Moog Music Forum

Hello everyone,

I know I'm new in this forum but I would really like advise regarding a Prodigy, Model A without CV/Gate.

I've been offered one for £600 which is equivalent to around $930. The synth is in amazing condition but is this over priced. The seller has said that the Prodigy ranges from $700-$1300.

If I was to buy the Prodigy, how easy would it be to have it modified so that I can have MIDI In/Out. I dont understand the whole CV/Gate thing. I am new to synths and sequencer so please bare with me

Thanks everyone

Rachel x x

I'd decline at that price, personally....even if it did have CV/gate. CV/Gate is really just an old school way of controlling synths/etc with an external device. However having CV/Gate makes it less of a job to MIDIfy a synth, as there are off the shelf adapters available that won't require you to modify the synth internally, just plug and play more or less. Its not impossible to add MIDI to one without CV/Gate, but definitely a bit more complicated. I am not providing this service... but I would assume you're looking at a ballpark of at least $300+ for a tech to add MIDI, depending on if you find someone local to do it or have to ship it. Despite the synth being in amazing (physical?) condition the synth could easily have all kinds of things wrong internally, if the synth has not been recently serviced I would assume that it needs some TLC at least...its a pretty old synth really...not to turn you off of vintage synths just a reality, and I have bought dozens over the years.


For accurate price references, always check eBay...and click "Sold" listings...then you can see what they have sold for in the last 90 days or so. For example, here is a "fully functioning awesome sounding" Moog Prodigy without CV Gate that sold for $760. That is the most recent one, but it is also an above average price for this model as well... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moog-Prodigy-Sy ... 3381970be7

Here is one "fully restored" without CV that sold for $810. http://www.ebay.com/itm/moog-prodigy-sy ... 4ac2ed237c


Now I'm a negotiator on these type of deals, so if the seller can provide documented proof of the Prodigy recently being serviced, and be able to demonstrate its full functionality, and I was in the market... I would pay $600 absolute max, in reality probably less...I'd certainly start the bargaining in the low $500 range. A few reasons:

1. In comparing eBay prices, these prices are always going to be higher than "in person" transactions, because its a global market and everyone can look at it. eBay however is very much in favor in the buyer's experience. A seller will have to pay 12% of the final item value in fees to eBay. THEN, they have to pack the item securely and hope it arrives safe. THEN, if the item does not live up to the auction listing...the buyer can send it back for a refund. So really a lot of hassle for the seller to use eBay. Consequently, as a buyer you pay a little more for that extra assurance that the item will be as described...

2. Not having CV/Gate is automatically going to put this Prodigy at the bottom of the desirability scale of Prodigys...and consequently closer to the bottom of the price range than your seller thinks. It will be expensive and maybe even a royal PITA to get it to interface with MIDI. If MIDI is important to you I might suggest you hold out for a different Prodigy if that's what you want.

3. Its a very old synth and is likely to have a few problems, even with a verified service history.

4. There are modern made analog synths out or coming out soon that have "comparable" features but with modern conveniences like MIDI for similar money...such as the Moog Sub Phatty, Korg MS20 Mini, Novation Bassstation 2...and of course the advantage of not being 30 some years old already. Now the sound may not be the same...but...I guess it depends on what you want most out of a synth. If you want something that you can play live with, then I would absolutely consider a modern analog over a vintage.

I wasn't impressed with the Prodigy, and I don't think that it is really worth the prices that it fetches. If I was going to get one, I probably wouldn't pay over $600 for it because there are far better synths out there, but being a vintage Moog, they have a tendancy to fetch premiums. I'd try to talk him down off of that or walk away entirely and there will always be something better to come along, potentially at a better price. Why get a prodigy when you can get a used LP for that price?

Edit: responding without reading kslight's post I realize in hindsight that I essentially echoed his sentiments.

I would jump on it (figure of speech) if it is in good shape. I paid more than that for my clear plexi wheels modded Prodigy. Buying from E-bay is always a risk, you don't know if the machine is in order and there are shipping costs. A machine that you can see, feel and hear is a plus.

