Moog Music Forum

I'm not surprised the signature series has devalued so much. Moog bringing out the ae which looks far cooler, had better software, backlighting and no hardware problems sealed the sigs fate. Nobody is gonna pay 1500 more for bobs signature and a worse sounding/looking synth.

The SE has devalued because, what was supposed to be a limited edition . . low number synth has become a popular buy. Originally there were to be 100 SE's and 500 performers . . and that was it. However, in the future, it's more likely that collectors will pay bigger money for the real hardwood case and earlier serial numbers.

Regarding looks . . well that's down to the beholder. Personally I would favor a real hardwood finish over any sprayed finish . . . the SE's hand made cabinetry is gorgeous . . the performers machine made cabinetry looks like plastic . . the AE looks cheap all sprayed black (IMHO, and the backlighting, while fun, is a little gimicky) and as for the new Electric Blue finish . . I got to see one in NYC last week and all I can say is why? It looks like a very bad spray job.

What moog should have done is make a "Tough Voyager" . . build a molded plastic/ABS/Bullet Proof case for the performer.

Regarding sound . . my SE has yet to exhibit the few hardware faults that surfaced with the early SE's . . I do not (as yet) get the glitchy sound at volume 5 and my pitch wheel tracks properly . . and in any case, these faults can be fixed under the 4 year warranty . . . so having had the luck of having my SE and a friends AE next to each other I can say there is no sound difference between the two.

When you buy a synth, it ships with the software that was installed at the time of manufacture . . so even on an AE or Electric Blue you will have to update the software at some point . . . my SE#86 is right up to date with it's OS rev. and I have never found it a chore to update it.

Mal

Regarding looks . . well that's down to the beholder.

Absolutely. I myself cannot see the point of the EB - it is really just a black AE with an extra quirk added to the cabinet. If they really wanted to introduce another variation, why not a redwood cabinet, with orange backlighting? I reckon that would be stunning.

the backlighting is hardly a gimmick- have been using my ae on tour and in between trax when the lights go down and i need to re-patch the backlighting is essential. its a godsend. and has the wow factor. genius.

Yes, you're right about the backlighting. In a live situation it will obviously come into it's own, and it does look great.

Are you lot trying to say the SE will lose its value quickly? Damn.

I guess none of you guys have the 12v lamp?

Sure . . the light effect is unique . . and probably very usable in a live situation but in the studio I prefer my non-whistling Voyager.

Regarding the EB model . . go have a look at it in a store . . it looks awful . . look at the corners were the paint finish is rough . . it brings nothing to the design. If I needed to buy another Voyager and all I could get was an EB, then I would strip it . . but I bet the wood under the paint is some ol' cheap rubbish.

Mal

Hi Boeing 737-400

"Are you lot trying to say the SE will lose its value quickly? Damn."

No more then the other models and if anything, it will probably be the model that holds the most value..

Im a bit in the middle on this one. I love the standard wood finish but I also love the AEs light show. This is why this little puppy is the dog's nads!

http://www.bigcitymusic.com/i/cat/New/1000290_L.jpg

Although the list price is okay, unfortunately all the import duties and VAT for bring into UK make this model way too expensive, about £400 more then I am paying for my AE. Its a real shame as it is my ultimate Voyager.

See you,

northern hope wrote:I can't imagine the Electric Blue being nearly as popular as the standard wood editions, and that might make it a little more valuable down the road if it's discontinued early enough. Hard to say.

That's a good point. I wonder what the next casing for the Voyager will be?

punkdisco wrote:hmmm - just expired for a 3rd time with no bids.. The starting bid is only £1500 and there is no reserve. Seems like a BIG depreciation for a £3000 synth..

Still waiting on my purchase but should be within a week..

From a purely fiscal point of view: the way things are with the second-hand (and new) markets, buying my Moog-badged, Moog-signed cherry Voyager Signature Edition was probably the worst financial decision I have ever made, beautiful and well made as the Voyager is - my money would have been far better off in a bank savings account. I am actually too embarassed to tell people that I paid over twice what its now worth, ironically since the other analogue gear I own has carried on appreciating! Financial considerations *have* to come into it, these things are expensive.

I considered that buying a genuine Moog-badged one in the UK (where they were officially 'unavailable') from an expensive dealer would make it more valuable in the long term, until my tech guy pointed out that the NON-Moog badged ones are globally speaking the relatively rare ones, and would probably hold their value better. I am not sure I totally agree, but...

I realise that I am in a slightly better position than if I was the owner of a stock, non-limited edition Voyager bought through Turnkey but all the same, I do feel Moog did owners and customers no favours by offering all these limited/special editions, one after the other.

All that said, I think the Voyager is an excellent instrument on many levels, and I didn't buy it as an investment opportunity - I am a user. I do feel rather sorry for people who *did* buy it to lock away for 20 years and hope that it will become as sought-after as a Minimoog is these days, although even they seem to be declining slightly in value. The Taurus I bass pedals are where it's at, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if amongst Moog 's next products was the 21st Century Taurus I.

Ben
(far more pleased that he also owns an MF-104!)

In all honesty, I think it is somewhat perverse to buy a musical instrument and lock it away, in the hope it will appreciate in value. I wonder just how many of us who own Voyagers have actually done that? Afterall, many violinists want to own a Stradavarius, but they usually want to play the thing, as opposed to speculating on future value!

Okay, the a Voyager will probably never be worth as much as a Stradavarius in our life times, but in four hundred years, who knows?

It's a fine line between 'Collector' and 'Musician'.

You buy one synth . . you buy another, and before long you end up with more then you can play, store or afford to maintain.

I personally know a load of people that buy synths for their 'collectors' value . . and the key thing for these people is the condition of the unit . . locking a synth up in a roadcase for 10 years is a viable option for them (especially if they are non musicians) . . probably not good for the instrument but collectors are happy to pay for a service every once in a while . . weird but true.

Mal (no longer a collector).

I've never understood the "collector" mentality. You can find far better things to invest in than analog synths....old or new.

A person that bought a new Jupiter 8 in 1980 paid around $5000, but you can get one for under $2000 now in good condition. A good or a bad investment? Well, if that person has continued to use it all these years then it was a good investment, based on the quality and/or sales of the recordings it's been used on.

It's obvious that Ebay has everyone looking at what they're buying for investment purposes, but if you really plan on actually *using* your equipment, than it's hardly a concern.

Synths still have a ways to go to catch up to the guitar market in terms of investment and collectability.

I have a Walnut AE and I think it's something to keep for a lifetime.

Yes, I feel the same about my maple AE.

Oh, and Mal - I bet you do start collecting again in the future!

Hi,

I took a trip down to Earth Music to try out the aforementioned Voyager Signature Edition. As far as looks are concerned, the Voyager was in mint condition and I was about to snap it up when I decided to power it up. The LCD display was flickering between various screens without any user interaction - the only way to stop it was to press the touchpad but upon releasing it it continued in the same erratic way. The shop said they would get their engineer to repair it, but this put me off the sale all together as I would have preferred this to be done by Moog.

I decided against buying it for this reason and bought an even cheaper new discounted Performer edition. If I had bought this machine on eBay I wouldn't have had a chance to test it and would now be lumbered with a faulty machine in need of repair. Try before you buy!