The Mellotron Group

Hi  guys,

Any of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine when playing a key?The pinchroller of the key is rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no contact with the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical artifact comes thru on the audio output for some reason.Any ideas?

Cheers,H

If it comes across on all three tracks, then it may be the playback head 
or its wiring. If only one track, then its probably the tape.  Is it 
actually mechanical in nature?  Can you hear it if your amplifier is 
turned down or off?
john barrick
1407


Hessel Herder wrote:

>
> Hi guys,
>
> Any of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine when playing a 
> key?The pinchroller of the key is rolling perfectly,and the tape makes 
> no contact with the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical 
> artifact comes thru on the audio output for some reason.Any ideas?
>
> Cheers,H
>
> .
>
>

In a message dated 12/2/2007 7:44:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
astroboy@cinci.rr.com writes:

If it  comes across on all three tracks, then it may be the playback head 
or its  wiring. If only one track, then its probably the tape. Is it 
actually  mechanical in nature? Can you hear it if your amplifier is 
turned down or  off?
john barrick
1407



I have tons of new (old) original stock matched tape heads. They have never  
been used.
 
Frank II



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Have you demagnetized the headblock lately?
-Jack


--- Hessel Herder <hessel@soundscape.nl> wrote:

> Hi  guys,
> 
> Any of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine
> when playing a key?The pinchroller of the key is
> rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no contact with
> the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical
> artifact comes thru on the audio output for some
> reason.Any ideas?
> 
> Cheers,H
> 
>  
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you 
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Hello Hessel,
 
A good pressure pad should give you full sound after 1/4  turn only of the 
adjustment screw.  You then  add the extra pressure and we now use 1/2 a turn.  
If your pressure pad  comes in r e a l l y slowly, say a full turn or two full 
turns to get the sound  prior to the final adjustment, you could be hearing 
physical drag.  I  will send out the correct pressure pad shape.  This is a 
guide only as it  all depends on each head which do vary slightly.  We suspect a 
lot of  pressure pads are slow at coming in and the end result is an over 
adjusted  pinchroller and that classic heavy feel mellotron keyboard.    
Incidentally, a good roller should come up to full speed between 1/4 and 1/2  turn 
before the final pressure of 1 full turn.  ALWAYS ADJUST YOUR PAD  FIRST AS THE 
ROLLER HAS TO FIGHT THAT DRAG.  You have been warned.  
 
These instructions do not apply to matt black backed tapes which are a  
frigging nightmare.   House bricks or lead off the church roof can  help in these 
circumstances.
 
Best,
 
Martin
 
Streetly Electronics - All Things Mellotronic


_www.mellotronics.com_ (http://www.mellotronics.com/) 
US Sales East: Jimmy Moore_ JMoore6397@aol.com_ (http://JMoore6397@aol.com/) 
US Sales  West: Paul Cox_  pjc56@earthlink.net_ (http://pjc56@earthlink.net/)

In a message dated 03/12/2007 00:35:28 GMT Standard Time,  
rick@rickblechta.com writes:


Any  of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine when playing a key?The  
pinchroller of the key is rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no contact  
with the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical artifact comes  thru 
on the audio output for some reason.Any  ideas?



My old EMI used to squeak on one note. This was caused by the pad arm being  
bent incorrectly or by a gorilla adjusting it.
 
Squeak was removed during the Streetly rebuild along with a whole load of  
other problems.
 
I wonder what happened to that machine...
 
Norm

I've still got the new Streetly frame in.However your adjustment tips are interesting as #920 would never give sound with just a 1/4 or 1/2 turn.Is this an age thing or man-made?

I've flushed the machines blackbacked tapes after I received the Streetly set

Ta

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
Van: tronbros@aol.com
Aan: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Verzonden: 3-12-07 9:00
Onderwerp: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Tape guide

Hello Hessel,
 
A good pressure pad should give you full sound after 1/4  turn only of the 
adjustment screw.  You then  add the extra pressure and we now use 1/2 a turn.  
If your pressure pad  comes in r e a l l y slowly, say a full turn or two full 
turns to get the sound  prior to the final adjustment, you could be hearing 
physical drag.  I  will send out the correct pressure pad shape.  This is a 
guide only as it  all depends on each head which do vary slightly.  We suspect a 
lot of  pressure pads are slow at coming in and the end result is an over 
adjusted  pinchroller and that classic heavy feel mellotron keyboard.    
Incidentally, a good roller should come up to full speed between 1/4 and 1/2  turn 
before the final pressure of 1 full turn.  ALWAYS ADJUST YOUR PAD  FIRST AS THE 
ROLLER HAS TO FIGHT THAT DRAG.  You have been warned.  
 
These instructions do not apply to matt black backed tapes which are a  
frigging nightmare.   House bricks or lead off the church roof can  help in these 
circumstances.
 
Best,
 
Martin
 
Streetly Electronics - All Things Mellotronic


_www.mellotronics.com_ (http://www.mellotronics.com/) 
US Sales East: Jimmy Moore_ JMoore6397@aol.com_ (http://JMoore6397@aol.com/) 
US Sales  West: Paul Cox_  pjc56@earthlink.net_ (http://pjc56@earthlink.net/)

Yeah,but thing is,when the amp is turned down it's also there

I'll soldier on : )



-----Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
Van: "Jack Younger" <e4103s@yahoo.com>
Aan: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Verzonden: 3-12-07 5:17
Onderwerp: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Tape guide

Have you demagnetized the headblock lately?
-Jack


--- Hessel Herder <hessel@soundscape.nl> wrote:

> Hi  guys,
> 
> Any of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine
> when playing a key?The pinchroller of the key is
> rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no contact with
> the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical
> artifact comes thru on the audio output for some
> reason.Any ideas?
> 
> Cheers,H
> 
>  
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you 
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, NormLeete@... wrote:
>
>  
> In a message dated 03/12/2007 00:35:28 GMT Standard Time,  
> rick@... writes:
> 
> 
> Any  of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine when playing a
key?The  
> pinchroller of the key is rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no
contact  
> with the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical artifact
comes  thru 
> on the audio output for some reason.Any  ideas?
> 
> 
> 
> My old EMI used to squeak on one note. This was caused by the pad
arm being  
> bent incorrectly or by a gorilla adjusting it.
>  
> Squeak was removed during the Streetly rebuild along with a whole
load of  
> other problems.
>  

Mine had a couple of notes which made squeaking and scraping noises at
the start of the note, caused for some reason by said tapes dragging
on the stainless steel rod in front of the guide comb just before the
heads. After attempting to clean and polish that and still getting the
same problem, my (temporary and not recommended!) way around it was to
stick a long piece of material to the steel rod to reduce the friction
of the tape against the rod, which cured the squeak/drag/scraping
noise, but I'm sure that in the long run it must cause heavier wear on
the tapes (as well as encouraging oxide to deposit on the material),
so it's most definitely *not* a long-term solution!

When I get my M400 restored by Streetly (saving the pennies for this
now), I'm aiming to have the modification included which replaces the
steel rod with rollers. That'll sort that problem out once and for all.


Tony S