Every key has its own tape.
Behind each of the 35 keys hangs a strip of magnetic tape, wound on a roller in the tape frame. At rest a spring holds it at the start.
> BENCH READY
Press and hold a key
(01) The workshop
We service, re-tape and restore Mellotrons in Digbeth, Birmingham, the city where the first ones were built in 1963.
Most of the instruments that reach our bench are M400s: 35 keys, 35 strips of tape, one motor. We clean and set them up, cut new tapes, and bring back the ones that have sat in a loft since the eighties.
(02) One key, pressed
0.0s of tape
Press, and the lever tips.
The key-lever rocks on its balance rail. A felt pad pushes the tape up against the playback head and a pinch roller presses it onto the turning capstan.
The capstan pulls it past the head.
The note sounds for as long as you hold the key and the tape lasts. Used tape drops into a storage bin under the keys.
Then the tape runs out.
Each strip holds a few seconds: eight on many machines of this design. Hold past the end and the note stops.
Let go, and the spring pulls it home.
The return spring winds the tape back to the start. Heat, cold and years of this make tapes stretch and stick on the capstan, which is most of what we fix.
(03) What we do
Five jobs, one bench.
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01
Bench check
An hour on the bench: heads, pads, motor speed, every key played on all three tracks. You get a written report and a fixed quote.
£90same week
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02
Service
Clean and demagnetise the heads, new pressure pads, capstan and pinch rollers cleaned, motor speed and pitch set, every tape checked for stretch.
from £3802 weeks
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03
Re-tape a frame
35 new strips cut, spliced and set on your frame, carrying a set of three sounds. Your old tapes come back to you labelled.
from £1,1506 weeks
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04
Full restoration
Stripped to the chassis: motor, amplifier, wiring, key-levers, cabinet. For instruments that have not been switched on in years.
from £2,90010 to 14 weeks
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05
Session hire
Our restored M400 with strings, flute and choir, delivered and set up by one of us. We stay for the session and tune it between takes.
£240per day
(04) Where you have heard one
Five records, five frames.
- 1967
Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles. The opening flute is really two flutes, an alto and a soprano, recorded note by note.
- 1967
We Love You
The Rolling Stones. Brian Jones played the horn section on a Mellotron.
- 1972
Watcher of the Skies
Genesis. Tony Banks opened it alone on a Mk II, strings and brass together.
- 1981
Architecture & Morality
OMD. Andy McCluskey bought a second-hand M400 for its strings and choir.
- 1995
Wonderwall
Oasis. The cello line is Paul Arthurs on a Mellotron.
(05) Before you switch it on
Three ways to hurt a Mellotron.
Straight out of storage
Heads can become magnetised while an instrument sits unused, and playing it can wipe the tapes. The repairer Dave Kean advises not playing an old one straight away. Bring it to us first.
Cold van, hot stage
Moving between cold storage and bright stage lights makes tapes stretch and stick on the capstan. Let it reach room temperature before you play.
Too many keys at once
Hold a big chord and the motor drags, so every note goes flat. It is how the machine works, not a fault, but it shows us a tired motor quickly.
“As if a Neanderthal piano had impregnated a primitive electronic keyboard.”
0 sA · strings B · flute C · choir8 s
(06) Visit
Bring it in, or we collect.
Unit 4, Lower Trinity Street, Digbeth. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 17:00, by appointment. An M400 weighs over 55 kg, so we collect within 60 miles for £60 each way.
Book a bench check