Used Beatles Mellotron for Sale

$65,000 opening bid at auction. Lot description written by an illiterate.

2 things:

1. It was Paul who played the mellotron on SFF. And didn't Paul say in Anthology that the Mellotron he is demonstratingy was the one used in SFF? (My copy of Anthology is out on loan right now)

2. Wow! Has that photo ever been published before? I've never seen John's studio before! I can see what looks like a 4-track reel-to-reel machine, but it's too small (I think), three 2 track reel to reel machines, the mellotron, and another keyboard to the left. Is that the Clavoline used on 'Baby You're A Rich Man'? What is that thing between the 4-track and the 2-tracks?

J. D.

I think Paul said, about the mellotron, that 'This is one of them', so, not the one.

Yes, I have seen it before, in large format, in the past year or so, although I'm not sure where, perhaps in BEATLES GEAR.

You can see that an electrician has been at work wiring them all up for power. I can't see much in the way of cross-connecting wires. My guess is that he probably worked something like this:

1. Record on to tape deck A while playing and singing etc.

2. Playback from tape deck A, recording on tape deck B, while double-tracking or overdubbing.

3. etc.

As everyone knows, that's a pretty crude way of doing things which ends up with a lot of noise, but that's exactly what we hear on TWO

Not Beatles Gear - that book has no photo of John's studio (though there is a description, not very good!), and the mellotron, though obviously the same instrument (the scratches match), is taken from a different angle. The photos on http://www.lelands.com/auction/auctioneer.exe? SiteId=LELANDS&Item=50 are rather nice - where *have* they appeared before?

-= rags =-

It appears to me that the mellotron in the photograph has a much darker finish, and a much different lid for the keyboard.

I'm not buying it...

voice from the past