Mellotron Mk. II

The '''Mellotron Mk. II''' mellotron is a keyboard which operates with playing tape samples of musical instruments - such as strings, voices etc.

Tony Banks played a Mellotron Mk. II in the early 1970s, which he bought from King Crimson. It features on Genesis albums like Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot

Banks had a lot of trouble with the Mk. II, especially as it was notorious for needing constant maintenance and was difficult to manoeuvre. It repeatedly broke down and had to be rebuilt for every gig. They were even "sticking wood in it and things" to keep it going. It was replaced by the newer Mellotron M400 for Selling England By The Pound.

Quotes on the Mellotron Mk. II
"'I'm no lover of Mellotrons (Novatrons) really, they became a real problem using them for the live work, but when I heard the first King Crimson album (Court Of The Crimson King) with the Mellotron crescendo on the song 'Epitaph', I felt that it would be a very useful instrument to have. It was used to great effect by a lot of people, but it started off as a problem in moving around and didn't get very much better. The first one I had was the Mk II and we had to literally rebuild it after each concert. I had to have it because we had used it so heavily on tracks like 'Watcher In The Skies' and 'Supper's Ready'. When we came off the road I sent some of the bits back to the manufacturers and one day the whole thing vanished! Someone came up to me in Toronto a while ago and said 'I've got your Mellotron ...!' Which naturally came as a surprise, but it is reputedly quite famous. It was used on some of the King Crimson tracks as well as albums like 'Foxtrot'.' (Electronics & Music Maker, November 1983)"