Matt's Gearspace
Mellotron

Mellotron M300

Discontinued 1970
Released 1968

A single-manual attempt to shrink the Mk II, with 52 keys, no speakers and new, brighter recordings on two-track quarter-inch tape. The tape format made it unreliable, so tapes charged up and wrapped round the drums. Only a few dozen were made, but its solo-violin and two-violin strings are distinctive: listen to early Barclay James Harvest and Gentle Giant.

Replaced by M400

Replaces Mk II

Specifications

General

Manufacturer
Mellotron
Status
Discontinued
Released
1968

Keyboard

Keys
52
Aftertouch
None
Keybed
Single 52-note manual split into diminished-chord, accompaniment, rhythm and lead sections

Sounds

Sections
Sample playback
Drawbars
None
Sound engine
Tape replay: 1/4-inch two-track tapes (the only Mellotron to use them), six rhythm and six lead banks
Organ models
None
Polyphony
Full polyphony (52 notes)

Features

Features
Tape replay, Solid-state preamp, Hammond spring reverb, No built-in speakers

Size & weight

Dimensions (W × D × H)
1070 × 670 × 920 mm
Weight
113.4 kg

Heard on

Artists and records that used it, as Mellotron tells it.

  • The Moody Blues, “Watching and Waiting” – the M300B solo-violin sound

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