For sale is a Clavinet C made in West Germany in 1970, along with original lid and some spare hammer tips, but no legs or music stand. This is a classic electric clavichord design using steel strings pressed against brass anvils by rubber hammers, the vibrations of which are picked up by two switchable electromagnetic pickups in a similar manner to an electric guitar. The C model is similar to the later D6 and E7 models except without the filter preset tabs and felt damper.

I have done the essential work to make this instrument play well; it is repaired but not "restored". In late 2020, I thoroughly cleaned the inside (including removing and cleaning every key, and vacuuming beneath the keys and the strings), replaced all hammer tips with new Vintage Vibe parts (which are still in excellent shape), and adjusted the action as needed. Particularly around the middle of the range, the anvils exhibit some wear, resulting in slight pitch changes with keypress force (as the string is forced into the anvil groove); this is not a problem with good playing technique. The strings are mostly original and hold their tuning well. The action is amazingly light and responsive, with relatively shallow key-press depth.

I replaced all electrolytic capacitors on the germanium transistor preamp, and cleaned the pickup switches (which will require periodic cleaning/exercise). All loose hardware was tightened, and various other small things were dealt with.

As you can see, it is not perfect cosmetically; someone has ham-fistedly painted it white with a brush (after removing the original red tolex), and there are various areas of wear. The left screw for the front cover bracket has broken off in the metal frame, but the front cover still holds on well due to the tightness of the left cheek block’s groove. The rubber feet are hardened and crumbly.

Power can be supplied either by an internally-mounted 9V battery or a 9V adapter with a tip-negative barrel plug (as used with most guitar pedals).

Thanks for looking, and feel free to ask questions or make an offer!