Meet The Pedal That Makes Your Guitar Sound Like An Orchestra

We’ve covered some pretty mind-bending music gear in the past here at Tone Deaf, but nothing’s quite warped our noodle like the MEL9, the latest creation from the creative folks at Electro-Harmonix.

These Willy Wonkas of pedal-based imagination have come up with their own homage to the classic sounds of the Mellotron, the early synthesiser which used rows of tapes to emulate sounds like orchestra strings.

You know those flutes at the beginning of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ by The Beatles? Yeah, that’s the sound of a Mellotron. You’ve likely heard similar types of sounds all throughout rock and roll and pop music.

Mellotrons are quite a coveted item amongst studio and recording geeks, but they’re pretty pricey and require regular maintenance. Since people well-versed in Mellotron maintenance are hard to find these days, that’s also expensive.

But Electro-Harmonix have put a Mellotron in the palm of the hand of any guitarist. As Mixdown reports, the MEL9 has settings for nine different sounds inspired by the Mellotron, including orchestra, cello, flute, and strings.

No modifications or special pickups are necessary for the MEL9 to work, you just plug in, and it can even track bends and slides, so you can actually make your orchestra rock a sweet shredding solo.

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