Mellotronists

tron@... wrote:

> Streetly have just adjusted the azimtuth on #996 for me. I thought it
> sounded fine before, but the difference this has made is quite striking.
>
> I was forever adjusting the pad touch or angle on about three keys when
> it seems that all along it's the head that's the issue, not the pad or
> the tape. If you have any perenially 'difficult' notes then it might be
> worth having a look at the azimuth adjustment.
>
> Has anyone else tried the same thing?
>
> Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
> The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics

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Greetings Mike and gang,    You can actually see the difference
with azimuth-adjusted headblocks from MS/JB .   Especially on
the MK-II models. Rotated a few degrees anti-clockwise.

This in combination with even pad surface and pad angle,
will yield a sound that "jumps" out of the keyboard.
General rule of thumb is contact pad angle of 8 degrees upward
with the long pads, and 8 degrees downward with the short pads.

However, with Mellotrons, nothing is written in stone. Pindertron #2
here at the M-Ranch has an unusually high angle for pad arm mounting bars.
All short pads (even numbers 2 thru 34 ) , had to be readjusted to provide
level contact surface  with pad-tape-head .

Older pads which "look OK" may not be. If cupped from age/use,
sound will be uneven on one or all tracks.  Ken Leonard and I encountered
an M400 here which had something resembling "Brillo" scouring pads
glued-on.   Sound was NOT clean, pun intended.

Hope this helps............EEEECH  !! I'm being attacked by the killer azimuths!

-- Jerry Korb