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Fender Rhodes vs. Rhodes: What's the difference?

Sometime in late 1974, CBS made the decision to drop the Fender branding from the Rhodes instrument line. This was done so that keyboard dealers would be able to sell Rhodes pianos without a contractual obligation to sell Fender guitars. The re-branding happened over the course of about a year, where new and old stock parts were used interchangeably. In pianos from 1974-75 you will sometimes see the Fender Rhodes brand in one place and the Rhodes brand in another!

Note that the Rhodes-only branding does not indicate that the piano is pre-CBS. Leo Fender and Harold Rhodes started out as business partners, then were bought by CBS around 1965. Also, the KMC-1 student pianos from the early 70's had the Rhodes name badge in some cases, adding to the confusion.

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