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JIMMY MOORE'S FX CONSOLE, #10006
To: The Mellotronists YahooGroup
From: Jimmy Moore (JMoore6397 over at AOL)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 15:19:18 EST
Jimmy and Nancy Moore are proud to announce
the arrival of F/X console serial # f/X 10006 to our family. Other than 27
years of dust and a few scratches and scrapes on the cabinet the machine
fires up and sounds fine. |
FORMICATRON #285 GETS BIG BROTHER
Exciting news from the Moore household, down there in Glen
Mills, Pennsylvania: There's now an FX Console in the family!
Jimmy (along with Joe Ferrainola) hosted our
Philly 'Tron Symposium in May '01.
Jimmy and Joe are in possession of the infamous
Formicatron, the M400 suitable
for your kitchen, s/n 285. Well, the Formicatron now has a big brother!
Jimmy Moore and Mark DeClemente: Mellotron Roadies
And during a trip to Pennsylvania in May
2004, Your Webmaster caught up with the FX Console #10006...
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FX Console #10006 was discovered in a college in
Ohio. It had been used for sound effects and still had its original
sound effects tapes! Although some tapes are missing, the remaining
ones are all quite playable and sound great.
Click
here to hear the FX
Console behaving like an animal!
Windows Media, 220KB, 0:35 |
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The FX Console has a different control surface when
compared to the standard Mark I/II, and there are other differences:
 | The headblocks are in four sections; each keyboard
is split between keys 18 and 19 |
| Track selection is A, B, or C; you cannot mix
adjacent tracks |
| There are four faders and a master fader (volume
controls) |
| Headphone output with volume control |
| No reverb |
| No tubes (all solid state) |
| Shielded motor housing |
| Very thick wood or plywood painted black (the ones
for the BBC were gray); nothing fancy here--it's all business |
The keys are numbered so you can quickly find the
sound you want in the accompanying sound book. The book calls the
stations "channels", so you'd find a sound at Channel 3, Track A, Key #15. |
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A view from the top. It is decidedly
uncluttered. |
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This unit appears to have been fitted with an
amplifier and a speaker, and it may have been a special order at the
factory. The speaker is attached to the removable back cover of the
machine and is a Wharfedale. There are no
provisions here for internal amplification or speakers as in the Mark I/II.
Note that there aren't even any holes cut for the speakers in the side
panels. |
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Although the power supply says #259, this is FX
Console #10006. The two cards top left are the
SSCUs (the "brains" behind the station select switches).
The card in the lower right is the CMC-4 motor
controller. |
Shielded motor housing
As of my visit, the left hand manual plays
and cycles properly. The right hand manual's keyboard lock comes up when
you turn on the machine, and the cycling motor has been disconnected, so there's
a little work to be done there. Other than that, this machine is very
clean and in near mint condition. It is truly a find!
Jimmy plans to have it fixed up and fitted
with tapes that are more the standard fare.
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SEE THE RESTORATION OF FX
CONSOLE #6! |
Mellotron Professor Jerry
Korb restores the FX Console. Check out these MONEYPIT adventures:
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