Well, I’m back from my good-old retailer… And after trying the two synths out… and taking much into consideration I’ve decided to go with the Little Phatty.
I walked in with pretty much a %99 positive mindset about buying the Old School. But after having them both set up there and playing on them both extensively I felt drawn more heavily to the Phatty. So there you have it!
Thanks for the tips and advice everybody! I’ve put it on Layby, so now it’s just a matter of time!
Ah, now the extensive wait…why the LP? Just curious. 
The wait’s terrible. It’s only been a few hours… And I’ve got at least 4 weeks! Hahahaha… I’ll find a way!
As to how I made my decision… I had the two synths (LP and OS) set up next to each other and had an extensive chat to the owner about each synth.
It’s the second time I’d been to the store and the last time I was there I was convinced I’d buy the LP after walking in with the intention of eventually buying the Voyager, but after a few months of no Moog contact I was drawn back to the Voyager just by looking it up on the internet a few times.
When I went back to the store today, I immediately felt reattracted to the LP again. With the two synths side by side I’d tinker around on the OS a bit, turn to the LP and play an extensive experiment, twisting knobs and pushing buttons. I’d turn back to the OS, tinker a bit more, twist a few knobs and puch buttons for a few minutes… then spend a good 10 minutes mucking around on the LP.
Then I asked myself “Am I really willing to spend an extra grand on a synth when I’m having a much more enjoyable time on this cheaper synth?”
By now the answer was pretty clear which one I’d prefer.
And that’s it!
Now the long, dreaded wait… It’s killing me.
Yes…the LP was an impulse buy for me. My most expensive impulse buy to date. 
I walked into Sam Ash (big chain store here in the US) with the intention of trying out the LP. I walked out with the LP, Alesis Sumo 15 amp, a cable, and a Stageworks (half the time) X-stand. Not to mention, $1400 and something lighter. 
Very fun synth, I agree!
EDIT: Post #666! 
COngradulations!
I haven’t seen an OS in person. Really, aside from the LP that was at Guitar Center in LittleRock, or the Voyagers that have come through with PFunk, The only Moog products that Ive see in person are the ones that I own.
An Old School Voyager in my opinion will not immediately offer the gratification that the LP may. THe Old School is not for everybody. YOu have to be hardcore in patch documentation/photo taking.
How did the keybeds feel side by side?
In the end I don’t think you will be dissapointed. I forsee you in the future still looking at the Voyager on the web pages though wondering about the puppy in the window you didn’t buy lolo.
Eric
Congrats on the new LP! And I wouldn’t worry about the one that got away, if you’re like others on this board, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll eventually spring for the either the OS, or a full blown Voyager!
Maybe even both!!
i guess that rules out stevie wonder, huh? 
i disagree with your statement. the OS is for anyone interested in great analog sound. if you have the ability to turn knobs, flip switches and press keys, listening for changes made in the process…well, it works for me. 
Not quite. He would have no more difficulty than he did with the mini, or that he would with a Performer or any other synth.
Stevie also has machines that read for him and technicians that would be more than happy to get paid recalling sounds for him.
I said that its not for everyone because Ill be the first one to announce that I don’t ever want to have to spend prescious time writing in a patchbook or looking at pictures to recall patches again. Though I don’t know how i can say that and want to go modular. Im not dissing on the OS but its a fact, its not for everyone. People have to have their Midi or their patch memory if thats their cup of tea and that will be what makes or breaks their decision to purchase one.
If it works for you and its at a signifigantly lower price then more power to you! It is a fantastic synth no doubt about that and with some slightly different modulation options…it has its place up there with the greatest synths around.
Respectfully,
Eric
As one of the old farts in here, I’ve been around long enough to have a pile of synths, mini model D as well as my newer Voyager. I’m so happy to see Moog come out with some new models, the Little Phatty and the Old School. They are certainly keeping there ears open and giving the public what they are asking for. Quite unusual for a keyboard manufacturer where most just keep their thumbs tucked in their vests and put out what THEY want you to think you want.
James’ choices between the OS and LP at first seems like a tough one, and I can see that he’s made up his mind… but I’d like him to reconsider.
I think it IS very possible that he finds that a year from now he’ll get the hankering for a OS or Voyager. If the synth is going to be used predominantly for live stage performance, well then the LP is the way to go. There’s little time on stage for twiddling around and experimentation.
But if he’s going to explore and experiment at home or in the the studio, he’s going to run out of territory very quickly and start saying things like, “hey… my LP doesn’t do THAT… or even THAT!” The LP has it’s place as a down and dirty extra analog synth for those that NEED the sounds it produces and want the authentic MOOG sound at a cheaper price.
But if someone is embarking on a journey to LEARN analog synthesis and is looking for YEARS of exploration and experimentation, then no question what-so-ever the OS is the way to go. Especially with all of the things MOOG makes that you can add on to it.
Very good points! The limits on the LP can be expanded by 'Foogers, but a Phatty will NEVER be as limitless as a Voyager…OS or otherwise.
If a person is on that journey, then I think the full-blown Voyager is the way to go.
Here here, I agree.
Let’s make his decision even MORE difficult! 
Ok, as long as we’re going that way…
Let’s take the money factor out of the equation for now. Let’s face it coming up with enough dough for ANY of the above is painful, it’s just a matter of how long you’re willing to endure that pain.
