Mellotronists

Welcome from another SoCal Troniac!
 
Like Jerry said we all have similar roots... Mine started on a cold, wet
August night in 1969 when I first saw and heard King Crimson playing
live at the West Palm Beach Festival. 
 
I was looking for a tron for a few years.. searching EBAy, etc... until
out of the blue a seller from Texas contacted me who wanted to sell his
M400 privately! He sent me pictures, confirmed addresses, negotiated a
price, and before long a chicken truck pulled up to my So Cal home with
a crate in the back containing a white Mellotron...
 
Now, if you want a good deal, there is this guy named Jerry in San Diego
who owns a MKII that you could probably talk him out of if you offer
that Clavinet....
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Korb [mailto:jkorb@...] 
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 4:36 AM
To: MELLOTRONISTS-LIST
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] New member : question...


John Hofmeyer Wrote: 

Hello, 

I just joined this list about 2 weeks ago, though I've been a fan of 
the Mellotron for years. 


I've been watching for a used Mellotron, as I do not (yet) own one. 
I realize that many of you own one (if not more) Mellotrons, so I 
apologize if my questions are too sophomoronic. 


- Can Mk II tapes be used in an M400 ?

_______________________________________________________________ 

Season's Greetings John, 


Welcome to  our group of wild and crazy but loveable 
Troniacs .  We all share the same affliction, bitten by 
the Mellotron bug long ago, and has developed into 
Troniac fever.  Happily so , I might add..... 
I'll do my best to answer your questions for you. 


MK-II tapes can be used in an M400. But the real catch 
is that they must be permanently sacrificed in order to 
lace them on an M400 frame. It's difficult and tedious 
to locate the start of each tape, then cutting-off the ends. 
There are six sets of sounds for each MK-II 
tape. But you might lose a portion of the previous and 
successive sound when coverting to M400 frame. 
This is due to the different lengths of unrecorded tape 
on M400 and between stations on MK-II models. 
This make any sense?.......I'm starting to ramble..... 
______________________________________________________ 


- What kind of maintanence is involved, do the tape heads need re- 
alignment?

_____________________________________________________________ 

The headblocks can be checked for head azimuth upon 
instrument restoration. Streetly offers this service for all 
models.  This needs to be performed only once. 


1)Cleanliness of heads,rollers,tape-path, etc. is paramount. 
2)Adjustments of key tension,pads,rollers crucial to playability. 
All Tron owners have endured horrible sounds from their 
instruments during initial setup of these. 
3)Lubrication of motor bushings,belt tension,speed-ctrl. 
optimization. 


These are the usual P.M. items to attend to when owning a Tron. 
More things involved with the cycling machines, but  I won't 
list them at this time. 


Fellow 'Tronists, in case I forgot something(very possible), 
feel free to include the others . 
________________________________________________________ 


  

- I live in San Francisco.  I would love to put my fingers to the 
real deal.  Is there anyone on this list, living in San Francisco? 
I'd be happy to show my studio, I have the other 'Greats' at my 
place; a Yamaha CP-70b 'Elecric Grand', a coule Fender-Rhodes, a 
Hammond organ + Leslie (waiting for a Bob Schleiker mod), and Hohner 
D6 Clavinet.  Clearly, I'm missing an Arp and a Mellotron!

________________________________________________________________ 

The West Coast has been prime territory for locating and 
owning a Tron. Happy Hunting !  Just pass the word...... 
....Actually, I think you did. 
_________________________________________________________ 


The posts that I've read in the past 2 weeks have been fantastic.  I 
really dig 'Seventh Sojourn' and have been listening to 'Selling 
England by the Pound' for the past month.  Of course, I'll never 
recend my Debussy, Deep Purple, or Swervedriver - I just wish they'd 
use(d) the Mellotron!!!   Regards,   John Hofmeyer

________________________________________________________________ 

"Seventh Sojourn"  was mostly recorded using a Chamberlin 
M4 . But Mellotron is still in the mix throughout. 


One nice thing about our List is that several generations have 
come together to pay homage to the Tron and its music 
and creators. Loyal fans (as I) who first heard the Tron in 
the '60s-'70s, those who took an interest in the late '80s, 
and younger members of college-age who are into "classic" 
rock .  Guess I'm a "classic" too, heh-heh! 


Once more, welcome ! 


Cheers, Jerry Korb (Tron owner 30+ yrs, and restoration service) 
(MK1/124, M300/037, M400/681, JKMK6/001, MK-II/134(visiting)) 


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