Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

John Hofmeyer Wrote:

Hello,

I just joined this list about 2 weeks ago, though I've been a fan of
the Mellotron for years.

I've been watching for a used Mellotron, as I do not (yet) own one.
I realize that many of you own one (if not more) Mellotrons, so I
apologize if my questions are too sophomoronic.

- Can Mk II tapes be used in an M400 ?

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Season's GreetingsJohn,

Welcome to our group of wild and crazy but loveable
Troniacs . We all share the same affliction, bitten by
the Mellotronbug long ago, and has developed into
Troniac fever. Happily so , I might add.....
I'll do my bestto answer your questions for you.

MK-II tapes canbe used in an M400. But the real catch
is that theymust be permanently sacrificed in order to
lace them onan M400 frame. It's difficult and tedious
to locate thestart of each tape, then cutting-off the ends.
There are sixsets of sounds for each MK-II
tape. But youmight lose a portion of the previous and
successive soundwhen coverting to M400 frame.
This is due tothe different lengths of unrecorded tape
on M400 and betweenstations on MK-II models.
This make anysense?.......I'm starting to ramble.....
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- What kind of maintanence is involved, do the tapeheads need re-
alignment?

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The headblockscan be checked for head azimuth upon
instrument restoration.Streetly offers this service for all
models. This needs to be performed only once.

1)Cleanlinessof heads,rollers,tape-path, etc. is paramount.
2)Adjustmentsof key tension,pads,rollers crucial to playability.
All Tron ownershave endured horrible sounds from their
instruments duringinitial setup of these.
3)Lubricationof motor bushings,belt tension,speed-ctrl.
optimization.

These are theusual P.M. items to attend to when owning a Tron.
More things involvedwith the cycling machines, but  I won't
list them atthis time.

Fellow 'Tronists,in case I forgot something(very possible),
feel free toinclude theothers .
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- I live in San Francisco.  I would love to put my fingers to the
real deal.  Is there anyone on this list, living in San Francisco?
I'd be happy to show my studio, I have the other 'Greats' at my
place; a Yamaha CP-70b 'Elecric Grand', a coule Fender-Rhodes, a
Hammond organ + Leslie (waiting for a Bob Schleiker mod), and Hohner
D6 Clavinet.  Clearly, I'm missing an Arp and a Mellotron!

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The West Coasthas been prime territory for locating and
owning a Tron.Happy Hunting !  Just pass the word......
....Actually,I think you did.
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The posts that I've read in the past 2 weeks havebeen fantastic.  I
really dig 'Seventh Sojourn' and have been listening to 'Selling
England by the Pound' for the past month.  Of course, I'll never
recend my Debussy, Deep Purple, or Swervedriver - I just wish they'd
use(d) the Mellotron!!!   Regards,   John Hofmeyer

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"Seventh Sojourn" was mostly recorded using a Chamberlin
M4 . But Mellotronis still in the mix throughout.

One nice thingabout our List is that several generations have
come togetherto pay homage to the Tron and its music
and creators.Loyal fans (as I) who first heard the Tron in
the '60s-'70s,those who took an interest in the late '80s,
and younger membersof college-age who are into "classic"
rock . Guess I'm a "classic" too, heh-heh!

Once more, welcome!

Cheers, JerryKorb (Tron owner 30+ yrs, and restoration service)
(MK1/124, M300/037,M400/681, JKMK6/001, MK-II/134(visiting))