No, Virginia, it’s Stage 54, not Studio 54, and it’s a new electric piano, .not a disco. Furthermore, 54 is the number of keys on this new product from Rhodes Pianos, not the number of celebrities one is guaranteed to see on any given night at the above-mentioned bistro.

Surely you know the story by now. Harold Rhodes, in an effort to do something for his country, designed the first Rhodes piano for use in American military hospitals, where recuperating GFs were given these early pianos to practice and plunk around on—something to pass the time in a sick bay. From the beginning, Rhodes was convinced that his idea of using a piano key action to strike a tuning fork would be both mechanically sound and pleasing to-the ear.