Mellotronists

My tron originally came with flute/violins/cello tapes and appeared
to be more out of tune than the current set (which is about 19 years
old). Anybody know if anything done to the masters to get them more
in tune?

Bernie Kornowicz
M400S #500

At 09:08 PM 5/11/2002 +0000, tron400 wrote:

>My tron originally came with flute/violins/cello tapes and appeared
>to be more out of tune than the current set (which is about 19 years
>old). Anybody know if anything done to the masters to get them more
>in tune?

Heh...The best standard (BBS) set I've heard has to be the "authentic John
Lennon set" (ha!) that lives in the Merbler Triangle. We believe it dates
back to around '78, and it's beautiful up and down the scale. The flutes
are a killer. If you have a vintage set like that, it's a rare gem.

I also like the 3-violins on Prof. Korb's original set (about 30 years old
now), but those sounds were a result of some tampering here in the States.

Have you read the story about the tape remasters on Dave Kean's
site? (www.mellotron.com) The BBS that came in with #805 is a Kean
set. I don't know if its vintage is pre- or post-remastering, but the
middle C flute is a little bit off (and probably others---still very
usable, though).

...kl...M400 #805 - the one playing me is more off, actually
* Ken Leonard - Web ToC at http://www.kleonard.com
* * Into the outdoors? - http://www.GONewEngland.org
* Have you written your MA reps to express your opinions
* about the tax increases? http://www.state.ma.us/legis/

--- In Mellotronists@y..., Ken Leonard <ken@k...> wrote:

> At 09:08 PM 5/11/2002 +0000, tron400 wrote:
> >My tron originally came with flute/violins/cello tapes and appeared
> >to be more out of tune than the current set (which is about 19

years

> >old). Anybody know if anything done to the masters to get them more
> >in tune?
>
> Heh...The best standard (BBS) set I've heard has to be

the "authentic John

> Lennon set" (ha!) that lives in the Merbler Triangle. We believe

it dates

> back to around '78, and it's beautiful up and down the scale. The

flutes

> are a killer. If you have a vintage set like that, it's a rare gem.
>
> I also like the 3-violins on Prof. Korb's original set (about 30

years old

> now), but those sounds were a result of some tampering here in the

States.

>
> Have you read the story about the tape remasters on Dave Kean's
> site? (www.mellotron.com) The BBS that came in with #805 is a

Kean

> set. I don't know if its vintage is pre- or post-remastering, but

the

> middle C flute is a little bit off (and probably others---still

very

> usable, though).
>
> ...kl...M400 #805 - the one playing me is more off, actually
> * Ken Leonard - Web ToC at http://www.kleonard.com
> * * Into the outdoors? - http://www.GONewEngland.org
> * Have you written your MA reps to express your opinions
> * about the tax increases? http://www.state.ma.us/legis/

Hi neighbor! I'm just south of you in the Hartford area. Thanks for
pointing me to the tape remastering page at mellotron.com. It doesn't
really apply to my tron because its tapes were installed around 1976.
I'm guessing they came from either Dallas Arbiter or Mellotronics in
Sherman, Connecticut.

The remastering info raises more questions for me. How many versions
of the masters are there? Are the tapes that are available from
mellotron.com a generation older than Streetly's masters minus the
pops, clicks and pitch variations?

Bernie Kornowicz
M400S #500

Hi Jerry,
I presume the fluon turnbuckles in these M400s are leftovers from
M300 production...ie the ones that reputedly caused all the
problems in that particular model. How do they work in an M400?
Or was the problem caused by a combination of fluon turnbuckles
and the narrower (more hence more wayward) 1/4" tapes?
John