Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

Okay, as a keyboard player (among other things) I can say the following
with great impunity!

"Keyboardists seem to think that they have been given the god-given
right for their instrument(s) to operate perfectly until the end of the
world, regardless of what they do to them, the complete disregard to
any sort of regular maintenance or how they're abused when played."

Orford is a perfect example of this attitude. If he were a guitar
player with the same attitude to his instrument we might hear, "The
strings I buy are total shite. I have to tune the damn instrument every
single night -- sometimes twice!"

The sad truth is that most keyboard players do not maintain their
instruments. With many, they're solid state and in truth you can't do
much with those, but a mellotron is an electro-mechanical beast and
must be maintained, very much like a piano. If you take care of it, it
will play well. I horsed around a 400 and then a MkII for 3 years and
countless gigs (and in the frozen north of Canada!) and never had a
problem with either machine. Was I just lucky? No. I just made sure
that I cleaned and adjusted my instruments weekly. The bum rap that
mellotrons get is due to the fact that they aren't particularly robust
(I'm being honest here) and that they require regular maintenance.
Before every performance I would take the back off and check the tapes
to make sure they were hanging properly (road crews being what they
are) and then check the tapes under the keyboard (on the 400 this was a
snap, on the MkII it was more of a cursory inspection). Once a month I
would clean the heads and demag them. That was it. Because my mellotron
was being used every night, I didn't have to worry about wobblies and
stiff rollers. They didn't happen. (Like any instrument, mellotrons
play better when they're used regularly.)

My wife (the flutist) paid $2000 for her flute (shows how long ago she
bought it!) and shells out 1200 bucks every 2 years to have it
overhauled. This is standard. The pads wear out, the mechanism gets
dirty and goes out of adjustment). Does she complain that the
instrument is a piece of shit? No. That's what every good flute
requires. Same with violins, clarinets...

Why do keyboardists like Mssr. Orford think they are any different? If
I were using my mellotron constantly, especially if I were touring, I
would have it in to Streetly at least once every year, not because it
was especially in need of repair, but because I would want to know that
everything was working the way it should. Same as I would with a piano.

Orford is an arse.

Rick