Two pianos enter, one piano leaves

[The Real MC]

Well I had this well gigged basketcase Rhodes for a year that I got for nothing from a tech.  It's a suitcase without the bottom amp.  Case is bashed in on the bottom and not salvageable.  I bought a set of full wood keys and discovered that they were not interchangeable with the plastic keys, because they use different pin rails.  So the salvageable components are the harp, all but four tonebars and tines, wood/plastic hammers, dampers, and wood harp support.

I had been waiting for Music Parts Guru to come up with a replacement case, pin rails, and tonebars but I lost my patience after eight months.

So I now have Rhodes #2 (stage piano) that I bought on the 'bay.  While this one has rusted harp and tines, all the other components meet my gaps in the other piano.  Full wood key set with balance rails and the case is in excellent condition (I don't think it has ever seen a stage).  It's a stage model with legs and crossbars.  This one is late 1975 so it has the "modular" all plastic hammers and dampers with aluminum harp support.

All I am missing is the sustain pedal - if anybody has one surplus, let me know.

Now it's time to make one good piano out of the two.  I will be comparing each for the sound I want, so the end product will be a "frankenstein".  Right away the difference between the plastic keys and full wood keys is phenomenal, the wood keys are soooooo much better.  I have the Peterson suitcase preamp so I can put that in, I bought a power supply/audio interface and new set of hammer tips from CAE Sound.

Question about the action - both pianos have stiff action and need to be lubed.  I have read that teflon powder does the trick.  I have not yet found teflon powder but I do have teflon grease, is that a good substitute?

It's been 25 years since I last owned a Rhodes - looking forward to the "experiment".

Pics later

[Ben Bove]

Teflon powder can get messy if not applied correctly, I'm not sure about grease.  Silicon spray lube can help a bit as well.  Usually really stiff action is an indicator of other adjustments needed, or possible bump mod

[The Real MC]

I read the service manual last night and the grease may be a bad idea as silicon grease can make the pedestal felt pads lose their adhesive.

I'll keep looking for graphite or teflon powder.

Played the piano last night, other than the sticky keys this one is a real gem.  

I had real good luck with a tube preamp (have yet to try the Petersen suitcase preamp).  I used a Tubeworks Blue Tube, it is designed for bass guitars and is designed for more gentle and subtle overdrive than your average guitar tube preamp.  This is the rackmount model, not the stompbox.  The stompbox is missing the CONTOUR and DRIVE controls, which go a long way to reducing the muddiness of the Rhodes and really adds clarity.  Once you get the gain optimized, this preamp adds a real nice punch when you play hard - like vintage Chick Corea and Joe Sample.  Too much gain and chords will distort easily.

[pianotuner steveo]

I would use a teflon spray but PLEASE Use a good mask and be very careful to not breathe it in when spraying!!

Also,ease the key bushings. If you do not own the expensive piano tool,needle nose or duck bill pliers will do.

[The Real MC]

I had it apart tonight... bare wood & no felt on the pedestal - the felt is on the hammer butt!  This piano is datecoded 4475 so it is one of the early  generation with plastic hammers and modular action.

Actually the bushings are quite free, that was my first suspicion for the stiff action.  The stiffness is due to the friction on the pedestal and hammer butt.  If I hold up the hammer then the key pivots freely.

This piano has the torrington tines and plastic hammers.  It has that fusion mid range "bark" that I like, as opposed to the mellow "bell" tone.  My 1972 Rhodes - wood hammers and torrington tines - that I sold back in 1984 had that "bark".  So the crucial element to that "bark" is not the hammers, it would be the tines.  This also strikes my belief that wood harp support vs extruded aluminum harp support had an effect on the sound - there is no difference.

Friday I'll try the suitcase preamp...

[kitchen]

I've got a '76 (2076) Stage which had the bare pedestals and felted butts. After a complete overhaul my tech installed (amongst other adjustments) a bump mod and removed the white felts from the hammers. The action is incredibly lighter and faster now.
Not only can a spray solve the glue which keeps the felts in place, but if you would want to re-attach felts or glue on new ones, this same spray can cause that your glue won't hold on the (spray saturated) wood !! You may have to sand or degrease if you want the glue to hold.

Kitchen

[The Real MC]

Well I was reading the bump mod modification in the service manual and it seems to be a lot of effort.

So I was thinking - instead of removing the hammer felts and installing felts on the pedestals - what about sanding the pedestal tops smooth, applying polyurethane to the tops, and buffing them slick?  That would reduce the friction and lighten up the action.  I mean the pedestal tops with bare wood are rather rough cuts, that is the cause of friction right there.  Dyno used to put tape on the pedestals to reduce the friction, but tape would have a shorter life than polyurethane.

[The Real MC]

BTW I did an experiment with the harp.  On the 1975 piano with plastic hammers the sound has that "fusion bark".  Then I put the harp and control panel on my 1972 piano with wood hammers - same bark but with added bell transient.  The older piano has harder crystalized hammer tips.

[pianotuner steveo]

You may want to try the polyurethane experiment on a few keys, but I removed the butt felt and added it to the pedestals before,and it worked very well.(I used thin bushing felt on the pedestals and made felt bumps,similar to the manual method)

Try doing this to a few keys also and compare....

[The Real MC]

I got the suitcase preamp working.

Not impressed.  Hum is very noticeable.  The tone controls on the Blue tube preamp work better.

The stage namerail stays, it sounds better.

Sorry, the suitcase preamp is not for sale.  I am hanging onto it for the stereo tremolo, which will be useful.