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Invented in 1950s by music teacher, songwriter and inventor Harold
Rhodes (1910 -2000).
Also earlier Pre-Piano (electric and acoustic models), educational
instrument, 3 octaves, marketed in late 1940s by Rhodes himself;
1959; 2 1/2--octave Piano Bass was first model produced
(and the only pre-CBS Fender Rhodes instrument). Early models have
controls
mounted directly on front of lid; later ones have separate panel.
Some early models covered in beige
"Fender tweed" instead of black Tolex. Top available
in in sparkle
silver or gold, or Fender "Fiesta Red". Celeste was
3- or 4-octave "treble" version. 1965;Suitcase Piano introduced , amplifier/speaker
cabinet with built-in sustain pedal doubled as stand for keyboard;
73 notes, 61-note model announced but never put into production; curved
top available in various colours as Piano Bass above, some
cases covered in "Fender tweed" as above. Later models had
stereo tremolo. 1971;88-note Suitcase Piano introduced; same amp/speaker/stand
as 73. All tops and cases now available in black only. Mk I Stage
Piano introduced at this time; 73 or 88 notes, no amp/speakers;
four steel tube legs, sustain pedal attached via metal rod. 1978; Suitcase has revised controls, amp and speakers 1979;Mk II Stage and "Flat-top" Suitcase
models; All models now have flat ridged top and improved action. 1980;54-note Mk II Stage Piano introduced; flat
top, slider controls. 1982; short-lived Mk III EK-10 combined electromechanical
Rhodes mechanism with electronic oscillators and filters. 1984; The Mk V* was the last electromechanical Rhodes
instrument for over 15 years, and 3 examples were equipped with MIDI
outputs. Completely new case design made from lightweight plastic.
Despite the Rhodes name being bought by Roland, who built
a range of Rhodes-branded digital pianos, organs and synths during
the 1990s, no new electromechanical Rhodes pianos were built until:
2001; A few months after the death of Harold Rhodes, Major
Key (a company dedicated to the upgrading and maintenance of Rhodes
pianos) exhibited a brand-new 54-note Stage Piano at the winter NAMM
show, made using over 60% new parts and featuring an active preamp,
beige Tolex covering and silver sparkle flat top. This appears to
have been a one-off instrument; a promised limited-production model
never appeared.
NEWS!!!
2007; At the January NAMM Show in California, a newly reformed
Rhodes Music Corporation unveiled the Rhodes Mk 7(not "VII"),
the first new electromechanical model for 22 years. At the time of
reporting, little is known about the new model, but it is to be available
in 61-, 73- and 88-note models, and with optional active preamps,
MIDI and speakers.
Notes: Little is known about the Student Piano; mid 1960s - early
1970s; A late 60s model looks virtually identical to the 1969 "Home
Piano" described below, but with no volume pedal and with the
controls mounted under the keyboard. There were at least two earlier
models - the single pedestal "fishtail" version and a "double
pedestal" design. Built-in metronome. Controls mounted on pod
under keyboard. Colours included avocado green and mustard yellow!
(this information was told to me in 1980 by Harold Rhodes at
the Fender factory in California).
The Home Piano is even rarer. Three different designs are known.
In 1969 there was a Home Piano, with wood-grain panelled sides, black
curved top, a music rack and a built-in cassette recorder. This model
featured a unique spring-action volume pedal. In the late 70s a new
model was produced, with a completely wooden cabinet and again a cassette
recorder. In the early 1980s I saw a completely different Home Piano
in London. This was a UK-built black piano-style cabinet housing the
mechanism of a Suitcase Piano.
* The reason that the model numbers appear to jump from Mk III
to Mk V is that the "missing" Mk IV was
a new design concept which never made it to production. Around this
time there was also an ELECTRONIC
piano made under the Rhodes name by ARP.
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Designed by Gibson Guitar's chief R&D engineer Lloyd Loar for
his own short-lived Vivi-Tone company, which also produced electric
guitars, basses, mandolins and fiddles. An earlier Loar design
using sticky pads and electrostatic pickups was later adapted by Hohner
for the Pianet.
Hohner Pianet
(West Germany)
Plucked reeds, sticky pads; electrostatic pickups, later
electromagnetic
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Based on 1920s patent by Lloyd Loar, ex Gibson Guitars (see
Vivi-Tone).
No sustain pedal.
