Matt's Gearspace

Render from Modartt's Hohner Collection for Pianoteq, authorised by Hohner. Photo: © Modartt, via Modartt, trimmed and resized.

Hohner

Hohner Electra-Piano

Discontinued 1979Released 1965

Hohner's answer to the Rhodes, and the odd one out in their range, with hammers striking tuning forks rather than pads plucking reeds. Warm and resonant, with a stiffer action than a Rhodes. John Paul Jones used one all over Led Zeppelin, most famously on 'Stairway to Heaven'.

Specifications

General

Manufacturer
Hohner
Status
Discontinued
Released
1965

Keyboard

Key action
Synth-action
Aftertouch
None
Keybed
Not confirmed

Sound

Tone source
Tuning forks
Sound engine
Electro-mechanical: hammers strike asymmetric tuning forks, each a reed and a bar together, and electromagnetic pickups read them. The same idea as a Rhodes tine, arrived at differently.
Polyphony
Full polyphony
Features
Hammer-struck tuning forks, Electromagnetic pickups, No sustain pedal

Connections

Outputs
1/4-inch unbalanced

Heard on

Artists and records that used it, as Hohner tells it.

  • John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), “Stairway to Heaven”

More from Hohner

  • Hohner

    Pianet

    Discontinued 1963
    Keys
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    Key action
    Synth-action
    Tone source
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  • Hohner

    Pianet C

    Discontinued 1965
    Keys
    61
    Key action
    Synth-action
    Tone source
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    —1963
  • Hohner

    Pianet L

    Discontinued 1968
    Keys
    61
    Key action
    Synth-action
    Tone source
    Reeds
    —1963