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Ken Leonard wrote:
Nope, not sour grapes, but, yep, reality - take it from someone whopicked
up such an item knowing it would take some work and wound up replacingthe
motor in addition to the usual stuff. Nowadays with the US$ exchangerate
it can add up quickly.But even with the extra dosh thrown in for the motor, it was still
cost-effective (relatively speaking), considering I can do much ofthe work
myself. But I don't have a spiffy new machine with a warranty,of course,
and it plays like an old Mellotron.Greetings Gang, Gotta write my two-cents'worth on the eBay Tron topic.
To buy old or new. 1) Finances , 2) Skills , 3) Preservation .These three among others come to mind while pondering a Tron on eBay.
M400 #319 sold for $1850 thereabouts. For comparison, when deciding
to undertake the JKMK6 project in 1997, my two core M400 Trons were
$1000 and $890 each, the latter was the "mousy" one. Thiswas just before
the resurgence of Internet Tron interest and especially beforeeBay became
a major factor in all things collectible .Some pad/roller replacement, the usual cleaning/polishing, new tapes,
motor, controller ,etc, I had two original units ready to go insidethe custom cabinet
and custom electronics. To keep all things Mellotronic,NOTHING was
permanently altered/destroyed to produce the JKMK6 . So those three
basic tenets above were strictly adhered-to.
Basically these things ARE fixable if you have enough good stuff
there. Many times it's replacing the CMC-10 and a few rollers. If you
wind up with an EMI or a badly-treated unit, it could get a bit more
costly. If it's a Mark II...well, I wouldn't tackle one myself. I'd bring
it to Vermont. :-) ...kl...If enough questions are asked,photos exchanged before eBay transaction,
one should be about 90% confident of the Tron's condition, regardlessif it
was/wasn't turned-on, played,stored, used/abused, etc.Both Streetly and Markus have provided cost estimates for rollers,tapes,
motors and the like. This way, a potential bidder knows pretty much
in advance what he(she) needs to budget for restoration. ..BeProactive.....However ,with Mark-II or any cycling Mellotron, anything can/will occur .
A) Bent frames, B) Warped capstan , C) Cooked/tired cyclingmotors,
D) Cooked/tired electronics, E) Weakened/wormy/ruined cabinets,
F) Slipshod mods/changes , G) Intermittent wiring at connectors/solderpoints.
H) Missing vital parts/assemblies, and of course H) Spaghettificationby the mile !
These are the eight which immed. come to mind, there are many morepermutations.Hope this insight helps everyone to make a prudent purchase choice.
.....Old or new........Cheers, JK (...seen lotsa rot,rust,toast,smell,pretzels,&black-rice in last 8 yrs. )