Mellotronists

Last weekend Ken M. and I got a listen (just over the phone, unfortunately) 
to Julia, Jerry Korb's Mark I, which he is restoring from the ground 
up---including the case.

OK, it was over the phone and through the reverb (Jerry has to complete the 
wiring to the amps and all that, so he bodged it so we could hear it), but 
it sounded solid.  Cycling time---the time to change from station to 
station---is shorter than the time it takes me to punch up a sound on 
another bank on a synth.  Yep, Jerry has it to about 7-8 
seconds---amazing!  (And it has a beefed-up version of the original Meccano 
chain.  :-) )

This past weekend Jerry was supposed to get the innards back into the 
restored case.  How's that going, Jerry?

Interestingly, Jerry has opted for the *original* Mark I (Mark II?) tape 
set from Martin to keep this as authentic as possible.  It'll largely be a 
"working museum piece".  :-)

The amps are a design similar to that in the JKMK6, and the original 
speakers are used.  Jerry had a spare Accutronics reverb tank from the 
JKMK6 experiments, and this replaced the original old reverb in Julia, 
which had bitten the dust a while ago (and the reverb really works, 
especially when compared to an original Mark II unit---trust me :-) ).

I'm looking forward to seeing Julia in person one of these days.  Sounds 
like it's just about there, even if over a phone, must be killer in person!

Any updates, Professor?

...kl...M400 #805 - Julia's grandkid

* Ken Leonard - Web Table of Contents:  http://www.kleonard.com
* Get Outdoors New England:  http://www.GONewEngland.org