Mellotronists

What did that one in the NYC area go for yesterday? I logged in with 
the 'Tron winding down its final hour before the auction closed, and 
it was at over $3000. Ouch! Hol-ay mol-ay...I better get more 
insurance for mine. It looked cosmetically rough, but I gather it ran 
like a champ.

As the apparent "sucker" that paid $2900 (no postage - it's a pickup) 
for the M400 on eBay, I thought I should make some attempt at 
defending my action, if only to make myself feel better.

I'm assuming that most of you here already own a Mellotron, and 
therefore may not be aware of just how difficult it is to find one, 
let alone a deal.  I'm sure that if I had more patience, I could have 
located the perfect situation - the odd forgotten keyboard in the 
basement, the unsuspecting seller...  But I'm not getting any 
younger, and it's been a long-standing desire to find and restore one 
of these instruments from my childhood that was so influencial to me.

I was rather shocked at how high it went myself, but there was either 
a shill, or someone who wanted it as badly as myself, and by that 
point it was either another bid, or keep waiting, and looking, and 
waiting...

Look on the bright side - I maybe just increased the value of 
everyone else's.

In any event, now that I in fact own one, I'll no doubt be looking 
for advice and help with parts and restoration work, so I hope you 
will all forgive my exuberence and welcome me into the club.

Sincerely,

Jamie Robertson
M400 #380 (I think)
www.robertsonics.com


--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, tronbros@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 20/1/03 7:14:34 PM GMT Standard Time, 
> aidan@a... writes:
> 
> 
> > It went for $2,900 (£1,800) excluding postage!
> 
> And it still needs servicing despite what anybody says.  Mellotrons 
are 
> better than UK pension schemes - that's certain.
> 
> Martin
> <A HREF="http://www.members.aol.com/tronbros/index.htm">Streetly 
Electronics - all things MELLOTRONIC</A> - click this link..........
> 
> US East Coast Agent: Jimmy Moore - JMoore6397@a...

In a message dated 1/21/2003 2:26:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, robertsonics@... writes:

> As the apparent "sucker" that paid $2900 (no postage - it's > a pickup)for the M400 on eBay, I thought I should make some > attempt at defending my action, if only to make myself feel > better. I'm assuming that most of you here already own a 
> Mellotron, and therefore may not be aware of just how 
> difficult it is to find one, let alone a deal.  I'm sure 
> that if I had more patience, I could have located the 
> perfect situation - the odd forgotten keyboard in the
> basement, the unsuspecting seller...  But I'm not getting any
> younger, and it's been a long-standing desire to find and 
> restore one of these instruments from my childhood that was > so influencial to me. I was rather shocked at how high it 
> went myself, but there was either a shill, or someone who 
> wanted it as badly as myself, and by that point it was 
> either another bid, or keep waiting, and looking, and 
> waiting...  Look on the bright side - I maybe just increased 
> the value of everyone else's.  In any event, now that I in 
> fact own one, I'll no doubt be looking for advice and help 
> with parts and restoration work, so I hope you will all 
> forgive my exuberence and welcome me into the club.
> Sincerely, Jamie Robertson M400 #380 (I think)
> www.robertsonics.com

Congratulations, Jamie.

I, too, waited many years before finally owning a 400 (see the intro to "The Mellotron Book" for more details).  #908 asked me for a big brother, so now I'm looking for a MkII.

What you paid is actually in the lower end range for 400's that have sold on eBay.

No shill here.  I had received a request from another troniac requesting leads on available units and turned him on to the latest eBay tron (he was the 2nd highest bidder).  

Frank Samagaio
San Diego CA
M400 #908
author, The Mellotron Book

as we all know:

the value of something to one person is often very different to that
of another person: value is a highly subjective thing.

congrats are in order regardless of the perceived bargain or hosing...

so, congrats!

you have come to the right place for advice, sources, and the constant
din of some good-natured ribbing, and even the occassional heated
argument. strong opinions abound here - you have been warned!

...jeffc
(owner of m400 #364/maintainer of m400 #1189/soon to be maintainer and
savior of another yet to be seen mellotron [probably another m400].)
========================================================
 mailto:jeffc@...   http://www.netaxs.com/~jeffc/
========================================================
"Since at the beginning and end of our lives we are so
 dependent on others' kindness, how can it be that in
 the middle we neglect kindness towards others?"
- Tenzin Gyatso - His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
========================================================

----- Original Message -----

From: <robertsonics@...>
To: <Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 11:26 AM
Subject: [Mellotronists] Re: The M-400 that sold on eBay yesterday. Ouch!


As the apparent "sucker" that paid $2900 (no postage - it's a pickup)
for the M400 on eBay, I thought I should make some attempt at
defending my action, if only to make myself feel better.

I'm assuming that most of you here already own a Mellotron, and
therefore may not be aware of just how difficult it is to find one,
let alone a deal.  I'm sure that if I had more patience, I could have
located the perfect situation - the odd forgotten keyboard in the
basement, the unsuspecting seller...  But I'm not getting any
younger, and it's been a long-standing desire to find and restore one
of these instruments from my childhood that was so influencial to me.

I was rather shocked at how high it went myself, but there was either
a shill, or someone who wanted it as badly as myself, and by that
point it was either another bid, or keep waiting, and looking, and
waiting...

Look on the bright side - I maybe just increased the value of
everyone else's.

In any event, now that I in fact own one, I'll no doubt be looking
for advice and help with parts and restoration work, so I hope you
will all forgive my exuberence and welcome me into the club.

Sincerely,

Jamie Robertson
M400 #380 (I think)
www.robertsonics.com
========================
Jamie,

If I'd had 3 grand to spare I might have seriously entertained spending it
on an M400.  After all the things I have got to spend $$$ on (house
maintenance, new car for my wife, 2 kids, maybe a new guitar, lessons , etc)
a tron is way down on the reality list.  I know that sometime in the future
I will want one more than now, and one will be available...or maybe
not...but I suspect that if I can find one, snagging it then will set me
back a few shillings more than you paid for yours.  Strike while the iron is
hot, I say!  Enjoy it, you lucky bastard, realizing a long-held dream for
yourself.  Welcome aboard here.  Lots of good advice to be had, along with
loads of leg-pulling.
--
SDM -- a 21st century schizoid man
http://systemstheory.net internet music project
http://thecleanersystem.com software for dry cleaners
NP: nothing

Thanks, everyone, for the kind and encouraging words.  And thanks, 
Frank, for the info - I feel MUCH better knowing the other bidder was 
truly serious, though sorry for him.  Hopefully, he'll be able to 
locate another soon.

Bottom line is that I'm thrilled, or at least I will be when I pick 
it up.

Later... -Jamie

> Congratulations, Jamie.
> 
> I, too, waited many years before finally owning a 400 (see the 
intro to "The Mellotron Book" for more details).  #908 asked me for a 
big brother, so now I'm looking for a MkII.
> 
> What you paid is actually in the lower end range for 400's that 
have sold on eBay.
> 
> No shill here.  I had received a request from another troniac 
requesting leads on available units and turned him on to the latest 
eBay tron (he was the 2nd highest bidder).  

> 
> Frank Samagaio
> San Diego CA
> M400 #908
> author, The Mellotron Book