Polymoog 203a Keyboard Synthesizer with original 285 Dual Pedal Controller SN 3040

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"Polymoog 203a model with 285 controller pedals and legs completely rebuilt by New England Analog in March 2013. Serial number 3040.The rebuild cost $4500 over and above the $2500 I paid for the synth. You can search New England Analog's website and go to service and photo gallery to see the 80 photos illustrating the rebuild. NEA also installed a custom formant filter circuit ( see photo of board with green connecting wires, you can also see the SMPS in gold )built into the organ patch to simulate the Vox Humana patch. NEA also has a YouTube demo of this you can search. Not perfect but if you set the saw and square wave LFOs at different rates using a narrow pulse wave at 2-15% duty cycle and run through a flanger, you can get it to 90% of the Vox Humana patch sound found on the 280 model.

The NEA rebuild includes the following:
Power supply replaced by SMPS which greatly improved the stability. Switched Mode power supplies incorporate a switching regulator to convert electrical power more efficiently than the original Polymoog PSUs. The SMPS generates almost no heat which is a godsend to the delicate internal circuitry in the Polymoog.
Replaced all switch indicators to blue LEDs.
Rebuilt Pratt Reed keyboard with new bushings and lubrication. Polished busbars.
Repaired and calibrated all velocity sensors.
Repaired faulty VCF envelope generator.
Repaired faulty capacitances in middle D modulator, changed several polycom chips to temper voices between notes
Replaced all polarized capacitors
Replaced all analog opamps, analog switches, multiplexers, and all CA 3080 OTA chips.
Repaired faulty Pass Mode switch on front panel.
Lubricated 285 controller pedals( the pedals alone have sold for upwards of $500
The modifications made by NEA with this rebuild added quite a lot of stability to the unit . A few caveats however- if you have never owned a Polymoog, each key has a Polycom card which snaps into a holder.They can vibrate loose during shipping or transport so the new owner must feel comfortable reseating these cards if any were to shift. All you need is a screwdriver to take off the cover and unscrew a PCB , pull off a few ribbon or pin connectors and reseat a card.(see last photo). I've had this Polymoog for three years, moved it four times and only once had to reseat a card. You will be able to tell if a card has shifted. A Polycom card that is loose will typically sound brighter or louder as though the filter is wide open or sound duller like the filter is closed on all patches. You also need to be selective about where you will use the Polymoog. It should be in a room that does not have any ground loop issues and you need to keep your iPad and mobile phone or any other wireless device at least 5 feet away. The Polymoog is susceptible to electromagnetic RF interference and there are some good stories on the Internet about musicians on stage hearing broadcasts coming out of their Moogs during concerts. If you have ground loop issues or a lot of RF interference , you have the option of using the balanced mix output jack which has special shielding to prevent interference. You also need to set the pitch wheel on the pedals at no more than 60% of max when you use it. Yet another poor Moog design that if you use the pitch wheel on the back of the pedals at max wheel setting, the pitch will change so drastically that the tuner on the front Polymoog control panel can't bring it back completely in tune. It can be off as much as a semitone which is the case with this Polymoog."