Mellotron M4000D, any experience?

[Hansi]

Hello guys and girls,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of the Mellotron M4000D from Sweden? I've got the price list from Marcus and I am really into this instrument but would really like to hear if anyone here has tried it and what your thoughts are before putting my hard earned money into it

I want the Mellotron sound and these look incredible but are there any plus or minus points that you can see to them?

 

[happyrat1]

From what I've seen in archival videos and read online the original Mellotrons were incredibly delicate and fussy beasts to tune and maintain.

The M4000D seems to be the modern digital incarnation but for $2800 USD I could think of a lot of better synths to blow my money on.

Pretty much any modern workstation can emulate one these days as well as do so much more for about the same money.

Here's my synth, a Kurzweil PC3K8 doing a Mellotron emulation. (Not specifically mine but one the same as mine)

Here's a Nord Stage running some Mellotron Samples.

My advice is why limit yourself with such a primitive instrument when either of these can create virtually identical performances?

Gary

 

[Hansi]

Thanks for your input Gary, I did think about going for the Nord stage but as I already have 2 boards that can handle all e-piano and piano sounds (Hammond SK and a Kawai MP7) that would only be used for the mellotron sound. I love having dedicated units for sounds as I move around a lot when the band gets in the mood during improvisation and I don't like to have to go into menus more than necessary to find the correct sounds.

The M4000D rack does look good to me, even though I would love M4000D or mini the rack unit looks good without really adding to much bulk to the rig, just takes up 2 more rack spaces but doesn't add a new keyboard to the mix...

It's something I will need to think about. Next purchase won't be for 2-3 months now as I just ordered a Leslie 3300 but the research work has started on the next one

 

[minku]

hi

 

[Hansi]

Mello minku and welcome to the forum. Do you have any experience with Mellotron hardware or software instruments?

Last weekend I actually went and got myself a Macbook pro which I intend to use to run MainStage. I'll then be using either the M-Tron pro or the Mellotoon. Anyone used those software instruments?

 

[genesisfan]

Thanks for your input Gary, I did think about going for the Nord stage but as I already have 2 boards that can handle all e-piano and piano sounds (Hammond SK and a Kawai MP7) that would only be used for the mellotron sound. I love having dedicated units for sounds as I move around a lot when the band gets in the mood during improvisation and I don't like to have to go into menus more than necessary to find the correct sounds.

The M4000D rack does look good to me, even though I would love M4000D or mini the rack unit looks good without really adding to much bulk to the rig, just takes up 2 more rack spaces but doesn't add a new keyboard to the mix...

It's something I will need to think about. Next purchase won't be for 2-3 months now as I just ordered a Leslie 3300 but the research work has started on the next one

 

[genesisfan]

Did you buy the rack or mini?

 

[Patrick Hasselbank]

I'm not sure but I think Oasis used such mellotron (older version) in wonderwall (https://musescore.com/user/4913101/scores/1743536

)

 

[soot29]

I own an actual Mellotron Mk. VI made by Marcus Resch and one of his M4000D Mini's. I think the M4000D is great. Yeah, it's not cheap but it's a lot cheaper than buying a real mellotron. I play the M4000D through a reverb pedal and a graphic equalizer and it sounds exactly like my Mk. VI. I've A-B'd the sounds, and I can't really tell the difference. The other nice thing about M4000D is you get every single sound from the original tape library. That's also a LOT cheaper than paying 800 bucks for a new 3-sound tape frame from Marcus every time you want to add some new sounds. If you can afford it and you want an authentic mellotron sound, I think the M4000D is great.