Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

Ken Merbler of our List had his MK-II on the sixth floor of
oceanfront condo in Cocoa Beach, FL.  If those storm shutters failed,

Yes, Jerry, but I think that one of your trons holds the record for being in the most humid climate.  Wasn't "Julia" at one time living on someone's boat before you restored her?  What were the effects of that on a MKI?

Actually, I had my MKII, an M400, Voyager, Kurzweil 2600XS, guitars, etc. in that condo on the beach in Florida and I had to evacuate the place (and the gear) twice during the 2004 hurricane season.  Thank goodness for hurricane shutters, but if we were to take a direct hit, even the shutters wouldn't have saved the place.

The Florida humidity ∗was∗ good for my MKII however.  The static snapping that was happening in the MKII audio due to the cold, dry Boston climate was not a problem in Florida.  The thinking was that the cycling was causing a buildup of static electricity that was being discharged when the keys were depressed, causing pops in the audio.  Martin graciously sent me another set of MKII tapes without backing, but I moved to Florida before I got a chance to install them, and the humid Florida air eliminated the static problem.

Now I'm living in Dallas, which is, I guess, on one end of tornado alley.  So, there are potential problems for the trons wherever I go.  Hmmm...Boston (static problems, currently flooding), Florida (hurricanes), Dallas (tornados).  There's your "Merbler Triangle". ;-)  The trons are currently in storage, so I don't know how they will play in Dallas. 

BTW, anyone want to buy a condo in Cocoa Beach, FL?

Ken M.