ELECTROHARMONIX
MEL9
REVIEW BY PHILLIP DODGE
STREET PRICE $221.30
Electro-Harmonix has been
on a bit of a roll releasing new
effect after new effect that
allow guitarists to recreate
classic organ and keyboard
sounds. In essence, these are
synthesizer pedals (though
they haven’t yet done one
that recreates analog synth
sounds). But unlike so many
guitar synths before them, they
don’t require MIDI capability or
special pickups. They are “plug
and play” devices and instantly
turn your guitar tones into
vintage keys tones. Of course,
to really sound like an organ or
an electric piano, you need to
play like an organ or keys player.
In other words, if you start
bending notes you sort of lose
the illusion of having an organ
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GEAR REVIEW
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player in the band.
As a new member in the “9”
family, the Mel9 is a welcome
addition. Mel is short for
Mellotron and 9 stands for the
nine “patches” available in each
pedal in the series. Before we
dig too deep, we should start
with a little background on just
what a Mellotron is. One way
to think of it is as a primeval
sampler. The Mellotron consists
of a bank of pre-recorded tape
loops. Each key on a Mellotron
plays one of those loops. The
original draw of the Mellotron
was that it could recreate
the sounds of orchestral
instruments and even play full
chords. Remember that early
synthesizers were monophonic.
Because of this, the Mellotron
Electro-Harmonix Mel9
lived alongside synths for
many years.
One of the coolest things
about the Mellotron is actually
a design flaw. Not unlike a
tape delay, the mechanical
movement of tape across and
over a tape head in a Mellotron
is inconsistent. This movement
and the stretching of tape
results in “wow and flutter” that
adds a beautiful and slightly
off-kilter modulation to the
sound of the Mellotron. Rather
than a flaw, it’s become a much
beloved aspect of the Mellotron
sound. Luckily, most of the
patches in the Mel9 sound like
they are being generated by a
bank of spinning tapes. There
might be a bunch of ones and
zeroes churning away inside the