last 13 keys don't work

[Pugulis]

Hi all, I'm new to the site and fairly new to the Rhodes.  I am working on my friends  Stage 88 and don't understand why the last 13 keys (69-81) don't make a sound.  I'm going to use the numbers on the tone bar as my key number, since on the 88 the first 7 keys are marked 0.  Anyway, I was looking at the wiring and wanted to make sure that it is correct.  On key 68 is a ground wire and on key 71 a red wire that goes to a capacitor.  I was thinking that this may be wrong, but I can't find a diagram on the site for this.  I believe that all the pickups are good but when I put a screwdriver to the front of these 13 I get no sound out of the amp.  Any help would be great.  I hope I gave enough info.

[sean]

It is very likely that you have a dead pickup.  One dead pickup in that top area could kill the whole section.  The top thirteen pickups will be grouped by the alternating gaps - 3,2'2,2'1,1'1,1.

If any one of the top four pickups is dead, the whole section will be silent.
If 72 and 73 are both dead, the section will be silent.
If 74 and 75 are both dead, the section will be silent.
If 76 and 77 are both dead, the section will be silent.
If you are really unlucky, and 69, 70, and 71 are all three dead, the section is silent.

Even if your piano's wiring is different from my guesses above, please assume that your wiring is correct until after you follow these two steps:

Step #1:  closely inspect the wires that are connected to the terminal strip with the capacitor on the pickup rail near pickup #81.  If anything is obviously broken, that should be the problem.

Step #2:  use my method of bypassing individual pickups using alligator clips to locate dead pickups.  You only have to check the top 13 pickups, so that should be quick.  That method is described here: http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=3839

Basic method of replacing pickups:
http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/pickups.php


Questions to help my understanding of the 88 wiring:
Is the long black wire that runs behind the pickups a coaxial cable with an inner conductor and an outer braided shield?
Is the center conductor connected to the red wire from pickup 71 at one end of the capacitor near pickup #81?  
Is the other end of this long black coaxial cable connected to the RCA jack at the back left corner of the pickup rail?  The center conductor would join the tiny red wire from pickup number zero, and then connect to the center pin of the RCA jack.
The braided shield of the long black coaxial cable should be connected to the outer ring of the RCA jack, or to a ground lug nearby.

The black wire is coming off pickup 68, and the red wire comes off 69, 70, and 71 (usually connected to the end of the buswire at pickup 71).

This is the way that I imagine it works, but I would love to see photos and detailed descriptions of the 88 wiring from some energetic member of this forum.  hint hint.



This photo of the treble end of the pickup rail is shown in this thread:
http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4781