want wurly, sell rhodes; need advice

[agustin]

I own a beautiful Rhodes Mark 1 73, Stage model but i would like to sell it and i am looking forward to buy a Wurlitzer a200 ( even so it`s very hard to find one in my country: Argentina- i´ll probably make it bring from the United states). I defenitely need that sound for my group and (here goes my question guys ) i would like somebody to tell me if it is really more portable and lighter than the Rhodes, and also: What about the durability of its parts with a normal use of a rock songs band?.- Thank a lot. :wink:

[Rendall]

If you have a beautiful Rhodes, don't sell it!!!!!!

But wurly's are a fraction smaller I think. Don't know about weight, imagine there's not much difference.

[Hochstrasser]

Wurly's are much lighter than the Rhodes pianos. I really couldn't estimate any numbers for you, but I can move my Wurlitzer around my room a lot easier than my Rhodes. That's not to say it's fun moving them, but it's a lot less difficult. best of luck!

 - Erich

[j_tour]

Absolutely agree that the Wurlitzer is light.  It's no trouble for one reasonably strong person to carry one, even up stairways, as long is it's not too long a distance and without a road case.

I will say that, in my opinion, they are far, far less roadworthy than a Rhodes.  And much harder to work on by yourself.  Tuning is one of the worst things I've ever had to do.  It's literally the biggest pain in the rear ever to adjust even a single tine.  Just horrible.  The amplifiers are delicate as well.  

That said, they are very fun to run with a bunch of preamp distortion or a fuzz pedal -- very dirty and nasty, just like a guitar you can play piano licks on.  And the action is super-fast, very light -- not a drawback, since there's very little nuance to the sound.  But it does sound horrible if it's not *perfectly* in tune, which is very hard to achieve.  You can make your Rhodes sound *very* close to the Wurlitzer if you adjust some of the tine settings and add the right sort of tremolo.

[jouleskeys]

I own both a rhodes 73 and a wurli, and yes the wurli is half the weight of the rhodes, though only 54 notes. It really cuts through better than the rhodes!!! Especially in rock music. I am in 3 bands (funk, breakbeats and rock), and they both serve their cause! The wulie is more agressive and the rhodes is softer, I'd give em a colour and say that the rhodes plays blue whilst the wurli plays purple.

All beautiful, you can't go wrong  :wink:

I was about to sell my rhodes, but when it came to doing it on ebay, I withdrew once I realized all the wonderful things I kept adding to the description that I love it, and so will keep it for a long long time ahead! Do your best to keep your rhodes, as you'll be surprised how attached you are to it as if you even get another, it's not the same, like a bycical, you personalise the rhodes.

Whatever you decide, make the best that you feel is right, though dont let finance dictate your actions where your heart is (yes I'm feeling this thread, cos I know)  

[piano ma'am]

*THAT* was a dang nice post!

 :mrgreen: