Something new from G-Force (Mellotron MKII)

[MrJubbly]

I'm not sure, but I get the impression GForce leans a bit more toward "labour of love" than "sell max quantities".

Which kind of makes the price decision even stranger, no? I mean if they don't care about making money on this one, then they could make it affordable just as easily as make it elitist.

That's a good point. And with a ~£300 price tag (incl. VAT), that's sure to remain a 'very niche' purchase for a very small exclusive clientele.

However, on the other extreme end of the scale, were GForce to drop the price to around £75~£100 for example, even I myself (who have hitherto had zero interest in the Mellotron) would probably buy a copy ... y'know, just for the Boogie Woogie sh!ts n' giggles of it!

Although in doing so, that would probably result in a LOT more people likely buying it on a whim. So, while GForce might then make more overall profit from total net sales of the product, having more customers and so being seen as 'more popular', would also perhaps make the product seem "less elitist" ... which seems like a reputation GForce are keen to retain at all costs. Even if that makes them less money.

[Introspective]

I dunno, I actually see this thread as kind of a positive thing, in the grand scheme of things.

Clearly, people still generally care about GForce and the people behind it, and they want to see the company and those people do well. ...and they (we) are worried that this may have been a bad move.

I dunno. I think part of what makes GForce special is that they make off-the-wall moves. To me, they are very, very... English. Scrappy, with quirky obsessions, hard to predict, make some really bad choices in life, and probably ultimately doomed to failure, but always fun to watch and... remarkable. When they're gone, you're left with a feeling of nostalgia for them.

One could say the same for a lot of synths and synth companies.

So, carry on, GForce. You do you. (...as if we could stop you.)

[jens]

what if...
gmedia, see this as a side project?
as in, they primarily rent hw out.
restoring a mk2 gives them the income from the rent to cover costs over time.
putting this out is just "pocket money" and they'd prefer not to have everyone buying it as that generally means more support work.

But why would they then regurlarly sell their older plugins with heavy discounts?

[vurt]

what if...
gmedia, see this as a side project?
as in, they primarily rent hw out.
restoring a mk2 gives them the income from the rent to cover costs over time.
putting this out is just "pocket money" and they'd prefer not to have everyone buying it as that generally means more support work.

But why would they then regurlarly sell their older plugins with heavy discounts?

big night out planned?

i dunno, im just a dreamer

[AnX]

what if...
gmedia, see this as a side project?
as in, they primarily rent hw out.
restoring a mk2 gives them the income from the rent to cover costs over time.
putting this out is just "pocket money" and they'd prefer not to have everyone buying it as that generally means more support work.

But why would they then regurlarly sell their older plugins with heavy discounts?

Same reason as every other company, easy money.

[jens]

what if...
gmedia, see this as a side project?
as in, they primarily rent hw out.
restoring a mk2 gives them the income from the rent to cover costs over time.
putting this out is just "pocket money" and they'd prefer not to have everyone buying it as that generally means more support work.

But why would they then regurlarly sell their older plugins with heavy discounts?

big night out planned?

i dunno, im just a dreamer

I dunno either - I just think that wouldn't quite fit the narrative of wanting to be a boutique vendor with just a choice selection of priviledged customers.

[elxsound]

what if...
gmedia, see this as a side project?
as in, they primarily rent hw out.
restoring a mk2 gives them the income from the rent to cover costs over time.
putting this out is just "pocket money" and they'd prefer not to have everyone buying it as that generally means more support work.

But why would they then regurlarly sell their older plugins with heavy discounts?

big night out planned?

i dunno, im just a dreamer

I dunno either - I just think that wouldn't quite fit the narrative of wanting to be a boutique vendor with just a choice selection of priviledged customers.

The sales likely funded this project? Maybe they had to pay a premium for this due to the rarity along with the right for distributing unreleased content from Streetly. Either way I think they would have made more at a lower price point than as you say… catering to a “selection of privileged customers.”

Odd choices.

[teacue]

In the meantime I play longer with the demo and I must say I find the MK II really great!
I find it also quite nice from G-Force to offer such a demo with enough sounds to get a good idea of what the plugin can do.

Ah, if only it was less expensive!

Did someone found a complete sound list for the MK II, I could not find it on their site.

[ChamomileShark]

Pretty sure Dave Spiers does other stuff, I think the main thing is running his studio.

My take on this is that it was a huge amount of effort with lots of people involved. From what I can see on Facebook it's being picked up by media composers who can put this against tax and Mellotron enthusiasts.

I don't think G-Force thought this was going to be for everyone and I don't think they thought they were going to get rich on it.

Like many others, I can't justify the price but then it's been built and aimed at an audience other than myself. I'm glad they did it though.

[Hink]

unlocked...if yah missed my post...tough...take your personal crap with each other elsewhere

[PointOfDeparture]

Just as a point of reference, does anyone remember how much Mtron cost when first released? The download version was £140 in 2013.

[teacue]

@Hink
Thank you for unlocking the thread!

Here a small contribution for the health of this thread

For anyone interested I have found a very interesting text about the MKII rhytms and fills presets.
This is a dissertation (yes, a dissertation) on the content of the plugin we are discussing in this thread!
The title is:
"A reflexive analysis of an original composition for Mellotron using transcriptions of the MKII rhythms and fills presets as a compositional tool"
You can download a pdf of the dissertation here:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A ... 8ce7be5290

The author even transcribed all the instrumental fills in notation

I would say it's worth to have a look at this work

[MrJubbly]

Just as a point of reference, does anyone remember how much Mtron cost when first released? The download version was £140 in 2013.

So according to the Bank of England inflation calculator, £140 in 2013 is (drumroll...) £170.72 today.

[vurt]

Pretty sure Dave Spiers does other stuff, I think the main thing is running his studio.

My take on this is that it was a huge amount of effort with lots of people involved. From what I can see on Facebook it's being picked up by media composers who can put this against tax and Mellotron enthusiasts.

I don't think G-Force thought this was going to be for everyone and I don't think they thought they were going to get rich on it.

Like many others, I can't justify the price but then it's been built and aimed at an audience other than myself. I'm glad they did it though.

yeah id never suggest dave didn't know what he is doing, he was in the biz, when many of us were at our mum's heels all day.
but like you, im not sure i need a 100 percent accurate tron. id only destroy the sound afterwards, so may as well go 'close enough'
but listening to it, the sound is very nice, for someone doing classic prog stuff, i can see it being very useful

and i certainly don't think it's expensive for what it is, but compared to my needs it is.
that's not a comment on the product, just my needs

[soulata]

Just as a point of reference, does anyone remember how much Mtron cost when first released? The download version was £140 in 2013.

So according to the Bank of England inflation calculator, £140 in 2013 is (drumroll...) £170.72 today.

I bought it when it came out. My first vst plugin.
It was probably 140 pounds + shipping + tax because we were not in EU yet. A few years before large downloads became possible.

Probably really close or even more than 300€ then.

So yeah, this is in the ballpark.

k