I’m so excited to learn more about the LEV-96. One quick question; how does this work on guitars with different bridge distances? Another, is there a similar pedal system as the Moog Guitar? I guess I need to be patient. But speculation can be fun.
I wonder if it can be used to play half-full glasses of water at their harmonic frequencies. Bass would be fun too!
This seems to have more uses than isolating a system to a specific instrument - one could mount it inside a piano, on a harp, a cable bridge, or the neighbors fence. At least it would be fun to try!!
(Note that my comments should not be misconstrued as a negative statements, I am simply creatively inspired by such a device!)
They have been doing this for a long time, which is a brilliant marketing strategy because guitarists outnumber analog synth purists by about a billion to one. Then guess what happens when a guitarist starts messing with moogerfoogers?
Filtatron serves to get the name out there, and then eventually those folks end up buying their more expensive products. It is a slow and subtle seduction.
In the meantime though, we synth lovers want more and have to wait.
Although having a wider selection of products can generate more profit, I agree with you Voltor. When I look to Moog I look for synthesizer based products. Moog has some really intelligent engineers working for them, and I’m glad they’re able to bring a lot of their ideas to life, but It would be nice for them to get another full-fledged synthesizer project going (this comming from a guitar player.)
Exactly! Guitarists have their Alembics and Zemaitis’s, Zemaitisi? Zemaitises? Whatever. When I think top-quality guitars, I think Zemaitis and Alembic. When I think high quality synths, I think Moog, ARP, and Oberheim. I can’t help but think Moog is trying to take over the guitar market, and it truly is troublesome to me as a synthesist.
Well Voltor, at least Moog is doing it with some seriously high quality technology/ideas. Before I say this I want to make clear that I’m a guitar player first and foremost (above all else:) Honestly, most guitar players are ignorant, and scarred in that we’re not very open to “new” concepts interfering with our 60 year old basic designs. In general, guitarists feel that the older technology is “better.” It will be interesting to see how well this LEV-96 project does. Usually, stuff like this (no matter how incredible or beneficial it may be) will scare the everyday guitar player away. In the meantime, as stated above, I guess we’ll just wait for the next Moog synth.
Don’t worry, non-guitarists! The Moog Guitar didn’t kill Moog like some of you predicted, nor did the Moog Lap Steel. Moog is still alive and well, and making synths for you, even if you find something to complain about in every new synth, including the Sub Phatty.
According to Paul Vo, while it has onboard DSP, it generates the sound through the acoustic guitar itself. The above video shows the guitar playing those Vo 96 sounds without being plugged into anything - no amp, no pickup - just a mic. There is a link in the Youtube description to Vo’s new website but it appears to be down at the moment.
I want one so badly. This would be the coolest thing to mount to a large gong. It would make me one of the hip kids in the resonant metal crowd. Mikrophonie 1 for the 21st century.
As far as I know there are only a few tutorials on the Moog Guitar. Paul Vo and Moog split ways years back and he’s been doing his own thing. Moog quit making the Moog Guitar too due to some company changes that can be readily interpreted as apathy toward the guitarist market . . . and who can blame them they have willfully made the decision to remain a relatively small boutique company and there are way too many competitors in the guitar market.
Paul released 2 runs of the Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer (which the LEV-96 evolved into) already, but has no plans to release anymore. I own one, Love it! It’s my primary instrument!
Unfortunately some users found issues or had difficulty learning the system, so Paul has moved onto making other things. He created the Vo Wond afterwards. No word yet on when another run of those is coming, but apparently they work on all kinds of devices that can activated by magnets.