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Chapter 17 Vintage Electric Piano 458
Vintage Electric Piano emulations
Rhodes models
Harold Rhodes (born 1910) constructed what is arguably the best known and most widely
used electric piano. Designed in 1946—as a piano surrogate for practice, education, and army
entertainment—the Rhodes piano was marketed by guitar manufacturer Fender from 1956. The
Fender Rhodes is one of the most popular musical instruments in jazz, especially electric jazz.
CBS took over production of the Rhodes in 1965, enhancing its popularity in pop and rock music.
There are also a number of Rhodes synthesizers, developed by former manufacturer ARP. Japan’s
Roland corporation owned the Rhodes name for a while and released several digital pianos
under the Rhodes moniker. From 1997 until his death in December 2000, Harold Rhodes again
owned the name.
The Rhodes piano was also made available as a suitcase piano (with pre-amplier and two-
channel combo amplier) and as a stage piano, without amplier. Both of these 73-key “portable”
versions have a vinyl-covered wooden frame and a rounded plastic top. In 1973, an 88-key model
was introduced. Smaller Celeste and bass versions were less popular. The MkII (1978) had a at
top that allowed keyboardists to place extra keyboards on top. The Mark V, introduced in 1984,
had a MIDI output.
The mid-1980s saw a decrease in Rhodes production, as most keyboard players invested in
the lighter, more exible digital synthesizers that became available around this time. These
keyboards could easily emulate the Rhodes sound and also oered a range of new piano sounds.
The Rhodes piano bases its method of sound generation on metal reeds, which function much
like a tuning fork. These reeds are struck with a velocity sensitive hammer action that works in
a similar fashion to that of a grand piano. The asymmetrical tuning fork consists of a thin tine
and a large tone bar that are bolted together. Due to construction considerations, some of the
tone bars are rotated by 90 degrees. The piano is kept in tune by the mass of a spring, which
can be moved along the tine. The tine oscillates in front of an electric pickup, similar to that of
an electric guitar. This oscillation functions along inductive principles, with permanent magnets
placed around the tine that have a damping eect on tine movement and therefore, the sound.
The Rhodes output signal is like that of an electric guitar and requires pre-amplication. The
Rhodes sound is not harmonically rich. This is why so many performers use a treble boost or an
overdrive eect when playing the Rhodes piano. The Rhodes sounds best when played through
tube ampliers.
The characteristic sound of each Rhodes piano depends more on the adjustment and
maintenance of the individual instrument than on the model. Early models had hammers
covered with felt, resulting in a smoother sound than later models with neoprene-covered
hammers. The suitcase piano featured a pre-amplier that could create a sound with a very
dominant mid-range. Appropriate pre-amplication and equalization can, however, deliver an
identical tone from almost any stage piano. The MkII does not have the treble range resonance
clamps of earlier models; it has less sustain in the treble range. The most signicant sonic
dierences are dependent on the proximity of the tine to the pickup. When the tine is moved
closer to the pickup, the bell characteristic becomes more prominent. In the 1980s, many Rhodes
pianos were adjusted to have more “bell.”
Note: The Vintage Electric Piano Metal Piano and Attack Piano models feature “idealized” sound
qualities that could only be aimed at with the original Rhodes instruments. Although these
models may not sound realistic, they have at least partially achieved the ideals that the Rhodes
technicians might have had in mind when preparing their keyboards.