Rhodes Mark I Stage 73
Discontinued 1979Released 1970
The Rhodes most people picture: the Suitcase piano without its amp, on four screw-in legs, with a volume knob, a bass boost and a single jack out. Passive and heavy, but the sound through a valve amp is the 1970s. Early-70s wooden hammers and late-70s plastic ones feel and sound noticeably different, so play before buying.
Replaced by Mark II Stage 73
Specifications
General
- Manufacturer
- Rhodes
- Status
- Discontinued
- Released
- 1970
Keyboard
- Keys
- 73
- Key action
- Hammer-action
- Aftertouch
- None
- Keybed
- 73 wooden keys; wood-and-plastic hammers to 1976, all-plastic after, neoprene tips from 1971
Sound
- Tone source
- Tines
- Sound engine
- Electromechanical: hammer-struck steel tines and tonebars read by electromagnetic pickups; passive, needs an external amplifier
- Polyphony
- Full polyphony (73 notes)
- Features
- Passive, no power needed, Volume and bass boost controls, Detachable legs, Sustain pedal with push rod, Fender branding dropped around 1974-75
Connections
- Outputs
- 1/4-inch unbalanced
- Pedal inputs
- Sustain (mechanical)
Size & weight
- Colours
- Black
- Weight
- 59 kg
Heard on
Artists and records that used it, as Rhodes tells it.
- Ray Manzarek (The Doors), “Riders on the Storm”
