pitch increase in lower octaves

[pspees]

hi!  My stage 73 has a problem with notes in the lower octaves rising in pitch when sustained.   Can this be fixed without replacing tines?  What does this mean?  Also, after adjusting all of the tines and pickups I have eliminated most of the high frequency "ding" but still have a problem with it in some notes.  More adjustment maybe?

[Tehu]

i got the same problem with one lower key of my stage 73, the tine was to close to the pick up, and it changed the pitch during substaining. I change the pick-up position, and the sound remain equal

[Ben Bove]

This is correct - raising pitch in lower register is usually caused by pickup being too close to magnet.

In a side note, the pitch rising in low register is most pronounced around like 1975-1977, is your Rhodes one of these?

[bru]

Haha, it took me a couple hours to realize what was doing this on my 76.
It's just the magnet pulling on the tine while it sustains.
No worries, just an unfortunate side-effect to the tone you're getting.
Moving the pickup a little further away might help make it less noticable, but it will always be there.

[pianotuner steveo]

You can also tune the bass notes a hair flatter because our ears perceive bass as being sharper than it really is. The opposite is true with the treble notes. (I.E. Paul McCartney's bass sounded sharp on a lot of Beatle songs)

[bru]

Do you stretch tune your Rhodes Steve?

[pianotuner steveo]

Yes but only slightly. Acoustic pianos usually require more of a stretch because the pitch drifts a little after a day or two.(Especially if they haven't been tuned in a while or if they have problems) The Rhodes stays where you leave it for much longer periods.

What I was referring to with flattening the bass a little is also considered part of stretching. Stretching doesn't just mean raising the treble.