THANKS to Kevin Lightner

[AlakaLazlo]

In the late 1970s, when most kids my age were saving up for cars, I spent the proceeds of my very first bank loan on something completely different. You see, a little place called Sound Arts had a bunch of old Moog synthesizer modules they weren’t using and I wanted them... bad. They assembled a small system in 2 portable cases from some very early modules including 2 full sets of old 901 series oscillators which I later learned had belonged to Paul Beaver. Also included were a few modules that had been - according to their internal labels - “property of Robert A. Moog” and a few prototypes as well. I used the beast in studios and live gigs for may years, but in the 80s, disillusioned with music, I stashed her away in a closet.
My reintroduction to electronic music had me pulling her out again some 20 years later. Scratchy pots, poor tracking, dead lamps, all symptoms of age and poor storage, were manageable but seriously inconvenient. I wanted to have her gone through by someone who knew what he was doing, and also by someone with a appreciation of them system’s historical significance.
I received many referrals. I did a significant amount of research on each candidate. Good thing too. It’s amazing how many repair guys are incompetent, sloppy, or downright thieves. There one “Moog guy” in particular who - according to numerous sources - has apparently stolen (as in taken in for repair and never returned) many old synths. But one guy kept coming out on the top of the list: Kevin Lightner. I looked him up and he seemed to be the real deal. And he only lived about an hour and a half drive from me which would make getting it back and forth much less stressful than shipping. A few e-mails back and forth (where I discovered we grew up in the same neighborhood!) and I decided he was the guy.
In late July, I took my Moog IIP up to Kevin’s for a going-through. I wasn’t all that concerned with appearance, I just wanted her to work properly. So I didn’t have the cabinets re-Tolexed or anything. I did have him replace any warn out parts (potentiometers, capacitors, resistors, panel lamps, etc.) that he suggested, stabilize the power supply, and re-calibrate everything. I specified that everything be done with OEM parts, both for historical and sonic reasons. That wasn’t cheap, but at least he had the parts...
And then I waited.... (something that I am notoriously bad at....)
I periodically sent (way too many?) emails asking for progress reports. I suspect I got under his skin a bit... (Sorry Kevin). But he put up with me, kept at it, and last weekend, around 4 months after dropping her off, I went up to get her.
Let me say that, in my years of dealing with various “technologists,” I have found there are basically 3 types of guys; techs (they can get things to function as they should, but don’t really worry much about appearance); artisans (their work looks visually awesome, but isn’t necessarily functionally perfect) and - the ultra rare - both. Kevin Lightner is - without a doubt - in the third group.
First, everything - and I mean everything - works beautifully. Every jack, switch, pot, and lamp is like new (or perhaps better?). No cackling, intermittent connections, jittery tuning, none of the things I had (and one expects) from a 40+ year old electronic instrument. The sonic quality is vastly improved as well. My Moog 904A filter (the holy grail of synth geeks) sounds better than ever. Plus she tracks significantly better than before. Even in the higher registers, I’m getting a usable 5 octaves from old 901s! Admittedly, these have the “Paul Beaver” low tracking mods, but these things are now really solid. And the sound.... You haven’t lived until you’ve heard 6 901s tracking together through a 904A ...
The quality of the work is visually superb as well, all the way down to the cable ties used on the inter-module wiring loams. Really first rate.
Anyone looking to restore an old modular synth should seriously consider using Kevin Lightner.

[Kevin Lightner]

Thank you very much, both for your post above, but also for your patience and understanding.

I would like to point out that the mods I noticed in the 901Bs were nothing more than replacing the low frequency tracking trimmer with an external adjustment in the rear.
The key to getting 901Bs to track well lies in matching components.
In many older instruments, especially Moogs and Arps, there is a certain type of carbon resistor that I routinely have found to be off-value with the passage of time.
I'm not speaking of a small amount of variance, but often huge.
For those not aware, a silver band on resistor denotes a 10% tolerance in relation to the value printed.
A gold band denotes 5%.

Well in these particular VCOs, I found 5% resistors that were anywhere from 10% to 400% off-value.
That means a resistor marked, say, 10K, could actually test out to be 40K, 60K or more.
What I did was replace many of these resistors with either matched resistor sets or metal film 1% types.
So in my opinion, this is why so many 901B's, Minimoogs, Odys and other synths can be out of tune, have offsets or other problems even though technically none of the parts are broken.

The types of resistors I'm referring to are usually a dark brown color with 90 degree edges- perfect cylinders with no tapering at the edges.
If you have an accurate ohm meter, try testing resistors in vintage gear you presently have and you might be surprised or shocked to learn they can be nowhere near the values printed on them in color code.
This to me is one of the secrets of getting such modules to track and perform well.

[Prime NL]

Thanks too the both of you for sharing your experiences...very interesting to read how much attention goes into handling such a repair....

[BrianK]

Kevin's great - and has done TONS of work on many Moogs and other, more rare, synths. IF you have patience, then you can let a tech deal with the many knowns and unknowns needed to get a synth working right. They can be kept very original, or modded creatively to be WAY more reliable and powerful. Kevin knows what these synths were, and has done some really cool things (like the resistor changes above) that don't ruin them, but make them do "what they do" so much better.

[Nick Montoya]

TRUE ! Kevin and Monica Lightner are also some of the most genuine, generous and down right cool folk I've ever met..
I am honored to know them personally!

I love reading stories on here about what an amazing job Kevin does on everything he touches!

My Minimoog is the coolest minimoog ever thanks to the Lightners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pwZzpNviWU