Fender Rhodes Suitcase MK1

[Desmaad]

What year is this from?

[LauderdaleFat]

I have that same peice and it is for sale and in good condition message me for pics!

[keyboardprince]

i have this very model still the best ever made got it from bahrain never used i will keep it forever

[bmdu69]

Hi all! Where i can find a suitcase Mark One like it? thx for ask me

[Brandotuomikoski]

my school has one of these. they got it for free. but they wont sell it to me

[kronk99]

When I was in high school 1991-1995, there were about ten of these in the back room of my home room in the music department. They were all broken, probably because they had never been repaired since they were bought in the 70s. I need to find out if they are still back there. I didn't know they could be repaired. Me and one of the guys from 112 use to tried to practice on them---sad...I wonder if the school still has them back there....This guy's playing is on it...

[lokkke]

ou the same thing happend to me, but now ive got my own:P

[sjirk]

@Brandotuomikoski hahaha man!!! that must really suck!! i'm a guitar player but these intruments.... MAN!!! im just obsest by the great sound!!  just a pity that they are so expensive...

[mattijsbrands]

Weet er iemand waar de suitcase versterkers nog te vinden zijn?

[Ackamoracca]

is the piano removable from the bottom speakers?

[LarryBrown2]

Yes. You could set the piano on an X stand if you wanted and run a cable into any other sound system, no problem.

[mahadevaji]

i dunno about that sir. i own a suitcase mk1 and i cant do like that.. cause the "cable" is a 4pin connector that does to the cabinet and the preamp gets power from that aswell..

so in order to use the builtin suitcase preamp you would have to find a special solution to power it....

the other option is the run a RCA directly from the pickups to some other preamp

[TheLarryBrown]

Hey mahadevaji:

Oh, you may be right. It's a stereo output to support the stereo vibrato, that's three of the conductors right there. The other one probably provides power to run the stereo vibrato unit, that's located behind the control panel. FYI the vibrato works by alternately blinking two light bulbs (left & right). The light is picked up by an optical sensor that controls the volume of the respective channel. The unit shown here with the slider control is more modern than the one I had.

[TheLarryBrown]

Or, ok, just like you say it powers the entire unit, pre-amp as well as vibrato unit. To answer the OP's question, yes, the piano is a separate cabinet and can be separated from the speaker cabinet. Thus it is transported in two parts. Doesn't the piano shown here have two additional output jacks, standard 1/4"? Thus it could be hooked up to an amp unit. Otherwise perhaps some other models do feature such an output, or else a little creative wiring would be required.

[mahadevaji]

oh those two 1/4 outputs is the effect loop.

yes the piano can be hooked up to another preamp for sure but to use the suitcasepiano preamp without the ampcabinet you would need to do creative wiring to power it...

i myself dont have any electrical skills so i do not know how to

[mahadevaji]

i believe rhodes changed to using the slider controls instead of knobs in the late 70´s mk1 models..

79 models for sure. maybe some 78 aswell

[mahadevaji]

thanks for explaining the vibrato :)

[samiegfunk1]

isnt that a stage model

[blackwaxjh]

No. The suitcase model Rhodes has the large amplifier cabinet that sits right under the keyboard. The stage piano did not come with a separate amp.

[LarryBrown2]

Stage model does not have the amp and speakers cabinet below it. The stage model has 4 stainless steel legs that attach to the piano and it sits on those. You have to provide an amp and speakers. The suitcase model has the piano and then a giant cabinet that houses two 15" speakers and an amp. The piano sits on that cabinet and thus has its own amp and speakers.

[HammondB200]

zit er nou echt veel verskil in een suitcase of een mark 1 met bv. een kc 350?

[WonderSander]

Er zitten in de suitcase 4 grote speakers en een tegekke tremolo effect, ik heb ook een stage met een Fender twin reverb, klinkt ook tegek! het hangt er ook n btje vanaf hoe de rhodes is afgesteld enzo

[HammondB200]

Kan je die dan tremolo dan niet generen met een gitaareffect of een leslie? En ik las daarnet dat de Stage eigenlijk de bovenkant is zonder de box maar met 4 poten en wat minder controls. En wat bedoel je precies met afstellen, wat doen ze dan?