It's a great privilege for us to present a truly historic instrument for the first time in software form – the world’s very first Electric Piano! It took many years and multiple attempts to track down this incredibly rare instrument. It was handmade by the inventor himself and set the remarkable legacy of the Rhodes® Electric Piano in motion. Of course the Pre-Piano sounds quite different than the iconic Rhodes® sound of the ‘70s that we’ve come to love. The grandfather clock-like tines were amplified with a piezo pickup routed to a small tube amp and speaker. Only a small number of these Pre-Pianos were ever produced, and far fewer survive, today.

During World War II, Harold Rhodes was deeply moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers and wanted to design a compact musical instrument to aid in their rehabilitation. Small enough to fit on a hospital bed, the first acoustic version was cleverly made with tines crafted from aluminum - which Harold scavenged from the wings of a wrecked B-17 bomber! After the war, Rhodes continued to ruminate on his idea and came up with the idea of a self-amplified version for students. In 1946, the hand-built electric ”Pre-Piano" was an instant success and his new Rhodes Piano Co. sold a batch to local schools in Los Angeles. We've meticulously restored and preserved this rare slice of musical instrument antiquity in Keyscape so you can make your own history!