The Mellotron Group

Exactly.  My old EMI tron was equipped with a brass'n.  Most EMI's had 'em.  The one in mine was slightly bent.  As you may know EMI's had shoddy cabinetry that would easily go out of square.  The brass capstan is a softer metal and could be subject to stresses when  the cabinet and it's housings would go out.  The result was a subtle uniform "wow-ing" effect.  I sold the EMI before I got a chance to replace it with a proper one.
I'm not sure what the "official" reason was for discontinuing their use, but it was a good call for sure.

--- On Thu, 9/9/10, Tom Doncourt <tomdcour@amnh.org> wrote:

From: Tom Doncourt <tomdcour@amnh.org>
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Re: Brass capstan
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, September 9, 2010, 4:24 PM















 
 



  


    
      
      
      My friend had an EMI with a brass capstan- it already showed signs of wear back in the 80's.
On Sep 9, 2010, at 4:04 PM, NormLeete@aol.com wrote:





 



    




In a message dated 09/09/2010 14:55:08 GMT Daylight Time, 
dan_miso@yahoo.com writes:
My EMI 
  tron has a brass capstain, but the regular Streetly one does 
not.

Agreed, my old EMI had a brass capstan as well. Streetly one I now have is 
stainless steel...
 
Norm