Wurlitzer Vs. Rhodes

The "bite" of the old Rhodes vs. the smooth tine sound of the 70s and early 80s. What sounds the best?

I have to say I prefer Rhodes, one of my favourite keyboard instruments of all time.

Come on, Rhodes is untouchable

Wurlitzer electric piano? It's nice!

Strangely it seems to be the first thread title mentioning Wurlitzer and not meaning the jukebox, although there is an old thread asking how to make that Supertramp keyboard sound which basically hailed from the Wurlitzer.

I still prefer the Rhodes though, being an Arturia V Collection owner I have both available as excellent softsynths, but there is just something wonderfully charming about the Rhodes sound. Unless as glossy as the DX7 Epiano, that is.

rip gary

Overall? I prefer the Wurlitzer. The v1 Rhodes has that "bite", yes, but later Rhodes's don't, and vary in consistency. I find that the Rhodes has a broader resonance and is a higher quality sound, but the Wurlitzer is more playable, more reliable in getting an acute attack.

The Wurlitzer is more affordable, too-- especially if you source a student model (the 206, I think?). I like the internal speakers for home-practice, I like the built-in tremolo. I like the portability! My Rhodes was a pain-and-a-half to transport and/or move around the room. I owned one of each at one point and now own neither; I would absolutely prefer a Wurlitzer over a Rhodes, though

I love them both, but I definitely prefer the Rhodes. It's hard to articulate why because they're timbrally pretty similar, but the Rhodes seems more "buttery" and versatile to me than the Wurlitzer. The true sparkly sound of space. I even dig the Dyno Rhodes and the DX7 emulation.

Been really into this Weidorje track with dual interlocking Rhodes lately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8g5nn0qcEo

Of course, Liz Harris is low-key out here keeping the Wurlitzer alive, and God bless her for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb5ZCr3YkM8

Here's me thinking Geir had gone forever!

So I’m moving abroad and won’t be able to take my nice upright with me. I’ve always wanted a vintage Rhodes or Wurlitzer, but I’m not sure it’s worth investing in one and then sending it halfway across the earth in a shipping container. If you were investing in a new electric piano that emulates these sounds-with weighted keys- what would be the nicest sounding one? I assume it will mostly be used for practice and recording, so probably not hauled around much after it arrives. Any advice?

nord stage is very portable with waterfall keys, and several electric piano sounds that can approximate a rhodes. you can also download an authentic wurlitzer sound from the nord sound bank.

most nords aren't full 88 keys tho, and run expensive

I almost got a Yamaha YC73 when Sam Ash was going under - compared to the Nords and Korgs on hand I thought the electric pianos sounded better + it had organs.

Settled on my regular non-piano MIDI controller and Pianoteq’s physically modeled (instead of sampled) electric pianos. They work best played through effects emulating saturation/guitar amps & cabs since none of that is baked in but since they’re modeled there are no velocity layers and it’s infinitely tweakable (in ways I don’t understand and don’t mess with).

There are a couple of specialist electric pianos that are modeled instead of sampled - the Crumar line and Viscount but you’d probably have to buy blind and hope you like them, can’t imagine many stores having stock to try out.

cool i have the nord electro so was thinking of pairing it up with the stage, but yeah very expensive. i'll check out that Yamaha, milo

i was looking at the Crumar! they look very cool

shipping a vintage wurlitzer overseas sounds like a disaster

i would check out the yamaha cp reface for cheap / portable rhodes/wurli sounds, but if you already have a nord electro -- doesn't it already have several really nice vintage electric keyboard settings?

Yeah it does but I need the weighted keys

Heez, jump on this. I own one and I love it. It's discontinued.

https://www.roland.com/us/products/rd-64/

https://reverb.com/item/87349679-roland-rd-64-64-key-digital-piano-2013-black

Afaik it's the only 61 key weighted keyboard, which means it plays like a piano AND it's not enormous. I use mine mostly as a MIDI controller (into Keyscape on my computer) but the internal sounds are excellent as well. The price on Reverb is good, too, I bought mine for a little less (but about the same).

(64 keys, not 61, whoops). Maybe check with that Reverb vendor if he's thought to have the C# key serviced. I can't believe Roland discontinued this keyboard it is amazing. My niece wanted a weighted 88-key when she went away to college and me-and-my-mom got her the RD-88 and she is extremely happy with it.

I personally extremely-dislike the Nord line of electric pianos. I love their synths! I love the Nord Modular! But the Electro/Stage/Piano line is aural hideousness, to me. I haven't once seen one onstage and thought "sounds good", usually the opposite

That looks cool. Just found a Nord Piano 2 used at my local shop. Just over 2k

If you're gonna go 88-key then I strongly suggest you try the RD-88 first before getting a Nord. It's cheaper and imho way, way better

For whatever reason, also, this particular specific Yamaha EP is really just amazing, both in feel and in sound, if you're looking for something with internal speakers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_P-120

You can find them used for fairly cheap. I bought one for my dad on his 70th and he played it every day for a decade

ive had the roland rd 700gx with fully weighted keys for a long time and while i love it, it is a struggle to move

From bitter experience I can tell you that getting the legs screwed accurately into a Rhodes is a fucking nightmare. Also negotiating venue stairs. Unbeatable sound though!

I have a student model Wurlitzer that needs a good amount of work, every time I look at it I get scared.

i recently went through the process of chopping a student model. spread it out over two years but managed to make it happen eventually -- happy to answer any questions

Sweet, thanks. It’s actually mostly functional, the guy before me swapped out the headphone jack for a line output.

The five highest keys are kind of janky, they feel like they’re not properly connected, it needs to be tuned and there are some ugly distortion issues to sort through (probably related to the DIY line out).

I need to just brave opening up the top and looking at the keys and then deoxiting some pots for a start.

The real dumb thing is that even with the attached speakers it was still easier to load in and unload from a hatchback solo vs. any Rhodes I’ve had to carry.

My local shop has a used Roland FP90x for a decent price. Worth checking out?