May have been introduced as more touch-responsive successor to Cembalet. N had tremolo; M had phaser and speakers. Models L,
C,N and Combo Pianet used electrostatic pickups;
reeds were plucked by leather and foam pads impregnated with a permanently
sticky compound and these doubled as dampers when a key was released.
It would appear, however that SOME Pianet Ns were fitted with
the same plectrum and damper mechanisms used by the Cembalet (see
below).This may have been a strategy to use leftover Cembalet
parts when the Pianet was introduced.
T and M were last of series; used electromagnetic pickups,
silicone rubber sticky pads and more mellow-sounding reeds.
All except T had wood-veneered cases; L was simple rectangular
case, no lid, mounted on metal rod legs, built-in speaker, no tremolo.
N was classic 1960s electric piano with folding lid/music rack
and "boomerang" inverted-V-shaped legs. Optional amplifier
fitted underneath. C was similar to N but mounted on "coffee-table"
legs. Combo Pianet was stage model without folding lid; no
tremolo or speakers. M was domestic console model from 1970s
with fabric-covered speakers above keyboard ends and flat-topped "piano-style"
black keys.T had black leather-cloth covering and rubber-padded
end-blocks. Early examples may also have been available in orange!
See also Clavinet Pianet Duo.
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Cembalet N visually similar to Pianet N, but different
keyboard range (C-C as opposed to F-F or F-E) )and brighter tone.
Mechanism comprised rubber plectrum and separate damper. Optional
amplifier fitted underneath. Cembalet II is console model with
vibrato, valve amp and speakers and built-in volume pedal.
Selmer Pianotron
(UK, East Germany)
Original version; Struck strings; traditional piano action with soundboard
(?);
electrostatic pickups
1960s version as Weltmeister Claviset
Pianotron
a) 1938 - ?
b) Early - mid 1960s
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Two unrelated instruments sharing the same name.
Original British-made instrument as depicted in 1939 UK patent is
conventional upright piano fitted with electrostatic pickups.
1960s instrument appears to be imported and re-branded Weltmeister
Claviset (see below)
Version with folding lid/music rest
Version with wire music rest
Basset (bass keyboard)
2-keyboard version with "Matador" combo organ on top keyboard.
1963? - ?
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Made by long-established accordion and harmonica manufacturer in Klingenthal,
formerly East Germany. Appears to be an approximate copy of the Hohner
Cembalet, and is the only known Eastern European electric piano.
Unlike Hohner instruments of the time, uses electromagnetic pickups.
Later models somehow acquired a sustain pedal!
Also a 2-keyboard version with "Matador" combo organ on top
keyboard. The piano-and-organ version has no known equivalent in Hohner's
range. There was also an electromechanical strap-on bass keyboard, called
the Basset, closer in principle to the Rhodes Piano Bass than
Hohner's electronic bass keyboard of the same name.
There is also a (later) Claviset with a range of tabs for different
sounds and 2 pedals
Hohner Clavinet
(West Germany)
Clavichord action; strings struck by hard rubber tangents;
electromagnetic pickups
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Invented by Ernst Zacharias. Essentially an electric clavichord.
A unique early prototype
exists with 54-note keyboard, traditional clavichord action and four
filter controls; now in Keyboard Museum, Austria Clavinets I and II were domestic models with tone switches
(II), rectangular veneered case, wooden legs and speaker (I).
Clavinet L had reverse-coloured keys, "triangular"
case, speaker and three "coffee-table" legs. Clavinet C
was the late-60s "Stevie Wonder" model - red and white case,
mechanically identical to Clavinet II. Clavinet D6 was
classic wood-veneered 1970s model. D6 and later E7 had two pickups and various tone switches,
plus variable damper. Duo combined Clavinet and Pianet
actions in one keyboard. E7 was like D6 in a more roadworthy
case. First E7s were actually labelled D6. Later E7s
had angled damper slot.
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Similar mechanism to Fender Rhodes design. 72-note keyboard.
Console model has wooden upright-piano-style case with 4 speakers and
20-watt solid-state amplifier. Sustain and soft pedals fitted; soft
pedal is actually electronic attenuator. Electra-Piano T is late-70s "stage" model; looks like
somewhat home-made copy of Fender Rhodes with white top; folding legs;
no "soft" pedal, amp or speakers (although matching amp was
available). Different mechanism from console model. Very rare.
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Imported and re-branded console-model Columbia Elepian. Could
Gibson have had something to do with it? (Maestro was a name
used for Gibson's amplification and effects lines in the '60s).
