MOOG MINITMOOG

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via this auction

(pics of the inside below)
via the listing/seller: "Up for sale is the ULTRA RARE Moog Minitmoog Preset Synthesizer... NOT VERY MANY UNITS WERE MADE & TO MY KNOWLEDGE ACCORDING FROM OTHER SOURCES ONLY ABOUT 10 UNITS ARE FULLY WORKING PROPERLY WORLDWIDE... Why..?? Because of the "Variable Capacitance" Touch Sensor Bar or After Touch Mechanism is not like any other synthesizer's after touch mechanisms. This one is based on a simple variable capacitance set up by the use of a semi-conductive material which is extremely hard to find and obviously in ALL of the Minitmoogs around the world have failed because that semi-conductive material has ceased to work because of the aging chemical reaction between all the other materials involved & the semi-conductive material. But I managed to source all the parts and materials needed exactly as it was used by the Moog Factory back then... Note to add up to this, I have owned several synthesizers with after touch most of them by variable resistance, etc but no other mechanism responds as neatly as this one with variable capacitance... Read later why...

This unit has been completely serviced electronically, mechanically & also given some body restoration plus reinforcement of the casing, etc... It has also been calibrated and tuned to factory specs according to the Moog Minitmoog Service Manuals plus the later revised addendum sheets that specify alternative fixes & upgrades in the circuitry of the Synthesizer to make it more stable and address minor error/issues from factory... Sounds Like Heaven To The Ears... =)

Here's a little run down of what the Synthesizer is and what has bee done to it...

The Moog Minitmoog is a 37 keys Dual Oscillator Preset Synthesizer that can either be used by the preset sounds or when all the preset sound tabs are in the up position or "off" then you can manipulate the filter's envelope attack/decay plus the actual frequency range of the filter to make it either darker or brighter. The pitch range can be transposed down over 3 octaves for a wide pitch range of the keyboard... So basically when no tabs are depressed down the Minitmoog will play at it's highest pitch level, depress tab 1 and goes one octave lower, depress only tab 2 goes 2 octaves lower, depress both and it goes down 3 octaves...

It has a master tuning knob in the back of the unit as well as having an additional tuning knob in the front panel for Oscillator 2 alone, and an Oscillator 1 & 2 mix signal knob as well located in the front panel to mix both signals as desired.

It's preset sounds are ( Mute, Trumpet, Oboe, Clarinet, Sax, Taurus, Violin, Piano, Guitar I, Piano, Aries, Guitar II, & Lunar...) Very similar to the Moog Satellite sounds but the Moog Minitmoog has a different sound characteristic with more amplitude, the unmistakably early Moog Gritty Sound and funk to it, plus the Minitmoog has 2 oscillators unlike the Moog Satellite which only has one oscillator.

Other controls are:

- Glide Tab Down: Engaged by a switch in the front panel used along with the top panel's slider pot to control the amount.
- Sustain Tab Down: Adds longer sustain to your notes.
- Touch Sense Knob: Sets the amount of effect desired weather subtle or drastic for all Aftertouch Effect Controls.
- "B" Pitch Knob: Varies pitch of Oscillator 2 over to 2 octave range.
- "A/B" Mix Knob: Allows you to mix the amount desired for both Oscillators or use the Oscillators individually either Oscillator 1 or Oscillator 2.
- Filter Control Input Jack: Controls the Filter's frequency range by an external Voltage Control source.
- Level Adjust Knob: Adjust level output also has two 1/4" output jacks one for "High Level" & 1 for "Low Level"

The Minitmoog's Aftertouch Section adds the following effects when tabs are engaged down & keys are pressed slightly harder than the normal key down pressure used when you play, so here's what they do:

- Sync Tab Down: This one is used in conjunction with the "Sync" Master Switch plus then adding the other Sync tab from the Aftertouch Control Section; so it basically raises slightly the pitch of Oscillator 2 to create a pretty cool out of phase or "Phasing" effect which again it's effect amount can be controlled by the "Touch Sense" amount knob on the front panel and/or how hard you press down the keys... Pretty awesome effect for those who Rock & Roll hard or anything basically...

- Pitch Tab Down: This tab bends the pitch of both oscillator 1 & 2 up to an interval of at least 7 semitones when a key is depressed harder.

