Mellotronists

In a message dated 3/13/2005 2:02:26 AM Pacific Standard Time,  
andy.thompson@... writes:

Speaking  of which, are there any Mini owners out there who have as much
tuning grief  as me? I've taken to hooking it up through a guitar tuning
stomp box with  an option to cut the signal off while tuning (thankfully),
but it still  managed to drift an entire semitone during one song (!) at a
recent gig.  


It's been 50-50 with mine.  My original Mini, an older one  bought locally, 
required a major tuning tweak every time it was fired up, and  stayed pretty 
much in tune, unless the planets were in a certain alignment or  someone farted 
on stage.  My current Mini, a newer one bought from eBay  with no knowledge of 
its history, has been remarkably stable.  My  understanding is that 
oscillator drift was common in the earlier units was due  to the inherent design of the 
oscillator itself, with later units being  fitted with a more stable unit 
(and older ones retrofitted).  Brian Kehew  would certainly know the scoop on 
this.
 
Does anyone know if this was also problematic on the modular units  
(excepting Emerson's highly exposed and abused unit).  I had the good  fortune of 
meeting the late Paul Beaver in the early 70's and fiddling around  with his 3P 
(almost identical to Klaus' unit on eBay - prayers for Klaus) and  neither 
experienced it nor did he mention anything about drift (perhaps because  it wasn't a 
concern).  
 
Re: Andy K's response about the Mini being an icon with a more  deserving 
place on the mantlepiece, that could easily be said of mellotrons as  well, but 
look at all of us!  ;-)    Tell that to Rick  Wakeman, who is again touring 
with 2 Mini's (but alas, no trons).
 
Frank Samagaio
MkII #134 / M400 #908 - Just like the Eveready Rabbit and  Ol' Man River,they 
                               just keep  rollin' along!