How Much Would YOU Pay for A Mark V

[hobageeba]

So yeah, if it was in good condition and all worked well.  Just curious of their value nowadays.  Thanks!

[modus]

hello all

newbie to the forum

i have an opportunity to purchase a Mark V Stage 73 that (albiet a little dirty) works perfectly, and cosmetically is in very good condition

i am having a difficult time assessing the value to make an offer, as the current owner has not used it in years and really has no idea what it's worth

he is a friend of a friend and a nice guy, so i don't want to rip him off, but i also don't mind the idea of "stealing" it a little bit, either

any suggestions on where to find this info or any help from you fellow forum members would be great

i promise to post pics if / when she's mine...

thanks
/jsa

[tjcombs]

Offer 500 bucks and see how they react. Heh.

[jibbidyjoe]

I paid $500 for a mark v last year:

http://www.joehungry.com/?p=72

Good LUCK!  I love mine.

[Rendall]

$500...................................

Disgusting :x

[tjcombs]

If I had the opportunity to buy one, and I had the money, I'm sure I'd spend quite a bit depending on the condition.

[jibbidyjoe]

yeah, i couldn't believe it....i mean, $500 ?!?!

the mark v is my third Rhodes piano.  I first bought a Mark I suitcase 88 for $400.  everything worked fine, but i ended up blowing all 4 speakers.  geez.  I sold it for a profit though.  Then i found a near mint MKII stage 73.  a pickup went bad in it and i decided to sell for various reasons.  i came to hate that decision!  only a few months went by and I found myself searching for a rhodes again.  I posted a few WTB classifieds for a Mark V.  I figured I would NEVER hear from someone, but only a few weeks later I got an email from a guy in Baltimore, MD.  He said he had one and would sell it.

I asked him how much he wanted, I told him that I recently sold 2 rhodes pianos for around 400-500.  He said 500 would be fine.  I drove up there 2 days later (a 12 hour round trip voyage).  It was totally worth it.

I'd like to post some pictures soon.  I've been good at cleaning it, replacing tines, tuning it, etc.

I am going to have the piano services soon, and I am thinking about getting the speakeasy dyno-my-piano preamp.  But the mark v is so "bell-like" already in the upper registers, I hope that the preamp works well with it.  I'm assuming that the dyno eq curves and such were tweaked for the MK 1 and MK II models.  Apparently the MK V action is significantly different from those two models.

We'll see...

[modus]

I'm guessing this one is a steal...

The guy selling it lives less than 30 minutes from me, so he agreed to let me pick it up and take it home to see what was what (as I've said, he's a friend of a friend, and I realized this was a unique oppurtunity and also a somehwat ideal buying situation)

I cleaned her up pretty good on sunday, plugged her in to my buddy's Fender Pro Sonic through a TR-2 + Vox wah and gave those tubes a workout - sounded mean!

And running it clean and quiet also sounded real pretty and pure in tone

The action in the low end seems a litte too soft - can't lay into the notes and make them "break up" the way I want (although the middle octaves get a nice growl going when you bear down) - is this possible to adjust, or just a characteristic of the Mark V?

She's perfectly in tune- all tines / hammers / pickups / keys etc. work, look and sound great! Just needed a little TLC (or contact cleaner, whatever you want to call it) in the tone and volume pots

And as I've said before, cosemtically she's very clean - not mint, but I'd categorize her in the VG column

Based on the info I've gathered from this site and other resources, I've concluded that this model was built somewhere around the end of October of '84 (4284 on the plate = 42nd week of 1984, am I correct on this?)

I've decided to offer $450.00 - judging from what my friend says, he'll be happy just to get it off his hands and make a little money

I'm a synth player of many years who has always been curious and envious of the Rhodes, its players and its sonic possiblities -  but I have never had the opportunity to play or explore one before this, so please forgive any newbie / obvious questions

...So I guess I'm lucking out?!

thanks
/jsa

[jibbidyjoe]

nice!  i think you are getting a great deal.  i saw a mark v (original owner) for sale on ebay in near mint condition.  If i am remembering correctly, it went for $2500.

enjoy it!

