The Rhodes electric piano, known as the MK8, is selling for $9,450. With this massive price tag, it's only fair to ask whether or not the new electric piano is really worth it?
Rhodes MK8 Electric Piano
After months of just teasing a new electric piano on Instagram, the legendary Rhodes piano is finally back with its new Rhodes Music Group opening pre-orders for the brand new electric piano, the MK8 model. To add, the new MK8 is selling for a whopping $9,450.
Actually, the $9,430 is just for the base model, meaning buyers could also choose to buy upgrades like adding a rad transparent hood for $575 or a walnut bottom shell for an additional $1,095. With that, the upgrades make the MK8 cost more than $10K.
With all of the extras, buyers will be paying $12,640 just for a single MK8. This is considerably a lot since most of the vintage Rhodes sells for as low as just $2,500 while remaining extremely desirable by musicians. There are now professional-sounding portable performance apps like the Korg module, as what previously reported on TechTimes, which is available on the iPhone.
500 Units Expected to be Manufactured
According to the story by Engadget, if the price of the MK8 will not scare away buyers, they should order one as soon as possible. The craftsmanship behind the electric piano is quite admirable, this is because, every unit is assembled by hand in the company's factory located in Leeds, England.
What makes the MK8 even more special is that Rhodes is expecting to manufacture just 500 units throughout 2022. With that, buyers will be able to be one of the owners of the limited supply of the MK8 by putting in full payment or at least a 20% deposit.
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Shipments to Start in Q1 2022
Shipments of the preamp-only model will start during Q1 of 2022, and the effects panel one will start shipping before the second half of 2022. It's quite hard to overstate just how important the popular Rhodes piano has been throughout the history of contemporary pop music.
The Rhodes piano was also very crucial when it came to the evolution of jazz and rock and rolled back in the 60s, with Ray Manzarek and Kieth Jarret being just some of the musicians that used their instruments to create some industry-changing melodies. More recently, they have made their presence felt in tracks from Thom Yorke and Nils Frahm.
Although music can now be produced even without the use of any physical instruments, the most professional musicians still prefer the feel and connection they feel with physical instruments. With that, an electric piano could be perfect since it has the feel of a physical piano but can be tweaked in order to fit one's ideal sound.
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Written by Urian B.
