New concept.
Old soul.

I was looking for a weighted-action midi stage piano with a vintage feel. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I decided to make one.

Stained wood sides

73-key weighted-action keybed

8 assignable midi knobs

Fender Rhodes Stage Legs remanufactured by Vintage Vibe

Covered in Fender Tweed

Power, Audio Output L/R,
USB-C, XLR mic input, 3 pedal jacks

iPad Pro & Korg Module App as sound module
Marshall Woburn II 110w Speaker as Keyboard Amp

Internal LED key lighting

Plug & play with a built-in audio interface

Traditional keyboards with built-in sounds allow you to roll-up to a gig, plug-in to the PA system and start jamming. But you are limited to the included sounds & features.

Midi controller keyboards allow you to control an unlimited supply of sounds and apps on a computer or iPad. But they don't have stage-ready audio outputs, so you need extra equipment, cables and fuss to gig with a midi controller.

For the best of both worlds, I built an audio interface and USB hub right into the keyboard, so it is literally as easy as: plug-in your iPad or Laptop, plug-in to the PA system and jam. I have not found any other midi keyboard controller anywhere that can do this. I also included assignable midi knobs that can control features in applications (like the Korg Module App) for a very analog experience.

For singer-songwriters who want to record, there is also an XLR mic jack. Fire-up GarageBand on an iPad (or any DAW on a laptop), and lay down keyboard and voice tracks without any additional set-up.

Construction Photos

It took about 4 months of weekends to complete the project. While I'm not planning to undertake building another one anytime soon, I learned a ton about woodworking, electronics, midi, applying tolex/tweed and audio technology. It was really fun!