Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

<<Is that a 'tron mixed in with everything else in the twiddly bits of
Zepplin's "Kashmir"?>>

I tried to find out a bit about this machine a few years back- the drummer of
the band I played bass in was married to jpj's daughter... his huge kit
included the gong that's visible on the back of "ummagumma", but he was
unable to shed any light on the disposition of the 400 that's in plain view
in much of the later footage of zeppelin. I think jpj went off them too...
didn't mr page get custody after jpj got his big yamaha?

roadies, from what I have gathered over the years, had a good deal less
respect for gear back then, and the 400 particularly occupied an unfortunate
position in the hierarchy... it was as awkward a lift as anything y'r average
roadie would encounter, and yet weighed about the same as an ampeg svt bass
amp. the precise alignment of it's internal workings (which, as we all now
know, is the very root of it's success or failure) weren't as obviously
important as, say, the setup of a guitar, when if they had been, perhaps
players like jpj and rick wakeman might not have gone on record badmouthing
the thing. so they got knocked about a bit, in a way that the nearest
technical equivalent (a 1/4" machine- a revox, say) wouldn't have. dave
greenslade's roadies (one of whom works at mtv now) used to take the frames
out after every show and would sometimes "forget" to put them back if the
machine was misbehaving.

has anyone ever attached handles to the ends of a 400, or machined some
picky-uppy slots (such as one might find in the back of a wooden chair) into
the ends? some decent handles might've been the saving of a few 400's.

d/400nr1098- bloodied but unbowed.