Taking Sides: Wurlitzer Vs. Rhodes Vs. Yamaha CP Vs. FM Piano

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So what is the best electric piano sound? The harsh Wurlitzer? the soft and vibrating Rhodes? The almost piano-sounding CP? The ultra silk smooth FM Piano?

Personally I have to say I have a thing for the FM Piano. Which is particularly strange because otherwise I don't like FM synths at all. But in spite of some people claiming it sounds cheesy today, there is nothing quite like the beauty of the FM piano. Sure it may have been abused by way too schmaltzy records by the likes of Whitney Houston, but the sound is still so warm, so beautiful.

I also sort of like the Rhodes. The Wurlitzer is too harsh for my taste, whereas the CP sounds kind of cheap in its "sounding a bit like a real piano, but only almost"-way.

So it's the FM piano all the way. It deserves a rennaisance!

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Monday, 19 February 2007 01:53 (seventeen years ago) link

A renaissance in the dumpster.

― step hen faps (Curt1s Stephens), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:05 (seventeen years ago) link

what's an FM piano?

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:13 (seventeen years ago) link

Is it better than an AM piano?

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:13 (seventeen years ago) link

ah, okay, fm synthesis, duh. never mind.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:16 (seventeen years ago) link

I would play music with all this instruments.

― Tim Ellison is number one proponent of Beatle!!!Mania!!! on nu-ILX (tim ellison), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:19 (seventeen years ago) link

whatever christine mcvie used

― esoj@w3rk (esoj@w3rk), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:23 (seventeen years ago) link

i should probably be better educated when it comes to makes and models of synthesizers, but i'm not. i know what a wurlitzer and a rhodes piano sound like. i don't know no yamaha cp. didn't yamaha make all the fm synths?

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:23 (seventeen years ago) link

the rhodes kinda rules. wurlitzers remind me of baseball and the like. although they are very cool machines.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:26 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.freddan.biz/bilder/models/61fenderpiano_bass.jpg

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Wurlitzers are a little more cutting than a Rhodes, yes?

― Tim Ellison is number one proponent of Beatle!!!Mania!!! on nu-ILX (tim ellison), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:30 (seventeen years ago) link

they'll cut thru yer eardrums!!

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:32 (seventeen years ago) link

The big question is which one did Daryl Hooper play?!!

― Tim Ellison is number one proponent of Beatle!!!Mania!!! on nu-ILX (tim ellison), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:34 (seventeen years ago) link

course when i think of wurlitzer i always think of the massive beasts not the lil' electric pianos. the lil' ones are cool. but they still remind me of baseball.

http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/images/moviehouse/682/d%5EArthur_Gutow_Michigan_Wurlitzer_from_john_lauter.jpg.jpg

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:35 (seventeen years ago) link

they made a heck of a jukebox too.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:37 (seventeen years ago) link

startrekman to thread

― amon (amon), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:42 (seventeen years ago) link

wait, what about the hammond organ? i can get kind of tired of the hammond sound after a while. i hardly ever play my shirley scott albums.

i like the old yamaha organ sounds. "old" meaning 60's or 70's.

but i'm not a hammond hater or nothing. i was just listening to johnny "hammond" today! even he played a yamaha sometimes.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:42 (seventeen years ago) link

johnny "yamaha" has a pretty cool ring to it too.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:43 (seventeen years ago) link

I've always thought the Wurlitzer was warmer then the Rhodes, the Rhodes being crisper and brighter.

The Wurlitzer 200a has been my favorite keyboard for years. I had one in my studio (i.e. extra room) for a few years because my friend who lived accross the hall let me. It sounded so beautiful. They were going for about 200 bucks then. Now they're at least 600, closer to a 1000 in good condition.

I own a Hohner Pianet, which I got on ebay for less then 200. They don't have the touch-sensitivity of the Wurli or Rhodes, or really any touch sensitivity, but if you want a cheap way to get a cool sounding electric piano, that's one way to go. Tortoise used one a bit. It does just make me miss the Wurli more and more.

