Harp Support mod

[Ellis]

I recall reading a post where someone states that the Rhodes with wooden block harp supports have more bark to the sound, as opposed to the aluminum supports that give the sound a more twinkly character.
So I thought why not replace the aluminum with a maple block on my '82 Rhodes? Would there be any problems or difficulties with this other than having to drill a few holes?

[Fred]

That may have been me commenting on that. The wood harp supports are only the more obvious characteristic of the models with more bark, being highly visible with the cover off. The main reason for the bark on those models in my experience is the hammers...they are an older half wood design, wich may have a different weight, and definitely have a different shape to the cam. The hammers of these two models are not interchangable without replacing the harp supports along with the entire action rail complete with the hammers, as far as I know. If I find out otherwise, I will post it here.

[hrees]

There are a number of reasons for the greater bark of the early 70s rhodes. As mentioned the hammer throw is greater. The tines are slightly different to the post 1975 tines, as are the pickups (compare the rivet shapes).

The actual material of the harp supports and action rail has no bearing on the sound. Changing it would be a massive job with no guarantee that the rhodes would sound any better. It would probably not work as the key pedestal/hammer cam relation would be out of alginment.

If you want more bark from a later rhodes there is a great deal that can be done on a very basic level. Extend the range of the hardest hammer tips down by 5 or so. Voice the pickups very close. Bypass the tone circuit. Use a decent eq to bring out the upper mids. You can make any rhodes sound any way you want from the classic Herbie sound to Al Jarreau 'bell' sound.

[Ellis]

Thanks for the information. I guess doing this would be a waste of time. I will just take my piano to a tech to get it properly adjusted so I can create my own Jazz Odyssey.

[up late]

Take it to a tech who knows how these things really work.

[GuineaMcPig]

Extend the range of the hardest hammer tips down by 5 or so.

Could someone please explain exactly what this means?  Thanks!

~Jordan

[Zaki]

Bypass the tone circuit. Use a decent eq to bring out the upper mids.

Does that mean that the Rhodes may benefit from bypassing the bass-pot, if patched through a great EQ instead? Why nod just leave the bass-pot at maximum and run it through an EQ afterwards?

[zboy]

Hammer throw is less in most cases.It's the tines and some degree the tonebars.