- Filter Tab Down: Reacts in the filter frequency and adds that Moog "Wah" or "Envelope Filter Effect" used along with the sensitivity amount of the aftertouch it can be just a subtle effect or a very drastic bite effect to spunk your funk to the max...

- Modulation Tab Down: Adds Modulating effects used along with the 2 other tabs one for "Vibrato" & one for "Tremolo" or both to create more complex modulating effects, Rate & Depth of modulation can be used through the slider controls on the top left panels as well.

NOW HERE'S WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS SYNTH EITHER ELECTRONICALLY OR MECHANICALLY:

- All keyboard bushing have been replaced by new high quality virgin rubber manufactured by the original factory.
- All keyboard bushing have been lubrified with the required silicon based compound for virgin rubber bushings.
- Keyboard busbar has been completely removed, cleaned and polished for optimum contact with j-wires.
- All j-wires have been removed, cleaned, polished & straightened for proper contact with keyboard buss bar.
- The whole metal Keyboard Assembly has been straightened & leveled.
- All keyboard keys were washed and polished for a newer look.
- RCA "High Level Output Jack" has been replaced by a 1/4" jack for convenience since rarely people use RCA connectors nowadays.
- Casing for the whole Synthesizer has been reinforced in every corner so the casing is full solid.
- All Electrolytic Capacitors have been replaced by tested, hand picked high quality new ones.
- All critical components tested and replaced where needed specially precision resistors, weak leaky diodes, transistors, etc.
- Also fixes and upgrades from the service manual & revised addendum sheets were done according to requirements for more stability.
- All potentiometers, sliders, jacks, switches and electromechanical parts have been cleaned and lubrified to remove unwanted noise & poor connectivity.
- All weak joints through out the circuit boards have been re-soldered for better connectivity.
- All PC boards were cleaned with isopropyl alcohol to remove unwanted contamination of the boards & solder joints that create noise & other problems.
- The touch sensor bar was rebuilt from the ground up since everything from the foam to the semi-conductive strip was decayed and obviously not generating the desired variable capacitance and instead creating unwanted noise to the signal path.
- New Fancy Silver Slider Caps were added since the originals were all broken beyond repairability.
- New height adjustable feet were added since the originals were lost or broken I guess.
- Calibrated & tuned to factory specs according Service Manual and addendum sheets.
- Other fixes and upgrades were made according to revised service manual and addendum sheets as well.
- Power cord was replaced with a new more appealing to the eyes power cord than the ugly flimsy original one. =)
- Power "On" Pilot Lamp was replaced by a yellow one for a cooler look instead of original boring red one. The original red one was burnt and all damaged anyway so I had to replace it no matter what...
- New original knobs were replaced because most of them were broken too some used & some new but all in great condition & clean...
- Etc, Etc, Etc...


These Moog Minitmoog units are usually in the worst of shapes because of age decay or poor build from factory but I addressed all those problems and reinforced the wood panels with industrial strength glues and clamps, etc, etc. Look at pictures for yourself...

Also most screws and various parts in the assembly get lost or broken with time but I have replaced all of them so this unit is complete and not missing anything at ALL..!!!

Comes with it's original black carrying case not shown in the pictures because I wanted to feature as much of the synth as I could and I only have allowance to a maximum of 12 pictures, this case was given back then by the Moog Factory to retailers as a promo add on... The foam of the case is decayed badly and deteriorating by the second but I'll leave it up to you if you wanna change it or not... One thing I don't recommend is to put the synth directly in it and carry it around because all the foam particles are gonna get inside the synth or dirty the synth all around that's why when I ship it I am gonna put the synth in 2 big plastic bags so it doesn't get contaminated with all the foam particles and ship the synth inside the case with the 2 protective bags in between and some padding & cardboard outside all around it to protect the case as well...

I have seen a fully complete Moog Minitmoog in great condition sell for about $ 2, 000 with it's carrying case, manuals, etc. But again the touch sensor bar was not always working according to seller and wasn't serviced and restored like this one... So my buy it now price is a great deal for someone who'd like to own an Extremely Rare & Limited Museum Condition Moog Minitmoog fully working at 100%..."