An Update from muSonics via Their Electronic Newsletter

via muSonics

It's Independence Week and while I had intended for this to go out on the 4th itself, I put a bit more work into something special for you which delayed it a few days. I hope that's okay with you.

I wanted to give everyone a status update on how things were going over here and also offer a couple of specials to celebrate. Out of respect for the dozen or so people who have been patient and trusting of me I'm going to let you know how things are going and then share a few cool deals.

(I want out of this liminal space. Okay I'm not actually stuck in an antique store that used to be a JC Penney that used to be an Odd Fellows hall it's just a metaphor.)

When I first offered The Vanilla Synthesizer I didn't actually expect to sell as many as I did and it became clear before I had even made it back from the 2024 winter NAMM convention that the entire thing had to be moved into a more manufacturable design to meet my obligations.

The previous year I had used the Oberheim Two Voice and its service manual to teach myself how to handle my own layout engineering. It was, as I showed it then, an entirely through-hole system that required I solder every component, tap and countersink every aluminum insert for the cabinets, and finish every walnut box with four to five coats of tung oil. This is a lot of work.

{A while ago the power went out and I just kept tapping the inserts by candlelight.}

I was able to take the entire synthesizer and move it into surface mount in 15 months. My entire synthesizer is now either made from a production run or a verified prototype run ready to be re-ordered as a production run. Considering this whole process took almost 10 revisions in the case of the Vanilla Modulation and Vanilla Oscillators, I'm fairly proud.

(It took a lot of work to get here. I wish to think Gene would be proud. My last interaction with Paul was him commenting "Looks great!" on the oscillators layout render and me thanking him. I had no idea.)

The next bottleneck was these walnut cabinets. I absolutely had to have cosmetically accurate replicas of 1960s Trumansburg era cabinets. The semi-local guy I had been working with since 2022 had been working out great but he went AWOL a couple of months ago and I freaked out. This is the second cabinetmaker to do so.

I can make as many of the Dreadnok (et cetera) cabinets as I want, it is made of parts from extremely reliable high-volume suppliers. However the walnut cabinets for the proper The Vanilla Synthesizer are a bit more craftsman.

Fortunately I was having one of my regular phone calls with my friend Steve Rightnour AKA Monorocket AKA Livewire Synthesizers and he'd been wanting to come back to this stuff and my predicament was a good excuse.

(I have rack frames too. This felt like a good place for a photo break.)

He'll be building the boxes and finishing them for me as well. I've got the design improved internally quite a bit and have extrusions now I can use instead of the machined inserts all the cabinets up to now have been using. Mike Cameron even made 3D-printed spacers for me to align the custom-made nuts for me! (Custom nuts are pretty ... nuts, right?)

If this works out I'll be able to receive boxes from him, pull a cabinet out, populate it, final test, repack, and ship. Because of the new extrusions, I might even be able to assemble the whole thing as a front and back panel, and fill the cabinet that way.

We've got the walnut sourced. I really wanted to use walnut from central Illinois but it's going to be coming from upstate New York instead. There is a certain appropriateness to this. We'll start with just enough walnut for three to five cabinets. That should be enough for him to get his process going and then I'll buy a whole pallet of walnut (30-40 cabinets' worth) and have it brought to him in eastern Texas via truck freight. The first shipment is already on its way to him.

(It occurs to me I haven't talked about the Continuo in this newsletter. It's actually going pretty well and if you're waiting on one you'll get it soon, I've shipped a couple and several more are done and ready to ship I just had to get this newsletter out first. Take note of the 3D printed case. Are you into that?)

The bottom line is that I've shipped as many systems as I can until the production run of the Vanilla Filter is done (literally waiting for me to pay the assembly house) and Steve builds some walnut cabinets.

I'll be able to ship full systems again in mid-August. I'll know if Steve is able to or not able to do this within that timeframe and then deploy a backup plan but I promise even that will use walnut. (I can use laser-cut 1/4" walnut from Ponoko like the Radiophonic Four and laminate the endcaps to 1/2". It looks incredible but I want the Trumansburg style cabinets. I would also be limited to 10MU and if Steve can make these he can make the 22MU cabinets we know are needed in the future.)