― dan selzer (dan selzer), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:44 (seventeen years ago) link

okay then, accordians:

hohner -vs- wurlitzer

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:49 (seventeen years ago) link

what about the clavinet?

http://www.melmusic.com.au/articles/vinart_images/clav_d62.jpg

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:51 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.synthmania.com/HohnerClavinetWalterMurphy-fromAug1978.JPG

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:52 (seventeen years ago) link

god, i loved a fifth of beethoven. he killed that thing on the mike douglas show.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:52 (seventeen years ago) link

i would also like to know what people think of hohner guitars and guitarsynths and weird headless guitars and basses. since i'm here.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 02:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Lou Reed playing a Klein!

http://brendanburns.com/pics/loureed.jpg

― Tim Ellison is number one proponent of Beatle!!!Mania!!! on nu-ILX (tim ellison), Monday, 19 February 2007 03:17 (seventeen years ago) link

The Clavinet is something else, really? That being said it sounds wonderful when used by someone like Stevie Wonder (he still occasionally plays it on his recent albums even)

For reference regarding the DX piano/FM piano, see this article about the Yamaha DX7 and see what is written about patch #11: E.PIANO 1
http://www.synthmania.com/dx7.htm

As for the Yamaha CP, it was extensively used by Tony Banks from "And Then There Were Three" through the rest of Genesis' album career (Check out "That's All" and "In Too Deep", for instance)
It was also used by Yazoo on the track "Winter Kills" on the "Upstairs At Eric's" album.

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Monday, 19 February 2007 03:48 (seventeen years ago) link

And, btw:

Wurlitzer:
"What'd I Say" by Ray Charles
"You're My Best Friend" by Queen

Rhodes:
"Still Crazy After All These Years" by Paul Simon
"When I Need You" by Leo Sayer

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Monday, 19 February 2007 03:52 (seventeen years ago) link

"You're My Best Friend" by Queen

okay, yeah, sounds great on there for sure.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 04:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Clavinet involves plucking metal strings to make them vibrate like a guitar, whereas Rhodes and Wurlitzer involves hitting metal tines which vibrate over a pick-up. As unlikely as it sounds, the Hohner Pianet has rubber bits that stick to the tines and when you play a note, the rubber part lifts up, lifting the hammer with it, like it's plucked. Which is why there's no sensitivity, you're just picking up and dropping the thing.

And tuning? To tune the wurlitzer, if the note is to sharp, you literally file the metal down. If it's too flat, you add solder.

― dan selzer (dan selzer), Monday, 19 February 2007 05:16 (seventeen years ago) link

you wanna see some serious fender love? er, maybe not for geir, but everyone else should dig it mightily:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXurhDMrdzs

sooooooooooo awesome.

― scott seward (121212), Monday, 19 February 2007 05:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Wurli wins for me.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Monday, 19 February 2007 05:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Believe it or not, this product doesn't suck.

http://www.keyboardmag.com/story.asp?storyCode=4566

― Burl Ervins (mjt), Monday, 19 February 2007 05:59 (seventeen years ago) link

http://ww2.datazap.net/ftp/stevenmorawiec/VVVV/53979.jpg

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 19 February 2007 06:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Wurlitzer I always thought of as the "Supertramp" sound. But now I'll forever associate it with "What'd I Say", knowing as I now do (thanks to Geir) that Brother Ray used a Wurli on that track. So that just reinforces my selection of the Wurlitzer. I really like that warbling "buzzy" sound.

Rhodes tends to remind me of bland '70s fusion. And I'm not at all sure what the Yamaha sounds like; but I do know that I DON'T see the point of an electric piano sounded like an acousic. I guess it is convenient for performers, but that's quite irrelevent as far as listening goes.

― Myonga Vön Bontempi (Monty Von Byonga), Monday, 19 February 2007 07:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Rhodes wins everytime, i get slightly annoyed by post-70s gil scott heron performances as he tends to use a dx7 instead of a rhodes :P

― X-101 (X-101), Monday, 19 February 2007 13:35 (seventeen years ago) link

but I do know that I DON'T see the point of an electric piano sounded like an acousic

I see no problem if it sounds more or less entirely like an acouistic one. Like Steinbergs great "The Grand" softsynth, for instance.

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Monday, 19 February 2007 14:21 (seventeen years ago) link

I had the good fortune last week of being in a studio packed w/ vintage equipment and having someone demonstrate a Hammond B-3 through a vintage Leslie. Absolutely gorgeous sound, loud as shit but clear and fat.

― Mark (Mark R), Monday, 19 February 2007 14:31 (seventeen years ago) link

I really like that warbling "buzzy" sound.

LOVE it. And on the Wurli I practiced on as a kid, when you pressed on the pedal and turned up the vibrato all the way you could get some gorgeous/bizarre feedback sounds.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Monday, 19 February 2007 23:08 (seventeen years ago) link

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