A good deal?

[TheRod]

Hello,

I've just bought this Mark II Stage for US$800.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280109610290&rd=1&rd=1

Do you think I got a good deal?

This is relatively cheap considering I'm in New Zealand. Shipping was very expensive from Texas (a whopping US$500), but it still worked out cheaper than buying one here! Most sell for atleast US$1800 - even very damaged ones.

Anyway, will be interested to see what people think. These are extremely rare in my part of the world..

[BJT3]

Looks pretty good. It's hard to tell too much from the pictures. Some of the things I'd be wondering:
What year was it made? (date code not shown)
Does it have the plastic or wooden keys? (can't tell from pic)
Does it come with the leg braces? (not shown in pic)
What are those 2 pickups shown? (spares?)
How will it be packed and shipped?

Without knowing more, I think it's a decent deal for an 88. Keep us posted, and congratulations!

-Ben-

[modorange]

That looks like a pretty good deal, considering it is a mark II. 88 keys is definitely good. If you can take delivery of it for a reasonable price, you have a nice piano. I am concerned about the pickups sitting on the keyboard, hopefully they are extras.

[TheRod]

Thanks for the kind feedback,

The pickups are extras;
I'm unsure of the year it was made  - in my lack of experience I didn't ask - what would be your guess?;
keys are plastic - I read in this forum that black name boards mean plastic keys;
no leg braces;
it's been shipped in a crate so should be fine there hopefully.

Are Mark IIs generally more popular than Mark Is? or is it just a matter of individual taste?

I have to wait a month for it to arrive, so I'll update how it really looks when it arrives.

[Rhodesman]

Its a tough call, but I'd think Mark I's are more popular, simply because there are more of them out there. Also, there's still a chance you've got wooden keys, as all Mark II name rails (name boards) are black. You have to look inside to see if they're plastic, if such is the case, the key bed will be black. Also, you can get away without leg braces on a 73, but for an 88, because of all the additional weight, I'd invest in some leg braces if I were you. They pop up on e-bay pretty frequently. Have fun, I'd be pretty anxious if I had to wait a whole month, good luck

[TheRod]

Thanks for the advice.

It's good to know I have a chance of getting wooden keys...

[jim]

hey way to get a rhodes.
i just wanted to say that when you get it, if it doesn't sound awesome, it CAN sound awesome. all rhodes's CAN sound awesome. so don't be disheartened if it doesn't. all you'll need is to learn how to set it up or some money to pay someone good to do it.
pay particular attention to the "strike line" as this aspect will make or break a rhodes's playability and sound, and is really easy to set correctly.

-jim

[Dan Belcher]

pay particular attention to the "strike line" as this aspect will make or break a rhodes's playability and sound, and is really easy to set correctly.

Absolutely.  And yet, it often gets neglected for some reason!

[Rhodesman]

pay particular attention to the "strike line" as this aspect will make or break a rhodes's playability and sound, and is really easy to set correctly.

How easy is it to adjust? I've checked mine and its good, but I always thought if you wanted to adjust it you had to redrill new holes to screw the harp into, that isn't that easy. Or is that only for MAJOR adjustments. Is there a way to fine tune it that I'm unaware of? I looked in the manual for this and all I saw was about redrilling. Thanks.

[jim]

when you say you've checked it and it's good..how did you check it? did you do the play a note and slide the harp back and forth thing?
it could well be that your strike line is correct allready yes.

the drilling thing is easy if you have a drill i guess. but then it can be an effort to not get aluminium all over your keybed.

so to drill, you drill the hole a little smaller that the screw, then you take the screw and spray it with wd-40 or some other lubricant (only on the shaft) then you screw the screw in a little, then out a little, then in a little more, then out a little, slowly making your way down. eventually you will get through. but be gentle yet firm with it. if it gets too hard, go back a little and maybe ad more wd-40.

just about every rhodes i've serviced has had an incorrect strike line, and it's shocking that these rhodes have been going along since the seventies, being used in recordings/gigs, and they arn't even set up to play nice! i reckon it's a big contributor to the "some rhodes's are good and some are bad" myth.

another thing about strikeline...i go on... is that often when the difference in length of the tines is not a nice sweeping curve, you will get a bunch of tines that are not being hit in their sweet spot, while the rest are. this is why sometimes on a rhodes there is one or two notes that just refuse to sound as good as the others.

i havn't posted here for a while, sorry for the rant.