If you are waiting on a system and reading this, don't worry. Email or call me if you want. I just need you to know I'm only chopping wood at this point.

Okay so that's the status update out of the way ... time to talk about everyone's favorite topic: discounts!

(I went to the riverfront to shoot this thing and our fire department was running exercises. They had 3 boats in the water but left the hovercraft in the trailer. That's right: Chillicothe FD has a hovercraft!)

Americans like to celebrate the anniversary of our attempt at independence from the City of London by taking a long weekend for fireworks and barbecue parties, but we also have mattress sales and Truck Week.

I don't manufacture munitions and I only grill for my guests, so it looks like it's time for a sale!

Sure, I can take a couple of modules I have plenty of inventory for and knock a bunch off (and I will), but I wanted to make something special for Independence Day since we're leading into the 250th next year.

For awhile I've been wanting to explore retro-bicentennial imagery since I feel it's one of the more interesting neglected nostalgias, and quite frankly we don't have many left. muSonics, America's oldest synthesizer brand, dates back to 1969, so there's actually quite a bit of shared history here.

(Did your grandma's house have a cuckoo clock in the kitchen and an oil rain lamp in the living room? This is the synthesizer for you! Park this thing right next to the globe bar that was left after your aunt took the clock and they threw the lamp out before you could get there.)

Is this an American flag, Evel Knievel, or Apollo Creed's trunks? Is there a difference? The Spirit of '69 is the Screamin' Eagle!

The Screamin' Eagle is electrically identical to The Vanilla Synthesizer and the Dreadnok. The change is only cosmetic.

The first Screamin' Eagle is available at the original price of The Vanilla Synthesizer, $2500. For the rest of Independence Month the price is $1776 plus $1000. After Independence Month I will not be discontinuing this product, but I don't know what the price will be other than "more than $3000."

Click here to buy the Screamin' Eagle and see if you were first.

(Look at that! It's even got USB!)

(You could use several of these things.)

The Japanese Modulation is based on the LFO, or Modulation Generator, from America's greatest ally's most prolific patchable synthesiser, the Korg MS-20. If you've ever used an MS-20 you know this is an extremely cool and unique LFO and if you don't just take my word for it and buy one anyway. I'll make it easy for you by bringing the price down from $250 to $217.76.

Click here to buy the Japanese Modulation for $217.76 for the rest of July 2025

(You could use several of these things as well.)

Lead time on the modules is currently less than a week. For the Screamin' Eagle give me a month or two. I can't finish any until I get the filters in and I'm probably going to be finishing like 10 instruments at once at that point.

THANK YOU if you made it this far. - STG

The Seven Headed Hydra | Moot Booxlé #hydrasynth #asm #dawless

video upload by mootbooxle

"I've been struggling hard with my mental and physical health this year. Finally getting this video together feels like a major accomplishment after months of setbacks. There have been so many times over the past year that I felt like "I'm so back" only to have the rug pulled out from under me again.
I haven't been able to afford any health care which means that my ADHD (which is extremely debilitating) has been untreated and life is not too fun trying to "raw dog it" without meds.
So anyway...I hope that I'll have more quality content like this to share with you very soon, but I've learned that I can't make any promises when it comes to that.
I have been putting together a set of my custom Hydrasynth patches which I will be offering for sale on my website whenever I can somehow get that together. Skill regression is an absolutely terrifying phenomenon. There's a pervasive feeling of powerlessness that comes with realizing that you've forgotten how to do basic things that you once took for granted.
Sorry to be such a downer! I hope you enjoyed the video, at least!

This was created using the ASM Hydrasynth Deluxe (all my own custom patches) into a BOSS RC-505mkII looper. Edited and mixed in Logic Pro.
Filmed at Sound Check Studios, Fort Myers, FL, a studio that's been in continuous operation at the same location, under the same name, by the same owner, since 1977."