OK, I’m frustrated. I just dug a theramin out of my friend’s office closet - it’s not been used in a few years (about 5). It’s a moog. it’s a little dusty but in good shape EXCEPT…When I turn it on (both the speaker and the theremin itself) they both seem to be “on”. But no sound. When I take the cord out of the theramin and poke at it & rub it, it hums and sputters, but when I put it into the theramin again it’s silent. A bit of static if I shake the cord, but no “good” weird noises.
Any ideas on a next step to see if this is a goner?
The video and booklet just shows how to play it – not really how to turn it on and adjust the cords, etc. I might be doing something totally simple, wrong! 
Thanks for any help you might give me. It’s not mine, so I feel like I can’t do too much to it unless we figure out it’s “really” broken.
Susan Baughman
Speaker~Trainer~Entertainer
Hi, susan:
You wrote:
When I turn it on (both the speaker and the theremin itself) they both seem to be “on”. But no sound. When I take the cord out of the theramin and poke at it & rub it, it hums and sputters, but when I put it into the theramin again it’s silent. A bit of static if I shake the cord, but no “good” weird noises.>
Can you provide me with a little more information:
Which Moog theremin is it? It’s probably a standard Etherwave. Can you confirm that by looking at the theremins for sale on MoogMusic.com? If it fails to resemble one of the current ones, you may have a much older model. So, the first thing is to identify specifically WHICH theremin it is. If you have a digital camera, you can take a picture of it, too. We just need to be sure we’re both talking about the same thing.
Secondly, you refer to “the speaker” – are you referring to an external amplifier or an actual speaker that is part of the theremin?
Your description of the hums and splutters and static: again, we have to make sure we’re both talking about the same thing — are you referring to the Power Supply - the cord that goes out of the back of the theremin and then plugs into the wall?
Your problem MIGHT be the power supply itself, in which case, a new one can be purchased.
However, if the power supply is OK, you may need to make some internal adjustments, some of which are fairly easy, but time consuming.
Write with some more details and we’ll take it from there.
Kip Rosser
www.performancekr.com/theremin.html