5/22/15 6:07 PM

"Now I'm looking for a Rhodes"

And Dual Showman?

5/22/15 6:28 PM

I confess I would not mind a Dual Showman. A Twin would be ok too.

5/22/15 6:40 PM

Twins are so out of vogue as to be real steals IMO.

Just get the one with the 15".

I have a Band Master Reverb with a Twin Output Trany and a 15". A DIY VibroVerb if you will. With the JBL K130 for the Rhodes that would be nifty too. ;)

Don't rule out the Peavey Pedal Steel amps, cheap used and fantastic with a Fender Pianeee. Models with LTD in the name, the the LTD400 which the original speaker was a Black Widow 15".


Then there is the Vibrolux [2 10s] and Vibrosonic before I forget. The later being a 115 Showman Combo. You should pretty much have a 15 speak as far as I am concerned. ;)

5/23/15 4:58 AM

Got a Small Stone to go with that?

5/23/15 10:35 AM

Sparky- Why the 15? Can the 12's just not do the bass? trivia question...Did all the twins with 1-15 have a JBL? it would be great to get a JBL one. I assume its crazy loud if need be?

5/23/15 12:39 PM

"Why the 15? Can the 12's just not do the bass? trivia question...Did all the twins with 1-15 have a JBL? it would be great to get a JBL one. I assume its crazy loud if need be?"

It is NOT about that bass. The mids are peaky more-so with 12 IMO. Albeit that less so with Fender Black and silver face amps. So more about a linear tonal spectrum from my minds eye [ear]. You are not using a K140 with a bass rolled edge for example. The 15 with the non rolled paper edge has less excursion and thus Not about bass. A lot of folks think 15=bass. The cone edge and additional excursion for bass is not in place for a paper edged speaker just because it is a 15. ;)

Not only did hardly any twins have a 15 at all, doubtful it would come with a JBL. Having said that, the kind of folks that like a 15 are likely to put in a JBL. A D130 or K130 probably be best for what you'd do with keys or a pedal steel guy may do. Think loud chime and uncolored ring/clarity.

Having typed all that, two D120s or Weber California Series 12s probably would not disappoint you. But IMO the 12s gotta be louder than the 15 to hit the sweet spot, 'IMO'.

As far as loud, the JBL has a huge percent more Sensitivity than any speaker stock in any Fender amp. So it is good that it can sound so good at lower volume and power use.
I think the K130 is like +8-10db sensitivity more and at the same output as a stock Fender speaker a lot louder.

I use a 15 watt amp with a 105db speaker [about the highest made] and get cleaner and loud easily as a 30 watt amp with what may be a 95-7db sensitivity driver.

Lesson session over. ;)

Happy to assist when you are looking. And BTW, Twins and Showmans can be run with 2 power tubes pulled if what you get is too loud. You just have to know how to use the right impedance speaker.

And then there is NEO 15" speakers. I have a Jensen 15 NEO that is 6.5 lb. The K130 is 16, and a Electro Voice EVL is 21... Lesson encore...

5/26/15 8:06 AM

I think the critical questions here are:

"Are you planning to gig with this Rhodes?" (If the answer is no, a Twin is far more powerful than than you'll want/need at home. Neighbors will be complaining about the noise long before you get it loud enough to overdrive it.)

"How important is it to you to have earth-shaking bass?" (I play my Rhodes Piano Bass through a Peavey KB100 keyboard amp, which puts out tons of bass, but prefer to play my Rhodes 73 through a guitar amp to hear those beautiful bell-like tones.)

First a Hammond, then a Rhodes, huh? That's how I started out. Then came a Vox Continental, a Wurli 140b, a Gibson G101, a Hohner Pianet N, and my Rhodes sparkle-top bass. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I found a cheap, mint Clavinet D6. (And there are another 8-10 vintage keys I've bought, fixed and re-sold in recent years to make room for the ones I really wanted to keep.) It's addictive...

Alan

5/26/15 8:37 AM

Another thought:

Virtually every common guitar effect has been applied to the Rhodes (especially phaser and chorus), but I rarely use any of them. I tend to associate many of those effects with bad pop music of the late '70s to '80s.

