Sparkle Top Suitcase with pics and a question

[Landphil]

Hello folks,

 First post! :-)  I'd like to thank everyone for the information I've gathered here while lurking.

  Short story:  I came across a Suitcase 73 sparkle top at a garage sale. They were asking the ridiculous amount of $100 !  When I regained my composure, I promptly bought it.  Everything works, and I've actually played a tune on it. However, it IS in need of some professional service.  Felts, alignment, etc.  I'm considering sending it off to Electronic Edge for restoration.  They seem to have a good rating here.  Does anyone have any other advice on professional restoration?

  I'm no expert, but everything seems too clean on the inside. I'm guessing this Suitcase has been overhauled before.  

  Anyway, here's links to two .zip files containing 8 pics each.  Each .zip is appx 1.07 meg each.

Rhodes external.zip
Rhodes Internal.zip

   Comment if you like, or just enjoy the pics.  Thanks for keeping this site alive!

Phil

[hrees]

It looks in very good condition for such an old rhodes: it shows no evidence of having had a major service and all the old raymac tines are there and in good condition. It is worth getting this piano set up properly as these tines sound different from post 1970 rhodes and are rare.

All the hammers and felts seem to be original. But it needs new damper felts and the hammers need to be reshaped. I would make sure any rhodes service place is used to working with the teardrop hammers: if in doubt get an acoustic piano tech to work on them as the reshaping and revoicing is crucial to giving the rhodes even strike line and even hammer hardness. Most rhodes techs are not used to working on these.

If you want to do it cheaply yourself you could buy a set of half wood half plastic hammers off ebay (I'm sure they're interchangeable with this model). All the information as to how to service a rhodes is available on the supersite.

[Fred]

Wow, You got lucky...I'm probably $1500. in the hole as a result of my quest to have a near perfect silvertop suitcase...with lots of work to go. I found some tolex that looks pretty close to the original through Vibroworld. Get the old style Fender, tight, glossy grain. I've also found it to be more durable than the dull finish. I would recommend doing whatever you can to keep teardrop hammers in it, as that is one of the trademarks of that piano. My hammers have very deep grooves. I may look into replacement, somehow with new hammers from a piano supply house, though removal of the old tips from the plastic part of the hammer might be impossible...   Does anybody out there know what the original grill cloth looked like??? Mine came with the silver w/ turquoise stripes...I ordered enough to recover the grills, but upon disassembly it became apparent that it has been recovered at some point. I know Rhodes used different patterns through the years...this one's a '68 w/ stereo vibrato. Good luck with your find Landphil!!! Keep us posted!

[Landphil]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

 hrees,
You saying that it shows no evidence of major servicing makes me grin!
Other than the "home brewed" add-ons to the front panel, the only other sign of service that I can tell is that the low E hammer has been replaced with the more modern plastic hammer with the rubber tip. And I guess some of the tuning springs have been replaced, due to the different colors?

   I started to whip it into shape on my own, but after tuning it I realized I couldn't go much further without major felt work.  Thankfully,  I have enough play money at the moment to let a professional have a go at it. My best guess is that I'll probably have to throw $1000~$2000 into it. That's a chunk of change, but I think she's worth it. I have a few other vintage synthesizers as well, and I get a kick outta keeping these old ladies alive!  

  Fred,
Best of luck with your restoration!  I agree with keeping the teardrop hammers. A competent piano tech should be able to reshape them. I do wonder how having 3/16" shaved off the hammers will affect the action.
   As far as the grill cloth, I'm assuming the Suitcase amps were assembled using the same stock parts as the guitar amps of the period, since Tolex and grill cloth were probably purchased in bulk. If yours is a '68 model, it probably came with the "blue sparkle" grill.

    From ampwares.com
Black Face: Amps produced between 1963-1967 retained the cabinet style of the brown/blonde amps, but were covered in black Tolex. Also new was a new reinforced black strap handle, and silver sparkle grille cloth.


Silver Face: In late 1967 the color scheme was changed once again. The black Tolex remained, but the control panel was changed to a dull chrome with blue labels. The gille cloth changed to blue sparkle.

I believe what they're calling blue sparkle is the same as  silver w/ turquoise stripes. (?)

 My grill seems to be the silver sparkle, although with age it looks more like nicotine stain with black stripes!

   I'll keep ya posted with pics and such once I've decided what I'm going to do.


Phil

[Landphil]

By the way, Fred...
I still have the entire hammer assembly from my old Kurtzman upright piano (it makes great wall art! :lol: )  If yours has the third stage action ( molded shank w/ teardrop hammers) it may not be to terribly hard to replace the hammers.  I don't know how the hammers are attached to the shanks (yet), but they don't seem to differ in size much from a regular piano.


  I was thinking.... perhaps, with some modification to the rear of the hammer from a regular piano, you may be able to make it work. Of course, this would be time consuming and perhaps delicate.

  The reason for me bringing this up is there are usually dozens of upright pianos for sale in the local paper's classified ads. Around here, people are practically giving them away. They usually range from free to $200. If the hammers are still in fair shape this could be a cheap way to go for replacements.  The only drawback is you'll have to lug a big, heavy upright piano back to your place to pull the hammers, and then modify them to fit. Then you're stuck with the dilemma of getting rid of a gutted upright piano!

    I really don't know if this would work, but I thought I'd type out loud and share an idea, as ridiculous as it sounds!  

Phil

[Fred]

Thanks for the info Landphil! I'm glad to hear it probably had the blue sparkle, especially since I have a heap of it now! I think I'm going to remove the entire action assembly and bring it to a piano repair shop. I'd like to replace all of the hammers, due to extreme grooves, but in removing the wood from the plastic, the plastic dowel that inserts through the wood hammer base breaks. Maybe there's a thinner that can break down the adhesive to allow safer removal....I have a bunch of half wood hammers to experiment with. I'll keep you posted...

[BackRoomSounds]

Missed this topic first time

Exellent find there and great pics

Any chance of posting some more now you have done some work on it?

Sam  :wink: