In a message dated 6/5/2008 2:29:31 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, markpringnz@yahoo.com writes:
But is #1565 a sound sales machine?
Mark
Mark,
It is not a Sound Sales machine. Yours came directly from England to the buyer. Mine went from England to Sound Sales in Connecticut where is was upgraded with a PML-1 and a SMS-3, which is almost exactly like an SMS-2, but supposedly, "improved," although I can't see how, since the schematics are nearly exactly the same. 1562 also had a balanced (XLR) output as well as a standard 1/4 inch line out.
I have worked on a ton of these machines, and I have never seen one that went through Sound Sales that was exactly like any other one. It was like they just decided to try different things to see what worked... or what they could do to screw up a Mellotron.
When Mellotrons started being shipped from the factory with SMS cards as standard, the designation changed from M400S to 400SM. I don't think the serial number has any real bearing on that. It probably more like this...
"...here's a bunch of Mellotrons we're going to ship to America. we'll assign them these (perhaps random) serial numbers and Sound Sales can do whatever they want with them."
Yours and mine both started on the assembly line together and most probably on the same day. At some point they stopped working on mine, crated it and sent it to Sound Sales to be trimmed out. I think it is strange that you had a CMC-10 in yours, but I have a theory on that, too.
I think that the factory was moving a lot more machines than Sound Sales was. I know a lot of people that could have bought one from Sound Sales that didn't. They were a lot cheaper if you bought them directly from the factory and had them shipped over. As I recall, the guy who first owned my machine bought it in late 1975. It was a 400SM from day one.
Speculation, that's all.
Regards,
Frank
PS. I currently have 386, 911 and 1017 (I think) in my shop. Last night I cleaned and polished approximately 414 screws, bolts, nuts and washers... just for 911's keyboard. Tonight a will clean and polish all of the keyboard frame rails, cross members stand-offs, etc. Tomorrow, all of the pinch rollers will be reconditioned and the key springs will be polished and given new felt isolators . I have already cleaned and polished all of the keys. New felt has been installed all around on the pressure pads. So Saturday I can put it all in the jig and but Sunday evening I will have a completely refurbished keyboard for 911. I have to have two machines completely ready to go for a big show on June 22nd. As you may well know, 386, the black one, is done. That one was a complete Sound Sales crapfest. Not any more.