Mellotron is a registered trademark of David Kean, M. Resch AB and Markus Resch.
Now any electric guitar player can have access to nine magically
quirky, dark and unique Mellotron® sounds. No more extra devices such
as special and cumbersome 13-pin MIDI pickups! In addition to electric
guitar, you can trigger the MEL9 with any instrument that produces an
electrical output, such as a keyboard or a bass, down to 55 Hz or A1.
The polyphonic MEL9 has superior tracking; you can create single
notes or chords with ease. The MEL9 will follow guitar bends, dive
bombs, slurs, and any other guitar expression/performance techniques you
can throw at it!
WARNING: Your MEL9 comes equipped with an Electro-Harmonix 9.6DC-200BI
power supply (same as used by Boss® & Ibanez®: 9.6 Volts DC 200mA).
The MEL9 requires 100mA at 9VDC with a center negative plug. Using the
wrong adapter or a plug with the wrong polarity may damage your MEL9 and
void the warranty.
GETTING STARTED
Connect the supplied power adapter to the 9V power jack. Plug your
instrument into the INPUT jack; connect your amp to the EFFECT OUTPUT
jack. Set the DRY knob to minimum (fully counterclockwise) and set the
other top row knobs to 12 o’clock. Select a preset (“ORCHESTRA” is a
good starting point) and step on the footswitch to turn on the LED. Play
your instrument and adjust controls to your liking.
CONTROLS
DRY VOL KNOB
The DRY VOL knob controls the volume of the untreated instrument level on the EFFECT OUTPUT jack.
EFFECT VOL KNOB
The EFFECT VOL knob controls the overall volume of the selected preset at the EFFECT OUTPUT jack.
ATTACK KNOB
Use the ATTACK knob to set the volume swell speed, or the speed at which
the effect begins to be heard. Turn the ATTACK knob down (fully
counterclockwise) for a fast attack with minimum swell. Turn the knob up
to increase the amount of swell and to have the notes fade in more
gradually.
NOTE: When using the BRASS preset, the ATTACK knob adjusts the speed
of a filter sweep. This adjustment controls how quickly the BRASS sound
gets bright.
SUSTAIN KNOB
The SUSTAIN knob controls the amount of time a sound continues to play
after you stop playing. When the SUSTAIN knob is turned down (fully
counter-clockwise), the fadeout time is at its minimum setting. Turn the
knob up to increase the fadeout time.
NOTE: When using the BRASS preset, the SUSTAIN knob adjusts the
amount of “lip buzz”?characteristic of brass instruments such as
trumpet?heard at the onset of new notes. “Lip buzz” is a subtle addition
to the BRASS preset, and at times you may have difficulty hearing the
impact on the sound produced by adjusting the SUSTAIN knob.
PRESET KNOB
Turn the white numbered knob to select a preset sound.
DRY OUTPUT JACK
The DRY OUTPUT jack outputs the signal present at the INPUT jack through
a buffer circuit. In either EFFECT or BYPASS mode, the dry signal is
always present at the DRY OUTPUT jack.
EFFECT OUTPUT JACK
The EFFECT OUTPUT jack sends the mix set by the DRY and EFFECT volume controls.
BYPASS FOOTSWITCH
Press the BYPASS footswitch to toggle the MEL9 OUTPUT jack between
buffered BYPASS and EFFECT mode. The status LED lights when you are in
EFFECT mode.
PRESET DESCRIPTIONS
1. ORCHESTRA – This sound represents a full orchestra—including an
octave below the normal guitar—and produces a gigantic, full sound.
2. CELLO – This sound of a solo cello includes the cello’s natural vibrato.
3. STRINGS – Presenting the sound of a small four-piece string section, including natural vibrato.
4. FLUTES – This preset presents the classic solo flute sound heard on many recordings.
5. CLARINET – This sound of a solo clarinet sounds great both as a
solo (played monophonically) instrument and when playing chords.
6. SAXOPHONE – This funky vintage British solo saxophone sound is
perfect for playing Beatles-like rock lines. It blends great with an
overdriven guitar.
7. BRASS – This preset is a trumpet-like sound, and when playing
chords it produces a great brass section sound. As noted earlier, the
ATTACK and SUSTAIN knobs work differently for this preset than for other
presets. The ATTACK knob controls a filter sweep for brass synthesizer
sounds and the SUSTAIN knob adds the “lip buzz” characteristic of
trumpet/brass sounds.
8. LOW CHOIR – This sound is a full low-voiced choir made up of many voices.
9. HIGH CHOIR – This sound is a higher-voiced choir made up of many voices.
NOTES AND SPECIFICATIONS
• Buffered bypass
• Input impedance: 1M Ohm
• Output impedance (for both output jacks): 500 Ohm
• Current draw: 100mA
TIPS ON GETTING OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE FROM THE MEL9
1. The MEL9 is generally best used as the first pedal in an effects
chain. Place modulation, delay, and reverb effects after the MEL9. The
unit will not perform well if placed in the effects loop of a guitar
amp.
2. If a guitar’s pickup has a weak output, performance can be improved
by putting a clean boost or a compressor in front of the MEL9. Avoid
placing a distortion or overdrive in front of the MEL9. Placing
distortion or overdrive in front of the MEL9 will muddy up the input
signal and cause the tracking to be unstable. If you want to add
overdrive or distortion, place it after the MEL9.
3. The MEL9 tracking response is limited depending on the preset chosen,
and the type of electronic instrument you use to trigger the effect. On
guitar, the usable range for these sounds goes up to about the 23rd
fret on the high-E for some presets, and to only the 16th fret for
others. On bass guitar, the MEL9 tracks only about as low as the open
A-string.
4. The MEL9 imitates Mellotron® sounds, so the MEL9 will only sound as
real for any of the nine instruments as the Mellotron® does. For
example, the FLUTE preset is the same as the Mellotron’s flute which is a
recording of a real flute.
5. Pay attention to performance gestures (vibrato, trills, slides, and
so on) and the settings for ATTACK and SUSTAIN. If you want to mimic a
Mellotron®, play pianistically with as little guitar inflection as
possible. If you want to simulate an actual sound such as a cello, adapt
your performance gestures to help mimic the actual sound. Otherwise,
let your creativity guide your approach to playing the MEL9. And that
means you should feel free to go wild by combining atypical performance
techniques with traditional sounds. So what if an actual clarinet does
not let you bend a note up a whole tone or more? Now you can go for it!
