Mellotronists

Thanks Jerry and Doug.  The first Tron I looked at, 1210 (or whatever 
the one Bruce Daily now owns is) had the original mounting configuration 
of brackets at bottom and wood shims on the sides of the spill box.  
1407 has no evidence of the box ever having had bottom mounting brackets 
- there are no holes (or interior recesses) for either bolts or screws 
anywhere on the bottom or lower portions of the sides - it appears this 
box has always been mounted at the top - in fact, the holes that the 
bracket bolts screw into on the top of the frame are threaded, which 
makes the mounting scheme seem a bit more planned and less of a retrofit 
in New Jersey. 

If this is the case, is there any point to adding bottom mounting 
brackets (I've already cut and drilled them and was looking forward to 
putting them on)?  I can see that it could help add extra stability to 
the frame, but it doesn't appear to have been suffering any of the 
problems Jerry describes, except for the sagging motor which was 
remedied by tightening up the motor mount bolts.  The L channel aluminum 
I bought is about three times as thick as the original brackets, so it 
certainly wouldn't allow for much movement once installed.  The only 
reason that I used machine screws was because Home Despot didn't have 
small enough diameter carriage bolts to match what was already being 
used to mount the upper brackets.
best,
el johnno


Jerry Korb wrote:
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> *Hello Again Y'all,*
>
> *I've seen many M400's arrive here missing lower spill-box brackets.*
> *They just happened to be "upgraded" by (un)Sound Sales long ago.*
>
> *The earlier M400 series (approx. before S/N # 1234) with 
> longer/thinner gauge*
> *alum "L" channel metal suffered the most when spill box brackets were*
> *removed. The entire structural integrity was compromised. This caused*
> *frame sag on flywheel side, loose/crooked motor assy, wobbly wooden*
> *end boards, misaligned spill-box,misaligned tape-path ,etc.*
>
> *Orig. hdwe. to secure brackets to bottom of box were "carriage" type*
> *bolts (no slotted heads to snag tapes).  As Doug mentioned, those bolts*
> *are  recessed  to mitigate interference issues with spill box cover.*
>
> * Good Luck !   -- Jerry Korb   at the M-Ranch*
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