Important Considerations for Purchasing

[blahblah]

But still I'd go for the '72 Mk1 you had your eye on earlier.....but maybe that's because I like the Mk1's better !!

If I'm going to get a Mk1, I want it to be a later model.  

Sigh... so I just need some rust remover and this will be fine?

[Ben Bove]

in most cases you don't really have to worry about it.  You really could just leave it as is, keep it in a dryer place (not in your garage) and the rust wont affect the sound or the volume.  

Don't fret too much

[kitchen]

If I'm going to get a Mk1, I want it to be a later model

Just curious, but why ?
As for the rust remover.....a small brush (toothbrush medium/hard?) should probably do the trick as well.

Kitchen

[tnelson]

You may want to protect the other pickups from the free metal particles, or to plan on a clean-up with sticky tape.  At least some of what you loosen will be attracted by the magnets of the pickups, and will not just brush away.

[blahblah]

kitchen, I am under the impression that the early Mark I's have really stiff action.

tnelson, do you think using some sort of rust removing solution would be the best?

[Ben Bove]

blah - on the Mk1s, early or late, action can be improved it's not a difficult job.  I would just listen again to the models page, the audio clips there on the early and later mark1s.  Pick what sound you like, and action etc can be adjusted even by a beginner.

[blahblah]

But still I'd go for the '72 Mk1 you had your eye on earlier.....but maybe that's because I like the Mk1's better !!

Kitchen

What's your beef with the Mark II's?

[kitchen]

I'm not too fond of the sound and the looks. The looks shouldn't be important off course, but hey....
It's hard to explain in words what I do not like about the MKII's soundwise, most of the time they're too clean and sweet for my taste. When I hear a MkI, I hear the wood and the dust through the tone, more edgy, more body and definition and that's something I like personally. It's all about taste you know, but I prefer a mid/early 70's MkI sound over a 80's MkII sound. Maybe it has something to do with different pickups or tines or maybe it's only psychological, I don't know. If I were you I'd try to listen to as much Rhodes piano's as possible and find out which sound you like best. Things like heavy action or other shortcomings are relatively easy fixable, so don't judge a vintage on it's action only for instance. It's all about the sound in the end.....

[blahblah]

On the examples on this website, the fender rhodes sounds a lot better to me, but I think that it has to do more with me liking the performance.  I've heard so much variety from similar models that I feel like the difference lies in the EQing.

[blahblah]

http://www.student.foi.hr/~rlogozar/mbsn1/AnalogSynthsRhodesMarkIversII.html

[kitchen]

Well,...I got my piano back from my tech and one thing he told me is that the sound of a well set-up piano depends on EQ-ing for about 70 %.

Kitchen

[Dan Belcher]

The late-era Mark I and Mark II pianos definately have a different tone from the older Rhodes and even the early Mark I era pianos.  The tines on the newer models have more highs while the earlier tines had more mids.  A well-adjusted late-era Mark I/Mark II however can still sound aggressive, or you can make it nice and bright and bell-ish, depending on how your EQ is.  Plus, the harder you play, the more aggressive the tone gets.

Both of these clips were played just minutes apart on the same exact 1978 Rhodes Mark I Stage 73, run through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (the brown special run with different tubes, warmer sound than the stock tubes).  No other effects, etc.

http://www.motorsportmediamulti.com/danbelcher/20070307-Rhodes.mp3
This clip is done with the midrange up all the way, treble down all the way, and bass at about 50% (though I ended up reducing the bass slightly after the recording from about the 200hz range on down to get rid of muddiness).

http://www.motorsportmediamulti.com/danbelcher/20070307-Angela.mp3  This take on the hook from Bob James - Angela (yes, the theme song from the TV show Taxi) was done with the mid and treble all the way up and the bass at about 50%.

[blahblah]

I'm having a very hard time deciding between that '80 Mark II with the rusty pickups and this '78 Mark I:

[Dan Belcher]

That '78 looks to be in good shape from that picture.

[blahblah]

I was outbid.  This is so depressing.

[theelpajero]

I was outbid.  This is so depressing.

I feel your pain, man. This has happened to me a few times as well. It sure makes you depressed. But hey, one day we'll have our Rhodes'sss and have a ball.

[Ben Bove]

Great point Dan.

Sorry blah - try looking on craigslist for a local rhodes.  often you have a better chance of going and talking to the guy and sitting down with the piano over getting outbid at the last second on an ebay rhodes you haven't even seen.

[blahblah]

ugh, so there's one that is finally close to me and it's a complete wreck.  torture.

[kitchen]

What's the specs on this one ? Have you seen or played it ?
Maybe the looks of this piano can work to your advantage price technically speaking if you don't mind working a bit on your piano yourself. Theoretically speaking nothing is unfixable on Rhodes piano's....the only serious obstacle people come across is most of the time a financial one....  

Kitchen

[picassoface]

Dude, just get a Kawai synth with weighted keys before you have a coronary.

 :twisted:  :twisted:

Seriously, I had to bid on at least 10 Rhodes until I got mine.  Ebay's weird; sometimes you just get lucky.  People stop bidding on pianos that have a part missing that is easy to locate.

[Nevets306]

Well I am in the hunt of the great fender rhodes. I'm currently looking to buy a Mark II suitcase from this guy. This is what I noticed when i played it, mind you no tines are broken and he is going to have a tech come in and even everything out.
The middle of the keyboard feels great and sounds great too. The high and lower parts of hte keyboard are weeker than the middle which might be a pickup distance thing or not i dunno. When i turned up the treble the high was almost as equal as the middle but you shouldn't have to do that. Also the keyboard just feels really uneven in general and it doesn't feel comfortable to play YET. but maybe that's all going to change once the tech looks at it hopefully. Should I wait it out if the middle feels good than the rest will feel good in the end too? I'm looking to spend almost top dollar for a really good conditioned one so should i stick out this one or also search elseware? OH and it has a pretty bad smell of maybe mildew or mustard kind of smell coming from it when the top is off and the tolex on the back has some wear in tear but all the speakers work really great.

-Steve

[BJT3]

I'd be more worried about the mildew smell than anything else. Is there any visable mold/rot? Not sure what you mean when you say the action isn't comfortable, but certain years have harder action than others, but this can be fixed. If your willing to pay top dollar why not get one that has been reconditioned by a well know tech like this one at VintageVibe?
http://www.vintagevibe.com/pc-347-9-fender-rhodes-piano-stage-88-key.aspx

[Nevets306]

Not that much of top dollar, more like a little over $1000. I dunno about the smell but it is defintnly coming from inside the keyboard and i dunno what could be causing it. If the action is good in the middle, does that mean the rest of it can be tweaked to be like that?