Mellotronists

FS Weller wrote: 

"Soooo....if the consensus is that "SM" machines were 
Sound Sales units, then how come #574 which 
according to the small decal on the back states that 
it is a M400SM has the standard face plate and the 
small s/n nameplate?  Or did I miss something 
along the way?"

Please allow me to clarify...

Quoting Martin Smith: "The SM stands for 'servo motor'."  It is likely, 
therefore that your machine was equipped with a SMS card from the beginning... 
Highly unusual for that serial number. You must have a really early one! Also, the 
possibility exits that "M400SM" is a stamping error. 

All Mellotrons were made in England, regardless of the designation. The SM 
designation was not purely for Sound Sales. That just happened to be the "model" 
that was being produced when Sound Sales began distributing them. Sound Sales 
was, however responsible foe some "improvements" along with the Black 
faceplate and the big tacky decal.

One last point. M400s were constantly changed and modified over their 
production run. However, I have never heard of one stamped "M400SM" before.

Hope this helps.

Frank