–It's all about the bass

Our customer, Len, has had a vintage Fender Rhodes piano bass since the early 1970's. He brought it in to us with all hopes of restoring it's original beauty and playability. He wanted to keep as much of it as original as he could, yet he knew some parts had to be replaced with exact retro reproductions from Vintage Vibe. We knew just what he wanted and needed.

In the 1970's and early 80's Len gigged out religiously with this piano bass nightly, you can see the pianos exterior shows it's past life well. Then as life would have it, music faded, families are raised, music trends came and went and like most Rhodes pianos this piano bass was stored away and ignored for most of the late 80's throughout the 2000's, only to find it's glory once again in 2017. Len was very excited to feel and hear the magic sound once again under his fingers. We are very happy to reunite Len and his prized Fender piano bass.

We respected Len's wishes and kept things as original as possible and focused our attention to what we do best and that is setting up and regulating a piano. When restoring a bass piano, you're not just setting up and regulating the bottom half of a 73 note piano. The piano bass is a different instrument, you can't think in terms of electric piano. You have to put yourself and the instrument into James Jamerson land. It's all about the bottom end and how you achieve that round tone. Strike line and escapement are approached differently, voicing is also very different. You do not want it to sound like a piano! That is the kind of insight and approach we offer at Vintage Vibe.  If you have a custom restoration you are considering, give us a call anytime, we'd love to discuss it with you.

Before & After Photos