Mellotronists

How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger\ufffds low PC-to-Phone call rates.

Matthijs Herder wrote:

Hi Guys,
I have just acquired a mellotron M400. The serial is probably 1111, but this can't be confirmed yet because one of the previous owners was kind enough to remove the serial-plate. But nr. 1111 is written on allot of the components, so I guess that\ufffds it. Can anyone confirm M400 #1111 being a Dutch mellotron? Or does anyone know about #1111 existing somewhere at all??

The state of the thing isn\ufffdt very good yet. It still has the old CMC10 inside, which I\ufffdve got to get rid of first. But there is probably more going wrong.

I can\ufffdt play more than 1 note at a time, the keys get really heavy to push when I try and from the 3 notes he only plays 2 (or sometimes none at all) and they sound very uneven and squeaky. Does this have anything to do with the old motor?

Further more, I just broke my forth tape in 3 days. They all seem to break at different places. Could their be any explanation for this, other than that the tapes are probably as old as the machine itself?

Please help me sort this out. Thanx, Matthijs

========================================================

Greetings Matthijs , Congratulations on your recent Mellotron purchase!

What you describe is very obvious a Tron needing serious work.
Broken tapes most likely caused by poor adjustments to rollers/pads/keys.
CMC-10 must go,absolutely !
Motor should be removed,cleaned and lubricated. Also check for
wear/overheating from age/use.

You're located in Holland ? Streetly and Markus will offer full
repair/restoration services for #1111 . Contact them directly for
prices and turn-around times.

If you're planning to perform some work on your own, myself and
many others on this List will gladly assist with tech-help.

Good Luck ! -- Jerry Korb at the steamy Mellotron Ranch in New England

P.S : Was there ever an M400 #666 ? Betcha I know where it is !