1965 Fender Rhodes CBS Catalog Insert

[james]

It arrived today, and I heard the Korg M1's choir of angels sounding as I opened it. The guy wasn't kidding about it being near mint: the spine wasn't broken (I took care of that when I scanned it) and there were only a few finger-dents in what otherwise felt like new paper. So here are some Web-rez scans for everybody...Ben, I've got the 2400 dpi ones ready for you too!

[Ben Bove]

Wow I can't believe how amazing condition this is in.

It was worth it, I mean beat-up fender catalogues from the 60s go for hundreds.

[liveevil]

Awesome!

[Loucas]

The most amazing thing in this catalog is the last page which shows "Esquivel" on the right side  posed with the only photo i have ever see featuring the extra extra rare piano 61 which until now described as prototype .
Thanks James .

[Rob A]

Well spotted! Esquivel is one of my heroes.

[The Real MC]

"Console 88"?!?

Never seen one of those, didn't know they made an 88 key model back then.  Wonder if it was a "home" piano...?

[Ben Bove]

It was probably given as an option but as far as I know never produced.  Supposedly the engineering on the high and low notes wasn't there yet.

[polyvoks]

it seems that the naming "console" was using before " suitcase"

[pianotuner steveo]

Excellent!  How much was your winning bid?

[Loucas]

Believe it or not i am still extited about that photo of Esquivel in this catalog !
That piano 61 model was never seen before in the market but only on the 1963-64  catalog along with the piano bass the Selecte and the piano 73 all in fiesta red color.
Also the director of the  movie "Ray"  try to make us crazy by re-making this similar piano in this scene:  


http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8910/clipimage002sqw.jpg

[pianotuner steveo]

That looks like a doctored celeste in the 'Ray' movie....you HEAR a Rhodes,though...

[james]

The factoids for you....

* I determined that "console" refers to a standard acoustic piano (88 keys, yes, but why 61 keys I have no idea). They're providing its range as a point of comparison for the various models. The "celeste" in the top octave refers to an actual celeste, not the Fender Rhodes Celeste. But then of course, when you look more closely, the ranges for the Celeste and Piano 61 are not correct...the Piano 61 only has 57 keys!

* The Piano 61 in "Ray" was a fake indeed, based on the Pre-CBS catalog photo shown on this site. Freddan says that one of the Moog Cookbook guys was responsible for building the mockup.

* The auction ended at $97 when you include shipping. For a 4-page brochure. I think I paid that much combined for my '69 and '70 Fender/CBS catalogs, although those weren't exactly "mint"...the '69 is missing its cover and everything....