Mellotronists

Don't give up John. There's one for everyone on this list. But from 
your description of the eBay Tron, repairs could have brought the 
final cost up to that of a new one.

BTW, nobody went for CMC-10 (?!!)

Bernie


--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, john barrick <astroboy@...> 
wrote:
>
> So, my ebay skills have apparently slipped.  I bid on this with 
about 30 
> seconds left to go  (crazy money, too - or at least I thought so) 
and 
> had it in the bag until someone that was crazier knocked me out at 
about 
> 10 seconds - and the real bitch is when you come in second on 
ebay, that 
> means you lost your Tron by $50.
> 
> I inspected the machine on Saturday and even though it was my 
first time 
> to touch a Mellotron, I was both in love and underwhelmed at the 
same 
> time.  Underwhelmed because of the condition the machine was in - 
the 
> seller told me he'd had it for 12 years and had done no 
maintenance on 
> it - and it showed.  Now I know what you guys mean when you say 
> wobblies.  Every note on the keyboard was slipping, though I'm 
pretty 
> sure this was easily fixable with the pinch roller/pressure pad 
keyboard 
> adjustment - and even though it had an SMS3 card installed (thanks 
for 
> the ID on that, Martin), it still seemed that I could hear the 
pitch 
> drop when I held down 4 or 5 keys (maybe it was just all the tapes 
> conspiring to slip at once).  There were also some odd popping and 
> (faint) zinging sounds at the lower end of the keyboard that 
seemed to 
> correspond with the tapes returning to their start position - 
there also 
> seemed to be some friction issue with the tape guides in the frame 
or in 
> the springs, as not all the tapes would go all the way back to 
their 
> start position. 
> 
> I was in love with it because despite all the problems, when the 
notes 
> would play, the magic sound was there, especially in the shimmer 
of the 
> Three Violins. Even though the SMS3 was present, there were no 
other 
> signs of the Sound Sales bodge.  The take up box had the brackets 
on the 
> bottom and the wood shims on the sides, no misplaced pinch 
rollers, the 
> pad arms seemed to be unbent, and there was no sticker on the 
power 
> supply. I knew I could fix it up and give it a good home, and I 
owe that 
> to all of you that freely share information on this list and 
elsewhere.  
> Because of that information, Martin's patient replies to what must 
be 
> elementary questions, and Ken Leonard's documentation of Perfessor 
> Korb's work in the Moneypits, I was able to walk into the studio, 
and 
> disassemble the machine in such a manner (yes, and put it back 
together, 
> too) that the guys that worked there thought I was some kind of 
> Mellotron expert (though I guess it really reflects on their own 
lack of 
> knowledge).  One fellow even asked me how I knew so much about 
them.  I 
> didn't want to lie, but there was no way in hell I was going to 
admit to 
> learning everything off the internets, so my reply was "I, uh, 
well I 
> know some guys that are experts on these".
> 
> I had my heart set on this machine, really thought I had it, but 
now I'm 
> left thinking that there's got to be a better way than ebay to get 
one 
> of these.
> 
> john barrick
>