72 Fender Rhodes - Suitcase?

[The_Cause]

Hi All;

I just picked up a 1972 Fender Rhodes 88, as I sold my mint Super Sattelite 88 last year and have been looking for once since. This one is totally road worn, but has some interesting links to Toronto - repairs at the 12th Fret in the 70's and 80's. I got it for cheap as a project.

I'm curious - there is a wooden dowel where the hole normally is for the sustain pedal (on a stage model). Is it because this was once a suitcase? The knob faceplate is gone, but there is 3 holes, then a 4th bigger one. Someone also drilled 2 holes on the far left (maybe effects send).

Also, the Fender Rhodes name sticker on the harp says Mod. '88 KLY'. Not sure what that means.

Any help identifying? Thanks! Scott

[The_Cause]

D'oh - there's no flanges for the legs, it must be a suitcase! Anyone know what Mod. '88 KLY' means?

[sean]

To unlock your door, you need a KLY.


I guess the E didn't get perfectly stamped on the label.

[bumpyrhode]

Not sure about the dowel. Need a pic. Both Stage and Suitcase models have a 3/4" dowel
that the sustain rod pushes which in turn lifts the damper bar.  The Stage model has a
large hole in the bottom with a filler cup and a smaller hole that guides the sustain rod.
Not sure about a Suitcase. Could be the filler cup fell out and the dowel dropped into the
hole.

Prior to 1970 (not sure) the namerail for the suitcase had four holes. Three for the control
knobs and a larger one for the 4-pin connector. After a some point all Mark I models had the
two extra holes for "Accessories". They were just hidden behind the faceplate.

At least this is the way it is on my son's

As far as "88 KLY" goes, the first thing that came to mind was Robert Keeley who is famous
for guitar effects pedal mods. Low and behold I found this. Maybe you can contact them and
find out what they did to it.

http://www.12fret.com/new/Keeley_Robert_Electronics_pg.html

Keeley home page

http://www.rkfx.com/home.php

[The_Cause]

To unlock your door, you need a KLY.


I guess the E didn't get perfectly stamped on the label.

Haha, that's entirely possible!

[The_Cause]

Not sure about the dowel. Need a pic. Both Stage and Suitcase models have a 3/4" dowel
that the sustain rod pushes which in turn lifts the damper bar.  The Stage model has a
large hole in the bottom with a filler cup and a smaller hole that guides the sustain rod.
Not sure about a Suitcase. Could be the filler cup fell out and the dowel dropped into the
hole.

Prior to 1970 (not sure) the namerail for the suitcase had four holes. Three for the control
knobs and a larger one for the 4-pin connector. After a some point all Mark I models had the
two extra holes for "Accessories". They were just hidden behind the faceplate.

At least this is the way it is on my son's

As far as "88 KLY" goes, the first thing that came to mind was Robert Keeley who is famous
for guitar effects pedal mods. Low and behold I found this. Maybe you can contact them and
find out what they did to it.

http://www.12fret.com/new/Keeley_Robert_Electronics_pg.html

Keeley home page

http://www.rkfx.com/home.php

I wonder about that, it did have a customer preamp where a few extra holes were drilled through the rail. It's pretty battered, but the inside it clean and relatively rust/corrosion free - certainly less so than the MKII I used to own (as seen in the avatar). It'll be a cool project to fix it up for sure, its just a shame I put all those Vintage Vibe parts into the one I sold.

[Ben Bove]

The dowel only is normal.  It butts right up against the bolt that protrudes from the original speaker cabinet, and when they're lined up there's no need for a guide cup like the stage models, because the pedal doesn't shift.