latigid on wrote:
There aren't too many Rhodes' where I live; I paid about US$1400 for a 73 Suitcase. But he did throw in a Roland MPU-101, TR-505, SPD-11...
Thats quite a bit of $, depends on the condition. They are very common here in the States. I got my 1975 Stage for about $250USD on eBay a few years ago. That was a steal, though. I haven't checked in a while, but they probably go for a bit more now. It will be interesting to see what happens to the price of the vintage Rhodes once the new one is released.
Anyway, my point was that, for the new Rhodes company's sake, hopefully the new Rhodes will bring enough new stuff to the table, keep the cost low enough and SOUND GOOD enough to tempt people away from the vintage one. Say that the new Rhodes costs $3000USD. Here in the US, you can get a FULLY RESTORED Stage, that is good as new for around half that.
I don't really know the cost, I'm just thinking of scenarios. Building a Rhodes is, I'm sure, very labor intensive. Labor is expensive. Not to mention all the custom hardware (tines, wooden hammers, tonebars, etc, etc, etc) that needs to be machined. Yes, this will put quite a dent in the old pocketbook.
I very exciteted about this new Rhodes and will probably be impressed with whatever is released, but I'm just afraid others won't be willing to pay the price.
Hmmmmm....maybe if it were made in Taiwan....