rubber blocks instead of springs on top end

[groover]

Hi guys,
Just wondering why my '81 mark 2 stage has rubber blocks on the top octave and a half instead of springs. Whats the reason for this? The rubber blocks seem to be choking the notes, killing the sustain on them. It could possibly be that the rubber blocks are old and need replacing? I replaced one block with a spring i had spare and the note sounds fine now, much better, with what sounds like correct sustain to me. Anyone know when they started using the rubber block system at the top end and why? And is it better to just replace them with the usual spring setup?
Cheers

[David Aubke]

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=6849.msg34258#msg34258

[groover]

Aaahh! Thanks once again David. On this particular piano it must have come from the factory like this because there is no 2nd hole drilled into the harp frame for each tone bar.
Thanks again for your knowledge.

[chava]

I bought a pack of NOS tines on EBay a while back. There were about a dozen of these standoffs in the pouch, along with this bulletin. It says they were introduced with the EK-10.

[groover]

Hey thanks for that info. Very interesting. Those rubber standoffs definately don't help the top end to sing when they're 30 years old. As i said i replaced one block with a spring and its heaps better.
Did you install the standoff blocks and if so how well did they work when they're new?

[chava]

I installed one, in my suitcase, on the C right before the wood-core tips start. I just couldn't get that note to sustain, no matter what I did. The standoff made a definite improvement. Maybe not singing, exactly, but it sounds well, whereas it didn't before. I had no other clunkers in the top end, so I didn't fix what ain't broke.
You can read what the fellow who developed them had to say here:

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/rubber-standoffs.html

Even though the standoff is functional, I would rather have the traditional spring assembly, since that's the supported format.

[Ben Bove]

Thanks for the bulletin.

Yes, the problem with these is as they wear down or aren't adjusted properly, there's only one point of mounting.  So, when the hammer strikes the tine, it kicks the tine up and out of the pickup field on initial attack, so it creates this strange sort of pinging noise.  The rear screw does provide stability against the kickback of hammer impact, though apparently affected sustain in comparison when new.