Rhodes piano

An early version of the Rhodes piano, used for teaching

Harold Rhodes started teaching piano when he was 19. He dropped out of the University of Southern California in 1929 to support his family through the Great Depression by full-time teaching. He designed a method that combined classical and jazz music, which became popular across the United States,[10] and led to an hour-long nationally syndicated radio show. Rhodes continued to teach piano throughout his lifetime, and his piano method continues to be taught today.[11] He continually refined and updated the design of the instrument up to 1984.[2]

By 1942, Rhodes was in the Army Air Corps, where he created a piano teaching method to provide therapy for soldiers recovering from combat in hospital. From scrapped airplanes, he developed miniature pianos that could be played in bed.[10][12] Rhodes won a service award for his therapy achievements and put an electric model, the Pre-Piano, into production for home use during the late 1940s.[13]

In 1959, Rhodes entered a joint venture with Leo Fender to manufacture instruments. Fender disliked the higher tones of the Pre-Piano, and decided to manufacture a keyboard bass using the bottom 32 notes (E-B), known as the Piano Bass.[14] The instrument introduced the design that would become common to subsequent Rhodes pianos, with the same Tolex body as Fender amplifiers and a fiberglass top. The tops came from a boat manufacturer who supplied whatever color happened to be available; consequently a number of different colored piano basses were produced.[1]

A pre-1969 "Silvertop" Fender Rhodes Electric Piano

Fender was bought by CBS in 1965.[15] Rhodes stayed with the company, and released the first Fender Rhodes piano, a 73-note model. The instrument comprised parts — the piano, and a separate enclosure underneath containing the power amplifier and loudspeaker. Like the piano bass, it was finished in black Tolex, and had a fiberglass top.[1] During the late 1960s, two models of the Fender Rhodes Celeste also became available, which used the top three or four octaves, respectively, of the Fender Rhodes piano. The Celeste did not sell well and is now hard to find.[1] In 1969, the fiberglass lid was replaced with vacuum-molded plastic; the earlier models became known retrospectively as "silvertops".[14]

The Student and Instructor models were introduced in 1965.[14] They were designed to teach the piano in the classroom. By connecting the output of a network of student models, the teacher could listen to each student in isolation on the instructor model, and send an audio backing track to them. This allowed the teacher to monitor individual students' progress.[16] Production of educational models ceased in 1974.[14]

In 1970, the 73-note Stage Piano was introduced as a lighter (130 pounds (59 kg)) and more portable alternative to the existing two-piece style, featuring four detachable legs (used in Fender steel pedal guitars), a sustain pedal derived from a Rogers hi-hat stand and a single output jack.[17][18] Although the Stage could be used with any amplifier, catalogs suggested the use of the Fender Twin Reverb.[19] The older style piano continued to be sold alongside the Stage and was renamed the Suitcase Piano.[17] An 88-note model was introduced in 1971.[14]

The Rhodes became increasingly popular during the 1970s. In 1976, the company posted an advertisement claiming that of the top 100 Billboard albums featuring electric pianos, 82% of them used a Rhodes.[2]

The Rhodes Mk V was the last model released by the original Rhodes corporation.

During the 1970s various changes were made to the Rhodes mechanics.[20] In 1971 the hammer tips were changed to neoprene rubber instead of felt, to avoid the excessive need for regular maintenance, while in 1975 harp supports were changed from wood to aluminum. Although this made production cheaper, it changed the resonance of the instrument slightly. In 1977 the power amplifier design was changed from an 80 to a 100-watt model.[21] The Mk II model was introduced in late 1979, which was simply a set of cosmetic changes over the most recent Mk I models. A 54-note model was added to the range.[22]

The Rhodes Mk III EK-10 was a combination electric piano and synthesizer, introduced in 1980 before CBS bought ARP Instruments in 1981. It used analog oscillators and filters alongside the existing electromechanical elements. The overall effect was that of a Rhodes piano and a synthesizer being played simultaneously. The instrument was unreliable with a problematic production, particularly when a shipment of 150 units to Japan caused interference with local television reception. Compared to the new polyphonic synthesizers being marketed at the same time, it was limited in scope and sound, and very few units were sold.[23]

The final Rhodes produced by the original company was the Mk V in 1984. Among other improvements, it had a lighter plastic body and an improved action that varied the dynamics with each note. The Mark V is the easiest of the original Rhodes pianos for touring musicians to transport.[22] Rhodes pianos produced under the original run had an inconsistent quality as the company wanted to mass-produce the instrument.[24]

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Chuck Monte manufactured an after-market modification to the Rhodes, known as Dyno My Piano.[19] It included a lever that moved the relative position of the tines to the pickups, modifying the sound, and fed the output signal through additional electronics.[20] This sound was emulated by the Yamaha DX7 with a patch known as the DX7 Rhodes that was popular during the 1980s, and caused several players to abandon the Rhodes in favor of the DX7.[25]

In 1983, Rhodes was sold to CBS boss William Schultz,[10] who closed the main factory in 1985[26] and sold the business to the Japanese corporation Roland in 1987. Roland manufactured digital pianos under the Rhodes name, but Harold Rhodes disapproved of the instruments, which were made without his consultation.[10]

The Rhodes Mark 7 was released in 2007.

Rhodes re-acquired the rights to the Rhodes piano in 1997. By then, he was in ill health and died in December 2000.[10] In 2007, his former business partner Joe Brandstetter acquired the rights to the name and re-formed Rhodes Music Corporation.[27] The company introduced a reproduction of the original electric piano, the Rhodes Mark 7, housed in a molded plexiglass enclosure.[28]

In 2021, a new company, Rhodes Music Group Ltd, was formed by the audio company Loopmasters who licensed the trademark rights from Brandstetter.[29] They announced a new model, the MK8, in development.[30][31] The MK8 was made available for pre-order in November with 500 units planned for production in 2022.[32] The MK8's case was designed by Axel Hartmann and its electronics were designed by former Moog Music technician Cyril Lance. At 75 pounds (34 kg), it is significantly lighter than earlier models.[33]