Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: The Mellotron Group

previous by date index next by date
  topic list next in topic

Subject: Musicmaster 600 on YouTube!

From: "Sean" <fourtytwominds@yahoo.com>
Date: 2009-10-11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlbDjdW_8aU

On a whim I started searching for Chamberlin stuff on the internet. Frank or the good folks at Streetly, this Chamberlin seems to need your help!

And speaking of Chamberlins one of my friends at Fresno State grew up with one.

Story time chitlins...

Last spring I took a basic composition course on a whim. Early in the semester Dr. Boone had us all talk briefly about what instruments we could play so we all know who to ask to record what, or to advise on what. I mentioned Mellotron, samples only of course, and that sparked the obligatory "a-whatta-tron?"

As I described our center snare, Elias Kwak started nodding knowingly. Talked with him after class and he said

Oh yeah I had one in my house.

YOU WHAT?

Yeah we had a Mellotron, with all those tapes on the inside. It was fun.

I am so jealous.

Well, no, it wasn't a Mellotron, what is like a Mellotron? Like, the same on the inside with all those tapes over that spinning rod and all?

...You mean a Chamberlin?

YES! That's the name! It was a Chamberlin.

...


...you had a Chamberlin? (I'm in a bit of disbelief at the moment)

Yeah, only it never worked right. Sounded good but every time we turned it on it smelt like something was burning.

.. do you still have it, that can so be fixed!

No we threw it away.

YOU WHAT?!?

(I think he said that it caught fire one day, I can't remember but there was some sort of catastrophic failure)

OH MY GOD DUDE? WHEN? DID THIS JUST HAPPEN?!?!

No, I was 16 when we threw it away (He's 20 now)

(He asked a few questions about Chamberlins, how rare they might be, if they're a Mellotron knock-off, etc. I filled him in on the history of it. He was impressed by how little he and his family appreciated the thing they had.)

I'm sure that the ravages of 4 or 5 years in the Fresno County Dump has totalled whatever was left of that beast. However many Chamberlins there were I can report that there is one less.

RIP that Chamberlin. And Harry Chamberlin too.

-Sean




I was so bummed for hours afterwards. However many Chamberlins were made