Rhodes Suitcase Piano 73 Mark 1
An electromechanical musical instrument developed as a substitute for the piano which achieved extraordinary success due to its new and fully unique sound from the mid 1960s
Rhodes Suitcase Piano 73 Mark 1
As if the tuning and intonation of a Rhodes piano to be clean and precise wasn’t painful enough for the ears and mind. Bear in mind we’re talking about clean and precise. And it can even take a whole week!
In very early copies like these there was an additional mechanical problem: the almost seamless tone bar surface makes the small tine springs responsible for the correct tuning almost unreachable.
But a certain Billy Preston probably couldn’t give in to these tiny setbacks when he conducted The Beatles’ last concert on the rooftop of Apple’s headquarters with a Rhodes piano on January 30, 1969.
A change to the tone bar design soon after also offered a reasonably elegant solution to this problem. A good 90 percent of all Rhodes pianos look like this on the inside:
After the whole intonation ordeal, we recommend replacing the well-fitting cover and enjoying not just the now-perfect sound of probably the most legendary e-piano in history but also its hugely successful overall look.
And when you later discover the original Fender Rhodes logo as seen here, then your mind will be settled again as well. :-)
Rhodes Suitcase Piano 73 Mark 1 - Musikbeispiel (The Beatles) (1969-01-30) by The BeatlesEBOARDMUSEUM
Rhodes Suitcase Piano 73 Mark 1
The Beatles’ last-ever live concert on January 30, 1969 with sideman Billy Preston on the Rhodes piano
