Mellotronists

On Apr 23, 2005, at 4:34 AM, Andy Thompson wrote:

> Martin Orford is actually quite a nice guy

I'm sure he is. Maybe I should have said that professionally he is an 
arse.

My email was disputing the fact that, like most keyboard players, he 
displays a total disregard for maintenance of his instruments. Notice 
that in his own words, it was the mellotron at fault, not him. Yes, at 
the time it was almost impossible to get competent maintenance, but 
keeping a mellotron running happily is not rocket science, either. I 
did it (as did others, I'm sure) with no help from any competent 
technicians. The only thing I ever worried about was the motor control, 
but I eventually figured out how it worked (and I had one of the 
original CMC10s!).

Andy, I'll gladly take your word for it that Martin Orford is a nice 
guy, but that doesn't change my feelings about his attitude towards his 
instruments. I was aiming my email at the attitude that mellotrons are 
shite because when they're abused they don't play well. Duh! I wonder 
how a case of guitars would respond to being bounced down a stairs by a 
roadie? I also would have bounced the roadie down the stairs with a big 
boot mark on his arse!

Rick