Memorymoog Wood Species/Color

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JJL3rd
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 7:01 pm

Memorymoog Wood Species/Color

Post by JJL3rd » Sun Oct 17, 2021 8:24 pm

Hi,
I’ve been losing it trying to figure out if there was a definitive type of wood used for the frame of the MM. Some swear by oak, others say walnut. Neither of those woods possess the vibrant hues my beloved MM does. The Wood on my MM looks more like what you typically see on the Moog One. You know how the One has a bit more flavour than oak or walnut? If I was pushed I’d probably say cherry would be closer.

I don’t have a pic of my MM right now but I have a screenshot from a video where one was used and the Wood looks exactly like the color of mine. I’ll try to post it below. I’d really appreciate any help.

Regards,
John Langdon

Video Screenshot
Video Screenshot

jlpower
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 6:16 am

Re: Memorymoog Wood Species/Color

Post by jlpower » Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:40 am

That would be cherry! I work with it all the time and it's pretty easy to spot. The only other common type of hard wood that resembles that grain pattern is maple. Cherry actually oxidizes over time, causing the surface to take on a beautiful deep red color. Maple does not. Sunlight also has a dramatic effect on the color. It's very common to use in cabinet and furniture making due to its relatively low cost, strength, color, and dimensional stability. They likely chose cherry for all of those reasons.

If you want to know for sure, sand a little spot on the bottom of one of the side panels. If the wood is much lighter underneath, the wood has likely darkened naturally due to age as cherry does (versus being stained). Then (carefully) apply a small amount of lye to that spot. If it turns red in 30-60 seconds, it's cherry! No other wood will do that.

You'll also notice that all the memorymoog photos online have varying degrees of darkness to the wood. This would be an indication of how much sunlight the wood got over the years.

-Jon Power

Russ
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:15 pm

Re: Memorymoog Wood Species/Color

Post by Russ » Tue Mar 22, 2022 7:43 am

According to the service manual the woods are walnut and maple. Whether this held true for the entire production run is anyone's guess.
mm_wood.png

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