hi 1st time newbi got a 73 rhodes testerday can you help me

[bdc7]

hi a man put a ad on craigs list for a free fender rhodes 73 with amp . i got there first and it was like new condition but 1 amp needs a capasotor and a resistor. the serial number is 50266 ni and a blue stamp of 49 70 from what i read its made on the 49th week  1970 . as i read the history updates. its got all the 71 items on it  my question is what is the ni after serial number. it sounds so good. the amp and speaker cab is in very good condition. the only thing i could use is the logo on the face of piano and the logo on speaker cab. they are both there but one is missing a small pice and the cab logo has some scratching. any help or info would be a true blessing. also what could it be worth. after i get the amp working properly. i pluged it into my amp and the tone is great that way without vib.thank you brett

[Rob A]

Wow, congratulations and welcome to the club!

4970 sounds correct--are you getting that serial number from a gold foil badge found at the right front corner of the harp?

As far as the logo, you'll need to watch ebay or order one here:
http://www.vintagevibe.com/c-65-rhodes-logos.aspx
http://www.shopspeakeasy.com/shopdata/go.shopscript?a=FR-NRL
http://www.shopspeakeasy.com/shopdata/go.shopscript?a=FR-AL

As for value, if all the internals are functioning, this would be worth from $800 to $1200 depending on where you are; more at the coasts and less in the middle of the US. A buyer outside the US would probably pay substantially more, but those are realistic US prices.

1970 is on the less desirable end of the scale as far as the various production years go--there were a good number of improvements made to the design later (as you no doubt read on the history page). But the true test is how this piano plays.