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How Severe Is Your Rhodes?


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I played a Rhodes in a studio today and the cursive letters on it said "Severity Three".

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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I hated Rhodes pianos. They were always stiff, sluggish, tiring, with mushy xylophone tone. Then I went to my tech to have a joystick replaced on the Kronos. He had a Mark I for sale he had redone. The thing was perfect. Fast and crisp. I had never played the the right Rhodes.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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My Stage 88 had a decent tone, but the action was horrible. Extremely stiff and sluggish.

 

You can just imagine how good I felt when I played a matinee at the club we were at using the Rhodes, and I played that night with a Yamaha CP-70B

 

I went into a local music store yesterday looking for a specific item, and they had a Rhodes Stage 88 on sale. I played it for a little. The action felt nice and crisp, but the tone was terrible. Could not get it to bark.

 

Although, part of the tone problem could be that it was plugged into a very underpowered Fender Deluxe, that no one had bothered tweaking.

 

This store owner is a friend, but the main reason I buy mostly from Sweetwater..

 

He wanted $1600 for it.

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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Mine was personally endorsed by Torquemada. I didn't expect that.

 

Let's face it. You can't Talkhimada Anything

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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(1) I was inoculated against the Fender Rhodes in the early 1980s, by both the action and the timbre. At the time, Wurleys made me much happier.

 

(2) I'll bet this forum has more Rhodes scholars than Harvard.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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Decades ago, I bought a Rhodes bass keyboard with silver glitter lid at the swap meet for $25.

I don't remember it being severe. I do remember that I quickly realized I didn't want it. Somebody else has it now.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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The first Rhodes I bought in 1977 had super sluggish action and very dull tone. I had the recommended mods done (at great expense) and outboard electronics, and it became passible. It's so easy to get great tone these days with so many digital choices, and many action choices, I smile when I see young people glorifying old instruments. Yes, some were great , but it easy to get a lemon.
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There is some mythical thing with a Rhodes that people go crazy for and I don't understand why. They weren't very well made.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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There is some mythical thing with a Rhodes that people go crazy for and I don't understand why. They weren't very well made.

 

 

It´s not about how well they were made.

It´s all about the tone being printed on countless records, sound engineers and great performing artists got out of these instruments together w/ more or less expensive outboard gear like assorted stomp boxes, studio console´s preamps & EQ, different compressors and modificatons been done to the instrument itself,- stage or suitcase piano.

Amplification and mics came in addition,- when recordings weren´t done by going via DI and/or "direct from harp" into a console´s channel.

 

Everything I did to my 2 Rhodes made ´em new instruments,- but I sold both nonetheless when they became unusable and unreliable for touring and collected dust in the studio as well because technology moved on.

I did the same w/ the Clavinet D6.

 

I´d never buy such gear again, but I regret I sold all for too cheap !

 

A.C.

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I played a Rhodes in a studio today and the cursive letters on it said "Severity Three".
I would still like to put my harids on the Crurriar Severi. Such a cool take on the classic electric piario styling. :thu:

A person that got the joke.

Mine was personally endorsed by Torquemada. I didn't expect that.
I always thought Dave Ruhls.

Two jokes I'm not getting.

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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I played a Rhodes in a studio today and the cursive letters on it said "Severity Three".
I would still like to put my harids on the Crurriar Severi. Such a cool take on the classic electric piario styling. :thu:

A person that got the joke.

Mine was personally endorsed by Torquemada. I didn't expect that.
I always thought Dave Ruhls.

Two jokes I'm not getting.

 

Torquemada = Tor Kamata. So sorry to take my post so far out in left field I"m sure no one got it but me and a few Canadian old-time wrestling fans. :D

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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I played a Rhodes in a studio today and the cursive letters on it said "Severity Three".
I would still like to put my harids on the Crurriar Severi. Such a cool take on the classic electric piario styling. :thu:

A person that got the joke.

Mine was personally endorsed by Torquemada. I didn't expect that.
I always thought Dave Ruhls.

Two jokes I'm not getting.

 

Torquemada = Tor Kamata. So sorry to take my post so far out in left field I"m sure no one got it but me and a few Canadian old-time wrestling fans. :D

 

My Rhodes was particularly punishing. Torquemada was a leader in the Spanish Inquisition, famous for his use of torture to convert Jews and Muslims to Christianity. "I didn't expect that" didn't get the reception I imagined from this forum. It's a reference to a Monty Python skit. "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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i had a chopped L-100 , our piano player had a Rhodes 88 ,he didn't seem to have a problem with the action , i thought it was impossible and the Hammond was easier to move .

i remember him tuning it a lot , which turned out be be good practice as he went on to become a professional piano tuner and repairman .

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I agree with most of these comments about Rhodes being "severe". I had one from about 1977 through the eighties. I gigged with it, because it was about the only option for a piano player at the time. I hated the action. Very stiff, but sluggish. I remember that every Rhodes that I would play, sounded and felt very different from each other. I can tell you that I love the Rhodes patches in my Motif, though.

Yamaha Motif XF6, Yamaha AN200, Logic Pro X,  Arturia Microbrute, Behringer Model D, Yamaha UX-3 Acoustic Piano, assorted homemade synth modules

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I agree with most of these comments about Rhodes being "severe". I had one from about 1977 through the eighties. I gigged with it, because it was about the only option for a piano player at the time. I hated the action. Very stiff, but sluggish. I remember that every Rhodes that I would play, sounded and felt very different from each other. I can tell you that I love the Rhodes patches in my Motif, though.

And there you go. In memoriam "Rhodes - the only option for a piano player at the time" R.I.P.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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I had one from about 1977 through the eighties. I gigged with it, because it was about the only option for a piano player at the time.

 

The other 2 options at the time were the Wurlitzer 200A and the Yamaha CP 70, both with better actions. I bought my first Rhodes piano, a Stage 73, in 1977 as a Junior in High School. JPJ used one live as documented in "THe Song Remains The Same". That, for me, made it my only option. :cool:

:nopity:
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It's so easy to get great tone these days with so many digital choices, and many action choices, I smile when I see young people glorifying old instruments. Yes, some were great , but it easy to get a lemon.

There is some mythical thing with a Rhodes that people go crazy for and I don't understand why. They weren't very well made.

I do not subscribe to romanticism and/or nostalgia as it relates to old musical instruments.

 

IMO, my SV-1 is an excellent digital piano. It provides me with a reasonable facsimile of any KB sound I would ever need to play.

 

However, playing my Rhodes is a totally different experience in terms of feel and sound from the SV-1.

 

Surely, having the *right* instrument(s) makes a huge difference. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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I had 3 or 4 Rhodes Stage Pianos over the course of my life and never had one that sounded this good or had a keybed that seemed to bounce like this one does.

I thought this example sounded great and looked like it was easy to play as well.

 

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