Ever had one of those days where stuff just seems to go right? One of those days where you pretty much have absolutely nothing to complain about? They happen every now and again, don’t they? Saturday was one of those for me. Choir practices went pretty well in the morning. After that, I decided to head down to a music store I check out every now and then to pick up a drum throne to replace the broken one we had at church. Sure enough, I was able to get one, but I really got the treat of the day when I looked in the back of the shop and saw not one but two (!) Rhodes electric pianos!
It’s not every day that I see one of those, and I’ve been wanting one for many years, ever since I first got to play one in college (and maybe even before that, after hearing those tones on a lot of my favorite tunes from the ’60s and ’70s). I’m normally one of those piano snobs — I generally hate keyboards. The touch, the tones, too many bells and whistles, the fact that if the power goes out you can’t play anything — everything about keyboards generally annoys me. I’ve softened towards them in general over the years (I used to be quite the zealot about this as a teen and in my early 20s), but I still would rather deal with the real thing. The only facsimile I ever took to right from the start was the Rhodes. It felt like a piano — it’s got a piano front action and even has hammers, even if they’re short, stubby things. 😉 It’s not horribly versatile compared to an organ or modern keyboards, but what it does it does very well. Loved ’em from the start. Too bad they’re not all that common anymore and tend to be fairly expensive when you find one, right?
Well, Saturday was a good day — I found a Seventy Three Mark I stage model for a good price. A little worn, yes — the top of the case looked like it had been through a war or two — and the shop owner had just gotten it in, so it was a little grimy, but the thing played like a dream. Bought it right on the spot and have been enjoying it ever since. I’m probably going to re-cover it with some new tolex at some point, starting with that top, and a couple of pieces of hardware could use replacing (will probably replace all of it when I re-cover the case), but the piano itself cleaned up pretty nicely and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. Ripped off King Harvest’s Dancing in the Moonlight and Blues Image’s Ride Captain Ride first thing, with The Doors’ Riders on the Storm following close behind. 😉
More later, if you can tear me away from that keyboard. 😀
By the way, if you’re in the DC area, the shop I bought my Rhodes from, Atomic Music in Beltsville, MD, still has the other Fender Rhodes in there for a decent price, and they also have a Wurlitzer electric piano there to boot. Now if only I could find that Vox Continental of my dreams…