Bought a new beater... Image Heavy!!!!

[Tim Hodges]

Click Here


Yep I know what you're thinking, ch**st there's nothing left of it!! Well that's the fun of it

I plan to get this bad boy up to the condition of my other 1975 Stage Rhodes, literally I'm going from the ground up on it.

For more pictures check out the link:

http://s717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/jukedock/Fender%20RHODES%20on%20ebay/

[bumpyrhode]

You sir, are a brave man!

Good thing the speaker cabinet was stored someplace else. I guess it's worth
the price you paid by itself.

[Tim Hodges]

Well I spoke to him on the phone today and I said to save him the Paypal charges I'll send over a bank transfer instead and as a result he said I could have it for £300, even better!!!

I'm using USHIP to have it delivered to me then I'm going to start taking it apart and documenting it. I can't wait

[rockstardave]

Wow, and I thought my Rhodes was in bad shape when I got it.

I'm curious about the effect of the moisture on the piano.  All that wood must have swelled up, which could knock all kinds of things out of alignment, not to mention the action must feel like wet concrete.  I would put the whole thing in a kiln for awhile just to dry it out, then disassemble, sand, refinish, and pray everything still lines up properly when you put it back together....

[Tim Hodges]

Wow, and I thought my Rhodes was in bad shape when I got it.

I'm curious about the effect of the moisture on the piano.  All that wood must have swelled up, which could knock all kinds of things out of alignment, not to mention the action must feel like wet concrete.  I would put the whole thing in a kiln for awhile just to dry it out, then disassemble, sand, refinish, and pray everything still lines up properly when you put it back together....

Agreed, the action on the keys with the potential moisture on the bushings is going to be the most interesting part for me. I wouldn't say there's enough trouble to warp the keys but we'll see on Sunday. It's going to be literally everything taken apart and slowly restored, the tolex peeling off at the front and the lack of level keys won't help the action either!

I've started sourcing from my usual places again, I'm tempted in re-tolexing it in orange like so:





I'm going to send off the harp frame and the tonebars to be given an acid bath and get them replated.

Rockstardave, what was your Rhodes like when you first purchased it?

T


http://www.elecedge.com/orange.html

[bumpyrhode]

I like that orange too. But I have to say this one is my favorite.

From VV's website. Probably owned by someone here.

[Tim Hodges]

Yep that's Dr Carver's

The only problem with that Rhodes was that the latches and corners were painted and I believe he had problems with them chipping (even after numerous protective coats)

I was wondering though what the grill cloth colour was called as it seems to be similar to one of Olivier's restorations:

http://olivier-grall.yusynth.net/restoration/resto%20orange/page%20resto%20orange.html

[Tim Hodges]

Well the Rhodes turned up yesterday I came back from a trip to have a look through it and I've got a lot of work ahead of me... I'm now considering whether I should sell this for parts or purchase the spares and restore it as originally planned. Here's what I mean:

About 10 bridle straps remain, they will break very soon so 88 bridle straps will need to be replaced:


The damp has eaten away the damper felts (in fact almost all felt, bushings, pedestal you name it) the dampers themselves are brittle and will also need replacing:


Rusted key and guide pins mixed with deteriorated felt gives a 1975 action a run for it's money.  


Black mold is present throughout, I'm going to remove this next weekend (very very carefully) and see what the actual damage is.


Roughly 7 broken keys (I have no idea how)


Close up of rust and mold


Keys in preperation for cleaning:


Old damper felts:


Close up of bushings and broken keys:


Some of the better looking tines:




Overall a lot of work!!

[Rob A]

I think that's the saddest specimen I've ever seen.

[Tim Hodges]

I think that's the saddest specimen I've ever seen.

Agreed but fingers crossed it'll be a good ending.

T

[rockstardave]

Rockstardave, what was your Rhodes like when you first purchased it?

It looked a whole lot better than yours (no offense), but was in pretty rough shape.  A 1970 Stage 73 with half wood hammers, wood harp support blocks, Raymac tines, Marcel pedestal... too sweet not to resurrect.





I had corrosion and rust on the tone generators and hardware, drink rings on the harp frame, thrashed felts, hammer tips, tonebar screws, grommets, leaves and massive dust bunnies in the case, stiff action, no pedal, dirty/scratchy pots, miserable setup, scratched harp lid, all logos either broken or missing, filthy keytops.  I've fixed enough for it to look and sound good enough to gig with a few times a month, but it is an ongoing project.  Sorry for the oversized pics...




Check out my homemade sustain pedal

[Tim Hodges]

It looked a whole lot better than yours (no offense), but was in pretty rough shape.

Haha none taken my Stage 73 looks superb and that was in a bad condition when I first bought it but this is something else!

The amp and speakers seem to be in great condition, I need to get a 2 amp slow blow fuse and connect a stray wire (loose solder joint) then I'll test it but I can't see any major issues.

The keybed is just going to be the mother, I'm tempted in waiting for a scrapped 88 to come about then nick out the keybed of that a do a transplant. But in the meantime I think this if I pull it off would be an excellent showcase for me


That Mk1a looks great Dave, you've done a really good job on it, I would love to own one! I prefer them way over the later models.

T

[Dan Belcher]

Good Lord. I think this is going to be less a "restoration" and more a case of "building a brand new Rhodes piano from scratch!" Good luck, man. It looks like you're gonna need it.

[Tim Hodges]

Cheers Dan! You're completely right, so today was my first day of restoration (the sun finally showed up!)

I've sanded down the base of the piano, and the lid. In the process I've removed pretty much all of the black mold, any which was left I gave a good going over with my hot air gun which did the job, I'm going to give it another sand tomorrow to make sure!

Unfortunately 5 keys broke whilst I attempted to remove them, I wasn't heavy handed but the wood was exceptionally weak near the guide pins but at this moment I'm not fussed as I'll most likely purchase a set of 88 keys with their keybed.

The cab beneath the top section is in great condition, no problems whatsoever, I'm in the process of dismantling the power amp and checking over the components and as of yet all is good.

Here are a few summary photos, there are plenty more in the album if you're interested in seeing how it's coming together (the link is at the bottom)



Bottom case all sanded down



Top case sanded down

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f243/tjh392/?action=view&current=DSCF4166.jpg

Broken key



More photos:

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f243/tjh392/

[swenz]

Major kudos to you, if you can bring that thing back to life, please keep us updated.  One less Rhodes finding it's way to the graveyard is a good thing!