Hey, all!
I was also at the Museum of Making Music recently
(visiting Carlsbad as well) and delighted in seeing
the Carpenter's half-'tron. Maybe I can shed a bit of
light on the situation. As it turns out, the museum's
"curators" were a touch loose on a lot of things
there.
The tape frame was removed and the unit was cut
at the point where the top of the removable front
panel meets the body of the 'Tron. The bottom half of
the cabinet and the two panels were discarded. The
power supply/preamp was then bolted to the inside-back
of the unit, further up inside. The motor panel was
cut and fitted with wingnuts so it could be removed
and refitted at will. The 'tron is now around 12"
tall. The tapes/motor would travel in a case.
For use, the unit would be propped on either side
(by road cases or some kind of makeshift legs) and the
tape-frame replaced along with the motor. And there
it is, the Carpenters Chop-a-tron. It does cut the
space the unit takes up by half and I have seen folks
do it 'trons before, with much success.
It is currently displayed without the tape-frame
or motor. The keyboard looks suspiciously new (?!?).
Happy chopping!
-Jack Younger
--- Jim Anderson <
jimanderson@...> wrote:
> Now that I've got your attention...
> After seeing a fun little video clip on the web site
> of Mike Keneally
> playing at the "Museum of Making Music's" fifth
> anniversary, I decided
> to pay this museum a visit last weekend since I was
> in the area
> visiting (Carlsbad, CA [USA]). I hoped but didn't
> think I'd actually
> see a 'tron inside, but low and behold, they had an
> M400 that had been
> cut in half, supposedly by original owner, (as the
> tour guide explained
> it) Karen Carpenter! He said she cut it in half so
> that she could fit
> it in the trunk of her car. As the story goes, she
> "toured" with it
> for awhile and eventually decided she didn't need it
> (or it didn't need
> her) so she took it back to the store where she
> bought it and asked
> what they'd give her for it. He says the told her
> they'd give her half
> of her money back, since she only brought half of
> the mellotron back.
> (This might have only been a retired volunteer's dry
> attempt at humor.)
>
> I had my camera phone with me so I took a picture of
> the plaque, but
> unfortunately didn't think to take a picture of the
> full tron (what's
> left of it). But according to the plaque, after the
> Carpenters ditched
> it, it was sold to Michael Lloyd, a studio musician,
> who used it on
> tracks by The Monkeys, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack,
> Belinda Carlisle
> and Donny and Marie Osmond tune. This tron truly
> has been through
> hell.
>
> In case you want to visit:
> http://www.museumofmakingmusic.org/
> (and get a better picture!)
>
> JimA/m400#680
>
>
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