Columbia Elepian (Japan)
Struck metal reeds, traditional piano action, electrostatic
pickups
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At least two models; portable "stage" model similar to Rhodes
or Wurlitzer 200 and domestic model in lightweight wooden console case;
looks like small upright piano. Similar mechanical design to Wurlitzer.
61 notes, sustain pedal, no tremolo. Elepian name still used
for Denon's digital pianos.
Wurlitzer
(USA, West Germany)
Struck metal reeds, traditional piano action, electrostatic
pickups.
100 series (1954 - 1968);
700 series;
200 series, most popular EP-200/200A
(1969 - early 1980s);
300
1954 - 1982?
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Designed by Ben Miessner. Early models had valve pre-amps;
later ones had tremolo circuit. All had built-in speakers except battery-powered
EP-200B. 100 series (up to late '60s) had painted wood or fibreboard
cases; 140B was first solid-state model; EP-200
onwards had plastic cases. 700 series were wooden-cased
console models. 300 appears to have been a wooden-cased console
model built around a 200, and made in Germany for the local market.
Except as noted, all models had 64 keys. EP-200 available in
various colours.
EP-200A only available in black.
In addition to various educational models based on the EP-200, there
is also a very rare 44-note music lab model (Model 106-P) available
in beige or orange, which came as a set of eight (Model
106) in a portable folding frame, almost like a fairground ride!
("Roll up, roll up for the thrills and spills of the Mighty Wurlitzer!") Baby Butterfly Grand was NOT electric grand but same mechanism
as model 200 in semi-circular wooden cabinet with twin angled lids
above upwards-facing speakers. (Wurlitzer had made acoustic pianos
in this style since the 1920s).
Musser Electric Celeste
(USA)
Traditional celesta action; hammers striking
metal plates; electrostatic pickups (?)
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Designed by orchestral percussionist and composer Clair Omar Musser
(1900 - 1998) and manufactured by his own company. 61-note keyboard.
Has controls for bass, treble and tremolo - Musser was a vibraphone
virtuoso.
Neo-Bechstein
(Siemens-Bechstein)
(Germany)
Struck strings; modified piano action;
electromagnetic pickups
Neo-Bechstein
1929
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Designed by Prussian Nobel Laureate Professor Nernst, in conjunction
with Bechstein and Siemens. An early electric grand. I
don't know how many were made or who they were aimed at, but at least
one survives in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.
Baldwin ElectroPiano
(USA)
Struck strings; traditional piano action;
piezoelectric pickups
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An electric upright piano, originally developed (like the Rhodes
and Wurlitzer) for school and college piano labs but, unlike
them, rarely seen beyond that environment, largely due to weight and
tuning needs. However, in the early 1970s, a portable and roadworthy
stage model, the ElectroPro was produced. I believe that an electric
grand was also made.
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The world's first and only solid-body electric harpsichord, with an
extruded aluminium frame/body, bright red dummy "soundboard",
and clear perspex lid and music rack. Looks like something out of the
Jetsons, but was used on dozens of TV and movie scores, the Beatles
used one ("Because" on Abbey Road) and the Beach
Boys even took one on tour (along with a professional tuner).
Yamaha
(Japan)
Struck strings; traditional piano action; piezo-electric
pickups
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Electric grands except CP-60M; electric upright. "M" models
incorporated MIDI output. CP-70 had 73-note keyboard,
CP-60M had 76. CP-10, CP-20, CP-30 are unrelated ELECTRONIC
pianos.
Lawrence
(Netherlands/Ireland)
Struck strings; traditional piano action with soundboard;
electromagnetic pickups
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Small (73-note) electric upright; tubular steel frame, folding keyboard.
Built by Lindner in Shannon, Ireland under license from Dutch
manufacturer Rippen. The Lawrence was built alongside Lindner-branded
acoustics using the same novel lightweight construction and action.
The piano's action is mostly made from plastic, making damaged instruments
difficult to repair. Nonetheless, Stevie Wonder recorded with one
and appeared in advertising.
LeSage
(Canada)
Struck strings; traditional piano action; electromagnetic
pickups
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Acoustic pianos (made by Kimball) designed to fold up for transport
and fitted with Helpinstill's acclaimed pickups. Roadmaster
64 had shorter (64-note) keyboard.
Kawai
(Japan)
Struck strings; traditional piano action; piezo-electric
cable pickups
