Mellotronists

> From: "Tony Moffett" <amoffet1@...>
> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 05:27:14 -0500
>
> Do any of you have a volume pedal to recommend? I have an old DMI
> ring tip and sleeve unit, but do not find it suitable. I seem to
> remember a former member of this list recommending a Yamaha unit,
> but he's not around to ask personally.

The pedal from the Yamaha DX-7 works very well without modification,
is inexpensive, pretty well built, and readily available.

I can't remember the model number (something like "FC7"?) but if you go
to any competent musical instrument store they should know exactly
which one.

One suggested mod is to replace the molded plastic plug with a proper
Switchcraft plug.

-- Don

--
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don@...
http://www.till.com

I have one made by Bespecto that works very well.

> > From: "Tony Moffett" <amoffet1@...>
> > Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 05:27:14 -0500
> >
> > Do any of you have a volume pedal to recommend? I have an old DMI
> > ring tip and sleeve unit, but do not find it suitable. I seem to
> > remember a former member of this list recommending a Yamaha unit,
> > but he's not around to ask personally.
>
> The pedal from the Yamaha DX-7 works very well without modification,
> is inexpensive, pretty well built, and readily available.
>
> I can't remember the model number (something like "FC7"?) but if you
> go to any competent musical instrument store they should know exactly
> which one.
>
> One suggested mod is to replace the molded plastic plug with a proper
> Switchcraft plug.
>
> -- Don
>
> --
> Don Tillman
> Palo Alto, California, USA
> don@...
> http://www.till.com
>
>
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> From: "J.K.Beresford" <j.k.beresford@...>
> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 16:24:33 -0000
>
> I have one made by Bespecto that works very well.

Is this the inexpensive lightweight plastic rebranded Roland unit?
I've seen one of those fail in the first hour of use.

On the opposite side of the robustness sprectrum (and price spectrum),
Ernie Ball pedals are now available in impedances appropriate for line
level volume control. You may need to build up a cable though.

-- Don

--
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don@...
http://www.till.com

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

From: Don Tillman

To: amoffet1@...

Cc: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 11:22 AM

Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] swell pedal

   > From: "Tony Moffett" <amoffet1@...>
   > Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 05:27:14 -0500
   >
   > Do any of you have a volume pedal to recommend? I have an old DMI
   > ring tip and sleeve unit, but do not find it suitable. I seem to
   > remember a former member of this list recommending a Yamaha unit,
   > but he's not around to ask personally.

The pedal from the Yamaha DX-7 works very well without modification,
is inexpensive, pretty well built, and readily available.

I can't remember the model number (something like "FC7"?) but if you go
to any competent musical instrument store they should know exactly
which one.

One suggested mod is to replace the molded plastic plug with a proper
Switchcraft plug.

  -- Don

--
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don@...
http://www.till.com

> From: "Tony Moffett" <amoffet1@...>
> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 11:59:05 -0500
>
> Thanks Don, I believe that was the one DK mentioned. One question remains.
> If it is a switchcraft jack (who's reputation goes without saying) is it a
> ring tip sleeve? Or does it even need to be?

The Yamaha pedal (uh, "foot controller") has a tip-ring-sleeve plug
that's wired correctly for plugging into the front jack of an M400:

tip: audio in (pot cw)
ring: audio out (pot wiper)
sleeve: ground (pot ccw)

The stock plug on the Yamaha pedal is an inexpensive molded plug, so
you might want to upgrade that at some point with a Switchcraft with a
heat-shrink strain relief. The rest of the pedal is pretty well
constructed.

-- Don

--
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don@...
http://www.till.com

> > I have one made by Bespecto that works very well.
>
> Is this the inexpensive lightweight plastic rebranded Roland unit?
> I've seen one of those fail in the first hour of use.

That would be Bespeco. I have two, neither of which have failed in three
years. On the other hand, I have seen an 'S' class Mercedes fail to
start after being driven out of a Merc dealership's showroom. QED.

Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/samples.htm

Yep that's the one. I've had it 5 years with my old M400 and now
modified to work off my M300 front pedal socket. It's never failed or
broken in that time but then I don't jump on it or gig.
John

> > > I have one made by Bespeco that works very well.
> >
> > Is this the inexpensive lightweight plastic rebranded Roland unit?
> > I've seen one of those fail in the first hour of use.
>
> That would be Bespeco. I have two, neither of which have failed in
> three years. On the other hand, I have seen an 'S' class Mercedes fail
> to start after being driven out of a Merc dealership's showroom. QED.
>
> Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
> The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
> Streetly Sample Library
> http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/samples.htm
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>
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> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

<< It's never failed or broken in that time but then I don't jump on it or
gig >>

my £20's worth- we used an original 'tron volume pedal (before & after
replacing the pot) before retiring it on the grounds that it itself was a
collector's item and easier to nick than the 400 (nr1098) it was hanging out
of. since then, a £20 proel. steve's a drummer, and we don't pack very tidily
when we gig (as andy t can attest). so far, no grief.

andy- don's right. learn to cut tape. it's the start of a big adventure &
something no computer can replace. imagine cutting a verse out of someone's
opus on 24 track.... and getting paid £2 an hour for it.... "kids these days"
indeed. the studio is just one more area where commitment and concentration
don't seem to matter any more. and actually it's quite a laugh hearing the
400 playing a lump of 1/4" with pretty much anything on it. you suddenly
become aware that the machine IS adding something, the same way only less
subtle as when you put a familiar reel onto someone else's revox.

d.

-----Original Message-----
From: ferrograph@... [mailto:ferrograph@...]
Sent: 16 February 2002 01:47
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] swell pedal


Duncan


since then, a £20 proel. steve's a drummer, and we don't pack very tidily
when we gig (as andy t can attest).


Sling it all in the box, and sort it out later! :-) BTW, did you ever
release any of the 'two 'Trons' stuff - regular discs or CD-Rs?


andy- don's right. learn to cut tape. it's the start of a big adventure &
something no computer can replace. imagine cutting a verse out of someone's
opus on 24 track.... and getting paid £2 an hour for it.... "kids these
days" indeed.


Well, there's a career prospect for you. :-) Mind you, I presume you
started doing that?


and actually it's quite a laugh hearing the
400 playing a lump of 1/4" with pretty much anything on it. you suddenly
become aware that the machine IS adding something, the same way only less
subtle as when you put a familiar reel onto someone else's revox.


So (general inquiry here), if I wanted to create a loop in my 'Tron, how
would I go about it? Take the tape frame out and simply insert a loop of
tape around one head, going right round the 'innards'? Not that it's very
likely that I'll try it...

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/

>I can't remember the model number (something like "FC7"?) but if you go
>to any competent musical instrument store they should know exactly
>which one.

I have been using the Yamaha FC7 (used at $29.99 about 3 years ago). Plug
and play.

Note that it's a volume pedal, so in a full sweep it goes from nothing to
crankin'. I believe the point of the real Mellotron swell pedal was to
modulate the output volume within a certain range.

...kl...M400 #805 - quiet or loud, he's just swell
* Ken Leonard - Web ToC at http://www.kleonard.com
* * Into the outdoors? - http://www.GONewEngland.org
* >> Be Unreasonable. Change the World. http://www.lp.org
* >> Carla is Unreasonable. http://www.carlahowell.org/