Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

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grenert
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:10 pm

Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by grenert » Sat Jun 20, 2015 8:36 pm

There areally many comments online over the years regarding the Slim Phatty's tuning difficulties. Although they've discontinued the model, on my recent visit to the factory (very cool!), I saw that they were still churning put the last units. Can anyone who has purchased/used a Slim over the past several months comment on whether the fickle and slow tuning has gotten better on recently-produced units? I really like the Phatty sound and like the small dimensions of the SP.
Thanks for any input!
Moog stuff: Slim Phatty, Minitaur, Mother-32, Werkstatt x2, MF-103, MF-104M, MF-108M
Running Moog software on Win7 64-bit
Dreams of a Voyager XL some day...

MoogProg
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:09 am

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by MoogProg » Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:18 am

I bought one a few months ago right after the close-out announcement. It is slow to tune-up, sometimes taking up to a half-hour. Even after it has been ON for several hours, if you power down then back on again, it will be out of tune for a few minutes. I was quite surprised to find the tune-up time to be just as described here on the Internet.

That said, I love it and would do it over again if I had a spare cash for another. I mean think about it, you can get a used LP Stage II with CV Outs and a new Slim Phatty for about the price of one new Sub37.

conradk
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 5:39 pm

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by conradk » Tue Jun 23, 2015 9:13 pm

You really have to let it warm up before playing it otherwise the internal tone/tuning gets completely out of whack. If it does, just go to Master > System Utilities > Master Reboot.

The process I settled on was to turn it on, change MIDI In to a channel that isn't used so it isn't receiving any note data. Then go back to Master and select Tuning > Auto and Cursor over so you can wait until it gets to 60. At that point it's ready to go. Yes - by modern standards, this is a ridiculous approach. But that's why I bought the LP at a cheap discount (original owner returned it within a week) and have now the Sub 37.

swb311
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2015 8:57 pm
Location: Tulsa, OK

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by swb311 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:57 pm

I have to turn mine on at least an hour before I use it.

grenert
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:10 pm

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by grenert » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:00 pm

Anyone just leave it on all the time?
Moog stuff: Slim Phatty, Minitaur, Mother-32, Werkstatt x2, MF-103, MF-104M, MF-108M
Running Moog software on Win7 64-bit
Dreams of a Voyager XL some day...

autoy
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:57 pm

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by autoy » Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:05 pm

Mine takes about 30 minutes in summer, about 45 in winter. Depending on where you live you may have to calibrate the whole thing 2 or 3 times a year because of temperature differences. Still, totally worth it. You just leave it on, do something else and come back later, no problem.

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MRNUTTY
Posts: 319
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 2:54 pm

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by MRNUTTY » Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:24 am

grenert wrote:Anyone just leave it on all the time?
I leave them all on all the time.
Last edited by MRNUTTY on Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
VoyagerEB, Minitaur, LittlePhattyII, 4xSlimPhatty, Sub37, MF[2x101,2x102,103,104M,105,105B,105M,2x107,108M], 3xCP251, XV351, MP201;
2xMother 32, DFAM, Subharmonicon;
System 55 and Minimoog clones with lots of mods.

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dmodhotr
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:53 pm
Location: Moogville

Re: Slim Phatty tuning still problematic?

Post by dmodhotr » Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:14 pm

I purchased my Slim June '14, and I have to agree with other posters and say (generally speaking) to turn it on, let it warm up, you are good to go.
I've had few problems with mine. A few times I thought it was out of tune, but it was the 2nd oscillator detuned in the preset. It warms up in under 30 min most of the time but I live in the Southern US.
When it was really cold this past winter I had the most problem with it not being in tune, and it would take longer to warm up.

I was wondering if people have theirs set to Fine Tune off? I just leave mine on and if it seems out, I turn Fine Tune off, sometimes it seems like the value will jump to whatever it is, (like -44), I dial it back to 0 and turn Fine Tune off again and it seems to be in tune. :wink:

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