Keith Emerson's 'Split' Minimoog Up for Auction

via this auction where you'll find a few more pics while up. The seller is Tony (Aviator) Wride. This one in via Senso.

"A unique opportunity to own a piece of Rock history! This Minimoog was one of the earliest ones owned by Keith Emerson (26 June 1973 date on keyboard) and he had the keyboard and electronics separated so that it could be used in his stage setup. Basically the keyboard was set up to slide into place when required while the electronics section remained out of the way. Please read the details below about how I ended up getting it in 1992 and look at the pictures. I have included some pictures taken in 1992 when I got the synth as well as some archive pictures of Keith and the Minimoog on stage.

THE STORY
In the early 90s I did a lot of work on analogue synths working for a number of well known bands as well as building my own analogue synth called “The Aviator”. It was basically a hobby for me. Please Google Tony Wride and Exclusively Analogue to find out more. You can ignore all the flying related stuff associated with my job!

In 1992 I was doing some work for Vince Clarke of Erasure prior to their Abbaesque tour and went to a rehearsal studio at Brent Cross in North London. Next door to the Erasure studio was another band rehearsing for their tour and it turned out to be ELP preparing for the “Black Moon” Tour! Keith had been one of my keyboard heroes and I never ever thought I would get the chance to meet him let alone see him rehearsing. I met Will Alexander, who was Keith's technician, and got talking about the famous big Moog which they planned to take on tour. "We would like to get it fitted with MIDI" said Will and I then suggested fitting a Kenton MIDI retrofit for a MiniMoog which is what I ended up doing! (See the pictures). Whilst working on the Modular I talked to Keith and Will about the gear they were going to use on tour and Will said "We need another SE1 (Basically a Minimoog in a rack with MIDI) to go in the rack but the dealer said they can't get one in time". It just so happened that I had just traded a mint condition Minimoog for an SE1 with a studio in London so sitting in the back of my car was an SE1! When I said to Will that I could get them an SE1 for the tour he asked "How soon?" "How does 3 minutes sound?" I said. Talk about coincidence!!

Keith ended up with my SE1 for the tour but I was now Minimoogless. Fortunately sitting in amongst a collection of unused ELP gear was the electronics section of a Minimoog looking in a very sorry state. I asked Will what had happened and what was happening to the remains of the Minimoog. "It's one of Keith's early MiniMoogs that had the keyboard separated from it so that it could be mounted on the Hammond. It doesn't work and the keyboard is in storage." We ended up agreeing to me having the non working "split" Minimoog as part of the deal for the SE1 on an understanding that they would send me the keyboard in the future.

I took the electronics section home and refurbished it so that it was working, without the keyboard, and on my last visit to the rehearsal studio showed Keith and Will the much improved condition Minimoog. Keith very kindly signed the back of the electronics section for me (see photos) and in 1995 I finally got the keyboard section when Keith's unwanted gear was taken out of storage to be sold. In the article Keith mentions the ‘Split’ Minimoog; http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/may95/keithemerson.html

Sound on Sound May 1995 Keith Emerson quote:

• MINIMOOG (1970)

"I had one of my Minimoogs split because it was the only way to make certain musical arrangements possible. The keyboard could be divorced from the more bulky electronics by several metres, so I could mount it in places the complete synth simply wouldn't go. On the other hand, the use of the ribbon controller was far less pragmatic -- it was pure showmanship."

So that's how I ended up with this very unique instrument back in 1992 and for the past 20 years I have kept it safely stored bringing out every so often to enjoy the rich Moog sound.

THE "SPLIT" MINIMOOG.

The keyboard section is basically the front half of a standard MiniMoog but the electronics section has been built into a plywood ‘box’. As you can see from the photographs the keyboard is linked to the electronics via a long cable and’d’ type connector. Apparently there was another longer intermediate cable, to increase the separation distance if required, but I don't have this. The Minimoog also has some other modifications that were done to it for Keith but they don't seem to be connected and I have not been able to work out what they are for! On the keyboard 'bender' panel there are 2 red LEDs and a small toggle switch linked to a ribbon cable. Obviously this was for something that Keith needed on stage but I haven't been able to work out what. The Electronics section has the 'mains' supplied via a DIN style jackplug and there appears to be a balanced output socket added.

All the 'normal' MiniMoog bits work as they should and I have just done a complete calibration on it. Note that this has the early 'richer' sounding Oscillators rather than the later clinical ones!

It has taken a lot for me to decide to sell this Minimoog but a change in personal circumstances means I will be making a major change to my life and lots of things have to go. However, I'm not going to let this very unique instrument go for a stupidly low price, I'd rather keep it, so please don't send me questions about accepting a lower price."