Moog 960 Pictures

The Moog Forum Moog Music General Topics Forum
1

Hello everbody,

I am new here in the forum and I hope that everone excuse me when i ask a question which is already answered. I am very interested in cloning a Moog 960 Sequential Controller. I had the schematics of the controller from the Service manual, I ordered some of the old stuff but I really want to have one or more pictures of the PCB’s from the upper side and from the solder side. Can anyone provide me with this information ? That whould be a big help.

Thanks a lot in advance

Greetings from the cold old germany


Cheers

Bernhard

2

You could save a bunch of time and just get a synthesizers.com Q960. Clone of the 960.

3

I know, but nevertheless I want to recreate (or at least try to recreate) these stuff by my own. :slight_smile:
But for that I kindly ask if someone have some pictures from the PCBs

4

At $800+ for a Q960, he’s going to save a lot of money by doing it himself. But it is going to take a lot of efforts and time, I’ll grant you that!

5

Yes, if you go with cheap pots, knobs, swtiches, and jacks. I count 25 pots, 12 rotary switches, 12 pushbuttons, 9 lamps, and 26 jacks. For good quality parts, especially if you want to match the Moog look, you’re probably around $350-$400 just for that. If you go cheap, you could probably cut that in half. Plus the faceplate, circuit-board, and parts.

Or you could go with the Moon Modular 569 clone+ - http://www.lunar-experience.com/569.html , but that’s about $1500 :smiley:

6

Considering all the rare and obsolete parts, making a 960 clone would be very difficult unless you redesigned it substantially.
This is what Synthesizers.com did.

But especially difficult is building something from schematics and photos alone.
One really needs an original 960 in front of them for comparing not only how it was built, but also to judge if your clone is working as it should.
In the end, it might be better to buy a Synths.com unit.

If you’re a purist and must pursue the original design, at least a synths.com 960 would provide a finished front panel with all controls in place.
It would be a great starting point.
I have some of those original 960 DTL/RTL ICs, but strongly recommend against making a new design using them.
I feel they’re better to provide to someone with a broken real 960, than for DIY purposes.

Whatever route you take, I wish you good luck. :slight_smile:
K

7

I have an OLD Texas Instruments databook - bound hardcover - with those DTL/RTL parts

8

You’re old!! :wink:

Most of the 960s I’ve seen have had Motorolas in them.
Are there TI equivalents?
Some are just common gate packages.

9



I have several Motorolla and TI logic gate IC’s and they are interchangable, more often than not. Got a bunch of them in a box of NOS on E-bay. Actually, I’ve found the Motorolla chips to be more sensitive to voltage change than the TI’s. I can create a NAND circuit with the TI’s and use carbon resistors operating at +/-10%, wheras the Motorolla chip in that same circuit needs 2% resistors in order to function properly. :confused:

10

Nah, just resourceful… found this databook at work. They were closing out the library and people were invited to take whatever they wanted. Also got a 1960s TI Transistor Circuit Design manual from there, loaded with info. Got a 1963 GE Transistor design book at another place I used to work (it may be pre-Silicon but most of it is still relevant).

Most of the 960s I’ve seen have had Motorolas in them.
Are there TI equivalents?
Some are just common gate packages.

It does have a cross reference of old Motorola logic (MC9xx) to TI TTL parts. Did you know that Signetics made a logic family called DCL? What IS in this TI book are discrete trannys and diodes, DTL, TTL, SNG, TMS (pre-4xxx MOS logic), REALLY low density 128bit (NOT kB) static RAM, and linear oddballs like log converters. This is a 1971 edition and RTL was old hat by then.

11

I have collected a few photos of the 960 from the internet in the past months. They mostly show the component side and are not sufficient for redesign the PCBs exactly; maybe you already found them as well.
If you think this could be of some help, I will be happy to share.

Greetings from unusually snowy and cold Italy

L

12

Hello dombedos. It whould be very, very nice, if you share your pictures. Any picture is welcome.

greeting from the also cold and snowy germany (but not so unusual in February as it is in Italy :slight_smile: )

13

Here’s a pic I made for the trim locations on an original 960 just in case anyone needs it:

http://www.synthfool.com/moog960trimlocations.jpg

(It is whitened out to conserve toner when printing.)

14

Hi Kevin, thank you very much for posting the link. That’s a beginning :wink:

btw. how many PCBs does the controller have. 3? One in the middle and one on the right and one on the left side. Am I right?

Bernhard

15

OK, Bernhard, please drop your e-mail address (in a private massage if you don’t like to publish it) and I will send them.

L

16

Hello Dombedos,

please send it to Bernhard_Ohme@web.de

That whould be very nice.

Thank you for that!

Bernhard

17

guys- I too want to make myself a 960-a-like, but not in the way you’d expect… :slight_smile:

I am already preparing to buy a little cabinet & some modules, including a q960, from mr arrick, but I also want to build my own sequencers.

the 960 is a very simple device, & it’s not difficult to recreate the functionality using a shift-register made from discrete gates; this (compared with using a single-chip counter like a 4022 or whatever) allows one to incorporate the all-important skip switches.
so as long as nobody looks inside at the numbers on the ICs, who cares? the important thing is the outside appearance.

btw, did anyone study the arp 16xx schematics & examine how they implemented skipping? essentially, they just over-clock for a step… I’d need to check, but I think the stage output is also muted somehow when this happens.

anyhoo… the sequencer I want to build from scratch is a simple 16-stage device with one controller row for pitches, possibly a second row for an auxiliary CV, & with skip switches. the degree to which I want to make it look authentic extends as far as finding the right knobs (check) & building it on a black panel. the skip switches will be mini toggles, for ease of use. but what I need to find are the lamp holders. I don’t want to use LEDs. I’ve already acquired a number of different incandescent lamp designs, but it’d be nice to get the correct ones. synth.com sell the bulbs themselves, & my design incorporates lamp-driver switchgear already.
what I’m shooting for is the look & feel of a 960, but with 16 stages, & toggles for the skip switches. it’s to be standalone or in a custom panel, or possibly built-in to an existing synth, but not a modular system.

I also want to get hold of the lamp-holders for another project; I’m “reskinning” a custom midi step sequencer with the right knobs & push-switches so that it too resembles an overgrown 960. again, the important part here is to get the thing to look similar, NOT an exact clone.

I will ask mr arrick if he’s able to supply the lamp-holders to me… after all, if I’m going to buy one of his systems anyway… :slight_smile:

duncan.

18

Hello everyone,
i’m recently bought an RA Moog 960, i will use it for cloning in the best way this device as suggested from KL, if anyone have questions or need help i’m here!

Maurizio from Italy