Moog Music Forum

Hi,
I have a Moog Liberation that I still gig with occasionally, and I'm wondering if anyone has any care & maintenance tips. It's in good shape, but getting pretty old.

My main concern is the ribbon controller. This seems pretty fragile - should I be cleaning or waxing it with anything?

Also, any good tips on cleaning the sliders? Just standard electronic contact cleaner?

Anyone got any tips?

The ribbons shouldn't be sprayed with anything.
I've never heard of waxing one.
They're either teflon or nylon coated tape covered.
I have a roll of the same tape, but if yours isn't too worn and works, I'd just play it as usual.

If you have to press very hard to obtain a pitch change or the pitch is erratic, it may need to be serviced or replaced.
(The only replacements I knew of were the approx 25 ones I had that were Moog NOS, but they were sold off long ago.)

They can be fragile if taken apart, so be careful if you do.
Make sure to never bend the stainless steel strip under the ribbon tape.
Cleaning of the resistive element and ribbon can be done with standard cotton swabs and alcohol.
Don't use any sprays, especially any with lubricants inside the ribbon.
Outside you might try a silicone spray, but it shouldn't be necessary and could contaminate the contact inside.
Spray your finger instead?

The stainless band under the ribbon also makes contact against a silver coated surface and that silver can tarnish.
So cleaning those areas at the ends can help.
On some ribbons, simply tightening the screws on the top from the outside can improve operation.

Otherwise... if it works, don't fix it. Play it.

Thanks for the tips. It still works great - I just want to keep it that way for years to come!

I think mine might be missing the tape covering. The top layer is just a braided mesh of small steel wires. There's supposed to be a layer on top of that? Do you have a good picture of one? I'll grab a picture of mine tonight.

Here's a photo of the ribbon.

http://hackbar.net/images/DSCN0532.JPG