Fender Rhodes MK8

Voxsupertwin

A new model is being made….GAK are selling at £12K !!!!!

Very much for someone with more money than sense .

must be the most and best cloned instrument on the planet for a fraction of the cost .

joeW

There’s a lot going on under the hood - more than say a PRS of similar price. If I was a professional keys player it might make sense but then again you’d probably leave it in the studio and gig with a modelled equivalent - they aren’t exactly light.  I love the sound of a Rhodes tho and am glad they are still out there.  

hollywoodrox

Jay Graydon & some company have modelled that super famous one 

Stuckfast

Yes it's a lot of money. But it is also a stunning instrument, and by far the best version of the Rhodes piano ever made. Every part is made to the highest standards in the UK, except for the keybed which is a top-end German model used on Steinway pianos. Of course you can play a Rhodes patch from a digital keyboard and most people listening won't ever know the difference, but you could say that about a high-end guitar or amp too. A genuine electromechanical piano like the Rhodes Mk8 or the Vintage Vibe piano is much more different from any digital model than a high-end guitar is from a cheap one, or an amp modeller from a real amp. It's more like the difference between an actual grand piano and a digital piano.

So, even though it's £10k+ depending on which model you get, they are massively back ordered and can't build them fast enough and I'm not surprised. When you see what goes into it the price tag is not actually outrageous. How much would you pay for a top-end grand piano?

jackio

I would love one. Awesome instrument and (I imagine) an absolute joy to just sit and play a weekend morning away

Voxsupertwin

All very good comments

lukedlb

I began restoring a MK1 73 Rhodes last year. There is so much going on inside for such a simple design. Setting it up (voicing) takes a good long afternoon and infinite patience. 73 pickups. They are remarkable instruments with a few idiosyncrasies such as key sway, key clunk, and limited dynamics, which does turn some pianists off. But, my god, the sound is incredible.
I've been following the development of the Mk8 and I am thoroughly impressed. I had the chance to play one this summer for a short period. I'm no pianist and so unable to put it through its paces. But it was clear that it played like the dream idea of a rhodes.
Remember: not every strat is equal; not every rhodes is equal. Mine came out of the factory poorly set up with a defective pickup and hammer. Fortunately, this meant that it wasn't played as much as it deserved and already with my limited renovation it's playing well. The MK8 comes out of the factory set up to perfection but ready to be personalised should you have the courage. Rhodes players need to know how to set up to voice. I personally wouldn't touch it. But you can mess with it. Fortunately, Rhodes have put out a plug in of the MK8, which I have, and it's great. It affords the player all the set-ups they could ever dream of. I recommend it.
The preamp and FX panel designed for the MK8 is fantastic too. Again, the plug in will show you what to expect. 
This is the crazy part of my review: the MK8 is so perfect, so playable, so incredible sounding that it actually sounded like a plug-in.
Which is why I bought the plug-in. (130quid on special offer vs the 10k real thing).
However, the day I have 10k, I will buy the real thing. It's beautiful. It's made for playing. It's the best rhodes it can be. The keybed feels nothing like a rhodes. It addresses every possible 'what if' question and already has an answer. The day they provide a Midi bed installation, the keyboard will be perfect, ready for every live demand (it weighs half of the original).

jdgm

https://rhodesmusic.com/rhodes-mk8/

ICBM

The piano player in a rock’n’roll band I used to play with had an original Rhodes… he called it Maybellene. I asked why and he said try lifting it…

”She just cannot be true!”



Replaced for gigging with a Yamaha digital, but although it was about a fifth of the weight it never sounded the same.