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PINDERTRON / "Sharayah": Mellotron Mark II #134
UNVEILING!
There was a buzz around the Korb Compound on the first day
of Spring 2004. We were all anxious to see the restored Mark II #134
revealed to its new owner!
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SHUNNED!
#1037 takes a back seat during the unveiling
of "Sharayah" at MONEYPIT 2004 |
| Mellotronist Frank Samagaio (The Mellotron Book) was made to wait all
night before he caught a glimpse of the "Pindertron", which Frank has named "Sharayah".
So---was the wait worth it? BUT just before the covering was pulled off the machine,
Frank handed out a gift to each of us in preparation---caps with the Mellotron
logo---and put one on his head as well. Very nice, Frank---thank you!
We were now properly dressed for the occasion.
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And now...THE UNVEILING!
With the top repaired and edging all new, the
front board beneath the keyboards reworked, the veneer on the lower right side
and the back, the touchup of the flowcoat on the remainder of the machine, and
the new back panel, it's a fine transformation from what was before to a machine
that not only looks (and plays) great but also preserves that "pedigree" that
Frank Samagaio wanted. Yes, you can still see some of the cracked flowcoat
and dings on the sides, but it's all part of the machine's history.
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Jerry, Ken Merbler, and Frank
have a look at Sharayah |
When the machine was revealed, Your Webmaster was
manning the video camera, so there aren't any photos of that part of the
event. But what shows in the videotape is amazing. Frank
Samagaio was speechless. I think I heard, "Oh my..." a few times,
though. He took a good look at the front of the machine, then dove
around back to look inside.
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The insides are nicely refinished, and the wires are tidy.
Everything is labeled (and documented) to make future work on the machine
easier.
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Have a look inside the Pindertron by clicking on the
images to the left. (And, yes, that's a big
bright decidedly non-60s red LED in that last picture, looking very out of
place...;-) )
Restored Mike Pinder preamp
in situ |
A while later I realized something was amiss. From
behind the video camera I remarked, "Hey, it's too quiet in here!" These
guys were so caught up in how the machine looked that they forgot that it
actually did something that was audible. Jerry had the Pindertron's
outputs plugged into the amps on the JK-MK6, and #134 was fired up and began
making some beautiful sounds.
When compared to Julia, Jerry's Mark I, the sound
differences are staggering. If you play 3-violins on Julia, you hear King
Crimson with bright violins. On Sharayah you hear the Moody Blues with a
somewhat compressed and duller sound larger in the lower end. Jerry
explained that the other Mellotrons have a built in equalization curve to
brighten up the higher end, but the Mike Pinder preamp does not. Thus, the
Moody Blues right out of the box.
MP3 AUDIO SAMPLES
Compiled from Ken Merbler's Minidisc
recordings of the goings on |
| Julia |
That familiar King Crimson sound.
1:20, 314KB |
| Sharayah |
No, this is the Moody Blues!
(The thunderous intro to "Higher and Higher" at the end is actually
Jerry's M300, but everything else is Sharayah.)
2:51, 671KB |
| Julia and Sharayah Compared |
The difference in EQ curves is readily apparent.
Also listen to the "Bungalow Bill" intro played on both machines at the
same time.
3:05, 908KB |
| Peak Hour |
Frank Samagaio gives us a few bars of "Peak Hour".
I think that's #1037 in there adding the 8-voice choir.
1:43, 504KB |
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Jerry and Ken lay down some chops! |
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Yeah, it was worth it. Eh, Frank?
Click for the saga of the bumpy
ride home...
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