| previous by date | index | next by date |
| previous in topic | topic list |
----- Original Message -----From: geee_bizzleSent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 8:50 PMSubject: [Mellotronists] Re: Anyone here own/seen my original 400?wild! someone tell us another story, that was great.
--- In Mellotronists@ yahoogroups. com, "jaybe52000" <jaybe52000@ ...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> I've been looking at some pics I was recently given by an old
girlfriend from 30+ years
> ago, she was a photographer and took tons of photos of me, and all
the bands and clubs I
> played in with my keyboard & synth rig back in the day.
> I
> t got me wondering where my old Mellotron 400 is now. I was the
original owner, I
> bought it from a music store in Virginia Beach, VA when my band was
playing there in the
> early 1970's, (truth be told, I saw the 400 in that music store and
they couldn't sell it to
> save their life, so when they saw me coming they knew they had a
sucker that they might
> be able to pawn the thing off on.)
>
> Since I had no extra cash at the time (I just bought an ARP String
Ensemble (one of the first
> in New England), a Minimoog and an Ampeg SVT with two 8 - 10"
speaker cabinets [yeah,
> dumb move to use for synths...a bass amp...what was I thinking???] to
go with my
> Hammond B3/Leslie 145 & Leslie 900, RMI Electra Piano and
Harpsichord 368, Moog
> Modular Synthesizer Model 12 and a Jenco Celeste), my mind was
working overtime on
> what I could hock to get this 400.
>
> The guy in the music store said, "I'll take trade in's if you want
to put something towards
> the Mellotron".. ....
>
> So......here it was, my big chance to get rid of the brand new SVT
and two cabinets!! Of
> course he was VERRRRY interested since he really wanted to dump this
400 off of his floor.
> (Not a big market with the Navy guys there for mellotrons, heh)
> He agreed to take the SVT but still wanted more cash on top of that
so I told him I'd "throw
> in" my Leslie 900 (since I still had the Leslie 145 for my B3), if
he'd trade me even.
>
> He said "OK." I was dumbstruck. I didn't expect him to go for it.
I drove 70 mph back to
> the hotel were the band was staying, told my bass player who owned
our equipment van,
> "gimme the keys now, I don't want this guy to change his mind!"
> I raced to the club, loaded up the Ampeg head, speakers, the Leslie
900 and drove way to
> fast back to the store.
>
> Clearly he thought he was screwing me and I thought I was screwing
him so it was mutual
> relief on both of our part when I returned to complete the deal.
>
> I had the 400 for many years and took it with me on a 747 when moved
from Boston, MA
> to California with it.
>
> Anyway, I worked at a music store in Los Angeles in 1978 while my
band was recording in
> the studio, trying to get a record deal, etc. and I also taught
synthesis privately since I had
> a pretty large Polyfusion Modular synthesizer as well as a Minimoog
back then.
>
> One of my synth students, who actually ended up being a programming
client (she really
> didn't want to learn synthesis), so I ended up programming sounds
she wanted that she'd
> play on audio cassettes to me and I'd program them in her Oberheim
OB-X.
>
> I went over to her condo in Hollywood to do some work with her and
as we were walking
> thru the undeground parking in her building, I saw this huge
aluminum anvl case in her
> storage area. I asked her was that a Hammond B3? Any road cases
I'd ever seen that big
> were for Hammonds. She said "no, that's my mellotron."
> I'm scratching my head and said, why is the case so big? And why
aren't you using it on
> stage with your Oberheim, minimoog and Yamaha CP70 electric grand.
(I figured if here
> roadies were lugging that electric grand, the 400 was tons lighter.)
> "My roadies refused to carry it in addition to the electric grand"
was her response.
> Still not getting it she said "it a two keyboard mellotron, you
wanna see it?" Sure, I just
> had to know what the hell was in that case!
>
> We lifted the cover off the case and I almost pissed myself, it was
a Mark V!!!! I'd only seen
> these in the old Sound Sales brochures and once saw one in person at
a music store in
> Connecticut, but never played one. I'd lusted and drooled all over
the brochure I had years
> ago with the pics of the Mark V.
>
> Once again, my mind was clicking,how the hell can I get this from
her, it's sitting in her
> storage space...THAT" S SO WRONG!!!!
>
> She'd seen my 400 at my place and I said, "Hey, why don't we trade
'trons?" "I've got that
> nice little LIGHT white 400 that your roadies surely wouldn't mind
moving."
> She said, "yeah, but mine is a double keyboard and it's worth more."
I said I'll trade you
> my 400, my RMI Electra Piano and the anvil case for the RMI which
was custom built to
> hold the RMI and my Hohner Clavinet D6 which I'd already sold." She
had a Clavinet but no
> case for it.....perfect!
>
> So....that plus more cash than I wanted to part with and she said
"OK", but I want you to
> buy a road case for your 400 too. (I had the protectomuff cover
only). I said "done".
>
> Since I worked at the music store I got an Anvil case for my old 400
and that's how I ended
> up with my Mark V serial number 117.
>
> So even though I don't know the serial number of my old 400, it did
have two of the old
> Mellotron "Union Jack" stickers on it, I put one on the right front
lid above the right
> keyblock and one on the right rear upper corner (just like the
Minimoog labels are placed
> on a minimoog).
> The other identifying characteristic is that I had added an XLR
balanced audio output on
> the rear panel to the right of the original 1/4 inch audio output in
the center of the 400.
>
> I also used a Dymo Label maker and put black labels on the left
keyboard cheek block next
> to the track selector that had Strings/Brass/ Choir labeled for the
tape set with String
> Section, Brass and 8 Choir I custom ordered many years earlier from
Frank Levi when he
> worked at Dallas Arbiter in Mahwah, NJ.
>
> I realize that the stickers and labels could have been removed, but
I'm thinking they might
> just still be on there. So the last place I knew of it residing was
Hollywood, CA.
>
> Sorry for the life story post, but it is all about Mellotrons pretty
much, so I hope nobody
> minds. Not sure what she did to it/with it, but I kept that thing
in perfect shape for many,
> many years. It was a really great reliable instrument.
>
> I'll post some pics of the Mark V here if that's ok too.
>
> Regards,
>
> John
>