Mellotronists

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--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pring 
<mellotronmadness@...> wrote:
>
> Well I was just coming rounding to thinking of planning to buy a 
Mark VI until these posts starting appearing, how many hours a week 
do you have to spend keeping these things going? My electronic and 
engineering skills are pretty limited and Streetly's are 12000 miles 
away, I think I'll stick to samples for now.
> 
> Mark
> 
>  Send instant messages to your online friends 
http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
>




RE: Hopefully I can speak for the majority of the owners who own 
RELIABLE units  whatever the model.  First if you read the posts of 
unit problems/ mishaps that appear on this site, consider this: the 
reason for posting problems or remedies on this site is to try to 
find a solution.  Do people post messages when everything goes well? 
These instruments have gotten a bad rap over the years and for the 
most part by those who do not understand or take the effort to know 
the workings of these units, with the exception of units that were 
inferior from the start, like the EMI on ebay, again repairable.
Second, there are enough people on this site with the knowledge to 
solve almost any problem and there are enough tech tips available 
that you should be able to assemble one from the ground up 
blindfolded. 
I also fell for the hype somewhat until I bit the bullet and took it 
out in a live situation and guess what? with all the shortcomings of 
30 years of aging it still went the distance with no mishaps and now 
that it is refurbished, it behaves so much better.  Took it out in 
50 degree weather last week and had no adjusting to do after warm-
up.  Refer to the MONEYPIT article of June 2006 to see before and 
after, real "basket cases" that are back to life and making 
themselves useful again.
As for the poor fella's mishap with the audio board, it was'nt the 
fault of the machine as an honest mistake.
 It is hard to draw a total picture here unless you have one in 
front of you but please do not be intimidated into believing these 
are unreliable, they are not, and if you ask anyone here who has 
done their homework on these units, they will I'm sure agree.  And 
if you are planning on a Mk VI  then all the shortcomings of it's 
predecessor have been addressed.  Hope this changes your outlook.  --
---Doug

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In a message dated 19/04/2007 23:20:37 GMT Standard Time,  
mellotronmadness@... writes:

Thanks  Doug and Mark, I feel reassured and have put a real mellotron back on 
my todo  list.  Mine will have to be shipped from Canada to New Zealand, is 
that  likely to cause a problem?




Mark. Do yourself a favour. Wait just a while longer..... Something rather  
wonderful is about to appear from just north of Birmingham here in the UK....  
Something so wonderful, it will address all of your doubts and more. You will 
be  the envy of all of your friends. Pretty girls will be calling on you day 
and  night and offering to have your babies. And more importantly still, the  
roughnecks and vagabonds on this list will be foaming at the mouth in utter  
jealousy and admiration..... Go on...you know you want too...Give old Martin  
Tronbros a call.
Andy K

In a message dated 4/19/2007 6:20:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
mellotronmadness@... writes:

Mine  will have to be shipped from Canada to New Zealand, is that likely to 
cause a  problem?



Depends on who does the shipping and how well it is packaged. A friend  
recently used Craters and Freighters. They picked up the machine in Los Angeles,  
built a crate for it, packed it up properly and it arrived on time and in great 
 shape. My friend feels that the price paid was well worth it. The crate is  
reusable and he it putting wheels on it.
 
Have fun!
 
Frank



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

> 
> 
> 
>>  You will 
> be  the envy of all of your friends. Pretty girls will be calling on 
you day 
> and  night and offering to have your babies. And more importantly 
still, the  
> roughnecks and vagabonds on this list will be foaming at the mouth 
in utter  
> jealousy and admiration>



>>>>Hmmm....buy a new one, girl has my baby, girl leaves, I get hit 
with child support, new tron goes on ebay......er..no thanks !! Doug

I have to second what Doug and Frank said.  If the machine is set up 
right and doesn't have any nasty problems (such as the issues with 
the machines we've seen at the Mellotron Ranch), you won't be 
spending a lot of time on maintenance.

Keep a flat blade screwdriver and nut driver handy to adjust a key 
once in a while, and that's about it for anything semi-regular.  You 
may want to maintain the tape path by cleaning it up a bit and 
demagging the heads, same as you'd do with a tape deck, but this is 
every once in a long while and not a constant demand.  Now and then 
check out and oil the motor.  Else these things require little 
maintenance, provided they're good/stable to begin with (and there 
are several people on the list who can help set a machine right if 
it's in rough shape).

If you're moving the machine around a lot, using a variety of tape 
stock, experiencing humidity/temperature changes, and so forth, yes, 
you'll probably do some additional adjusting of the pressure pads and 
pinch rollers to compensate for this.

But it's not like these things blow up all the time or fail 
miserably.  They're probably just like anything else for reliability.

See what Duncan has to say about this topic:

http://www.kleonard.com/music/concerts/rmi040508.htm

...kl...
M400 #805 - knock on wood
M400 #1037 - reliable...?  tell that to my first motor...

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damn it Jim...I'm just a simple country doctor...

--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, kinchmusic@... wrote:
>
>  
> In a message dated 19/04/2007 23:20:37 GMT Standard Time,  
> mellotronmadness@... writes:
> 
> Thanks  Doug and Mark, I feel reassured and have put a real 
mellotron back on 
> my todo  list.  Mine will have to be shipped from Canada to New 
Zealand, is 
> that  likely to cause a problem?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mark. Do yourself a favour. Wait just a while longer..... Something 
rather  
> wonderful is about to appear from just north of Birmingham here in 
the UK....  
> Something so wonderful, it will address all of your doubts and 
more. You will 
> be  the envy of all of your friends. Pretty girls will be calling 
on you day 
> and  night and offering to have your babies. And more importantly 
still, the  
> roughnecks and vagabonds on this list will be foaming at the mouth 
in utter  
> jealousy and admiration..... Go on...you know you want too...Give 
old Martin  

> Tronbros a call.
> Andy K
>

> damn it Jim...I'm just a simple country doctor...


Uh-oh.  If your Mellotron is wearing a red shirt you are in deeeeep shit.