Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] A question.........
From: MAinPsych@...
Date: 2002-03-22
In a message dated 3/22/02 7:28:44 AM Pacific Standard Time, kenmerb@... writes:
I think the idea was for a "new" M400 with this cycling ability built in, but I like the idea of a retrofit kit for existing M400s (or maybe do both). I guess it would consist of a set of tape drums and a small motor. You could even make one without a motor to keep it simple. Some kind of hand crank - low tech system which would let you cycle manually between stations and "lock down" when you got to the next station. This would get around the MKII reliability problems.
It's been done already. For those who have had the pleasure/privilege of playing Justin Mayer's J-Tron, one of his modifications was to abandon the mechanical cycling principle and go to a manual shuttling system via a small hand crank. When I tried it out, it seemed simple and efficient, faster than changing a tape frame. If adapting this idea is one involving JM's intellectual property, perhaps a deal of some sort could be worked out between JM and Streetly. Imagine a 400 with 6, 9, or even 12 sounds available. I have piloerection thinking about it (goosebumps, for those of you who may be scratching your heads and/or thinking, 'Hey, none of that kind of talk on this list!'
Frank Samagaio
M400 #908