Mellotronists

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mellotrongirl" <mellotrongirl@...>
To: <Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2005 4:20 AM
Subject: [Mellotronists] Re: Mellotron For Sale/'Trons Around The World


> Buenos Aires, Argentina...well, certainly Argentina has had its fair
> share of decent obscure psyche bands (the yahoo! group psychedelica
> has a few record collectors who can verify that), and I'm a sure a
> handful of cool prog outfits also.

FWIW, I've noted several Argentinian '70s bands who've claimed to use
'Mellotron', although I can't hear it on a SINGLE ONE of the albums in
question. Very strange. Was it being used as a generic term for something
that made a string sound? (See: Lynyrd Skynyrd's '...First and Last...').

> It seems I recall at least a couple bands behind the Iron Curtain were
> recording using Mellotrons long before the Communist Bloc nations and
> Europe became one. I mean obscure bands too--beyond Locomotiv GT,
> Omega,  and the handful of others that made prog/psyche inroads in the
> West.

SBB and Niemen from Poland, FSB from Bulgaria, of all places, probably
several others.

> I would imagine Australia, China, India, Korea, South Africa, Mexico,
> Brazil, Israel, etc. would have a scattered survivor here and
> there--but places like Mongolia, Cameroon, Bolivia, Afghanistan--now
> that would be something to note a living Mellotron amongst the
> substinence farmers and beasts of burden.

Several Aussie machines, some still in use, and I actually played Split
Enz's old M400 in New Zealand a few years back. Several odd mods made to it,
including a fine-tuning pitch control instead of the normal pot (highly
irritating) and a tape-set split at key 22 on every selection to get more
sounds. Oh, and one guy in Israel owns both an M400 and Pink Floyd's old
black/gold MkII.

Andy T.