I recently acquired a M4000D directly from Mellotron.  For those of you who may remember, Mellotron was [arguably] the first sample playback device in the 1960s to use tape cartridges to recreate the sound of other instruments.  The mechanism was clunky and suffered from tape wobble and hiss and artifiacts, which ended up adding to its charm.   Mellotron was resusitated in 1989 and has been building newer, sturdier Mellotrons ever since.   With the advent of digital playback [sampler] systems, the call for this kind of instrument is small though, but for those “in the know,” they are highly esteemed.

This new digital instrument from Mellotron is everything I could have hoped for.  It sounds beautiful, offering high resolution capture of the Mellotron and Chamberlain sound sets and delivers the uncomplicated warble and kitsch of the original tape instruments.  It has amazing horsepower and playability, allowing instantaneous playback of libraries that few could afford in the past.  The wooden keyboard is expressive

and the sound combinations are beyond what any tape-based instrument could offer.  Undoubtedly, there will be skeptics who prefer the original, but this is not your father’s sampler.  A dream come true.  Dave and Markus indulged my request and signed mine.