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This month we examine another classic keyboard, the
Fender Rhodes Piano. Last month we discussed the Wurlitzer
electric piano and commented about how it's sound was
heard on many hit records. The number of hit recordings
on the Rhodes far exceeds those on the Wurlitzer. The
Rhodes sound was featured on many of the Rock and Soul
records of the seventies and it was also adopted by
many jazz keyboardists of that time. The Wurlitzer evolved
to be more of a keyboard used in schools (they developed
a multi keyboard system that could be monitored by the
instructor),
Harold Rhodes, the inventor of
the Rhodes Piano, was an aviation engineer who assembled
the first piano
from aviation parts. He later sold the company to Fender
who went on to develop the Rhodes product we are familiar
with.
Both the Rhodes and Wurlitzer were
electro-mechanical units. This means that the sound
was generated mechanically and some type of system was
employed to convert it to an electronic audio signal.
This is unlike a modern keyboard where the sound is
electronically produced. Both these pianos also used
keys made from wood configured to have a feel similar
to a real piano or at least a lot closer to real piano
feel than you get from flimsy plastic keys attached
to springs.
The Rhodes tone generation was created by having each
key strike a bar that vibrated at the needed pitch.
Obviously the lower pitch bars were longer and the higher
pitched shorter. To fine tune each note a spring was
installed on each bar and could be slid back and forth
to either raise or lower the pitch. This was a great
improvement over the Wurlitzer system where you had
to add or remove solder to the tone reed to adjust its
pitch. While the Wurlitzer tone reeds needed a polarizing
voltage to form a capacitive pickup as we learned last
month, the Rhodes had a pickup system similar to an
electric guitar.Each Rhodes tone bar sat in front of
a magnetic pickup. This pickup is the same as if you
created a single coil guitar pickup with only one pole
piece to pickup only one guitar string. The metal tone
bar sat in the magnetic field of the pickup and when
put into motion by the key striking it a voltage was
induced at the pickup output in exactly the same way
a vibrating guitar string induces a voltage in a guitar
pickup. Early models of the Rhodes merely strung the
pickups in series to create one giant pickup and it
was hooked to a passive volume and tone pot as on an
electric guitar. Later models employed groups of pickups
in a combination of series and parallel as this raised
the output signal level which was fairly low when the
pickups were configured as an all series string.
There were many variations on the theme of the Rhodes
as time went on. There were seventy three and eighty
eight key models and also the Suitcase models which
integrated a powered speaker cabinet that the piano
unit was placed on. The cabinet contained a stereo amplifier
and four speakers. The actual stereo was for the onboard
vibrato. Without the vibrato effect there was no stereo
sound. Also the speakers were not set up to go left
and right they actually fired forward and backwards
creating an interesting dilemma onstage as half the
sound was fired at the audience and the other half away
from them.
If you are considering buying a vintage
suitcase model beware that some of the components used
in the amplifier section are now unobtanium and may
create a large problem for you if the amps fail. The
light bulbs used in the optical vibrato circuit are
also hard to obtain and the vibrato may not work right
with a different but similar bulb.
One of the interesting things about
the Rhodes is that it voicing could be altered by changing
the relation of the tone bar to the pickup. By doing
so the balance of fundamental to harmonics could be
altered resulting in different possible timbres. In
the mid seventies a company called Dyno My Piano came
along and started to offer Rhodes modifications. Basically
they would adjust the position of the tone bars to the
pickups to provide a specific voicing and then ran it
through one of their custom active pre-amps. They later
developed a lever the player could control with his
knee that shifted the harp, containing the tone bars
in relation to the pickups so the voicing could be altered
while the instrument was played. These modifications
became hugely popular and increased the appeal of the
Rhodes to players at that time due to the increased
range of sounds that became available.
Another main difference that gave the
Rhodes an edge over the Wurlitzer is that with the exception
of the suitcase model, there was no onboard amplification
so the Rhodes could be directly plugged into a mixer
or amplifier. Especially with the early Wurlitzer there
was either no line output or one that worked poorly
and there was no way to turn off the internal speakers
meaning the Wurlitzer would have to be modified to make
it more stage friendly.
THE RHODES PIANO BASS
One idea Fender had in the evolution
of the Rhodes was to design the Piano Bass. This was
a small unit that contained the tone bars and electronics
of the lowest octaves of a full Rhodes. This unit could
be combined with another keyboard so the player could
play bass with his left hand and the other keyboard
with his right. The most well known example of this
is Ray Manzarek from the Doors. Although the Doors did
use a bass player on many of their albums, their recording
of Light My Fire did use the Piano Bass as it can clearly
be heard on the recording. When playing live they used
the Rhodes Piano Bass in lieu of a bass player. The
Rhodes Piano Bass was a good solution for smaller combos.
If the keyboard player had the dexterity to play the
bass lines in addition to his right hand keyboard playing,
then a bass player wasn't needed and there was one less
person to pay. Prior to this the only possible way to
get bass parts from the keyboard player was if the player
had a Hammond organ and could play the bass pedals.
Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals is a good example of
this. He sang lead, played both manuals on the Hammond
and the bass pedals.
To this day the Rhodes Piano is still
a coveted keyboard. You see it used on stages around
the world despite the fact that most modern keyboards
feature a pretty authentic Rhodes sound. But for sound
and the feel of the Rhodes key action, there is nothing
like the real thing.
Steve
Weiss is the owner and main technician of Steve Weiss
Electronics Inc. He is experienced in the repair
of analog and digital musical equipment. This includes
everything from Vintage Tube Amps and Pro Audio equipment
to Digital Keyboards There is also a guitar repair
shop staffed by some of the areas top guitar repair
techs. He is authorized for warranty work on most
major brands. Steve Weiss Electronics is located
inside of Sam Ash Music at 5460 West Sample Road
Margate, FL 33073 954-975-3390 Ext 272. Steve has
also spent 25 years on the road as a performing guitarist
and is the designer of Primal Guitar amps that can
be seen at Primal
Audio.com Steve can also be reached at stevew@metromusicmayhem.com |
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