm not even totally sure what this is called.  Maybe someone here knows for sure. it's a got 4 octaves, two below and two above middle C.  It has all the same controls and cabinet as the Sparkle Top 73, a mono jordan preamp, plastic hammer arms, a metal pedestal bump.  This is all original and never modified.  Everything works.  I replaced one pickup with another from the same era.  The action felt "sluggish" and I couldn't really play soft, and after much internal debate, I decided to try sanding down the hammers, and that made a HUGE difference.  It's fun to play now, although escapement probably isn't ideal. I have an acoustic piano tech friend who seems willing to help me shave the bottom off the harp supports so that I can bring the harp closer to the hammers, so I may try that next.  I may also have a lead on suitable hammers... so I'm not totally sure what to try next.

I've been reading a ton from this forum, and it's been so helpful and I've been learning a lot.  I'm hoping to make this instrument super fun to play while keeping it all original, and trying hard to not do anything too stupid! 

I just snapped some photos, and recorded a couple little audio samples.  These are right off the harp, not through the preamp, but the preamp and vibrato sounds really good too.  here's a download link, if it doesn't show up as a hyperlink, copy/paste into a browser and it should start a download to your downloads folder (at least that's how it works for me). 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/5tei1ij1sfnec35tganwq/AD_7ta_-KwMEJyRSubkhrEI?rlkey=gv4byc5zowux21szp7rm9jite&dl=1

If you have any advice or experience, I would love to know a person or two who has gone through this before me. 

Chris

[The Real MC]

That's a 49 key piano bass not a Celeste.  Custom order product but still rare, that is the second one I have seen.  Late 60s with the plastic hammer shanks, good era.

[hobsound]

this piano only goes down two octaves below middle C so not sure that would qualify as a piano bass.  Also I don't see any suitcase piano bass (or celeste).  I'm starting to think this is simply a "suitcase 49".  It might have been an experimental model.

[spave]

The only other photos I've seen of one online do refer to it as a "Piano Celeste" to differentiate from the "regular" Celeste that didn't have an amp. Scroll to the bottom of this page for photos: https://www.fenderrhodes.com/pianos/silvertop.html

The audio sounds really good so if the action is playable then I probably wouldn't mess with it too much. However with that being said, here is a link to a YouTube channel that has a few videos documenting their work and modifications on a similar 64 sparkle top: https://www.youtube.com/@InsectoidControl/videos

Also, Maybe try reaching out to the folks at Vintage Vibe if you have any other questions that can't be answered here. They would be the most likely to have worked on similar pianos and have parts should you need any. They also occasionally have the correct hammer sets for sparkle tops as well. You would probably have to place a special order for only 49 though: https://www.vintagevibe.com/products/fender-rhodes-felt-teardrop-hammers?variant=899457275

Please keep us updated on the progress!

[The Real MC]

You are correct it is not a piano bass.  I checked my pictures of 49 key piano basses and the low C is the lowest C of a piano.

But it is also not a Celeste.  The highest pitch is two octaves above middle C, which is too low for a real Celeste (think "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from The Nutcracker).

I have a chart from Rhodes expert Olivier Grall that confirms the ranges of 49 key Celeste vs 49 key Piano bass.

And your specimen has the preamp with the suitcase amp cabinet, and the pitch ranges places it between the Celeste and Piano Bass.  I think what you have is a very custom 49 key piano similar to the newer Rhodes 54, where the pitch range is suitable for comping but neither for bass or for solo playing.

[hobsound]

sounds right to me.  there is that photo at fenderrhodes.com of this exact model, so there is at least one more them out there.  They call it a piano celeste, but that could be a mistake. 

Spave I checked those insectoid videos and it clearly sounds better with those washers so I'll do that for sure. 

I've called vintage vibe a few times about both hammer tip removal, and sourcing new hammers.  They used to have them so someone there must know SOMETHING about where to get them, but I've had no luck with that so far.

There is a hammer company called Abel in Germany that I was referred to by an acoustic piano technician.  He said I could potentially send all the hammers (potentially leaving arms attached, which would be awesome) and have them re-felted.  So I'm going to find out what it costs to get that done.  Probably pretty expensive, but it would be good to at least know.

[hobsound]

I tried the "insectoid" washer mod yesterday, and took the opportunity to adjust just about everything.  I moved the pickups super close, which made each note super responsive/saturated, and lowered the escapement screws some to compensate for the hammer-shave (no idea if that's a good solution but it makes sense to me!), and tuned it.  Then when I played it afterwards, the tuning was horrific, apparently these tines/green pickups don't like to be that close because the pitch was moving all over the place, espeically the lower notes.  I also decided that while it was really satisfying to play (actually made the action feel better), the ultra-close pickups felt too distorted to me.  so I set it all up again this morning. 

Now it's sounding and feeling really good.  I'm not totally convinced on the washers.  I actually had to take a handful of them back off because it was deadening the sound in the very top notes, and pulling the washers off brought the them back to life.  I also had some pitch clarity problems near the bottom after the mod, and I suspect removing the washers cleared that up a little too.  It's hard to know for sure because it's impossible compare before/after with all other factors being equal.  I will try to do a comparison in the midrange at some point, with and without.

I have a black key cap that I need to replace, if anyone has any leads.  Vintage Vibe doesn't.  I could try to use a later key, if it seems impossible to find an original one.

[spave]

The sparkle tops and early Mk1s have longer magnets than later Rhodes so they won't be able to be as close to the tines without messing with the pitch/distortion.

What's wrong with the key cap? It looks like they're all intact from the photos.

[hobsound]

Even after I pulled back the pickups the pitch is still a little funky in the bottom few notes, but I like how it sounds otherwise so I'm going to live with it for a bit. 

Here is a photo of the key.  I could glue it in and call it a day, but some of the plastic is missing, exposing the wood, so it'd be nice to find a replacement.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/h8wnmf28y2r03dwnv3fm2/Screenshot-2025-10-01-at-11.39.31-PM.png?rlkey=29rf2mnt9huolitas6mf9wids&dl=0

[spave]

I'd probably go the glue/repair route myself just for the originality aspect alone. Even if you find a period correct replacement, it still might require modification as each keyset was cut/modified to fit each keybed even on the Mk1s.

Alternatively, you could also see if a local piano tech has anything they could modify to work as well.

[The Real MC]

I have the same issue with the longer bass tines too close to the pickups.  The magnets are pretty strong on those 1960s pickups.