Instruments and Effects

Chapter 24 EVP88 389
Wurlitzer Piano
This well-known manufacturer of music boxes and organs also built electric pianos
which helped write pop and rock music history. The 200 series Wurlitzer pianos are
smaller and lighter than the Rhodes pianos, with a keyboard range of 64 keys from A to
C and an integrated amplifier and speakers.
The action resembles that of a conventional acoustic piano. It can be played with
velocity sensitivity, just like the Rhodes. Its sound generation system is based on spring
steel reeds which can be tuned with a solder weight. The Wurlitzer has electrostatic
pickups: The reeds are supplied with a 0 volt current and move between the teeth of a
comb, connected to a 150 volt current. The tone of the Wurlitzer, which was first
manufactured in the early sixties, features many odd harmonics.
The Wurlitzer is best known as the signature piano sound of the band “Supertramp.”
You will know it from their “Crime of the Century” album. It can be heard on “Bloody
Well Right,” “Dreamer,” “Hide in Your Shell” and also in “The Logical Song.” You might
also recognize the Wurlitzer sound when listening to Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the
Moon” or “Wish You Were Here” (“Have a Cigar,” “Money,” “Time”) and “I am the Walrus”
by the Beatles.
Wurlitzer Models
 Wurlitzer 200 A
 Wurlitzer 240 V
 Soft Wurlitzer
 Funk Piano
The model Funk Piano offers special synthetic piano engine sound with exaggerated
bass that was not part of any real Wurlitzers, but can be very useful and musical.
Hohner Electra Piano
Not to be confused with the all-electronic RMI Electrapiano, the extremely rare Hohner
Electra Piano offers striking hammers like those of the Rhodes, but a stiffer keyboard
action. It was designed to resemble the look of a conventional acoustic upright piano.
Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones played it on “Stairway to Heaven,” “Misty Mountain Hop”
and “No Quarter.”
Hohner Electra Model
 Electra Piano