Voyager quality problems - feedbacks wanted

The Moog Forum Minimoog Forum
1

Dear all,

I got these days several new voyagers in my hands, exactly three.
Every unit of them has nearly the same problems
I observed the following…

  1. The push buttons
    …in the middle ( f.e. enter button) are lower than all others and especially lower as the surface of the frontpanel. One voyager was so extreme, that the frontpanel sticked plastics CUTS YOUR fingers!!!
    In the same way you see, that the LED lamps ( above the 3 left sided buttons) have an decreasing hight from left to right, too.
    Seems to bee a mounting problem …with all voyagers?!

  2. the cabinets
    I only had latest ash cabinets here …maybe other woods are not affected?
    the right lower fronts are all not correctly crafted (the carpenters fault)
    They all have an offset at one edge, best way to recognize from the buttom side. That means the cabinet is completely slopy.
    The effect is, that the top of the voayer is slanting.

And furthermore (maybe as a consequence) the top is mounted absolute unprecise, so it might be, that there is an incredible hight difference between right and left side and/or from front to back, when the top is down inside the cabinet.
The cosequence is, that the top is not laid down on the two rubber buffers correctly. So one side is always swinging in the air, when the top is down. (Good for transports ?)
Absolute unacceptable

Now my question is
does anybody of you observe anything similar?
Or did moog ship to my dealer their garbage from the laboratory…or is this the new moog quality standard?

2

My EB cabinet is fine, but I agree with the buttons. They are too recessed and uneven height. It feels like you need to put your finger in the square hole to push a button. These should be well clear of the front panel and all the same height. For something so expensive and has been designed and crafted to such a high level, the buttons seem out of place.

Also, scratches on the touch panel. I have never done anything to make scratches, yet other posters report them right out of the box too. Obviously some tester uses a thin pointed object to test the panel, but it leaves scratches. Would you be happy with a sports car with scratches from the manufacturer?

Cheers,
B

3

Nobody else has any of the similar issues?

So it seems, my dealer and me got all the rubbish from moogs manufacturing … ???
So I will not hassle anybody here with these things anymore.
I am now pissed off and let them all go back to MOOG now…
Unbelievable…

Toni

4

question: who is your dealer?

5

Hi,I registered ages ago under a different name but couldnt remember password etc so here i am under a new name,
anyhow,Toni,i can understand you dont seem very happy with the Moogs you have,but the truth is they are handmade,not machine made if they were machine made they would be perfect but there not.
My L.e.d`s do climb in height as you mentioned as do the buttons ~ but frankly i dont care,i love my Moog and will never ever sell it,
Out of curiosity why did you buy 3 ? I am just curious,also whats your opinion on how they sound ?
Im sure after playing them a while the issues you mention might become not so important,no one else would ever notice,anyone looking at our Moogs im sure would be very very jealous.
Darren.

6

Why don’t you post some pictures?

You could always sell them at a loss, advertise them as B-stock take 400 or so off the price you got them from because you are going to take a nice bite on the restocking fee. They should still have a full warranty.

Another solution is to see if Moog will replace the cabinets.

7

no problem around her at all, must be karma…

8

Ok guys,

@ Erick
… a minimoog should be an investment for several decades… people pay their best money and want best quality for, especially in this cathegory of machines.

@ all others
to make photos, I passed, sorry, I was so upset… now the pieces are on their way back to the European base. But you can trust me - it is, like I said.

It is mechanical an absolute desaster.
The housing is winded in that way, that some of the (fatar) keys, need a 50 percent HIGHER preassure as normal… you can feel and measure.
The technical concept of the voyager is designed for a high quality product.
F.E. all screws that driven in wood or metal are held by brass sockets - thats FINEST quality you can produce.
So what a pitty, that the mounting crew, who is doing the final assembly at moog, seems to be on crack … (sometimes? - always?)
WHAT A PITTY! Maybe some of you dont give a damned shit on it, when the sound is still ok. But a minimoog should be an investment for several decades… you understand… and the problems will come, after warranty has gone. Maybe Erick gives us a lifetime guaranty?

My dealer told me, that he mentioned similiar problems, of other moog owners in Europe, when he was at moog factory. But the manager(s) looked at him, like he´s speaking Chineese.
So moog is still ignoring, that they have (sometimes?) quality problems, not only at me!

The argument, that it is handmade …
Especially a HANDMADE or HANDCRAFTED piece should have a precision that is HIGHER than all machine manufactured Chineese scrap. Think about the swiss watches !!! MAN.

  • it is - sorry but I have to mention this … YOU ARE WRONG, sorry - you are a fool if you think so. Come to Switzerland - and take lessons in - craftsman work.
    For this amount of money for a voyager - I can expect QUALITY! And it will be no pain to pay $50 more for a quality crafted unit, and not a piece of botch outside. Maybe moog is then able to give a relevant training to their mechanical staff.

