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ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

While I've played actual Hammonds back in the day, I never laid hands on a real, live Fender Rhodes of any generation.

I've noticed when playing all of them that no matter how clean the sound may be, there's a dirty, snarly characteristic that leaps out when played at high velocity.

Is this just the nature of the beast, i.e. if you want it to stay pretty, always play with a light to moderate touch, or is it something that's present or not depending on the generation of Rhodes that you're playing?
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Studio: Cubase 13 | Windows 10 | Yamaha TF5 | Mackie MCU | CMC AI, QC
Keyboard Station: Kronos 2 88 | Fantom 7 | JV 2080 | Cubase 13 | Windows 10 | Focusrite 18i20 | CMC TP
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Chris Duncan
Atlanta, GA, USA, Earth

Falcon2e · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:08 am Post subject:

It’s very possible that what you’re hearing may represent the actual instrument. Can you tell us the actual program you’re using so we can find out if we are getting the same results? I owed one way back in the 70s and I do remember it having some interesting quirks.
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Kronos2-61..(2) Triton Classic, Nord Stage 2, Previously owned lots of other gear dating back to the 70’s.

KK · Platinum Member Joined: 13 Oct 2016 Posts: 1422

Hi Chris,

Yep, the Korg EP-1 does a very good job at emulating the three Rhodes generations (I, II and V). Even though you could "modify" a real Rhodes touch and sound, they all had a certain amount of bark when played aggressively, especially the older ones (I). IMHO, the last ones (V) had a better sound, usually cleaner, and that's what you get also in the EP-1 engine.

Things that most don't miss about stock Rhodes are they were heavy to carry and often had a weird touch, sometimes way too heavy. By comparison, the Korg RH3 action is a lot more playable.

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

Falcon2e · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:39 pm Post subject:

Hector Space · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:39 am Post subject:

Lol! As an ancient keyboard player, dating back to the late 70’s when indeed I had a very nice Fender Rhodes Stage 73 from new (1977). It took me a long time to get it setup nicely and yes the bark and bite were and are very desirable features. At the time most gigging musicians couldn’t drag around a real piano and the electronic/electric alternatives were pretty rubbish. For me it was either a Wurly EP200 or a Rhodes. I chose the Rhodes in the end because it was more flexible and had a broader range and was a better allrounder (the wurly always sounds like a toy piano when you play higher notes! But I love the funk and grit you can get from it).

So to get some edge to the Rhodes sound (it was always rather marsh mallowy on BeeGees and many late 70’s recordings) so that it could do some funk and rock and roll (I kid you not!!) you really pushed the pickup heads as close to the tines as possible and angled them a bit to pickup some more harmonics.
Even then you had to whack it to make it bite. I used to get through tines and rubber hammer tips like there was no tomorrow!! 5 night residency.

The action on my Rhodes was awful compared to any real piano, it was very heavy and not at all precise. Years later I bought a wurly and was amazed at how much more refined the action was. Ok it had a shallow key throw and toy piano upper registers but today it’s still the sound I reach for when I’m playing soul and funk.

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

KK · Platinum Member Joined: 13 Oct 2016 Posts: 1422

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

GRISWOLD3 · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:35 am Post subject:

Hah! You guys are killing me. I guess I'm one of those "ancient" players as well. For years I schlepped around a Rhodes MK1, B-3, Clavinet & MiniMoog. Years later we are still trying to emulate those sounds and sometimes too perfectly. It was the impurities, quirkiness, of each of those keyboards that is still difficult to capture. We have gotten pretty close and I certainly don't miss moving (and tuning) the "classic" keyboards at all. However once you've played the real deal for years, you will always feel/ hear the difference in modern synths.

BTW the intro to Queen's "You're my best friend" is definitely NOT a Fender Rhodes. The Wurlitzer electric piano has a similar, but distinctively different flavor than the Rhodes. Both keyboards, however, were very dynamic & were capable of different 'barks' when hit hard. Also, keep in mind that much of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer sound came from running these through (typically) guitar amps. This contributed to a mid-range, over-driven sound.

Cheers,
Larry

FB Music · Joined: 24 Feb 2019 Posts: 24

KK · Platinum Member Joined: 13 Oct 2016 Posts: 1422

On the Korg Kronos Shop site, there is also two free sampled-based (HD-1) Rhodes libraries (EXs 40 & EXs 41) which offer a rather cleaner sound compared to the EP-1 engine. They are worth a try if you like Rhodes sounds.