[matt.musicman]

I think it's really too bad that people are so greedy as to get $2500 for a Rhodes.  They are amazing instruments and I think they should be spread around the world with love not greed.

EBay is the last place people should look when trying to obtain a Rhodes.  Make as many people aware that you are trying to find a Rhodes, communicate your thoughts and feelings, ask around at your local schools, etc.

Do not get ripped off by someone trying to make a buck!  There's way too much of that going around in today's society!

[Miguel Tuna]

Matt, that is easy to say when you live in America, the country where rhodes was born.
If I want to buy a Portuguese guitar I won't be looking on Ebay for sure, I look for it in my country.
I bought a Rhodes ('79 suitcase in lovely mechanical and cosmetic condition) 4 days ago on Germany by Ebay, I paid a bit for it, but there aren't many alternatives, because shipping and taxes for Portugal are higher than the much Lower prices that you get on Ebay America, and still doesn't compensate!

[BJT3]

Miguel, Congrats!
-Ben-

[Miguel Tuna]

Thanks Ben, I'll post some pics soon, I'm really happy, it's a mk1 73(one of the last)

[jibbidyjoe]

A Rhodes Mark V sold on eBay recently for US$4,350:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7401074602

I remember one in MINT condition that sold for more than this on ebay a few months ago.

I had NO IDEA that folks were paying this amount for a Marv V.  I mean, mine sounds great, but I've played many other models that sound just as good.

I guess it could be that the Mark V is rare, compared to other models.

[ian]

I don't think sellers are being 'greedy' if they put a mark V on Ebay and they sell for high prices.

The price is simply dictated by what people are prepared to pay... Prices of vintage music gear are all over the place these days!

So did you manage to get the mark V for $450?

[hrees]

As rhodes owners we should be pleased the prices are rising. But the differential between the mark V and other models is ridiculous as it is largely built on this 'best ever rhodes' hearsay. Yes, the mark V has a bit more room for getting a sensitive action (though they aren't any better than a good mark II unless they have a precision setup) and the damper design gives better stopping power, but in my experience the build quality is not particularly good. There are problems with broken pivot pins on the hammers and warped keybeds which don't have the solid support of the case given to earlier rhodes. The factory tip mixture was altered to give more overtone in the midrange, though to my ears this just makes the instrument sound harsh and it sounds better revoiced to the traditional break points. The tines are identical to those in the much maligned black namerail mark II. The rubber standoffs in the top octave perish and shrink making those notes difficult to voice. And it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the correct replacement hammers, dampers, stands etc (any part unique to the mark V).

[tjcombs]

We should be happy mark v's are ONLY that much.
Think about vintage gibson guitars.  Tens of thousands of dollars.
They made way more of the guitars than Mark v's.
You'd think that the piano would be worth more. Heh.
I've seen silvertops that are essentially the same age as some of the most sought after guitars and they go for a fraction of the cost.
It's all about the hype.  Not everyone knows what a Fender rhodes is vintage or not. Everyone knows what a vintage guitar is.

[ian]

You've got a good point there about the fact that Rhodes piano's are still pretty much within most musicians price range... unlike some vintage guitars and especially some classic old polysynths which I'd love to get my hands on but can't quite justify blowing megabucks on!

[andi85]

right, it's not soooo bad.
i'm a student myself and a rhodes owner. well...it hurt quite a bit to spend about 2.000 € for a good stage73, a fender hotrod and an active DI, yes. but it was manageable and absolutely worth the money.

[jibbidyjoe]

I wanted to respond to "hrees" post:

The factory tip mixture was altered to give more overtone in the midrange, though to my ears this just makes the instrument sound harsh and it sounds better revoiced to the traditional break points. The tines are identical to those in the much maligned black namerail mark II. The rubber standoffs in the top octave perish and shrink making those notes difficult to voice. And it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the correct replacement hammers, dampers, stands etc (any part unique to the mark V).