On the other, moog wants about $500 !!!
for a replace cabinet. For this amount of money, I can expect, that the edges, the seams and the angles are nearly PERFECT.
Same I can do on a new unit from the factory then.
(Moog changed the cabinet manufacturer, some time ago… It seems to me, that this was not an advantage in quality, maybe in saving money to maximize profit? )

Good old Bob will turn over in his grave, when he is seeing that…
my good old model D seems to be from another planet, concerning quality, same as my friends voyager from the first generation.

Toni from Switzerland

9

I understand your anger and frustrations. Now that it has been taken care of, everything will be alright.

10

I think the point of this thread is to tell Moog of the experiences this buyer has had. Erick, everything will be alright if Moog listen and ensure that small quality problems don’t mar the brand and the user’s satisfaction. The OP rants because he cares. Better than giving up and getting something else. If you want a Moog, then nothing else will do.

Cheers,
B

11

Toni - very sorry to hear about your awful experience. i sincerely hope everything gets cleared up to your benefit as i truly understand the feeling of investment that comes with big $$$ instrument purchases. you should have written a letter that included high resolution photos, your dealer’s info, and sent it addressed to Mike Adams at Moog Music.

12

I agree with Timmy; Moog has displayed excellent customer support, and I really think they would have done their very best to help you out. Sorry things didn’t work out for you. My Moog gear has been great, which is why I invested in the Taurus 3 sight unseen. I wouldn’t have done that with any other company.

Good luck,

Peter K.

13

Before i read this, i was thinking that my voyager (#ss0512) suffered from poor quality assurance, but in comparison to your’s, my instrument was delivered in perfect condition!

In my opinion, the state of your voyager’s cases is a shure sign for a defect product.
Maybe the electronics works, but if the mechanics do not, a vital part of the instrument is broken.
Then it’s so simple: DOD, dead on delivery → return to sender.

Call your dealer.

after all some esoterics: I’m lucky that i bought my synth before moog started selling apps…

14

The othe issue in Toni’s case is that the dealer has not been of any help. Pretty much saying “Moog isn’t good quality”. After the first disappointment, the dealer should be inspecting each unit before selling. Quality problems should be settled between the dealer and local distributor first, then Moog if necessary. Toni, make friends with another dealer. This one took your money but didn’t work for it in return.

I’m aware this thread has the hallmarks of a troll post, but there’s 2 good discussion points. Moog don’t want anyone to be disappointed and will want to work to avoid this. And secondly, your dealer should treat you really well. This is a sports car purchase, not just moving Gaia boxes :slight_smile:

15

My dealers (I mean my local dealer as same as the wholesale dealer)

Original sound:

If you want a MOOG you have to bear that the mechanical quality is a very poor thing!!! (Seen from the point of Swiss man and maybe some other Europeans)

That has ALWAYS been so in the past … :question:

They offered a full money back - but I do not want the money,

I want a quite PERFECT MOOG voyager.

It seems to be impossible… :cry:


Toni

16

I’m taking this very personally Toni and have to say that your last post was very inappropriate.

To suggest that Moog doesn’t care about mechanical quality is BS. Every single employee at Moog knows what they are building and know how important quality is.

I can only say that when it comes to product quality Mike Adams and the rest of the Moog crew take this very seriously and always have. They’re good people and do there best to keep crap from leaving the factory.

And FWIW, there’s now such thing as perfection so a Perfect Moog has never existed. Thank god it hasn’t because that is what makes analog so beautiful!!

Cheers,
Aaron

17

+1
most “perfect” keyboard I own.

18

Toni your issue is the dealer not Moog.

I have visited the Moogworks on three occasions over the last ten years, the latest being a year ago. I have engineering experience in quality control and production. I can say with authority that they build quality product, they have a good manager under Mike Adams who cares about customer satisfaction, they have an excellent support team that quickly resolves issues, and the people I talk to on the production line are genuinely interested in their product.

I have owned several moog products since the first Voyagers were made and had not a single issue with them. Your issues seem to be the exception and I have been a member here since the Voyagers were released.

It is highly probable that your dealer may be passing off returns as new unused product. I would take his offer of a refund and go find yourself another dealer, and if you do find better product then I would report the questionable dealer to Moog. Insulting fellow moog owners who do not subscribe to your conspiracy theories of quality problems is not going to earn you many friends.

19

Yes, EMC! This was a very difficult stance for me and I feel that Stefan is not being fare when it comes to how much Moog puts into its quality! I won’t say anymore about this! :neutral_face:

20

I once Owned a Swiss army Knife and it was Rubbish ! :laughing: