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“A lot of my songs contain varying amounts of Mellotron. My Mellotron is a model 400-S (serial # 516), purchased new directly from London in 1973. I'm the original owner. I've reworked the inside mechanisms a bit over the years, thanks to Mellotron Archives for replacement parts. I've painted it twice, carefully restoring its original white eggshell enamel finish. It looks pretty and it sounds pretty. There were only 1800 of this model ever made; of the ones that have survived, many have been rebuilt by Mellotron enthusiasts around the world. I would guess most 'trons are owned by producers and studios. It was designed in the early 1960s to reproduce the sound of any instrument by using a tape replay system triggered from the keyboard. There are 35 keys, and each key has its corresponding tape head and a spring-loaded strand of tape about six feet in length. I have 3 tape racks for mine, each containing 3 voices. Because of the mechanics involved in playing back these pre-recorded tapes, the Mellotron has its own idiosyncracies and flaws in the characteristic sound it produces, which is what I find so charming about it. Sometimes a Mellotron just needs to sound like a Mellotron.”
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