A New Chapter for Rhodes

[MikeT156]

Who can afford Vintage Vibe Pianos?

Don't you have instruments totaling more than the cost of a Vintage Vibe in your forum signature? They're certainly not cheap, but in a world where saxophone players buy vintage Mark VIs, trumpet players buy Monettes, bass players buy Fodera or Alembic, a $5k-9k piano doesn't seem so unreasonable to me. I'm beyond excited for mine to arrive in a couple months.

 

Yes I do. But I didn't buy them all at once, and when did, I was gigging and making money as a solo act. In addition, I bought 73 key suitcase Rhodes for $1200. It was a lot of money back then, but I still have it and it plays great 40 years later.

 

Mike T

[Mark Zeger]

trumpet players buy Monettes

I bought it used.

[Morrissey]

, I bought 73 key suitcase Rhodes for $1200. It was a lot of money back then, but I still have it and it plays great 40 years later.

 

That's about $4500 in 2021 dollars. I'm happy there are folks buying the mark 8 at current price. I'm rooting for the company to succeed and to mass produce a MK8 Lite or MK9 at a price point like $4500. Then I'm in. Until then I'm jealous.

[Reezekeys]

Yes, and I remember paying somewhere around $4500 for my OBXa around 1981. In today's dollars? About $15K. Of course I had some help - a parental loan! Still, puts things in perspective. I too wish this company the best. Maybe when they amortize the development costs they'll come out with an updated version, as Morrissey SixMan speculates. Could the high price be a way to make that happen sooner?

[ElmerJFudd]

Next tier down. This thing is going to have to exist in the world for awhile until you can fetch one off Reverb minus its years of use. It"s more viable to hunt down a previous Mk. second hand in playing condition.

Mk7 $6600, MkII $2-4k, MkI 1-$3.5k. If you"re going to get into restoring, then cheaper yet. If you restore yourself, cheaper yet - but a lot of your time. Very similar to the car scene, right? Haha.

 

I think the VV is pretty versatile sound wise, and you can get it to sound like a Rhodes Mk I if that"s the goal. But it can also sound nothing like a Mk I if thats what you want.

[MikeT156]

Looking at the cost of a Vintage Vibe Rhodes on their website, If I ever decided to sell my Mark 1 73 key Suitcase Rhodes (I have flight cases for it too) the price has just gone WAY up. My Rhodes was only moved a few times using Flight Cases, there is hardy a mark on it. In addition, it has not moved out of my music room since 1989. I have spare tines and springs for it too. It still plays and sounds great! Correction, I paid $1250 for my Mark ! Suitcase Rhodes in 1979 dollars. My Rhodes was mfg in 1978. Any guess on what it worth?

 

 

Mike T.

[ProfD]

, I bought 73 key suitcase Rhodes for $1200. It was a lot of money back then, but I still have it and it plays great 40 years later.

 

That's about $4500 in 2021 dollars.

 

Yes, and I remember paying somewhere around $4500 for my OBXa around 1981. In today's dollars? About $15K.

IMO, the difference with the original Rhodes, OBXa and other instruments manufactured back in the day is that they were flagship instruments with fewer alternatives on the market.

 

Correction, I paid $1250 for my Mark ! Suitcase Rhodes in 1979 dollars. My Rhodes was mfg in 1978. Any guess on what it worth?

Brotha Mike, your Rhodes is worth somewhere between $2k-$5k. It really depends on the buyer. I would start the listing at $4.5k.

[MikeT156]

Yeah D, I think that's about right, I was trying to Post a picture of my Rhodes, but I forgot how to do it. The most important thing is my Rhodes was only moved a few times and when it was, we transported it in flight cases.When I went on the road playing the Hotel circuit, I only used my electric grand, the oberheim, the Prophet 5, and Arp Omni II, a couple of Drum machines, and a Digitech Vocalist for harmonies. I also had a set of Moog Taurus one bass pedals, that I sold about 10 years ago.

My Rhodes is as close to mint that anyone can find. The modifications I made to it only improved the original instrument. That"s why I never put it up for sale. I can still just turn it on and play.

 

 

Mike T.

[bjosko]

In the factory

 

[video:youtube]

[ElmerJFudd]

Going into the factory...

 

[video:youtube]

[Morrissey]

It weighs 75 lbs. I hoped they could make it lighter.

 

 

A Mark I Stage 73 weighs about 130 lbs, correct? The Vintage Vibe Piano 73 weighs 60 lbs. So the new Rhodes trimmed a lot of fat but presumably sacrificed some of the possible weight reduction for other factors.... I assume some of which are related to retaining certain authenticities of the Rhodes lineage.

[ProfD]

IMO, for an electromechanical KB, nearly cutting the weight in half is an accomplishment especially if it does not compromise the feel and sound of the instrument.

 

As I've mentioned already, I would question the new Rhodes pricing but I'm aware of free market economy too.

[Moonglow]

They start at $9,450.00

I had to read that a couple of times.

[matlamenace]

https://www.facebook.com/rhodespiano/videos/701514077487127

 

Love the video ! Love the sound !

[Adan]

My VV is an expressive, highly functional, reliable, and reasonably portable electro-mechanical instrument. Whether it sounds exactly like a Rhodes has always seemed to me an academic point. And VV seems to have proven that it's business model works. They'll be around a long time.

