Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Machine

[CoreyT]

EHX is known for their bizarre pedals, and also the intros to their vids.
What do you think of this new vid they just put up?

 

[goat-n-gitter]

That is too cool! I want one very, very, very badly! (What can I say, I'm a prog-head).

Tom

 

[CoreyT]

I will probably get one to mess around with.
I think my favorite setting was the low/high choir.

 

[László]

That pedal would be awesome for live playing by a non-keyboard player, but doesn't sound real enough for studio work. This has been on my "Gee, I'd love one" list since it came out last year. I've had several digital Mellotron re-creations, but I've only used a Mellotron sound on a track once in the past 25 years, so it'd be hard to justify getting one.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I am definitely getting one. I love the idea of being able to blend those sounds with traditional guitar tones as "embellishments", and having them track, including bent notes.

 

[CoreyT]

The bending of notes is killer.
I bet this would sound cool too with a bass guitar.
Have the bass go to one amp, and the pedal to a clean channel on another amp.
I have a few EHX pedals with the blend control for wet/dry signal, very cool how it works.

 

[rocguitar]

Definitely COOL!!! Really nails the King Crimson sound!!

Sweetwater is taking Pre-Orders....should be in next week!

 

[WeFixFlats]

Thanks for posting. I also saw this video demo of the Mel9 yesterday. After all the overdrive, distortion, delays, loopers, reverbs and the like made by every other mother's son in the pedal industry, I was completely floored by this single effect/emulation pedal. To my untrained ear, it sounds 'close enough for jazz' to use on my home recordings. So if you want the 'Full English Breakfast in the Garden' sounds, this is it. Hoping that Electro will be at next month's Dallas Guitar Show so we can ask for the 'show discount'. If not, then it's still a Must.Have.One. product.

(And using the original b&w William Castle intro to 'The Tingler'...brilliantly clever too).

 

[CoreyT]

You are welcome.
My first EHX pedal was the original Big Muff I got around '73 or '74.
They sure do have a wide variety of pedals.

Their theme too for the past few years it to use the same size housing and nice custom paint for each pedal.

 

[garrettb]

I think it sounds pretty terrible. Bill is an incredible player, so if he can't make it sound good, there's not much hope for me.

I have tried the C9 and Key9, and while they were fun, they were more like toys to me. The Key9 didn't get particularly close to actually sounding like keys to me. And yes, I fingerpicked and didn't slide or bend strings.

 

[WeFixFlats]

Just interested to know if you think it sounds pretty terrible, then compared to what other product a home recording/amateur guy can afford for occasional use that can mimic a Mellotron(tm)? It's only a couple hundred bucks after all. Thanks.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

There's probably plenty of sample packs. I actually think my imaginary friend Dave Kerzner has one ("Sonic Reality SampleTron / Mello-T").

 

[WeFixFlats]

Thanks for the suggestion! I've watched a couple of videos about the product, looks very full featured and not a 'one trick pony' for the $$$.

Now it would be a matter of finding out if it is supported by my Ableton Lite Windows 7 64-bit DAW. I just sent them(Ableton) and Sweetwater(my default online retailer for accessories 'n stuff) a support email. Who knows if and when they will respond, give them a day or two...and see if both of them come up with the same answer, right?

Anyone else interested in this pursuit?

The software is $100 @ SW, but here, direct, http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletron/ $64~!

Will update when I hear something new.

 

[WeFixFlats]

Just got a positive response from IK Multimedia, they said to use 'JBridge'. Now I think the signal path goes like this:

PRS w/Fishman Triple Play--->Sampletron--->JBridge--->Ableton Lite Windows 7 64 bit.

https://jstuff.wordpress.com/jbridge/

All of this is the 'work around' to NOT use the Mel9 pedal and using just the emulation software only.

Has anyone tried this configuration? Any shortcuts or recommendations?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Sorry, no, I thought you would just enter it through the keyboard. The sampletron can be played by guitar? That's a new one on me.

 

[WeFixFlats]

They answered: "You will need some form of Midi input, keyboard, guitar pitch to midi, etc." and then I asked, 'Can I use my Fishman Triple Play as the 'midi' input device and got a very fast response with a single word: Yes. The only keyboard I have is a cheap Yamaha used for chords 'n stuff. So that's not a viable solution. Going to fire up the PRS Fishman TP and try it with some free 'sampletank' software I downloaded when I bought the Fishman. If it works with that, then the Sampletron(as a plug in might work also.) OR if all else fails, just buy the friggin' pedal~! Time is $$$...lol.

Will update as we go along here.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Ah, okay, I didn't know what a triple play was.

 

[WeFixFlats]

After spending several frustrating hours trying to 'kludge' a software solution to the Mellotron(tm) in pursuit of a less terrible sounding emulation, I thought to myself, "What am I doing here, I'm not a audio software engineer, I can barely make any plug-ins work because of obscure or missing pathnames and folders, there's no reference, anywhere I could find, to the configuration I'm trying to create, there's a lot of assumed knowledge/facts and software dependences that are not documented either. And finally, what is my time worth? Is it better spent simply playing the guitar to get my best performance recorded(after the usual one or two dozen takes) or sit in front of a computer staring at menus?"

Answer to myself: Buy the Mel9, plug in, twiddle some knobs and just play.