1973 88 Key Stage Fender Rhodes with Dyno Preamp listening samples

[DynoCzarus Rex]

Have a link to some listening samples of my 1973 Fender Rhodes with a Dyno preamp that was restored by Tim Warneck of Retrolinear. Tim and his team did a fantastic job bringing out the best in this golden era Rhodes in terms of dynamic response and the overall voicing of the piano. I originally got the piano because I had been after creating the tone of the famed 1971 E model Rhodes. I think this piano comes pretty close to that particular sound. Have a listen by following this link https://soundcloud.com/user-437528611

[pnoboy]

Sounds exactly like a Dyno-equipped Rhodes should sound.  Enjoy it!

[sunrunner]

Sounds great!!  I enjoyed your tracks, I love all those songs.  I have a 1973 88-key as well (suitcase, non-dyno).

[AvionKeys]

So right on! That is such an iconic sound you have there.

Can you tell us which dyno that is, settings and what you're running through?

[The Real MC]

Sounds great!  My sparkletop with wood/plastic hammers sounds similar to the E model too.  The era from 1966 to 1973 seem to be the magic.

[4kinga]

While some people don't like the Dyno sound, I really like how you can use the pre to really dial in the sound you're looking for;  It can be bright and sparkly but it can also be warm with lots of tone.

You've nice sounds and some nice voicings too!

[sunrunner]

You are definitely very close to the sound of the E Rhodes.  That's the closest I've ever heard to that sound. If you had a little stereo chorus, I might even think it was the E. I believe the CE-1 stereo chorus was used on almost every song the E was played on. That's definitely a part of "that" sound you're going for (IMO).

[DynoCzarus Rex]

So right on! That is such an iconic sound you have there.

Can you tell us which dyno that is, settings and what you're running through?

Thanks for the kind words! It's a '73 88 key Fender Rhodes with the later version of the Dyno Pro EQ from 1982. I am running the mono output of the Dyno into a presonus audio/midi interface into Logic Pro X. I do have an Amdek (transitional Roland/pre Boss CE-2) CHK-100 "stereo" chorus, but it really tends to shave off quite a bit of the top end sparkle in the 10KHz range and ends up sounding nothing like the E model at least to my ears in mono. Here's what I've been able to gather from the recordings of the E that I've listened to. If it's one of Jay Graydon's sessions, he'd have the E model recorded direct in stereo. That's the big limitation of my piano is that it does not have a set of balanced, stereo outputs. But I can kind of make it stereo if a pan one side hard right and then copy the track and pan it hard left. The other thing that makes a huge difference is making one of the panned sides have a chorus effect on it , while the remaining side is dry/unaffected. Some dyno users who I have heard mimic this panned dry/wet effect would include Terry Trotter on Larry Carlton's album "Sleep Walk", Russell Ferrante on the Yellow Jacket's tune "Sittin' In It", and Bob James' tune "Spunky". Next time when I'm able to record some more listening samples, I'll try recording my Dyno with no effects and then copy the track and run it through the Amdek chorus and then pan them out. As far as the settings on the Dyno,  I've basically cut out some of the midrange, cut the bass completely, and bumped the treble up some. The funny thing with the Dyno EQ is that the trebel sweep is absolutely ridiculous so I used it pretty sparingly. It sounds like its got a little more of a transient edge to it than the trebel boost on the E model, but its probably as close as I'll ever get to it.   

[AvionKeys]

Cool gwike,

Thanks for the info. I wonder if you might be able to fix both issues with a quality stereo tremolo/chorus pedal. I haven't researched it lately but I think TC Electronics has one and EH does as well I think. Might be just the thing to give you both a usable chorus and a stereo output with actual active panning/sweeping. Just a thought. Overall tho, your sound is so good, why mess with it! 

[Cookymonster]

What a sound ...and great playing.
My early 1975 suitcase may need some tweaking for this...
Or perhaps it doesn't have the potential at all ?

[DynoCzarus Rex]

What a sound ...and great playing.
My early 1975 suitcase may need some tweaking for this...
Or perhaps it doesn't have the potential at all ?

