Questions About New Indigo Select

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:09 pm

Greetings all,

I have a couple of questions about my beautiful new electric blue/indigo voyager.

I am new here and this is the first moog i have owned but have been around analogue synths for years and have been heavily using an old Model D for the last two years. And loving it, obviously!

I originally ordered a black/indigo (shop model) from Sam Ash in LA, collected by my friend who was working over in the states ( i'm in Bristol, UK). What they gave him was an electric blue/indigo. Easy mistake to make. I guess. Another story. Originally i was horrified when i heard, as in the pics on the moog site, the electric blue cab looked, well, wrong.

I need not have worried. It is absolutely beautiful! Amazing. Words (in a short post) cannot express how much i love my baby. Nuff said. I'll get to the point...

In many photos of select series i have seen, the amazing shop display photo on the moog site for example, the pitch and mod wheels are the same colour as the backlight. On my indigo beast, the wheels are white while the backlight is indigo. It still looks the bomb but.... Is this normal for this backlight option?

I'm not about to send the thing back because it was hard to get in the first place and i love it. Its just been bugging me! I'm sure you understand.. Thanks, Peace and love, Liam.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:40 pm

So YOU are the lucky owner of that beautiful instrument! I remember seeing it advertised on SamAsh.com, but it disappeared about a week ago. I would guess that the wheels are a very light shade of purple, as LED's have a difficult time accurately reproducing a deep violet colour, as you spell it. Unless Amos tells us otherwise, this is my theory. Congrats, and welcome to the forums!

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:48 pm

Thanks Voltar.

Thanks, It is indeed beautiful. I am a lucky man!

I assumed the same thing about the light, "aw, shame, the indigo led doesnt really come off on the wheels." but on closer inspection, you can just see the led through the clear side of the wheel, and its definately white.

As i say i love the board anyway, but it would be nice to get the matching wheels if it is supposed to be that way.

Thanks for your response.

Peace.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:05 pm

If they are indeed white, couldn't you put a small piece of purple stage gel over the LED's? If the Voyager uses the same type of LED mounting as the LP (hot melt) it shouldn't be any trouble to make a colour filter. Just a thought.

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:11 pm

heh! Good idea!
Not sure i'd want to open her up for that though, voided warranties and all that jazz...

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:17 pm

lsd wrote:heh! Good idea!
Not sure i'd want to open her up for that though, voided warranties and all that jazz...

Warranties are for weaklings, I always say.

The Little Phatty has 4 screws holding the wheel assembly in place. Once those are removed, getting to the wheels is a no-brainer. Even a five year-old could remove the wheel assembly without doing any damage. I'm not sure if the Voyager is as easily accessed, though. You could always E-mail Amos at Moog Music and ask him first, if you're worried.

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:22 pm

I will do if it comes to that! Nice one.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:29 pm

Nice signature, BTW! What an awesome collection!

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:55 pm

Heh, thanks! I have to come clean in that i dont OWN any of these apart from the Voyager but that is the set up in the studio with my band. The other boards belong to my bandmate Krust. I hope this is not a violation of some forum rules?

I've been lucky enough to work in some very well equipped studios, analogue-wise, for years. I never had much money and as I was surrounded by synths I never bought any. Recently I made some money from skills I learned in this period and so bought the voyager as a reward and a symbol to myself.... Follow your dreams and you shall live them!

Should i edit my signature now?...

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:04 am

First of all welcome to the forum.

Second of all Mad envy to the Model D.

I was thinking that could have been an early electric blue cabinet but aparently its a unique piece?

They could definately change the lights out if you wanted them to.

And you coudl probably do it yourself. I wouldn't because I love warranties.

Congrats on that and hey, I haven't seen any Moogs in Arkansas except for the ones that I have and the one at guitar center and the one my cousin has, so its lucky to get to tweak a true Mini.

I lost the bid on the Satellite that was on Ebay the other day I was sad. I was going to have Lightner fit it with an Osc Freq input and get it back up to speck.

EricK

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:30 am

lsd wrote: Should i edit my signature now?...

Not really...as long as someone in your band has the stuff, leave it! It looks impressive. If he should leave the band, then, sadly, yes you should change your signature at that point. It's all good.

OLFAudio · Post by **OLFAudio** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 3:25 am

Hey there-

I have seen the Moog Indigo at Sam Ash and can confirm that the wheels are supposed to be white.

A while back I had to send my Voyager in for repairs/upgrades and decided to get the Indigo backlighting with walnut casing. In talking with Amos, he confirmed that the wheels were white on the Sam Ash Indigo models.

I ended up having them put in purple lights for the wheels and it does look cool though the purple isn't that bright.

Enjoy your new Moog.

lsd · Post by **lsd** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:30 am

Thanks ezra, at least i know now. If the indigo light isn't significantly brighter i'll leave it as is i reckon. Cheers.

Amos · Post by **Amos** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:26 pm

The Indigo originally shipped with white wheels because they didn't know where to get any clear purple LEDs.

I found 'em some, so now the Indigo comes with purple wheels.
So, yours is an earlier-production Indigo with what was the standard wheel color at the time.

I can send you some purple LEDs if you have someone that can solder 'em in. It's not difficult. Or you could send me the left-hand controller and I could swap in some purple LEDs for you. Just let me know if you'd like to investigate this option; email amos at moogmusic dot com.
It is true that the white LEDs are brighter but the purple ones are reasonably bright if you point 'em at the wheels right. The light is very directional so if your purple wheels are kind of dim it's quite possible that adjusting the angle so the LEDs are pointing more straight at the wheels would help.

Careful about looking directly into the purple LEDs when they're on, as they are actually blacklight LEDs and they put out ultraviolet radiation which is not good for the old peepers. This is not a problem through the wheels in normal use, only if you're in there moving them around and looking directly at the LEDs. I recommend adjusting them with the power off and then looking at the results through the wheels.

Cheers,

Amos

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:33 pm

Cool! I love things with warnings attached! UV LED's, lead solder, Tesla coils, Wimshurst machines, Chinese baby food, etc!