Rhodes Mark II Stage Piano 73

volume, and bass boost. very straight forward.

my mark II have wooden keys, and plastic hammers. a plastic flat top like the mark V, not round like the mark I. a durable wooden case like the mark I. 4 screw in legs. i believe all mark II stage piano were built like this. although some have plastic keys, and plastic hammers.

the plastic hammers are kind of nice. i like the way the action is a bit lighter then the mark I. one this i dont like is the octave or so above middle C thats really bellsy. you can adjust the tines, pickups, and tone bars to kill it a little. if you want to get rid of it all together you have to change the hammer tips for that range. i think you need to go softer with them. there are a few different stiffnesses over the whole keyboard. i think softer for the lower, and harder for the highs.

once your Rhodes is set up, regulated, and tuned you will be good for a while.

ok, when i bought mine, i payed $350 but it needed work. alot of it. it had 26 dead pickup!!! needed to be tweaked, and had a broken bass boost pot. on the mark II CBS used shitty pickups. you can tell right away. they are the ones that have a white piece of tape wrapped around the copper coil. these are notorious for breaking. if you are going to buy one check them first. plug the Rhodes in and touch each pickup with a screw drive. if it doesnt make a popping sound its dead. if its real quiet, its going to die soon. also look really close where the copper coil connects to the top of the pickup. if its turning green the copper is rotting and the connection will soon break. more new pickups. this was the most costly part of fixing my Rhodes. i had a tech in Boston Ma work on it. i spend nearly $300 on pickup alone. all said and done i pay $350 for the Rhodes, and $600 on repairs and a setup. $950 for a now sick Rhodes is not bad, i really am happy with it now, but i probably would have past on this Rhodes knowing what a pain in the ass it was. from here on out i will do any small repairs. if i need any part or serious work, ill take it to pianos by jay in Boston.

overall these are awesome keyboards. vintage analog keys is the only way.

Nothing could be simpler. Bass boost and volume nobs and just play.

this is just like a piano, the keys are a little lighter to the touch compared to most german pianos, probly more like a yamaha. bass boost is great.. I play the keys in a band and this is our bass guitar! if you have the coordination to play the keyboard part and the bass line then no need for an extra member!

This is the classic rock piano, hands down. Touch sensitive like a piano, and nothing beats the warm rhodes sound. There are no simulations of it that come close. This is the best sounding keyboard EVER!

This can get iffy. The thing weighs in at 120 lbs with lid and legs on, so can be a real pain if you dont have rodies. I only take mine to gigs, way to hard to bring to practices. These things have been known to break if dropped, but you can ussually fix em pretty easily. My advice is to just be very careful with it. The case is very hard so nothing will get to the keys or anything, but it is a vintage instrument so handle with care. Pay special attention to it and ull be fine!

Rhodes' aren't manufactured anymore, so there is no customer support. If you go to an old music store there might be a clerk who has sold these and remembers how to work em. Most of the time your on your own with just the internet if you have some problems.

I got mine off of ebay mint to the max for $1000 which is about how much you want to pay for a great one. I have not had any problems for the 4 years i have owned it. The rhodes sound is unbeatable. The only downside to this instrument is the weight, but it is well worth it. I also suggest buying a tube amp to go along with it to the get the full sound out. I use a wah pedal and overdrive pedal with mine. Both sound the great but the overdrive is the best because it has tubes in it, and with the drive turned down it acts as a tube preamp. THis is really great because i use a KC 150 and a Peavy Bandit with it, which dont contain tubes. The tubes really add some great warmth to get the full sound out. I use an English Muff'n by electro harmonix, and I suggest getting a high end pedal like it. Without tubes this thing is still a beauty, the tubes are more of a picky deal for people like me. Go get one of these if you are a classic rock keyboardist/pianist. You won't regret it.

knobs for volume and bass adjustment are right in front of you. the output jack is sort of in an odd place right next to the knobs, and depending on the type of cable you use, the cable can get in the way when you're trying to play the lower bass notes.

requires no external power, just an amp. this is an acoustic instrument. the action is a little hard compared to other keyboards, but the sound is so wonderful that you'll be addicted to its sound and you'll build up finger strength. no midi, no sequencer. just you and the thousands of possible chord combinations.

