Mellotronists

The Chamberlin 300 is one of the rarer units for sure. Certainly not as
"common" as the Rhythmate or M1 series.
Probably worth the purchase but I would "float" it (one box inside another
with lots of padding on all sides)for transportation. I doubt it would
survive a fall otherwise!

The M1 model is a half size version of this. In fact that's an M1 flywheel
(on the left) inside of the cabinet.

It also resembles the Chamberlin that was given to a deceased friend of mine
several years ago.

He took it in place of payment for some money owed him. It sat in his music
room for a long time and one day, to create space, he put it out on the curb
for garbage pickup because he already had an ARP Omni and wasn't interested
in it. Shockingly, he never bothered to turn it on either.

He told me that at the time, he knew of another Chamberlin locally (this one
was an M2) and that the tape replay keyboards weren't appreciated as they
are now, and certainly their value wasn't as high. Chamberlins (and
Mellotrons) could be had for as little as $50.00 at one time, and could
often be found in musician classified ads posted by people who were
upgrading their gear.

So, in his mind, he had no reason to suspect that he would not be able to
find/buy another Chamberlin if he wanted it. He certainly regreted his
actions after the fact, but again in his own words ("who would have known??)

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Bernie Kornowicz
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 6:30 PM
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] How rare are these babies?


http://cgi.ebay.com/CHAMBERLIN-300-RAREST-OF-THE-RARE-Pre-
Mellotron_W0QQitemZ7401231748QQcategoryZ1289QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem






Yahoo! Groups Links

Whoops!!

Sorry - I need a nap.

This fellow passed away last year. He was a wonderful person and was always
full of stories about his musician experiences ( the good old days). He was
a grandfatherly repair man who horded tons of old gear, sold it all for
cheap prices to famous/non famous Canadian musicians, and was easily taken
in by savvy collectors. This was before the internet.

He once offered a cherrywood B3 to me for $1000 but I didn't have it in me
to add to what so many others seemed to be doing. I also considered him a
friend for his honesty with me. I met him in 1990 when I needed a Korg CX-3
fixed.

At first I doubted that he was fully aware of the Mellotron / Chamberlin. I
thought maybe he could have been embellishing just a bit. Maybe confusing
these with more common instruments like a Hammond or Lowrey organ. But he
gave me detailed descriptions of the keyboards and never altered his story.
I also saw the M2 he spoke of at a studio. It was exactly as he described
it. He also described a time in the late 70's / early 80's when musicians
couldn't get ahold of tapes and lots of machines were  trashed because of
this. Does anyone else know about this period?  Jerry any ideas about
this??? Is this Bill Eberline's era?

Anyway, he was also getting visibly annoyed the more I asked him about
throwing the Chamberlin away after discovering that they were now being sold
for several grand. He was embarrassed and admitted that he should have at
least turned the thing on before tossing it, but that his room was so
crowded with things and he considered the Chamberlin redundant and obsolete
because of the ARP Omni.

His was most likely a Chamberlin 300 or a 200, as he said it looked just
like the M1 but went right down to the floor. He also knew the M series
because of working with the M2 at his friends studio.

Very nice man. I miss him and will not see his like again. He was truly of
his own time.

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of lsf5275@...
  Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 8:44 PM
  To: chris.dale@...; kornowicz@...; Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] How rare are these babies?


  In a message dated 3/22/2006 8:40:28 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
chris.dale@... writes:
    It also resembles the Chamberlin that was given to a deceased friend of
mine
    several years ago.

  Chris, with all due respect, how do you give something to a dead person?


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In a message dated 3/22/2006 6:31:15 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
kornowicz@... writes:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CHAMBERLIN-300-RAREST-OF-THE-RARE-Pre-
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Think it is pretty obvious. The bigger question is... How dangerous is  this. 
NO PARTS. I'm sure Streetly or MA could replace the tapes. Rather have a  NEW 
M-4000. A far safer bet I'm sure.

Mon Braves,
 
We have a Chamberlin 300 in the warehouse and it looks like it's lived  
upside down in a damp basement for the last 30 years.  The idea was to  restore it 
but the effort will outway any profit so it may just sit there  forever.  The 
cycling mechanism is intriguing though and hats  off to Harold the Barrel for 
finding his solution through purely  mechanical means and without the aid of 
any flip flop circuits and synch  tones.  Early Chamberlins do have a certain 
fidelity that is  astounding when you consider the 'just getting away with it' 
nature of the  construction.  I think our particular example will remain an 
enigma because  we groan at the prospect of trying to make it do anything.  
Cowards to  the last. 
 
Best,
 
Martin
 

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