Mellotronists

EMI 140S has been a bit poorly of late, with many notes beginning to  stick 
and scrape.(No, this wont be a poem!)
 What had happened was that the chrome strip that guides the tapes  through 
90 degrees into the headblock had badly worn. 
Yesterday, I took the patient north to the tron doctors. It was a lovely  day 
to be driving through the English countryside, and I was excited by the  
proposed fix Martin had described to me.
What happened is that the offending strip was removed and replaced by a  full 
set of rollers, which have their own mounting plate which can easily been  
taken in and out when changing frames.
If anyone has problems driving their tapes, I would thoroughly recommend  
having this mod done. It removes completely the potential for friction in that  
area of the machine.
I'm surprised I haven't heard of this problem more on the list,  particularly 
as it's something I've encountered a couple of times before on  previous 
machines.
One other point.......I was so impressed by the care and attention  J&M 
lavished on both the machine and me. What they do is something  that I personally 
feel is sometimes taken for granted and indeed abused by some  postings that 
I've seen here. Just ask yourself this. What would you do if they  were no 
longer around? I know Marcus is doing some great work, and I know some  of you 
across the pond have various levels of expertee.  But here in the  UK, we would be 
stuffed to put it mildly.
Thanks Martin and John.
Andy K with EMI 400 now feeling on top of the world!
PS: If anyone wants to see how the mod looks. Let me know and I'll send you  
a couple of pics.