Mellotronists

hello!! i am a new member, i was redirected here from progressivears 
forum, they say that here i can find "the most knowledgeable people 
on the planet" (on trons matters) so here it goes...

i will have to record some mellotron parts soon, a collector will 
borrow me the trons, but i have no idea what is the best way of 
recording their sound, never having played a real one before. and 
since he have MANY of them, it is impossible to me experimenting with 
sounds AND recording in one day. 
so, anyone knows what are the classic effects that goes along with 
the classic tron tapes? 
moreover, what is better, to record the tron output directly or to 
pass it through some amp, or pre amp, valve, leslie, what? 

i already collected some advices and i already visited these links...

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_capturing_keyboards/ 
http://www.kleonard.com/mellotron/tronto0901/recording.htm 

so...am i missing something? many ppl told me to experiment, but i 
will just have one day, probably, and my idea is to record the same 
parts on many trons, different tapes and different models, so that we 
can choose afterwards what's better. but i would really like some 
advices on HOW to record it, in order to have something to start with.

thanks so much in advance 
PAolo:)