Mellotronists

Yes! I almost, almost said something like this earlier today. I've never had
a problem during a show. The one time something did get weird was with a 400
that was not one of mine, going microphonic and causing feedback (I fixed
that one recently by the way, I'll go in to that later). I totally agree.
Power up, warm up, tune, do a slow chromatic scale up all the keys to make
sure there's no dying cows in there. Even the one with the CMC-10 has never
done anything funky, not even once. Sometimes I take the top and keyboard
off, and pull the rear anchor off to bring the tapes out of their storage
position, but usually that's just for the benefit of gawking prog-heads.
Always a fun moment.

Well okay there has been the scratchy pot or two.

Admittedly the gigs I support are usually one-shot affairs close to home, in
fair weather. No night-after-night, no hurried setups, weeks of advance
notice. But I read the horror stories sometimes and think to myself "how
come I never see these problems?"

- Gene


-----Original Message-----
From: lsf5275@... [mailto:lsf5275@...]
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 3:19 PM
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [JUNK]Re: [Mellotronists] RE: "Live" Drawbacks"


Hey, wait a sec.

I haul my Mellotron around in its road case in the back of my Expedition. 
When I get where I'm going, I uncrate it and plug it in. It always works and

sounds great. The reason for that is that I perform regular maintenance on
it and 
I handle it right. Mellotrons can be transported and be expected to work 
reliably. Even the ones that are wrapped in blankets or in one of those
special 
black bondage outfits (protect-a-muff). The reputation for unreliability was

based on two things. One, the general orneriness of the CMC 10 and two, lack
of 
regular and proper maintenance. Once the SMS series of motor speed control 
boards were introduced, then it really just came down to proper care. I've
had 
really old motorcycles that were the same way. Even when they were new, they

required a maintenance schedule that was far more involved then today's
machines. 
New Harley's, for example, are really nice. I however, like the nasty old
ones 
as well. They need constant care, and they often throw out a little oil, but

nothing, not even the new ones, sound quite like them or can really deliver 
quite the same thrill.

The only real drawback to putting Mellotrons on stage is that they are 
somewhat unweildy.and are somewhat of a nuisance to drag up and down stairs
... 
especially if it's just you doing it.

Just my 2 cents

Frank Stickle - 400 SM #1562 and occasionally known to drag around a couple 
of others. (that all work just fine)