But if MONEY was out of the picture, for someone NEW to synthesizers, the choice shouldn’t be between the Old School and the Little Phatty at all. It should be between a LP and a full blown Voyager.
With no presets for a reference, to a newbie, the Old School can be a real bear! Heck, the Old School is more complex than an old Model D! I promise you that I could tweek the knobs on an old Model D so that a newbie would take HOURS to find his way to a musical, playable patch. Old School has to be that much harder!
With LP, it’s like orgasm after orgasm with each and every patch you go through, compared with the relative experience he must had with the OS (probably equivalent to the little puppy looking at something with his head tilted) <— please don’t take offense to that, James. Anyway, of COURSE he’s going to choose the Little Phatty.
I’ll bet if James sat down with the choice of a VOYAGER and a Little Phatty, and had the experience of going through the patches on the Voyager, his decision would most likely be quite different. It would have been the difference of walking into a bedroom and then walking into Madison Square Garden.
That right there probably turned thousands of players away from Moog. “I don’t see what all the fuss is about, this thing doesn’t make any sounds” When I tried out an LP for the first time at GC, it didn’t make any sounds. I checked the power, the speakers and then it dawned on me…Its a Moog. I reached for the filter cutoff and Boom the sounds came back on lol. I chuckled to myself at all of the years my Micro remained silent for this reason lolol.
You won’t find any argument from me that the LP doesn’t sound good. Its probably just like a modern day Prodigy or MultiMoog, Midified and with memory.
But if you were 30 years ago and you were back in the day and had to make a choise between a Micro and a Model D, then surely the Micro would be more appealing pricewise. But for its limitations, you essentially get what you pay for. THe sounds are definately contained therein and when you get to thinking about an LP plus lots of foogers versus barely affording a Voyager, the options become clearer.
Just imagine what it must have been like in the modular days! Jeez!
But yes, its like a beginning motorcyclist starting out on a 650 when after a while of driving , begins to yearn for the 1200 beast when they realize that they can’t dig in to curves like they want to.
EricK
That’s how I think, too. The OS is a specialized synth. It is certainly capable of a lot, but for folks who are learning or who need presets, then the LP or Voyager are the way to go. Personally, I need the presets for quick recall and I value the MIDI implementation.
One can certainly learn a lot about synthesis with the LP, but you’ll eventually run into things that it can’t do (though you’ll also get good at finding workarounds). I love my LP and value all that it can do, especially for what it cost.
Bryan
Couldn’t agree more!
I just sat here and thought about that for a few moments. Nice sentiment.
A Moog, especially the Minis, both Model D and Voyager, are so much more than musical instruments. You can spend endless hours… days on end turning those knobs to hear the result while exploring it’s endless boundaries and NOT necessarily need to have it result in anything musical. It’s probably the only instrument that has this… sort of a side trip you can take for reasons other than musical. Just for the trip itself. It’s amazing, truly amazing just how special these boxes of wires and plastic are.
I know that there are many that feel that some instruments have other uses such as using a banjo to pound nails or and accordion to stoke the embers of your fire - that’s not what I’m talking about. You’ve never heard anyone say that the difference between a trampoline and a Minimoog is that you take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline.
Sorry - my bad. Bit of a side track there.
My point is, that Moogs are truly wonderful things that exceed what they are intended to be - things that go so far beyond that of other instruments.
I think it was Charles Shultz that said, "Love is a warm puppy’. Well, it’s very obvious to me that he never owned a Moog.
Chris, what you say is very true. A guitar will sound like a guitar, a spaceship will sound like a spaceship, and a harpsichord will sound like a harpsichord. But a Moog can sound like all these and more! When you buy a Moog, you change your lifestyle, not just your music. A Moog is special. It can sound like almost anything, and like nothing at all.
I could go on and on trying to describe what it means to own a Moog, but the fact is, you can’t really give words to it. I don’t mean to sound philosophical, but when someone asks, “What is a Moog?” I can’t ever seem to find the right words for it. It’s a Moog! To be a Mooger is to be able to create amazing sound waves that many times can’t be reproduced by anything else in the world, maybe the universe. Just my two cents. 
Wow, so much can happen over one day! Here I was thinking that this topic was done and dusted, and on it’s way to the back of the pile, but wow! I left out earlier how I’ve also played on a Voyager Performer Edition, so the OS wasn’t my only exposure to the Voyager. Undoubtedly the Voyager sounded fantastic, however I still felt that the LP was more suited to my current style of music writing and performing. I also have had some experience with shaping and sculpting sounds, so I didn’t just look at the OS like a “puppy with its head tilted on it’s side” (no offence taken, btw! I laughed! ).
Anyway, I am only a young lad, still in school, so I’ve got many years to get a proper job and save up a decent amount of cash to invest in one of these beautiful machines. But I am still extremely pleased with my purchase of the Little Phatty (still haven’t gotten it yet). If I were a paid musician, perhaps my choice would’ve been different, but because I won’t be making money (anytime soon) out of this investment, I decided that for now the LP is a better choice.
Thank you all for the thoughts and suggestions!
Hey, some of us are paid musicians (not paid particularly well, but paid none the less) and we rock LP’s. It is a great piece of equipment for making music. I think you made a good choice, not that you could make a bad one when choosing between Moogs!
Bryan