Mellotronists

On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 kinchmusic@... wrote:

> Hi guys.
> I've been onto Martin, discussing whether I should replace the pinch  rollers 
> on my machine. They are original and most definitely showing signs of  wear. 
> He says he can regrind them angling the edges so making better tape  contact. 
> However, I have the feeling that as they have become worn, it has  affected 
> the tuning of one note with another. Surely if you have pinch rollers  that are 
> a slightly different diameter from each other, they will be out of tune  with 
> each other to an extent. So I'm inclined to go for a complete new set. 
> Anyone else have any opinions on the science of all this?


IANAS [i am not a scientist', but...
it seems to me that if the pinch rollers WERE the drive source, that is,
they were the objects providing the rotation, that yes, different
diameters would quite obviously cause inconsistent pitch...
but it's the capstan that provides the drive here, and the pinch rollers
are "passive" in this context, only providing the pressure to pull the
tapes.

does that make ANY sense?
...jeff [NOT a scientist - just ask any of my old teachers..]


> Cheers.
> Andy K
> EMI m400 #E4/140S
>