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