⭕ Up for sale, a one-of-a-kind 1967 Fender Rhodes Prototype piano. Internally, this piano is an early Sparkletop Suitcase model with Raymac tines, felt hammers and original Jordan preamp and poweramp. However, this piano also has unique features that show almost every facet of the evolution of the Rhodes piano from the Sparkletop era to the MK 1 pianos introduced in 1969. From one of a kind 4 pickups with red windings, an etched gold faceplate only documented on a couple other known examples, a multi-pin preamp connection that predates the Peterson amp to handwritten notes on the pianos base detailing the birth of the Stage model, this is the missing link in the history of the Rhodes piano.


The matching Jordan power amp (also with added XLR jack) is also included, and while it powers up, it also features a circuit board that does not match any known schematic and has not been fully restored to working condition although we were able to pass signal through it via one of the 1/4 jacks. Luckily were also including original documents with notes on the power amp wiring, modified schematics and a complete handwritten layout of the power amp circuit board labeled with all of the component values. This should be enough for success in any future restorations.

The harp on this piano, while in most respects a stock Sparkletop harp, has a few interesting things which make it unique. First of all, there is no evidence of the gold Rhodes label where it should sit in the lower righthand side of the harp (hardly needed on a prototype) and on a stock model, all of the pickups should have green wire. However, these pickups have long metal tabs on their tail end unlike anything weve ever seen and these pickups feature red wire on the pickup bobbins two full years before this feature hit the market! As far as we know, this is the only documented example of red wire on the full 4 Fender Rhodes pickups.

The piano features a walnut veneer and similar woodworking to that of other early Rhodes pieces including the Rhodes Communication Console Teaching System found on the Student Models page of FenderRhodes.com. The case shows various nicks, scratches and cigarette burns, typical of an un-tolexed piano that saw some use, however there is no serious wear of any kind and the photos give an accurate representation of the cosmetic condition of the piece.