I’m cleaning up this old Poly Moog 203A for a friend and I’d like to get some information on when it was made and the general market value (if thats ok?)
The serial # is 3403, it’s in good working order with no damage, just a bit dusty.
Polymoogs started with #1000 (typical for companies to start there) as I recall, in mid 1975. Quite a few sold in 75/76, I think they said something like 1000. So yours would likely be somewhere around 1978 or so. Hard to say for sure.
Value - depends on model and condition (3 Polymoog versions). Typically $750-1500.
Yes, it is about 1978 or somewhere in there. I restored a 280a a couple of months ago. Mine is serial# 1641 which means it was the 641 made.
Here is a link to a video I made of mine if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYLlfhgFF8k
Good luck with the polymoog!
Take care,
Jareth
Nice link Synthpro! I like the tune played..
Judging from this:
http://www.dubsounds.com/pm_owners.htm
It looks like it was made sometime after Feb 1977.
Considering that the Polymoog with s/n 3430 was made in Aug 1978 (according to Dubsounds.com) I think we can safely say that Grissles unit was made in May or June of that year.
I strongly doubt that many PM’s were sold in 1975-76 though, because the fully revised production version wasn’t released to the market until the fall of 1976. Prior to that Moog had about fifteen pre-production prototypes* that they’d let artists use to get feedback on.
- the original prototype was first shown at the summer NAMM show in 1975 and then again at the next years summer show, after which it went
into full production.
Neat video and cool track.
Thank you! I wrote this song on the poly right after I had it back together.
Thank you!
synthpro,
I LOVE your Polymoog videos. I had the older, more unstable one for a while till it caught fire 
I wonder if Moog would ever consider doing for this keyboard what they’ve done with the Taurus… maybe doing an instrument like this as opposed to a Memorymoog would be cheaper??
Thoughts anyone??
I knew they were a maintenance nightmare… but DAY-UM!!! 
I’m not laughing at your loss, it is way too bad that it happened. However, the way you worded that? Just how the hell unstable does a synth need to be that it spontaneously combusts?!
Dammit, I’m still laughing! I’m crying!!!
I was 17 or 18 at the time, still living at home, and I had a keyboard studio set up in the basement.
This was the early 90’s when you could get analog gear for cheap. I think the only new synth I had was a Yamaha SY-22.
I had bought the original Polymoog w/ polypedal, 2 micromoogs and a JLCooper CV/Midi converter, all for $500 Cdn.
I had the two Micros set up next to each other on the Polymoog. It looked amazing!
One day, the Poly started to spew black smoke from between its sliders on the left hand side. It smelled HORRIBLE and made it tough to see and breathe in the basement. I shut it off right away, unplugged it, and tried to air out the place. I ended up selling it back to the guy I bought it from for $150. He said as soon as he got it home, he fired it up and it came on and played perfectly. FAAAAAAWK!!! 
I really loved the quirky vibe and look of that old beast. The Korg SV-1 kinda reminds me of it with its preset buttons in the middle like that. With the pedal plugged in, it had the trippiest synth sweeps ever…
I think it may not have been “on fire” which is rare, but you “let the smoke out” (a joke we say) of some of the components thru overheating. They shouldn’t do that anyway, but it happens with any electrical gear now and then.
I think the Polymoog is great, but only if you’re a player - it’s not very synth-heavy; the sounds it makes are almost all musical and oriented toward playing notes and harmonic parts.
Thank you!!!
Mine nearly cought fire as well. When I first got it, it had a bad diode on the LC board (Left Hand). It started smoking real good and had a wonderful smell to it.
I wish moog would make a new polymoog synth model that includes a Vox Humana preset!