images via this auction
"This is one of the earliest Minimoogs ever made - the 77th Model D (serial #1077) from around late 1970 early 1971. It was when the company was still owned by Bob Moog himself, following the 1960s modular synthesizer wave, so the badge still reads "R A MOOG" as on the old modulars. The front panel is metal, unlike the plastic/vinyl of later Minimoogs. The mod and pitch wheels are clear plastic - which only lasted a short time. Even the panel markings are different - with actual times (see "DECAY" in photos) listed instead of simple 1-10 markers.
This one is also unusual in that it was made with all-white switches, unlike the white-blue-orange of later Minimoogs. Some early Mini's have all-blue or all-white (I have never seen all-orange though). This one comes with an original owner's manual and two pieces of service receipts, when it has an oscillator upgrade done (tuning stability, octave buffer added, and calibration). It has been tested and DOES work as it should. It sounds great - that fat, yet clear, early Minimoog sound. The condition is quite nice - not perfect but still pretty clean considering its age - see the photos."via Lyle
Update via Dave Cornutt in the comments (see them for more from others):
"More info: I looked up SN 1077 on moogarchives.com. It says it was shipped to Central Music on April 29, 1971. Central Music was David VanKovering's music shop in Orlando, and they were one of Moog's biggest dealers in the early days. This was before VanKovering joined Moog. Unfortunately, I can't find anything on who Central Music sold it to.
Doing some Googling, I found a message in the Analogue Heaven archives dated February 7, 1998 from someone identified as "steve" (you can see the email if you search the AH archive on retrosynth.com, although there's certainly no guarantee that he is stil at that same email address now). Oddly, he says it was modified by a previous owner and "it is now 2 pieces". He says the keyboard was painted black and was separated and connected to the synth by a cable. Obviously it isn't that way now, so either he or some subsequent owner must have restored it."
FYI, my Minimoog, s/n 4192, has the "actual time" (in quotes as i'm pretty sure those are approximations) calibrations on the EG knobs.
ReplyDeleteit also has the narrow sidepieces and the double pointers, for those into that sort of thing.
Wow, that's neat. I don't think I've ever seen one of the R.A. Minis before.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was confused by one comment in the description: "This one has the all-white switches..." I clearly see five orange switches in the photo.
More info: I looked up SN 1077 on moogarchives.com. It says it was shipped to Central Music on April 29, 1971. Central Music was David VanKovering's music shop in Orlando, and they were one of Moog's biggest dealers in the early days. This was before VanKovering joined Moog. Unfortunately, I can't find anything on who Central Music sold it to.
ReplyDeleteDoing some Googling, I found a message in the Analogue Heaven archives dated February 7, 1998 from someone identified as "steve" (you can see the email if you search the AH archive on retrosynth.com, although there's certainly no guarantee that he is stil at that same email address now). Oddly, he says it was modified by a previous owner and "it is now 2 pieces". He says the keyboard was painted black and was separated and connected to the synth by a cable. Obviously it isn't that way now, so either he or some subsequent owner must have restored it.
good sleuthing!
ReplyDeleteI am a little suspicious of this mini.. you would think the owner would takemore time/care to answer the questions... if it is a real RA Moog mini it would be worth more then your average moog. the pitch/mod wheel are from the Musonics/early moog music era.. the Osc and back panel have been replaced apparently... power cable appears to have been changed as well.
yup.. just read the retrosynth post.
ReplyDeletecertainly sounds like the same mini (he mentioned the OSC card update).. i would think Dave is correct and this has been "restored".. as in the module screwed into a cast off mini chassis (prolly one left over from the mini racking days) and the badge glued on.
Is it possible to have the newer oscs intalled and not change the back panel to the 9 hole version? If that's true, it's all out the window identifying original Osc Minis.
ReplyDeleterewire: I think the answer is "yes", but I'm not sure. I would think that if the factory did it, they would have either put on a new back or drilled it so it has the 9 holes. However, a tech could have done the upgrade and not bothered with the back.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of other things that seem a bit off. It has black pitch/mod wheels; my understanding is that all of the R.A. Moog units had clear wheels. And the manual shown in the listing has the Moog Music logo, not the R.A. Moog logo. None of these things mean it's a phony, but its lineage is rather confusing.
Also the wood itself seems like a younger mini, I have seen a 72 that had beautiful woodwork compared to say the one I own with a serial # in the 10,000s. Mine looks almost faux finished very different than early minis.
ReplyDeleteI have R.A. Moog SN# 1079. It has the second generation OSC board but every thing else is original. It's a beauty!
ReplyDeleteMark Higley