Back check mod ?

[henkeys]

Anyone here having experience with the backcheck mod ?
I am thinking about doing this with my Mk 1 stage 73, because the action is rather slow, especially when striking the same key more than once.

Is it worth doing this backcheck mod or are there better ways ?

[zjokka]

HI there,

Thinking to go the same way and was looking for more feedback on this modification before going ahead. Did found this site providing some more pro-backcheckmod info. It's in fact about midi-fying a Rhodes, but still...

http://www.oceanbeach.com/ches/daves_gear/rhodes.html

You need backchecks. The action on a Rhodes is, well, funky. One of the places Harold Rhodes saved money was in in the escapement mechanism. If you take apart your Rhodes (something every Rhodes owner should do), you will see that when you press down on a key, it basically yanks on a weird little strap which causes the hammer to fly up and hit the tine. The problem is that when the hammer falls back down, it yanks on the strap and causes the key to bounce.  (...) The addition of backchecks will go a long way towards cleaning up any sloppiness the action of your Rhodes might have. I bought mine from a piano repair supply house; sorry it's been so long I've lost the address. They shouldn't be hard to find. Buy ordinary upright piano backchecks. If given a choice for stem length, go with the longer stems. Hopefully the photos and diagram are clear enough. You basically want to mount the backcheck in a location so that when the key is at rest, the backcheck felt rests against the back of the hammer. A drillpress is nice to have, but I made a simple jig to hold the keystick, and I drilled mine by hand using a cordless drill. The backcheck should be positioned in such a way that it supplies enough pressure (friction, really) to catch the hammer after it strikes the tine, but not so much pressure as to make the note harder to play. The exact drilling location isn't super critical because you can easily bend the backcheck stem to adjust the tension.

hope it helps, it kinda convinced me..

zjok

[Anonymous]

so did either of you actually end up doing the backcheck mod??  how did it turn out??

[mofo1]

What about a back check mod on  the plastic keys found on a Mark II?
Possible?