So my dad has one of the original minimoogs, I think he bought it sometime in the mid 70s and played in a band with it for 5 years or so. I was checking it out the other day for the first time in a while and its pretty messed up. when i hooked it up my amp and turned it on, i started to press keys and fool around on it a little, but the sound isnt steady at all. My dad thinks it could be just too old and something needs to be replaced, but I have no idea what it would be and where to do it.
Secondly, just from sitting in the case for 20 ish years while I was growing up, the wood panels have a sort of “gunk” left by the foam. Its hard to get off, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on how to restore it for my dads birthday.
Thanks!
Congrats on finding the Moog. 
No slam, but you can’t restore it yourself.
Restoration is a process built upon experience.
It would be like just deciding to be a dentist or doctor one day.
You can’t. You need the experience.
Anyone can physically do their jobs, it’s knowing what order to do them, what tools to use and especially what to do if there’s complications.
It doesn’t matter if it’s brain surgery or working at McDonald’s.
I’d suggest sending it to an experienced tech and not attempting repairs yourself.
I had no intention of doing it myself, I posted on here basically for ideas of places to go to with my restoration idea.
Well, there’s Kevin Lightner for one…he’s possibly the best in the business, especially with the Minimoog. But he’s out in California. Where are you at? There’s also Deltronics in Chicago. They’re a bit pricey, and their synth work is rather average, but at least they’re dependable. Kevin, do you know of any others? (That’s a normally useless question to ask a tech 
) …but Kevin’s not your average tech. Hernan Baldi works out of Buenos Aries, and is selling a restored Liberation, and would also be a good choice. Also there is Rudi L(I won’t even attempt to spell his last name without looking at it) who runs Lintronics. He’d be out of Europe.