To my ear, more than anything, the Rhodes just sings when played through great tremolo. (Listen to "Riders on the Storm," a Stage Rhodes played through what is likely a Fender amp's "vibrato." Or Stevie Wonder's "Living for The City," a Rhodes Suitcase piano with the built-in stereo tremolo that will make you dizzy if you listen through headphones.)

I could happily play my Rhodes with the tremolo on all the time.

Alan

5/26/15 10:37 AM

I'm leaning towards a Rhodes suitcase model that has "vibrato" that pans left-right. I like the movement of sound.

Alan, I seem to be following your footsteps.... I actually gig'd a Pianet back in the day. Played it thru a leslie but it didn't work all that well. Seemed to overload on the peaks.

5/26/15 10:53 AM

Would you hit me with an email at dfcas at that yahoo dot and com?

Thanks

5/26/15 11:39 AM

"a Twin is far more powerful than than you'll want/need at home"

I am pretty sure they have volume knob on those. ;)

So I get the 'need' part, feel free to educate me on the want aspect.

With the numbers on used Twins out there. Given the non popularity for guitar use due to getting you kicked out of a club. Before you get a guitar use tone you might actually think sounds good I mean.. READ: out of vogue

Point is/was I am seeing them for $500-600 space bucks. That and the volume knob for keyboard seems like a candidate. And As I said, you can pull two of the power tubes and take some bark off them....

Disclaimer; not a keyboard player, but I know what I thought sounded good with guys kits...

Secondary Disclaimer; tube amp and Keybrd use. Is there too much power? I imagined unlike with the guitar you do not want to drive either the amp or preamp sections.

Which would lead me to some pre-amp tube choices to that end... Should a tube amp get used ultimately for his Rhodes...

5/26/15 1:16 PM

If you overspend on keyboards you might not have enough $ left to overspend on bikes.

5/26/15 1:19 PM

>>I am pretty sure they have volume knob on those. ;)>>

Sure, but how good does a Twin Reverb sound on 2?

In my opinion, when you're using a Rhodes, a Twin is at its best when you crank it to push it into its sweet spot, the point where it's just starting to distort. That's where you get some warmth and crunch. (You don't want heavy distortion, like the guitar guys.) But the Twin stays clean for so long that this only happens at high volumes.

I suppose you could remedy this by getting a model with a master volume control, or buying an attenuator, or pulling out some tubes (as you suggested), or playing at lower volume with a distortion pedal. But why not just buy a lower-powered Fender amp that you can push without waking the dead? Fender amps like the Deluxe Reverb have been mainstays in recording studios for decades because they can deliver a classic "pushed" Twin sound at lower volumes.

So, for a Rhodes player at home, you definitely CAN have too much power.

Alan

5/26/15 2:14 PM

I am an equal opportunity overspender, so no problems there. I've been overspending on bike stuff for 20+ years. Time to spread the love.

I was just thinking this morning that the newest frame I have is 9 years old.

5/26/15 4:53 PM

"newest frame I have is 9 years old"

OK, a new frame and deluxe reverb with a Weber California then... ;0

I though one of you was going to ask how I knew about the volume knob as a guitar player... ;)

As to if a Twin sounds good on two, with a K130, I say yes. Well, maybe almost. ;) Do you want to pick one up ever is the real question. I think with two tubes pulled it would sound bold enough, if we are eluding to not getting on the pipe so to speak...

My Peavey Classic 50 when I had the NEO 15 in it was 49lb.
Crazy light by Twin Reverb standards... ;) If he lived close to me I would have already dropped it off for him to borrow.
Although the K130 in the VibroVerb [clone] might be more lustful...

5/26/15 6:16 PM

Sparky you have extended weight weeniism from bike to guitar amps. My organ weighs 381 pounds, the Leslie 151, for a total of 532 lbs. I don't want no stinkin lightweight amp. Give me heft. Since I wont actually move it once its in place.

I did gig with a B3 and 2 Leslies. Loved those upstairs clubs.

5/26/15 10:26 PM

"I did gig with a B3 and 2 Leslies"

Non chopped? I have seen some creative, and some downright sinful chop mods on gigging setups.

5/27/15 10:51 AM

Not chopped. The whole enchilada.