Photo: Daniel Spils, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Rhodes Mark I Suitcase 88
Legacy since 1979Released 1971
The biggest Rhodes of the era: 88 notes over a stereo amp cabinet, with the auto-pan vibrato. Magnificent in a studio, but a two-person lift into anything smaller than a van.
Spares: Rhodes sells the common wear parts on its own website: tines, hammer tips, damper felts, pickups, grommets and springs, made for every Rhodes and Fender Rhodes. Official spares ↗
Specifications
General
- Manufacturer
- Rhodes
- Status
- Legacy
- Released
- 1971
Keyboard
- Keys
- 88
- Key action
- Hammer-action
- Aftertouch
- None
- Keybed
- 88 wooden keys, same action as the Stage 88
Sound
- Tone source
- Tines
- Sound engine
- Electromechanical: hammer-struck steel tines and tonebars read by electromagnetic pickups, into a built-in preamp and power amp
- Polyphony
- Full polyphony (88 notes)
- Features
- Built-in stereo amplifier and speaker cabinet, Stereo 'vibrato' (auto-pan) with speed and intensity, 80W amp to 1977, then 100W (2 x 50W), Treble and bass EQ, Accessory send/return and line outputs on the 1977-on amp
Connections
- Outputs
- Built-in speakers, 1/4-inch unbalanced
- Pedal inputs
- Sustain (mechanical)
Size & weight
- Colours
- Black
