Customise your dream Rhodes MK8 and weep at the price
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Rhodes MK8 Gold Sparkle · Source: Rhodes
Rhodes Mk8 custom · Source: Rhodes
Rhodes Mk8 colour options · Source: Rhodes
Rhodes Mk8 basic and most expensive options · Source: Rhodes
Rhodes Mk8 customiser · Source: Rhodes
The stunning Rhodes MK8 customiser is open now to everyone and the options are fabulous and the price is extraordinary. This is one serious and beautiful electric piano.
Rhodes MK8 Custom (updated)
The VIP period has passed and now the Rhodes website is open for everyone to enjoy dreaming about this electric piano. Everyone now has access to the Rhodes MK8 customiser where you can tailor your MK8 to your exact aesthetic requirements. I had no idea there’d be so many options available from the hood colour to the body finish to the type of control panel. You want your MK8 to be in hot pink? No problem. You want sparkles? We’ve got sparkles!
Here are your options:
- Hood – Black, Gold Sparkle, Silver Sparkle, Violet, Baby Blue, Pink, Mint Turquoise, Khaki, Traffic White, Red, Orange, Warm Grey and Smoked Transparent.
- Bottom Shell – Black, Walnut.
- Front Panel – Black, Silver
- FX Panel – None, Black, Silver
- Preamp Panel – Black, Silver
- Stand – None, Black, Silver
Rhodes Mk8 colour options · Source: Rhodes
As you make your choices you get a rendered image of what it would look like which you can download, print and hang on your wall as a reminder of this awesome instrument that you’re unlikely to be able to afford.
Premium pricing
The basic model is £6,795 or £8,154 including VAT and is all in black, without the stand or FX panel. The most expensive version is £9,115 or £10,938 including VAT and adds in the FX panel and stand, makes the hood transparent and finishes the body in walnut.
Rhodes Mk8 basic and most expensive options · Source: Rhodes
A quick search on Reverb suggests that vintage Rhodes Mark I pianos sell for around £4,000. As a comparison Vintage Vibes based in New Jersey has been restoring Rhodes pianos for many years and sell hand-crafted Mark I-like Classic and Deluxe pianos from around £4,000 to £6,000 ex VAT although they are very basic compared to the Mk8.
Of course, pricing is a very subjective and perceptual thing but few electronic instruments make you gasp when you first glimpse the price tag. That’s not to say the Rhodes MK8 is not worth every penny or that there’s not a market for this sort of premium instrument, it’s just a bit of a shock. I probably felt something similar when I first came across the Moog One – it’s not meant for me, it’s meant for people who are able to invest in a serious and beautifully made instrument that will bring an enormous amount of joy and pleasure simply by existing in your space.
Rhodes Mk8 customiser · Source: Rhodes
The order process
You can customise and order yours now with a 20% deposit. The aim is to make around 50 pianos a month up to 500 a year and they will be built by Rhodes’ skilled and dedicated craftsmen in the factory in Leeds. When your turn comes they will get in touch to make sure all the specifications are correct.
I’ve enjoyed the ride and dreaming about the possibility of owning one.
More information from Rhodes
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4 responses to “Customise your dream Rhodes MK8 and weep at the price”
The cheapest comfiguration is US $10K, which is far too rich for my blood. I certainly understand that, as these seem a bit more handcrafted than standard fare.
Back to scanning Reverb and eBay till I find something more in my price range.
Yes, the price is very high but it does include VAT. So, in the USA, it should be only $9k 🙂
Holy shit… back to Reface CP
A new Stage 73 in 1973 would be full retail the equivalent of $4500 in today’s dollars. We are being robbed.
Plain and simple.