Fender Rhodes Damper Felt Kit

Fender Rhodes Damper Felt Kit - Vintage Vibe - Vintage Vibe
Vintage Vibe®

Fender Rhodes Damper Felt Kit

Regular price $41.99 $0.00 Unit price per

Replace your old damper felts with a Vintage Vibe damper felt kit! Our felts have been redesigned for optimal performance and improved action.


Product Details

Description

Pre '75 vs Post '75

About the Felts

Placement Guides

Install Videos

FAQ

Description

So your felts are original, probably flopping over and not so promising?  You’ve come to the right product page!

If the damper felts on your piano have never been changed, don't even think it over, do it! 

Trust us on this one; replacing damper felts is one of the "must-do" tasks when restoring a Fender Rhodes piano. By now, your electric piano is likely 40-50 years old and the original damper felts are, without a doubt, worn and deteriorating. 

New felts are semi-rigid 100% wool and able to absorb the swing of a large tine with ease. As felts age, they soften elongate and degrade and this is typical of what you see in a 30 to 50-year-old piano.  The symptoms can range from felts that flop over and fail to dampen to felts that get in the way of adjacent dampers.

Vintage Vibe has carefully thought out the need for damper felts on the Fender Rhodes and Vintage Vibe pianos with a four-part damper felt system - Bass, Pre-Mids, Mids, and Treble. We stand behind our design 100%

Kits available for Fender Rhodes (Pre 1975) and Rhodes (Post 1975) 73 or 88 note pianos.
Glue is included.

We also recommend our damper arm kits to accompany your new felts!

Pre '75 vs Post '75

Pictured is a classic example of a Fender Rhodes action with single dampers, half wood half plastic hammers and wood action. If your piano has this type of action then you will want the Pre 1975 damper felt kit.


Pictured is a classic example of a Rhodes action with damper combs, all plastic hammers and aluminum frame action. If your piano has this type of action then you will want the Post 1975 damper felt kit.

 

 

About the Felts

When you open up our kit you will notice our felts are not the same size as your original Rhodes felts, this is a good thing!  Rhodes offered various felt sizes over the years as well as different placement configurations. Please do not be confused, our felts are designed purposefully to work with every year Rhodes and they work beautifully.

Bass Felts

Bass felts are 1/2" x 1/2" x 3/8" large sturdy soft wool felt and are able to absorb the swing of a full length of tine yet sturdy enough to never flop over.

Pre Mid Felts

Pre mid felts are placed after the bass section of all pre mid 75 era Fender Rhodes pianos. These felts are the same length and width of a bass felt but only half the height, this allows for a closer proximity and tighter dampening.

On later Rhodes post, early 75' pianos this section of felt may not be needed because of the fact that two octaves of bass damper arms are standard in this era of the piano. The octave bass damper arms are shorter thus needing a taller felt as to not overextend the damper arm to reach tines. 

Mid Felts

Mid felts were designed to allow for excellent tine cushion as well as giving plenty of room for tine clearance and any pickup adjustment. Point is they are made to dampen and keep out of the way, unlike old bulky Rhodes felts.

Treble Felts

These felts are 3/8th x 3 /16 x 3/8th and allow the ultimate clearance for any tine and especially close pick up configurations in the upper end.

Install Videos

Tech Tip | Installing Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

Tech Tip | Fender Rhodes & Rhodes Bass Damper Felt Difference

Tech Tip | Adjusting Treble Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

Tech Tip | Adjusting Treble Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

FAQ

Q: I received your dampers but I have noticed there are 4 different sizes and not all match what I have on my piano. I am not sure what I should do?

A: Yes, thank you for the question. The felts are designed this way on purpose.  You will want to watch our video as well as look at our felt placement chart. Once you have replaced all of your dampers you will begin to adjust your dampers. Anytime a change in distance between the damper felt and the tine occurs whether that be from escapement changes or damper felt changes, damper arm adjustment will be needed. Felts having lower profiles allow for better damper articulation as well as access in tighter places.

 For damper adjustments, you will bend the damper gently up or down just after the bridle strap to increase or decrease lost motion of the bridle strap.  NOTE; Lost motion is the amount of slack you have in the bridle strap while in the key is in resting position and the harp is down. It can also be described as the amount a key has to travel downward before the damper engages and lifts off the tine. For the correct damper height, you will want a bridle strap that is just slightly loose but not quite taught. You will want the damper to engage almost immediately after depressing a key but not so taught where the damper will bounce with the hammer after a key strike and cause after ring.

Continuing with adjustments you may notice notes that exhibit an after ring or notes that are muted. In either case, the proper damper arm adjustment is necessary. When dampers are properly adjusted you should be able to lift the harp or an individual tone bar and not see the dampers move more than 1/8th inch. With the harp in the upright position, your dampers should be even across the piano. If they are not, keep tweaking them.

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