The Vintage Vibe Electric Piano

[Hansi]

Hello guys and girls

I tried a Vintage Vibe electric piano a couple weeks ago and really fell in love with them, they are a bit expensive but by the looks of it they should outlast most of us if they are well taken care of. Does anyone have any experience with these pianos, maintenance, durability, gigability?

 

[CowboyNQ]

Check this out Hansi:

http://www.keyboardmag.com/electro-mechanical/1192/vintage-vibe-electric-pianos/28980

 

[happyrat1]

I found an ebay listing for about 4,000 UKP.

For that price considering you could pick up 3 or 4 Vintage Suitcase Rhodes I'd have to say it would have to be able to pay my taxes, mow my lawn and pleasure me orally before I'd shell out that kind of money for what is essentially a Rhodes clone.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

Agree w/ Gary, look for a Mark 5.

 

[Hansi]

thanks for your input guys. I have been wondering about getting an old Rhodes or even a Wurlitzer in stead as they tend to be a bit cheaper but the problem in Iceland is that the supply of both is a lot lower than the demand so good pianos are few and far between and high in price so the price point is a bit closer to the vintage vibes than in the US or Europe. There are for example no Rhodes pianos for sale in Iceland (believe me, I have pulled every string to try to find out) but one Wurli coming up for sale in the coming months, fully restored and at a price point very close to a Vintage Vibe

I am also drawn to the light weight of the Vintage Vibe as I travel a lot and don't always have a second person to help me carry the stuff, and although I have found a technique to haul a Leslie 3300 by myself, a beast like the Rhodes 88 or even 73 could be quite heavy.

I haven't made any decisions yet. I need to speak with one person who was thinking about selling a 88 note Rhodes a few months ago but pulled out and make him a new offer to see if I can change his mind but right now a VintageVibe looks like my best bet unless I can somehow pry out enough currency from the central bank to buy one from abroad (darn capital controls)

 

[happyrat1]

I took a look at the Icelandic Craigslist and I see what you mean. Virtually nothing for sale at all under musical instruments.

But there are plenty of Fender Rhodes for sale on Ebay around $1000 USD.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=fender rhodes&clk_rvr_id=1042246007908&mfe=search

Even if you had to cough up an extra $600 shipping it would still work out way cheaper for you than a Vintage Vibe.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

Listen to this video, sounds nearly identical. This is a reason people no longer bother gigging with vintage keyboards.

http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=43

This comes in a sound module (table top or rackmount). This module is my next purchase. Much cheaper than a vintage vibe, plus vb3 and a host of other modeled instruments.

 

[Hansi]

I actually wasn't aware we had craigslist in Iceland Gary so I hadn't checked that. We do however have an active used instrument market on Facebook in special groups. A few dedicated to keyboard instruments. I just got offered a Rhodes mkII 54, not sure about the size, could be a bit small for what I am thinking but I could get it relatively cheap because it needs some work done on it for it to be giggable.

Dave, I do have a Kawai MP7 which does have a nice Rhodes and Wurlitzer sound and my SK2 Hammond also does the trick in that department. I do however feel that there is a certain soul to the older instruments, or instruments built in that style that you can't get from electronic pianos or modules. A lot of that comes down to different action between each keyboard, and that is also the reason I usually like to have at least two or three keyboards with me during a show, a Hammond which has the Hammond action, a piano for that feel and then a synth which doubles as a midi board for MainStage if I need different sound effects. I've been using Rhodes and Wurli sounds increasingly with my band and I would like to add the real thing because it is just a whole different feeling playing that. I do however see the benefits of just having to carry around one relatively light keyboard and a module but I have not gotten into that yet.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I do however feel that there is a certain soul to the older instruments, or instruments built in that style that you can't get from electronic pianos or modules. A lot of that comes down to different action between each keyboard,

There's also the analog vs. digital issue. I don't claim to be able to tell the difference between an actual analog instrument (e.g., a hard synth) and the digitally-sampled or algorithmically-reproduced soft versions of it, but there are a lot of people who say they can!

 

[Hansi]

I won't say that I can always hear the difference between the real analog and reproductions or sampled versions of keyboards on recordings. Some keyboards do however have some sounds and a responsiveness that has not yet been perfectly reproduced digitally. I do however mostly seek the "real analog" versions due to the responsiveness and feel while playing. I get something from playing a real electric piano and a multi contact tone wheel Hammond that I don't quite get from new digital keyboards although some come pretty close.

For me the vintage keyboards help with the writing and recording process although I don't usually haul an old B3 organ to gigs since my SK2 really does do the sound justice (and a bit more than that) for live events.

 

[cpcohen1945]

FWIW --

I understand your wish for a vintage instrument.

But you might try a serious software emulation instead -- either "Lounge Lizard" (Applied Acoustic Systems) or Pianoteq's "Electric Pianos" package. I think Lounge Lizard is on sale, now.

They're not "sample players". They each model what happens inside a real Rhodes (or Wurlitzer). If you want to move the (virtual) tone bars a little closer to the (virtual) pickups, you can do it. If you want to make the hammers a little harder, you can do it. And so on.

Compared to a Rhodes Stage -- a high-performance laptop computer is _really_ easy to transport.

. Charles