 

I've been wanting to get an acoustic piano for awhile, still haven't. $10K sounds like a lot of money, but not compared to a decent acoustic. I could see having a rhodes in my living room and the VV in my music room.

 

At this point I'd still be nervous about whether their business model works and whether they'll be around to support the product. On the other hand, the best way to help that happen is to buy one.

[Morrissey]

Sound on Sound (glowing) review: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rhodes-mk8  

[ElmerJFudd]

Timbre can be heard at 50+ seconds…

 

 

[Cliffk]

15 hours ago, Morrissey said:

Sound on Sound (glowing) review: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rhodes-mk8  

Nicely detailed appraisal. Not sure what ‘British’ manufacturing has to do with this though. 

[mauriziodececco]

4 hours ago, Cliffk said:

Nicely detailed appraisal. Not sure what ‘British’ manufacturing has to do with this though. 

They say: "We were invited to the factory in Leeds, UK to test the new Rhodes and meet the team behind it."

 

 Maurizio

 

[Cliffk]

Hehe thanks for this, Maurizio - serves me right for being slightly snarky. 😁

I was actually referring to the triumphalist Brexity tone of the headline. And I'll quickly veer off now before I get cited for breaching 'that' line ... 😅

[matlamenace]

 

[RichieP_MechE]

 

[Doerfler]

thanks for posting that, don't know how you found it. I was viewer #7. 

[ProfD]

Dan Goldman's video shows off the new Rhodes in a positive way. 😎

[Spider76]

8 hours ago, ProfD said:

Dan Goldman's video shows off the new Rhodes in a positive way. 😎

 

Considering it's his own company, I would be surprised by the opposite 😁

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Spider76 said:

 

Considering it's his own company, I would be surprised by the opposite 😁

True that.😁 

 

But, if Dan's video inspired me to place an order for a new Rhodes that Incognito video would have encouraged me to cancel it. 🤮🤣😎

[RichieP_MechE]

13 hours ago, Doerfler said:

thanks for posting that, don't know how you found it. I was viewer #7. 

The youtube algorithm fed it to me, it's magic I tell ya

[The Real MC]

On 11/4/2021 at 10:31 PM, Moonglow said:

Spot on description, and precisely why I never warmed up to this axe, although I can appreciate the top-notch craftsmanship. It"s like it doesn"t know what it wants to be, a Rhodes or a Wurli. Probably why I never MIDIed a Rhodes patch with a Wurli patch.

I landed a '67 "sparkletop" Rhodes about ten years ago.  Former owner had replaced the original felt hammerset with the later hybrid plastic/wood (they are interchangeable).  It was missing the original preamp & power amp - they sounded like crap anyway and they preceded the more desirable Peterson design so I wasn't crying over it.  That meant the only choice was to get the signal straight off the harp.

 

I've played stock sparkletop pianos - this one sounds different, like it is between the Rhodes and Wurlitzer.  I grown to love it, and with the right DI you can get tones between the fusion "bark" and the bell tone, and it's very controllable with playing dynamics.

 

When I heard the demo of the VV pianos, they sounded very much like my sparkletop.  Maybe they might not sound like the Rhodes we all love, but it cuts through a mix better.

[The Real MC]

Many people may balk at the price, but you're getting a much MUCH better piano than the CBS pianos.  Those of us who lived in the era of CBS Rhodes pianos remember too well how most of them were dog pianos.  Soggy action, dog sound, poor quality key set.  The good Rhodes were few and far between.  The engineers from that era revealed that the accountants at CBS were forever searching out vendor after vendor who could make parts cheaper and cheaper, often at the expense of quality, all behind their back, and it was very very frustrating to find bad pianos suddenly come off the production line after a change had been made then b!tch to the department over changes done without their knowledge or consent.

You're not going to have that problem with Dan Goldman in charge.  Here is a man - a musician who loves Rhodes pianos not a faceless accountant - who is prioritizing quality over cheapest vendor.  One telltale I spotted is the pedestal "bump" where the key pedestal makes contact with the hammer cam.  This single feature makes for really good playing action, and it was only stock for a few years in the late 1960s and on the 1980s pianos.  Without it the action will be soggy, you can't play fast, and your hands will hurt after a weekend of gigging a CBS Rhodes.  The Mk8 will not have that problem.

[The Real MC]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:42 AM, Al Coda said:

 

Not only prototypes,- Rhodes mk VII models were in the market,- passive, active, suitcase in 73 and 88 versions.

 

 

The organization that made the Mk VII pianos was run by lawyer/CEO Joe Brandstetter who had been a bit too aggressive throwing around the infringement hammer over websites using his trademark "Rhodes" name.  His single biggest marketing mistake was making angry infringement noises to the web owners of http://www.fenderrhodes.com - the largest community of vintage Rhodes piano owners - which effectively p!ssed off the community enough that any mention of the Mk VII is banned, removed, deleted by the discussion forum moderators.  Brandstetter went too far in defending his trademark in that he completely alienated an entire community of potential buyers.  Brandstetter's organization eventually went bust and the assets were sold off, and it appears that the UK Rhodes company got the trademark for the Mk8 out of that mess.