At 12:06 AM 4/23/2006, jonesalley wrote:
>Scratch that M400 remark - that does sound like the front of a Mark II.
>Sort of a dove grey, perhaps? Were there any white Mark IIs? Aren't the FX
>Consoles light grey?
The FX Consoles for the BBC were gray, but Jimmy's was originally a dull
black, refinished to a nice black:
http://www.kleonard.com/mellotron/vt0405/fx6u2.htmhttp://www.kleonard.com/mellotron/vt0405/images/mp0504-28.jpgYou can see some gray guys here in Ryso Sekine's Mellotron Room:
http://www.geocities.jp/mellotronics/ryosekine.htmlNote that there was an M400 based FX Console as well.
>The mellotron is white. Has the following controls, above
>the keyboard, from the left: a 1/4" jack, 3 buttons marked
>ABC (i'm guessing, each letter cooresponds to a sound on a
>tape rack) a set of 6 buttons marked 1-6 (tape banks?), a
>set of 5 buttons, alternating white/black/white/black/white -
>can't tell what the black ones are marked, though the white
>ones are marked ABC. The center of the instrument has two
>knobs, one marked rhythm and the other I can't make out (3
>letters, starts with F). Over the right manual, from the
>left, a large black knob, two smaller knobs (reverb and
>volume) and another set of 6 buttons (though I can't see the
>6th).
It sounds like a Mark II, although the 1/4" jack is unusual, unless it was
custom (although you may be mistaking the keyswitch on the left for a 1/4"
jack...the FX Console has a 1/4" jack on the right). If it's white, that's
unusual as well. I don't know if any came from the factory like that or if
it has been refinished that way (Streetly refurbished units are sometimes
painted if the original finish is toast).
Mark II:
http://www.kleonard.com/mellotron/vt0304/pindertron3.htmThe six white buttons are the station select buttons---what causes the
tapes to shuttle back and forth between sound banks. The ABC (white) and
A/MIX/B/MIX/C buttons (white and black) are track select.
Note that the FX Console's switches and knobs are different from the Mark
II's. The FX has four sets of ABC track select switches (instead of one
ABC and two A/AB/B/BC/C switches as in the Mark II), four faders, a master
fader, and pitch--no reverb. The FX Console has two split head blocks
designed to play one track at a time (no mixing adjacent tracks), which is
why they're all ABC. The Mark II's left side has a split head block---ABC
only for the rhythm (you wouldn't normally mix two rhythm tracks), with
track mixing capability for the 2nd half of the split head block (fills)
and the whole right keyboard (lead sounds, one head block). Both the FX
Console and the Mark II have six stations.
...kl...
M400 #805 - one head block
M400 #1037 - one station
∗∗ Ken Leonard - Web Table of Contents:
http://www.kleonard.com >> CD available! "Improvised Waves: Mellotron/synth improvisations"
∗∗ Get Outdoors New England:
http://www.GONewEngland.org