When I got my Mark V, I was originally woried that replacement parts would be difficult to come by.  From what I could tell comparing my Mark V with a Mark II and Mark Ib, the parts were, for all intents and purposes, the same.

I recently sent an email to Frederik Adlers (according to "J" of the fenderrhodes site, Frederik is the tech who prepared the Mark V that Clavia sampled for the Nord Electro).  I asked Frederik if the Mark V had different hammer tips than earlier models.  I had read in a Clavia manual that this was the case.  Frederik told me that:

"There's absolutely no difference in any way!
Working with a MkV is just like working on any Rhodes from 1970 and forward.
Absolutely no difference in Hammer Tips or anything else.
What differs is just the fact that the harp sits higher in the MkV, so
hammer throw is a bit longer, but this does not change the approach when
serviceing."

Obviously, there are differences between the Mark V and previous models, as "hrees" points out, like the piano stand.  And I'm assuming the dampers are different as well due to the redesign I've read about.

Hrees, can you send me some sources that document the hammer tip difference in the Mark V?

Thanks,
Joe

[hrees]

The tips are the same, just the arrangement is different in the fact that the hardest black tips are extended down antother 10 notes or so on the mark Vs I have worked on. This is what I mean by tip mixture. Presumably this was to try and get a more 80s sound to compete with the dx7 etc, as it gives more overtone, but it just sounds harsh to my ears. You will get exactly the same effect extending the hardest black tips in any other rhodes.

As for the quote from Freddan, it is wrong. The servicing approach is the same, but mark V hammers have a shorter cam than the previous models. The balance point on the key is also further back. These 2 things combined are what give the increased hammer throw and better touch sensitivity. If you don't believe me try installing a mark II hammer in your mark V.

These mods would have been great had the hammers been made from better quality plastic.

[jibbidyjoe]

hrees,
That's good information.  Thanks!  I'm trying to learn as much about the Mark V as possible.  Information like this would be helpful, I think, for owners of Mark V's who are not aware of the technical differences.

Joe

[hrees]

When you play a mark V unserviced it is nothing special. But after lubricating the action, dropping the escapement and returning the hammer tip groupings to mark I/II spec I got a really silky feel to the keys with as close to grand piano like touch response as I've felt on a rhodes. I'm starting to wish I hadn't sold it now.

[jibbidyjoe]

so hrees,
I am bringing my mark v to a local tech to have it tuned and voiced.

What other maintenence tasks would be worth while to have him perform on my mark v?

Did you use silica spray for lubrication?  If so, where did you spray it?  In the holes on the bottom of the keys?

And when you say lower the escapement, do you mean that for each tone bar assembly, you tightened the adjustment screws to lower it?

You also say that you went back to the mark I/II hammer groupings.  I was thinking of replacing my hammer tips on the mark V.  I would order a standard 73 hammer tip replacement kit, which I assume would get me to mark I/II groupings.

You mention a grand piano like feel.  Did you install backchecks on your keys?

Joe

[hrees]

The escapement reduction is done by reducing the size of the shims on the harp supports until the lowest playable escapement is reached. This way you don't mess up your pickup settings. But it takes a lot of practise to get right as you have to reset the strikeline and dampers, so if a tech were to perform it they would charge you quite a bit. Just a tuning/voicing will not unlock the possibilities of the mark V.

I never bothered with backchecks: the key bounce was pretty minimal anyway.

[jibbidyjoe]

hrees,
i took a look at my mark V and I can't find any shims between the harp frame and the mounting surface.

There /is/ a particle-board-like material between the two, but you can't remove it.

I have seen washers placed between the two to raise the harp assembly on some Mark 1 pianos.

What is your experience with shims on the Mark V?  Are they washers or something else?

