Mellotronists

Ken,

Though not a 'tron owner yet (#574 is still waiting for me to deliver 
it from it's purple roadcase with the degenerating blue foam), those 
pops sound like static pops to me.  Having worked for years with 
larger reel-to-reel machines, it reminds me of when the static drains 
on the hub platters of Scully 280's would stop making good ground 
contact followed by the static buildup from fast winding a tape 
finding it's way to ground resulting in a pop or pops in the dub.  
Funny how it never seemed to be able to find a ground while the tape 
was motionless, it always waited to discharge after the tape has 
been in motion for a moment or two.  After several 
speaker-cone-shredding snaps, things would settle down while one 
rewound the tape to start the dub over again.  And again, as soon as 
the tape was played back, the pops would re-occur in about the same 
places, but once the hub drains were renewed, then the popping
ceased.  Were any provisions made for this on the Mark II or was it
calculated that the numerous points of contact the tape makes as it 
winds through the 'tron would provide plenty of grounding 
opportunities? 

Just a thought....

FS. Weller