Hi KL and KM,

Now that Martin is back from vacation, I'll have to email him about a
price on a restored MK II...like I can afford one! Oh well, it
doesn't hurt to ask. Maybe he'd take two M400's as a downpayment. :>)

KL, I stumbled across a photo of Jimmy Moore and his FX machine on
your website. Jimmy's related the history of his Tron to me and he's
been very helpful getting parts for me from England. He's planning on
having another symposium some time next year. Hope to see you guys
there.

Bernie


Now that Martin is back from vacation--- In moneypit@y...,
kenmerb@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 8/3/02 3:37:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ken@k...
> writes:
>
> >
> > > I'm still experimenting with it, trying to get *that* classic
MKII
> > sound.
> >
> > I've been waiting for your post to the Mellotronists list with a
> > pointer to an mp3 of Gracious!'s tune. Bet you get a response
from
> > Fritz and Rick, maybe others.
>
>
> I'll have to post it to my web site. Should be some interesting
responses,
> hopefully. Would be nice to hear from Gordon Reid on this, too.
He's in the
> recording biz, isn't he?
>
> >
> > > I'm using the direct outs w/ direct boxes and balanced cables
at
> > the moment
> > > (makes things nice and quiet - a major step forward), but Ken L
and
> > I will
> > > try to mic it up soon.
> >
> > Will be a fun experiment.
> >
> > Also - which direct boxes do you have again, Ken? I may be
making a
> > trip to see Alain soon and may look into this for the M400. May
be
> > interesting to try a tubed-up "warm" sound. Which one did Fritz
> > recommend? Is that one you got?
>
> Fritz didn't recommend a specific model, but he did say to use a
tube
> "active" direct box. The tube is usually a 12AX7, the standard
preamp tube.
>
> I have two single channel Bellari MP105's. I bought them for $75
each in
> the GC store in West Palm. This is very cheap for an active direct
box. No
> on-off switch on these, big ass wall wart, thus the price. They are
called
> mic preamps, but also work as active direct boxes. They helped me
with my
> M400 - highly recommended. You only need one for the M400 (two
for a MKII).
> They key is the impedance - the higher the better. Should be at
least 1Meg
> OHM. These are 650 K OHMS, I found out after buying them, still
sound good.
> My other direct box is a top of the line Demeter (probably the best
made).
> It has an on - off switch, A/C reversal switch, no wall wart, 22 M
OHMS,
> brushed aluminum case, nice 10ft. power cord . I bought it mostly
for
> recording guitars and bass - supposed to make them sound really
good,
> according to the reviews. Costly at $599, I got a demo (used only
by John
> Hiatt) for $400. Before you record into your mixer board, you
should plug
> into an active direct box. Plug your unbalanced line (regular
guitar cable
> with a 1/4" unbalanced TS jack ) from your instrument into the DI
input,
> run your balanced line out ( 3 prong MIC or 1/4" TRS) from the DI
box into
> the mic preamp or balanced input of the mixer ( the mic preamp on
the mixer
> gives you a boost). If you buy a DI box, make sure to buy the
balanced cable
> at the same time. Obviously, make sure that the DI box has the
balanced
> output connection.
>
>
> >
> > > We're hoping that Fritz (fellow moneypitter) will
> > > come up one of these days and show us how the pros do it.
> >
> > I definitely couldn't tell you how the pros do it...:-)
> >
> > > At least I got rid of the wobblies I was experiencing the other
> > day.
> >
> > Cool. Not surprising they just "started working"...This is the
> > Merbler Triangle, after all! :-)
>
> The place where "help" becomes "pleh". Let me know if you go to
the GC -
> I'll pleh you pick out a DI box.
>
> ...km