Has Moogfest ever done this sort of thing before, where if you purchase the “Engineer’s VIP” package you receive an unreleased Moog synth, among other features? If so, what kind of “unreleased” synths are we talking about here? I’m just wondering if it is worth buying the package to receive the mystery synth, because if it’s a very basic and barely useful machine, I’d rather choose another package.
After speaking with a customer service rep at Moog over the phone, she mentioned that it’s not like it’s going to be a circuit board with a few chips on it and the guy handing them out saying “here you go pal, good luck and good bye.” She said it would be a complete unit, but what has this meant in the past, assuming they’ve done this in the past?
Nope. It’s the Engineer’s pass (or something like that.) You pay $1k and get to attend a synth building workshop and other special events. At the workshop you are presented with an unreleased Moog synth.
It’s very cryptic, and seeing as how I’m on the West Coast, I don’t know what the deal is here. Would it be a little module of sorts? Certainly not one with keys… certainly not.
I don’t know… it would be great to see Kraftwerk and Laurie Anderson, but I would be sold on the trip, hotel, and endless stock of PB&J sandwiches if that engineer’s pass meant it included a really cool synth (as they state… I’m just afraid of being handed something I wouldn’t use.)
Well, I bit. I was springing for VIP passes anyway (it was well worth it in 2012), and spending a bit more to have some time at Moog was too alluring. Who knows what it could be? Just being a part of something a little different at a conference/festival makes it worth it. God only knows how much I spend on Eurorack and 5U modules…what’s one or two more to have a good experience?
Yes, just adding up the hotel and travel costs, this could be an expensive trip for most. Food OUT every day at an eatery can be pricey. But it’s a great town for food and drink!! and music!
From what I understand, the “unreleased Moog synth”, is something you build yourself during the 6 hours with Moog engineers. Now as a previous poster mentioned this must be a great experience, but myself, I wouldn’t expect too much… What can be built in 6 hours ? Also the difference in price to a standard pass is “only” 500 dollars. So count in the costs of personnel, etc. what’s left for the actual synth ?
I hope I’m wrong though… I hope you get the first bunch of new Moog 5U modules
Expect assembly, not soldering. Expect some high level calibration; it’s more about the experience than anything. But these days, there is not much in the way of fume huffing going on within the assembly lines, even on the top end Voyager. Have a watch of the video and you will see. It’s not trivial by any means and calibration/tuning appears as if it would appear to be 1/2 of the job considering how many pots are on the analog board.
But I would expect:
attach potentiometer board to chassis w/4 screws; attach jack board to chassis
affix potentiometer and switch washers nuts and knobs
connect ribbon cables from main board to pot board and to jack board
attach power switch to chassis and MTA connector to main board
power up and flash firmware
measure voltage at test point A; apply voltage to CV input 1, calibrate, test again
attach cover with 4 screws
That’s how you build a Minitaur anyway… Open any product and you might see hot glue, used to bolster a wired connection or prevent an MTA from wiggling off; Early runs of certain products (a few of the MoogerFoogers are this way) have some very very fine soldering of jumpers or mini assemblies that I have to assume were not required after the first board were revised. But product development is more than just the electronic circuit design, interface layout, and component selection… it’s about industrial engineering of casing and assembly practices, supply chain and sourcing, and more.
I just picked up a MF-Boost and the first thing I did was to take it apart, piece by piece. Every nut and screw. I like reading the text on the circuit boards, seeing what components were used and putting it back together again.
I would expect the 6 hours to be similar to the new Korg MS-20 kit as far as what skills are expected of the assembler. It’s more about the experience, meeting the people, the tech talk and the stories, what must be an extended tour and introduction to Cyril, Steve D. Amos and the other engineers; That part will be worth the fee alone (in my humble opinion) and you’ll have a rather unique memento to take home with you and play with.
