MONEYPIT - Jun '05

MONEYPIT - Jun '05

MONEYPIT BOSTON:
"MARK", THE MELLOTRON MARK V
June 4, 2005

Yes, that's a Yamaha DX-1---but look underneath it.
DX-1 - about 100 made. Mellotron Mark V - about 28 made.

To say this MONEYPIT adventure was "close to home" for Your Webmaster is an understatement. This Mark V recently moved into the area, no more than about two miles away from where Your Webmaster works. Unbelievable!

Owner John Bezjian found our little MONEYPIT/Mellotronists nook in cyberspace and dropped me a note. Seems this machine, Mellotron Mark V Serial Number 5/117, had a few issues. I was only too glad to investigate, as I'd never seen one of these before.

MELLOTRON MARK V SN 5/117 - A BRIEF HISTORY

John was out in LA and taught synthesis to earn a bit of extra dosh, and one of his students was a female musician in a New Wave/punk band. John told her he had an M400, and she said she also had a Mellotron. He saw them play out, but there was no Mellotron. At one point he went over to her house to show her some more synth tricks on her Obie, and a large road case in the garage caught his eye. He asked about it, and she showed him the contents: a Mellotron Mark V. Apparently the roadies got tired of moving it from gig to gig, so there it sat, unused.

Time went on, and John caught up with his synth student again. This time he brought up the idea of trading 'trons--his M400 and a few other things for the Mark V.

And here we are.

The big complaint about "Mark" was the motor didn't turn.

Let's start the investigation...-->

"Mellotron" the name is owned by Mellotron Archives.

You can name your Mellotron whatever you want to. John named his Mark. Other Mellotrons have names like the Mooatron, Mouseotron, Synertron, Formicatron, Pindertron (a.k.a. Sharayah), Promiscutron (a.k.a. The Bastard a.k.a. the EMItron), Stickertron, Julia, and Guaranteed Divorce If I Buy It. Any one of those Mellotrons would tell you that Your Webmaster is no expert, and he does this for fun in an effort to help someone out, and he doesn't ask for compensation. If you want the job done right maybe with a warranty and stuff, there are several people around where you can send your Mellotron (whether it has a name or not), and those people will help you out. Visit the Mellotronists group on Yahoo! to find where all the Mellotron fix-it people hide.