Minimoog Census

[TheQRM]

Got an original Model D? Am putting together a "mini" census for a project tied to the 40th anniversary of the instrument and am looking for people who are willing to tell the story of their particular unit (where they got it...what's special about it...what you've been using it for, etc). Would love to hear from any forums members out there who'd like to share specifics, serial no.'s and/or photos. Any help appreciated!

[torinkrell]

After pleading with the owner of a small practice studio regularly for over 10 years he finally relented and let me buy his Minimoog Model D for a great price. He was reluctant to sell it because he was using it for a series of Pagan rites. I always knew the Mini was more versatile than some people think!

[seank]

i have found another krell that plays moog.

[Electrong]

I bought my Musonics minimoog from the Hormel estate via eBay. Several studio equipment items were being sold after he passed away. It had been apparently left in a pile in the basement at the Village Recorder in LA. When I got it it had a "1" sticker on the wood, which I removed, leaving only the faded imprint of the sticker on it. The synth had a broken bushing on one of the keys, so a local tech fixed that by screwing on a piece of metal on the keyboard tine and putting a bushing on it. It is un-noticeable now. Also this is the Musonics version, the serial number is not legible, but the oscillator board has the number 1313 on it, and the filter board has the number 1257 on it, so I am assuming the serial is somewhere at or under the 1313, as they probably would not have put a serial on a synth that had cards in it that were numbered higher than the serial on the synth. There is a couple of inspection tags inside, dated around 1/5/1972. I recently replaced the volume pot with a pot obtained from Kevin Lightner in a care package he sent me for the restoration of it, a few years ago. It's amazing how such a little thing can make a huge difference, the older pot was noisy and the sound cut out at times when I tried to adjust the level. Now it is smooth and sounds great.

It rests on my Rhodes piano, and now I have the 1130 percussion controller, and have brought the Mini over to a guitarist friend's house for some jam sessions along with the drum controller, playing the drum and the drums at the same time with various degrees of success. This has a very rich and what I would call dark and ominous sound quality at times. The wood case was cracked, this would have been considered in dis-repair when I got the synth but internally only the power supply section has been addressed and a factory mod that Mike at Thesis Audio in Wichita performed wherein he soldered the pins to the wires they go to, which he said would make the voltages more stable. It is very stable other than needing some retuning when you switch octaves, probably needs the scale tuning addressed so that the oscillators would be more "locked in" when you go from really low to really high. But I'm OK with that. You can tune them close enough that there is almost no flutter and it actually stays in tune relatively well after being powered up for several minutes. The filter can be gritty and is really aggressive sounding, but as stated the overal tone is a darker tone than some minis I've heard, but you can dial in all the sounds.

I think it was probably used at the Village Recorder, no telling who may have recorded on it, that was a state-of the art facility and this was technology fairly advanced for its early '72 born on date. Probably the "1" indicates they may have purchased another mini or something.. When the key broke it was probably taken to the basement. This is all conjecture, of course.

I enjoy playing it every day. Not a particularly talented keyboardist, but I always enjoy making some sounds with the Mini and the Rhodes. A few other cosmetic things.. The case was glued back together it is the original walnut thinner slats with reinforcements on the corners in the back. The Oscillator card says R A Moog on the back of it, and some other things I don't remember, but it is not a discreet oscillator, as there are a few chips installed on it. The filter card is numbered lower than the oscillator card and it is a more faded green color than the oscillator, both are somewhat opaque when you shine light through them. It has the clear wheels and the metal panel. This instrument will probably play as long as people have the desire to play analog synths. I've always been taken by Moog's quality, met Bob at Berklee in the 80s and he struck me as a super-nerd, really nice and had tons of respect for the musicians. I think the Moog quality is what will keep the company afloat. The new Voyager XL is consistent with this. Some of the Moog stuff that came out after he left doesn't have the same level of quality and is more plastic and cheap in build quality. But the new stuff definitely has his stamp on it.

I wonder what Bob was actually involved in the development of, out of all the things that have the Moog name slapped on 'em?

[MC]

Your Musonics is #1257. Discrete oscillator cards were installed up to #1299, yours was upgraded hence the 1313.

Moog products touched by Bob:

all modulars
minimoog
satellite
minitmoog
micromoog
multimoog
rackmount string filter
rackmount graphic EQ
rackmount parametric EQ
rackmount dual oscillator
synamp
voyager
phatty
moogerfooger filter, ring mod, phaser, delay, murf, CP251, VX351/352
theremins

[Electrong]

I'm sorry I put 1257 as the number on the filter card (the card to the left of the oscillator when looking at it from the back). It should read 1254.

MC.. Would the serial then be 1254, and are you saying that they basically put the "old oscillator" card onto the synths that had the discreet oscillators on them from the factory, or were they upgraded in the field?

[MC]

They were upgraded in the field, or the service department would upgrade it when they were returned to the factory.

[Electrong]

About the serial number.. So then the serials would have matched other than the replaced oscillator, and the number of the unit would correspond to the number of the filter?

[Kevin Lightner]

On the really old Minis, the serials written on the boards can vary and I've yet to notice any pattern.
They're all very close to each other and the chassis' s/n, but never all the same.
(Later minis had no serials on the individual boards, fwiw.)

Btw, the Village Recorders is (was?) a very interesting place.
It used to be a masonic temple.
Located across from a music store and next to the police station.
A pretty good location for a recording studio.

Inside, there are these huge stained glass windows that light up the stairwells in all sorts of fabulous patterns and colors.
The building is otherwise very cold and industrial. Freight elevators, cement, tile, etc.
There's your standard gold records on the walls around the entrance, but as you get deeper into the building it looks like it could just be another old office building.
Weird place. Not like most recording studios, but lots of great history there.

[Electrong]

Was a Ma-sonic temple, became a Sonic temple? Wawawah..

Sounds very cool..

[Just Me]

Bought mine used out of a music store in Randhurst Mall in the 'burbs of Chicago. That was in 1977. Used it for a few years but bought an ARP 2600 and a MemoryMoog (Early one, not a Plus) and sold the Mini. It went to a local Arizona musician who beat it to death and it probably got scrapped during the 80's. Sold the original manuals for them all online a couple months ago. (I'm working on my hoarding and clearing off things I no longer need.)