Chris Dale wrote: "Today, a university music student (who is a big Tangerine Dream fan) asked me what model of Mellotron the Loop Mellotron is on the Tangerine Dream albums.
Is it the T550 or was that not made in the 80's?... as a Novatron?? Does anyone know the definitive answer? I asked him to give me a couple of days to find out. The info on the net is far from accurate sometimes.
Chris - oddly enough, I've been recently been poking around the 'net, and I found out a little more on the T550 and the mods that TD did in converting a 'tron to take tape loops.
Firstly, the T550's were built between 1981 and 1983 and they WERE adapted from Novatrons. Only 3 or 4 were produced and Tangerine Dream bought at least 2 of them.
They DID attempt to convert one of their T550's to take a loop of tape, but it wasn't a total success, as the splice could clearly be heard, so TD had to adjust their music to hide it. It has also been stated that TD had a Birotron, which uses tape loops, so there's a possibility it could be that.
Hope it all helps.
Nick