Keyboard for a Mel 9 guitar pedal recommendation

[Beatlefreek]

Hi all,

I have an Electro Harmonix Mel 9 guitar pedal. For those who may not know, the Mel 9 is a pedal that contains 9 of the most popular settings found in a Mellotron. Hence, the Mel 9 name.

It was designed to be used with a guitar and thus, as a regular guitar pedal. It works quite well, but you're not really able to play the guitar as you normally would. You have to think more like a keyboard player.
Also, you cannot finger the guitar as you normally would — bending notes or playing arpeggios up and down the fretboard, that sort of thing — otherwise it sounds kinda weird. Certainly not musically pleasant.
Additionally, to avoid sounding like a cacophonous mess, you have to restrict yourself to two strings, maybe three at the most. All that notwithstanding, it's really quite an excellent pedal.

Anyway, what I'm looking for is a keyboard that I can substitute for the guitar. I'm assuming the playability of this pedal will make more "sense", as it were, if I can use a keyboard instead of a guitar.

A midi controller type keyboard would be out of the question as the input on the Mel 9 is a 1/4" phono. So, I would need a keyboard that has a 1/4" phono output.
I don't really care about (or need) a keyboard with built-in sounds because if I find the keyboard I'm looking for, it will be dedicated to the Mel 9 pedal, and all the sounds I want would be coming from there.
I don't need or want a big keyboard either, like 88 keys. Something smaller like 37 or 49 would be more than adequate.

I would also prefer normal, or full size keys, rather than the mini keys I see on some keyboard models.

Any suggestions? Does such a keyboard even exist?

Thanks so much.

 

[Pete The Greek]

Hi @Beatlefreek!

That pedal sounds cool and fun.

You can use any electronic keyboard that has an audio output jack (which will be most keyboards!).

- if the keyboard has 1/4" output jacks, just use your guitar cable from the left output and then into your pedal.

- if the keyboard only has a headphone jack then you need an adaptor. Most cheap keyboards will have a 1/8" headphone jack.

This should be easy enough to test - perhaps at a local thrift store.

Turn the keyboard WAY down to start, because it's going to have a much hotter signal than your guitar.

Let us know what you find!

PS there are plenty of YouTube videos on this.