There's a great story about the so-called "Last Rhodes" in Gerald McCauley and Benjamin Bove's 2013 history of the electric piano, Down the Rhodes. Pianist Jim Wray had lost his Malibu mansion—and his 88-key Rhodes Suitcase—in the large and disastrous 1993 wildfire.
Soon after, Wray was testing new pianos at a West Los Angeles music store. An older couple looked on, amused, as he played some lines. That couple turned out to be the namesake creator of Rhodes pianos—Harold Rhodes—and his wife, Margit. They introduced themselves and heard Wray's tale of loss. By the next day, they were visiting the burned-out rubble of Wray's Hume House, looking for any remaining pieces of Wray's Rhodes.
Harold, then in his 80s, took the few tines they could find and said he'd build Wray a new piano. From his collection of components and various parts pianos, Harold and Margit—who handled most of the soldering and construction work—completed a new, custom Suitcase model that Wray called the Last Rhodes.
Turns out, the name didn't quite hold up.
A brand-new Rhodes company, Rhodes Music Group Ltd, has just officially unveiled the Rhodes MK8. Promoted as an honest take on Harold's electro-mechanical design, the new Rhodes will be precision-engineered instruments built by super fans of the originals.
Having teased the release for the past several months, this new endeavor is actually the second attempt to revive the Rhodes name after Harold's death in 2000. The Rhodes Mark 7—released in 2007 by the Rhodes Music Corporation, which has no relation to the new Rhodes Music Group Ltd—was ill-fated and wasn't in production for long. Will the new keepers of the Rhodes name be able live up to it?
What's Inside the New Rhodes MK8?
The new Rhodes team promised a premium electric piano, and by the features and specs, that's exactly what's in store. The first 500 MK8s are available for pre-order now—but only to people who signed up in advance at rhodesmusic.com.
There are actually two different MK8s available: the MK8 S (seemingly for "standard") and the MK8 FX, which adds an onboard stereo effects section including a compressor, phaser, chorus, and delay.
The specs, according to Rhodes music, include:
Analog Preamp: True analog signal path. Volume, drive, envelope controls. Expression pedal control of volume, mid sweep (wah), pan speed, pan depth. Rhodes custom analogue tri-band (low/mid/high) active equalizer (+/- 15db range). Voltage-controlled, resonant midrange filter. Rhodes custom vari-pan with variable rate/depth. 4 wave shapes and audio-rate modulation.
Analog Effects Option: Rhodes custom stereo effect processor: VCA compressor, phaser, Bucket brigade chorus, delay. Expression pedal control of phaser speed, chorus speed, delay time, delay feedback.
Power Supply: 15-Volt, 4-pin locking XLR external supply with universal voltage.
Keyboard: 73-note (E8-E80) Rhodes custom spruce keyboard by Kluge Klaviaturen GmbH, oak and beech key frame.
Pickups: Rhodes custom precision​-wound alnico pickups with anti-slip adjustment for accurate voicing and flat-ended pickup heads for accurate volume adjustment.
Action: Rhodes custom high-impact ABS hammers and combs, quad-zone hard-wearing tips, aerospace-grade damper combs, black natural wool damper felts.
Tone Generation: Rhodes custom precision steel tines and tonebars, sustainably sourced Baltic birch tine and pickup rails.
How Much Does the Rhodes MK8 Cost?
With those kinds of details, it's easy to see that the new Rhodes company has every intention of building a piano worthy of the name. But such components and expert labor do come with a price: $9,450 USD, as a baseline.
Take that $9,450 and add another $995 if you want the analog effects section. And if you can't resist splurging for the silver sparkle top or another custom hood finish, you can add a few hundred more. (A silvertop MK8 FX with that additional effects section and a matching silver stand will cost $11,320.)
Obviously, this cost will price out the casual fan. But what of the true fanatics—the type that will pay many thousands for an early '70s, Buz Watson-modded Mark 1 and thousands more for restoration and maintenance? Will this new premium Rhodes match their expectations and... hit the mark? We'll have to wait and see.
After the first round of pre-orders concludes at the end of November, the new Rhodes company will open up orders to the wider public.
Find deals on vintage Rhodes—whether late-'60s Rhodes 73s, Mark 1 Suitcase 73s from the early '70s or late '70s, Mark 1 Stage 88s, Piano Basses, and more—all day long on Reverb.