Thanks for the kind words. In my opinion most well maintained Rhodes made from the "Golden Era" of '73 to '76 have good potential to sound great. You just have to have the right tech with a great set of ears for voicing the piano and a good sense of dynamics. You can get close to the E-model sound with a '75, but if it's a 73 key suitcase you are probably better off doing the Eddie Reynolds trebel boost mod in the Peterson preamp; however, if its an 88 key suitcase you might want to consider the Dyno preamp or a multi band EQ pedal (I think MXR makes one). Eighty eights do sound darker than 73s, so thats the main reason why I hunted down an original Dyno preamp.

[rhodesjuzz]

This 88 key thing is interesting. I remember Ben Bove once said it might have something to do with the pickup wiring.  Could that also be one of the reasons the 88s are so hard to obtain?

[Ben Bove]

The production numbers on 88 pianos vs. 73 key models was much less.  Granted they didn't make any 88s until 1972, but after that it was about a 1:3 ratio of 88s compared to the number of 73s sold.  So they are harder to come by because fewer were in demand / sold

Yes, the darker sound does have to do with the 88 pickups in the chain

[rhodesjuzz]

Thanks Ben.  A month ago I had a chance to buy a 88 suitcase piano which was only a few weeks older than mine. I wondered if it was worth my bucks because the piano needed a serious setup like miracle mod , strike line, escapement etc. Cosmetically it was in a really good shape. Never mind: my 73 has a very nice dark sound similar to https://youtu.be/KJkyI4vEhFQ

Back to topic: I could be wrong but I rarely or maybe never see a dyno amp in a MK2...

[Groove4Hire]

Check my avatar ;-)

[DynoCzarus Rex]

Check my avatar ;-)

Speaking of later era Dynos, Jon, do you know what's going on with the original eq and stereo vibrato of this 73 key Janus suitcase Rhodes in this clip? Are they completely bypassed and the Dyno mods are just being powered by the original speaker amp cable or is something else going on? Thinking of possibly dynoing my '78 73 key suitcase model like this. 

Joe Cool- "Trans-Himalayan"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e62Cj4YjL-A

[Ben Bove]

It's difficult to say exactly because I can't quite make out what's on the right side from the clips.  What appears to be going is, I don't see 1/4" cables and I don't think I see a cheek block switch mod.  So, unless I can't see the separate power supply cord, everything is running through the factory suitcase preamp.

A suitcase with a Dyno amp installed is definitely quite rare, as 99% of the time I see stage pianos.  Seeing here that the 5-pin cable is still running to the factory preamp, my guess is that the audio signal is being sent to the dyno and then back out to amp.  I would assume the factory EQ is bypassed, as EQ on top of EQ isn't a great idea.

[DynoCzarus Rex]

It's difficult to say exactly because I can't quite make out what's on the right side from the clips.  What appears to be going is, I don't see 1/4" cables and I don't think I see a cheek block switch mod.  So, unless I can't see the separate power supply cord, everything is running through the factory suitcase preamp.

A suitcase with a Dyno amp installed is definitely quite rare, as 99% of the time I see stage pianos.  Seeing here that the 5-pin cable is still running to the factory preamp, my guess is that the audio signal is being sent to the dyno and then back out to amp.  I would assume the factory EQ is bypassed, as EQ on top of EQ isn't a great idea.

So if the EQ was bypassed, then how would it be possible to have the stereo vibrato working and not bypassed as well? I believe Rob Mounsey's stereo vibrato worked after the mod as evidenced by this Michael Franks recording he played on with the same Dyno from the previous clip.

Michael Franks- "When Sly Calls [Don't Touch That Phone]"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uek94URoGwk&index=9&list=PL1g0mjTv_7Xtt49XwCNPCgIR7Ef1jNCtK

[Ben Bove]

It is possible to bypass the audio signal before the vibrato circuit - Eddy Reynolds for example, with his blue floater board modification, created a new EQ for the Peterson preamp while using the original lamp-bulb vibrato.  I'm only guessing at this point because we can't see what's going on internally, but you can send the RCA harp signal to the Dyno amp, and have it return to the factory preamp for the vibrato / routing signal through the 5-pin cable out to speakers.  I don't see the tri-stereo tremolo unit, so the routing may have just been back to the factory preamp on that.