["BrooksB"]

Hello Piano Forum.

I'm currently thinking about buying a Fender Rhodes, and I'm not too particular about which exact model I end up with as long as it's not busted up or anything like that.

Is tuning difficult/expensive?
Does it get out of tune easily? (Every shipper says I will probably need to tune it after shipping, but maybe they just don't want to tune it)
How necessary is it to have a Rhodes amplifier? Or pre-amp of some kind?
Aren't they pretty sweet?

If anyone who knows anything about these things could respond, that'd be super.

[Nate]

Yes, they are pretty sweet... but I prefer the Wurly.

The Rhodes works with metal tonebars and sets of electric pickups. It does tend to go out of tune pretty easily, I think. I'm not sure how hard it is to retune it.

[LWatford]

Depends on the model about the amp. The suitcase should come with an amp and speakers. The Stage has an instrument level output, so you just run it to your keyboard amp or guitar amp (try it with a Twin Reverb).

While I've never done it, tuning a Rhodes is much easier than tuning a Wurlitzer. Pretty sure there are some websites on it. I think with the Rhodes you move the tines to tune, and the Wurlitzer you have to take away or add solder to change the weight of the reed.

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/

[Rainer.]

I've played a pretty sweet suitcase model, stage models are the ones without the amp, suitcases have the amp.