Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] M400 on eBay
From: kenmerb@...
Date: 2002-03-28
In a message dated 03/28/2002 2:03:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, jimmy.pishock@... writes:
This question was probably asked only about a million times; however, I'm
going to raise it again: "How much would it cost to have a flight case made
for the Mellotron-- worthy of air travel." Are there certain things one
should disengage when flying a Mellotron (remove the keyboard, remove frozen
human torso from inside cabinet, etc.)?
Jimmy -
I shipped my M400 in its custom made ("worthy of air travel") flight case a few months back and still there was damage. I made the mistake of leaving in the tape frame - never again. Even though I had all the thumbscrews tightened down and had rubber bands securely holding the tape bar in place on both ends, a couple of the thumbscrews came completely out of the frame, probably due to vibration, and the rubber bands broke. This resulted in my favorite tape frame flopping about wildly during transport, spewing oxide from the tapes over everything inside, and slight damage to the OUTER side of the M400 lid from a thumbscrew rattling around inside the flight case. For this to happen, the entire case must have been upside down at some point during the trip. I can now imagine them flipping the flight case over, off the wheels, and stacking it on top of something else inside a big truck. The freight company completely disregarded the "fragile" and "this side up" signs clearly marking the case. This was ground transportation, so maybe air freight would be less stressful (less time = less stress?).
If I ever ship it this way again (doubtful), it will be without the tape frame. I may even remove the keyboard and tape box cover. If in doubt about how to ship, just consider what will happen if it is sent "upside down". I don't mean to scare you, I've transported both of my M400s in the past without incident. Just take out the tape frame.
Ken M.