Rhodes Piano

[Dave Nereson]

Basically, you use a little screwdriver with a V-notch filed in the end,
like a miniature dandelion digger, and slide the little coils on the end
of the tines out toward the end of the tine to flatten, and in to
sharpen.  The problem, from about the middle on up, is that it's hell to
move the coil a small enough amount -- they always go too far.  And if
the coil comes off the end of the tine, it's hard to get it back on, but
it can be done with a very thin needlenose pliers or maybe a long
tweezers.   For volume, you loosen the screws on the pick-up coils and
slide them closer to or farther away from the end of the tines.
"Voicing" consists of orienting the ends of the tines at the correct
spot, or "sweet spot" in front of the pick-up coils:  for "tonality" or
timbre, you use the two screws on the resonator bars (or whatever
they're called) that sit above the tines and adjust them left, right,
up, or down to find that sweet spot.  It's not real high tech and
they're fussy and not very precise -- you just have to be patient and
futz with it.  On all models, I think you can remove the screws that
hold the whole resonator bar, tine, and coil assembly and tip it up and
stand it on end, with the tines and bars pointing straight up.  Now,
with the piano turned on, you can manually pluck the tines and and move
the little coils up and down with your fingers, but if you're not using
an electronic tuning aid, you have to pluck two tines simultaneously or
in rapid succession to hear the beats since the keys and hammers can't
be used.  Haven't done one for years, but this is what I remember.  I
have a Fender Rhodes manual, but I don't know if it's still
vailable.  --Dave Nereson, RPTdnereson@dim.com