Apparently, Mel was involved in a sordid little mess south of the border before he came here. I thought I was just acquiring a junked up old Mellotron that smelled like vomit and had what appeared to be urine stains in the bottom of the cabinet. One day, after having owned it (him) for a couple of months, we had a big party here at the house. I hadn't worked on this Tron much at the time because I had others that needed to be completed first. So it just sat along one wall in my music room, pretty much used as a table most of the night.
The next day, I found the Mellotron out in my garden, face down, with dirt in the keys and vomit all around. I took it out into my driveway and cleaned it up and took a few photos. That's when I first met Mel... a Mellotron that has taken an inordinate amount of my time, yet which (who?) sounds like no other.
So now you all know the truth. You have to be very careful when buying old Mellotrons. Sometimes you don't always get what you think you're getting.
Frank
(Mel Owner)
In a message dated 5/14/2013 8:45:55 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, j.k.beresford@hotmail.co.uk writes:
This tron had a near miss early in its life. Apparently it was bought from Mellotronics in 1968 for use in a cinema in Westbury, just on the edge of Salisbury Plain. Then the cinema burned down in the early 70's but the tron, wearing its muff, escaped undamaged. The 2 LSA300 speaker units though were lost in the fire. The tron then spent the next 2 decades in someones garage unused and unloved until I acquired it through vemia.
Any other interesting tron histories out there?
John
--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "tron400" <tron400@...> wrote:
>
> It's a great looking machine!
>
> http://egrefin.free.fr/images/mellotron/M300/M3JB-10.jpg
>
> Bernie
>
> --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "tripod4661" <j.k.beresford@> wrote:
> >
> > Hey that's my tron!!
> >
> > J
> >
> > --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "tron400" <tron400@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Kind of like this? ;-)
> > >
> > > http://egrefin.free.fr/images/mellotron/M300/M3JB-7.jpg
> > >
> > > Bernie
> > >
> > > --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "tripod4661" <j.k.beresford@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I have a nice M300 (serial no. 005) with SMS2 and pitch control on the front panel rather than the tone control fitted on later versions. Plus it doesn't have the nasty fluon turnbuckles that caused so much trouble on M300s later on - instead it has nice yellow roller types left over from MKII production. It's a nice tron and has always worked perfectly!
> > > >
> > > > John B.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, John Wright <jwright911703@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Agreed, wondering how many 300's are accounted for? Especially those that are operational.
> > > > >
> > > > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > > >
> > > > > On May 12, 2013, at 7:40, "tron400" <tron400@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > In
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>