“Internal parts manufactured by Streetly Electronics in 1972, the clear Perspex case was manufactured by Mellotronics in London that same year for the ’72 London Music Expo. When Mellotronics was sold to Dallas Music in ’78, this Mellotron and the Rosewood finished one went with the 1″ tape master to Mellotron U.S.A. This clear machine was stolen from Mellotron Digital in 1986 while on display in New York, it then surfaced in 1990 in Dallas Texas in a studio called ‘Dr. Funkensteins Music Lab.’ A Fort Worth radio D.J. named Brian Wilson (no, not that Brian Wilson) found it and called me in May, 1991 offering to sell it. It did not take much of a sales job.”
Arthur Magazine 
So much is inaccurate in this story… I found the Mellotron in a cheesy music store in Pleasant Grove, Texas. When I saw the serial number “Acrylic #1” I knew it was something special. I called Dave Kean at Mellotronics to verify if it was a valuable antiquity, and he confirmed it was one of a kind. He said it had been stolen from a truck in Clearwater, Florida along with two others. He said the statute of limitations had run out, so I was free to buy it, but if I was a stand up guy I would let Dave buy it back from me, and give me a refurbed M400 for my trouble
. I did purchase it and held the note on it for nearly a year before he delivered the M400. I never cared for the way this story made me look like I moved stolen goods for profit. I did the right thing and returned it to what I thought was it’s rightful owner…
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