So...it would seem that my escapement is as "low" as possible with adjusting the harp height.  I suppose I could still adjust the escapement by adjusting the tone bar screws, as the service manual suggests.

What do you think?

[hrees]

You can remove the particle board. Just get a chisel. 2mm in height will make a big difference to the action. But don't take it too low unless you want thunking, blocking notes etc.

[TineDaily]

I got a Mark V on ebay without pedal or stand for around $800 shipped a few years back. It was in great shape, but I replaced the hammer tips and damper felts anyway. I ended up selling it for about the same amount two years ago. While it had fantastic playing action, closest to a real piano in that regard, I just couldn't dig the overly clean bell sound...it sounded very 80's to me, even if I put an old harp from a 1972 stage on it...the sound is all in the reengineered action as far as I could tell. It is a very light rhodes, though, and would be great for gigging, but it just didn't have the harmonic personallity the older models have...maybe because the new-designed dampers weren't double-kissing the tines like the old models? Or  maybe due to the increased velocity of the hammers...I could almsot feel the rubber tips compressing in the tines when I really pounded the keyboard. I admit to falling for the hype of the Elusive Mark V, and am glad I had the chance to play around with it,  if only to remove any hankering for the Unknown. But for those of you who truly prefer the sound of the older Mark I's, I don't think you are missing out on much.

[dwilson]

Referring back to the title of this topic...would you pay $12,000?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Fender-Rhodes-Piano-Mark-V-Still-in-the-Box_W0QQitemZ7407060891QQcategoryZ16220QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[jibbidyjoe]

I've seen that Speakeasy Vintage Music ebay auction before.

It has gone up with BIN for $12,000 but never been sold.  From what I can tell, they are now using the auction to help advertise their buisiness.

Two near mint Mark V's sold on ebay over the past 6 months for approx $4,200 each.

So to answer your question:  No, I would not pay $12,000 and apparently no ebayer has been willing either up to this point.

[ian]

That's quite a price! It's got to be the only Rhodes available thats still boxed and unused though!?

I think this will be for the collectors...can't imagine anyone gigging this baby;)

Mind you... if you think thats expensive for a piece of music gear then check this out!!:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=870489

[multmin]

Actually, I am wondering "How much would you pay for a Mark V stand?"

I've been looking for the Mark V stand for years (as probably we all have). So many people want a Mark V stand, and since they are so rare we should just MAKE them (unless, of course, you want the original). If anyone with the original Mark V leg stand has dimensions and/or schematics available, I'd love to see them.

Anyway, any other "Mark V stand" ideas for those of us who need the stand but not necessarily an original one (and DON'T want an V, X, or Z stand NOR one of the On-Stage, König & Meyer, etc. tabletop substitutes) would be appreciated. Thanks!

Brian Mulholland
Bassist - Maynard Ferguson

P.S. The post about the different Mark V stand configuration by jibbidyjoe was awesome!

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=1233

[jibbidyjoe]

All,
I will be getting back in town tomorrow and I will take photos and measurements of the stand.  really, any stand would do, but what makes the mark v stand so "special", in my opinion, is that it has 4 thumb screws that lock into the bottom of the mark v.  you don't have to use them.  you could just set the mark v on top of the stand.

i'll follow up soon.  i am also going to send some pix of my mark v, and questions regarding key height.

jibz

[james]

We could really use this kind of info on the Super Site!  If you can send the measurements and pics to me at input@fenderrhodes.com, I would be most grateful....

[Heath]

I actually am good friends with one of the guys who had his Rhodes Mark V sell on Ebay for $4,350. It looked and sounded fantastic. We were BOTH shocked at how much it ended for. I was mad because before he put it on Ebay he offered it to me for $1,000.

[nick]

the hammers are a bitch.  the improved action they give is exactly what seems to make them more prone to break.  However, through some trial and error I think I have devised a way to 'make' new Mark V hammers which is pretty easy.  They're not much to look at but they seam (thus far) to work great.  Check my post in the 'repairs' section if you're interested.