variation in sound is acheived by how hard you play. overtones increase with how hard a note is struck. i normally play with the bass knob at 10. i think the greatest thing you can do to this instrument to make it sound better is to add a subtle chorus module/pedal and some EQ. When you boost at around 2.5 - 3.5 kHz it sounds wonderful; the notes shimmer and glisten, especially when you're using a chorus at the same time.
i've used it in drum & bass tunes and it fits wonderfully... but i would imagine it would work for a lot of other styles of music as well; jazz, blues, hip hop, house, whatever.

the only problem with mine is that some of the bass keys are broken; they wobble around and click when you release them. also, it appears to me that one of the A keys towards the top is messed up... it's a lot brigher and sustains for a shorter amount of time in comparison to the other keys. but considering its been sitting in an outdoor shed for a few decades (!) it sounds amazing. it's fairly heavy, so it isn't going to move around. i've stacked other synths on top of it; a K-Station and a Moog Prodigy and no harm done.

if i ever have trouble with it, the first thing i would do is look online for people who can fix it.

its a wonderful instrument, and i'd hate to part with it. it's my father's (i'm 17 and i make electronic music) so i was lucky enough to get it for free.

I got mine off e-bay, luckily in pretty pristine condition. I replaced all felt tips, grommets and hammers (kudo's to Majorkey & Speakeasy Vintage Music companies to make this possible!). Once I got back from physio-therapy to restore my muscles after setting this beast up, get yourself a proper signal booster (Dave Merrill, Speakeasy, Reussenzehn or Majorkey's Harmonic Clarifier), plug it into your mixer - et voila.

It's a keyboard - mine has plastic keys & hammers, and very easy to maintain. The action is appropriate for a 20 year old electric piano ; nobody plays Liszt on a Rhodes (or, not yet...?).

As a true Aficionado, I am biased - but no words can describe the feeling of hearing a TRUE Rhodes in action. I've hooked mine on a Majorkey's Harmonic Clarifier (great little invention!), run it through a Zoom RFX-2000 (the cleanest sounding & value-for-money effect box EVER made!) for some true audio bliss! I'd have to be a sound engineer with a IT degree to acheive the same level / depth / uniqueness of sound with a soft- or hardware synthesizer - so why bother?!?

After lugging it around the world several times with airlines and courier / shipping companies I didn't even have to retune it, not to mention replacing coils or pick-ups. And it is SO easy to fix / work on it yourself!

Majorkey and Speakeasy Vintage Music Systems are two companies who have dedicated time and expenses for all "Rhodies" out there - without them we'd never be able to run our Rhodes and keep them in ship shape to this day. Hats off and kudo's to you Ladies and Gentlemen!

I've been "at it" for over 30 years, and use many hardware synthesizers that are very useful and excellent in their own right. But every real musician will agree that owning a Rhodes is owning a piece of musical history that has - to this date - not been surpassed in its engineering simplicity and sonic geniality / uniqueness. Get one if you can, and you will never look back.

This Stage piano is exactly as MARK I, but with some improvments, like tunable chords, flat cover so that you can easily put other keyboard at the top of the piano. This is offcourse electic instrument, with one sound, and just two tone controls. One for volume, and second for bass boost. No manual is needed, and it has beautiful sound. The only weakes of this piece is that you can not plug it anywhere, cause it works as a electric guitar. When plugged in low impedance input it gets muddy, and there is sirious treblle killing. You just have to have to have a guitar or bass amplifier, or some tube preamp, if you want to hear how it really sounds.

The real beauty of this piece of gear, that it has full poliphony, thus you can not even discuss of the poliphony problem, cause there is no any. 73 chords, hammer touch, and real piano mechanisam.

There is only one sound, wich is great, and unique. You dont need any other keyboard for gigs. Maybe I would use good organ sounds if i had a good emulator or something. I play funk, jazz, fussion, rock, blues, and this one sound never has been boring to me, it just got better and better to my ears. I had one problem. Piano was acting like a electric bass, litle slow in reaction to my touch, but I put active electronic in it, and now it responds to the touch, imidiately. Velocity in enormus, When playing silent, no one can hear you, and when you get harder, no one can hear themselfs. Amazing!!!

I was playing with my band in one Club, and we had to carry piano through a little door, and I acidently hit the doors with a piano, and everyone started to jell: "You asshole, you'll brake the door!!!"
50Kg (without a covver), and solid wood. You brake it and I'll buy you a drink.

No need for this:

The best piano in the World, wich is not acoustic piano. My all Ideas are made with it and I use it allways. Very inspiring instrument.