Mellotronists

Streetly have just adjusted the azimtuth on #996 for me. I thought it
sounded fine before, but the difference this has made is quite striking.

I was forever adjusting the pad touch or angle on about three keys when
it seems that all along it's the head that's the issue, not the pad or
the tape. If you have any perenially 'difficult' notes then it might be
worth having a look at the azimuth adjustment.

Has anyone else tried the same thing?

Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/

tron@... wrote:

> Streetly have just adjusted the azimtuth on #996 for me. I thought it
> sounded fine before, but the difference this has made is quite striking.
>
> I was forever adjusting the pad touch or angle on about three keys when
> it seems that all along it's the head that's the issue, not the pad or
> the tape. If you have any perenially 'difficult' notes then it might be
> worth having a look at the azimuth adjustment.
>
> Has anyone else tried the same thing?
>
> Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
> The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics

__________________________________________________________________


Greetings Mike and gang,    You can actually see the difference
with azimuth-adjusted headblocks from MS/JB .   Especially on
the MK-II models. Rotated a few degrees anti-clockwise.

This in combination with even pad surface and pad angle,
will yield a sound that "jumps" out of the keyboard.
General rule of thumb is contact pad angle of 8 degrees upward
with the long pads, and 8 degrees downward with the short pads.

However, with Mellotrons, nothing is written in stone. Pindertron #2
here at the M-Ranch has an unusually high angle for pad arm mounting bars.
All short pads (even numbers 2 thru 34 ) , had to be readjusted to provide
level contact surface  with pad-tape-head .

Older pads which "look OK" may not be. If cupped from age/use,
sound will be uneven on one or all tracks.  Ken Leonard and I encountered
an M400 here which had something resembling "Brillo" scouring pads
glued-on.   Sound was NOT clean, pun intended.

Hope this helps............EEEECH  !! I'm being attacked by the killer azimuths!

-- Jerry Korb

--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, tron@... wrote:
>
> Streetly have just adjusted the azimtuth on #996 for me. I thought 
it
> sounded fine before, but the difference this has made is quite 
striking.
> 
> I was forever adjusting the pad touch or angle on about three keys 
when
> it seems that all along it's the head that's the issue, not the 
pad or
> the tape. If you have any perenially 'difficult' notes then it 
might be
> worth having a look at the azimuth adjustment.
> 
> Has anyone else tried the same thing?
> 
> Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
> The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
> Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/
>

A couple of years ago I sent the headblocks for M400's #500 and #310 
(now Zappabogg's machine) to Streetly for azimuth alignment. There 
was a very noticeable improvement in sound.

Questions: How does the azimuth go out of alignment? How often 
should the azimuth be realigned?

Bernie

In a message dated 24/08/2006 12:52:32 GMT Standard Time, kornowicz@...  
writes:

Questions: How does the azimuth go out of alignment? How often  
should the azimuth be realigned?



The truth is that a lot of headblocks were NEVER in alignment from the  off.  
Seems that the chap in charge adjusted for output but NOT for treble  and 
clarity.  We would suggest that most, if not all headblocks are  potentially 
disappointing and could do with aligning.  It is something that  can be done 
quickly and efficiently to improve almost all mellotrons.  Once  aligned, the heads 
should never need aligning again unless something  odd occurs that is 
unpredictable. 
 
Incidentally, when we azimuth align we also swop out any dodgy cables and  
coax plugs, any faulty heads and relap any with dropped gaps.  We also  demag as 
a matter of course.
 
Best,
 
Martin

STREETLY ELECTRONICS - All things Mellotronic
_www.mellotronics.co.uk_ (http://www.mellotronics.co.uk/) 
www.mellotronics.com

US East Coast  Agent - Jimmy Moore _JMoore6397_ (mailto:JMoore6397) @...
US West Coast Agent - Paul  Cox _pjc56@..._ 
(mailto:pjc56@...)

In a message dated 23/08/2006 22:22:41 GMT Daylight Time,  
tron@... writes:

Has  anyone else tried the same thing?
John and Martin did mine some time ago and the difference was stunning. I  
just took the headblock with me (and left the rest of the M400 at home)
 
Norm

Martin - Could my Chamberlin M2 benefit from such an adjustment? I don t know the precise head arrangement on an M400 to know the difference. I d also like to

>> Questions: How does the azimuth go out of alignment? How often
>> should the azimuth be realigned?
>
> The truth is that a lot of headblocks were NEVER in alignment from the
> off. Seems that the chap in charge adjusted for output but NOT for
> treble and clarity.

Hmmm. That seems like it was a strange choice to make from the outset.
Until this adjustment had been made to 996 I was adjusting pads to try
and get a better sound out of it, only to find that I'd never manage to
get a good sound out of it at all. It's certainly true that the change
to the instrument now is quite exceptional. I've yet to take the six
track frame out and was immediately struck by the (new-found) clarity in
the mix between tracks. I wish I had done this ages ago!

Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/