Edit.. oopsss.. re-reading the post... if it does not have CV/s installed already, look elsewhere.

The Prodigy is a fantastic machine but early units are best avoided.

Portamental wrote:I would jump on it (figure of speech) if it is in good shape. I paid more than that for my clear plexi wheels modded Prodigy. Buying from E-bay is always a risk, you don't know if the machine is in order and there are shipping costs. A machine that you can see, feel and hear is a plus.

No risk in eBay, for the buyer...? If it doesn't match the description you send it back on the seller's dime and get your money back.

Well... sold as is... pretty much says it all as far as your chances of recuperating your money. In my case anything from another country is 14 % taxes at the border, non-refundable.

Luckily I was always able to find locally.

Portamental wrote:Well... sold as is... pretty much says it all as far as your chances of recuperating your money. In my case anything from another country is 14 % taxes at the border, non-refundable.

Luckily I was always able to find locally.

Afraid not, regardless of whatever bs terms and conditions the seller puts in the text, they have also said it is completely serviced and fully functioning...and listed the item as "seller refurbished." So if you receive a hunk of junk that is not in fact fully functioning, PayPal will take the money and give it back to you. Seller's terms never supercede eBay policy, unless they have listed the item as "for parts or not working" they will have to take returns if it doesn't match the description.

^ You are young.. you have time to mess around.

Meh, I've seen them for around $600-700. Even then I'd just get a Little or Sub Phatty. More reliable and much more versatile. At least Bob Moog developed the Little Phatty, so if anything it's more authentic anyway.

I used to gig with my Prodigy A when it was new in the 80's. The oscillators are quite unstable--they would go way out of tune if a cold wind blew in. I still keep it, but don't play it much. It's in a plastic bag now. I guess what I'm saying is that it's more collector piece than an instrument I would take from venue to venue.

You would do better with a used Little Phatty, if you can find one. Good luck, whatever you decide.

Ledbetter wrote:The oscillators are quite unstable--they would go way out of tune if a cold wind blew in.

I wouldn't paint all Prodigys with the same "unstable tuning" brush.
The osc design of the Prodigy includes circuits that heat them up to a specific temperature.
Set properly, external temperatures should hardly affect VCO tuning.
But set improperly, the VCOs could be highly temperature sensitive and go out of tune easily given varied temperatures.
Dirty front panel tuning pots or internal trimmers can also create unstable tuning too.
Perhaps your particular instrument was broken or out of calibration?
I'm not saying yours didn't have such problems, but most shouldn't.

Kevin Lightner wrote:

Ledbetter wrote:The oscillators are quite unstable--they would go way out of tune if a cold wind blew in.

I wouldn't paint all Prodigys with the same "unstable tuning" brush.
The osc design of the Prodigy includes circuits that heat them up to a specific temperature.
Set properly, external temperatures should hardly affect VCO tuning.
But set improperly, the VCOs could be highly temperature sensitive and go out of tune easily given varied temperatures.
Dirty front panel tuning pots or internal trimmers can also create unstable tuning too.
Perhaps your particular instrument was broken or out of calibration?
I'm not saying yours didn't have such problems, but most shouldn't.

Also, the first ones that rolled out had an issue with the oscillators floating way out of tune. It was caught and from what I understand, the later PCB revisions corrected this issue. For the older versions, there was a mod that could be done to correct it. I have one of the first to roll off the line and it had this issue. After some digging, the tech was able to get mod documents and fixed her right up. The oscillators are extremely stable. I have never had an issue of them drifting once out of tune.

Anyway, I think any more tha $850 for a Prodigy is a bit much. I paid $650 for mine with $175 in repairs. The functionality is quite limited and to me doesnt warranty some of the prices I see them going for these days. Keep in mind, the Prodigy was Moogs most popular selling synth. It sold thousands upon thousands. It's not a rare item in the least. If it's the sound you are really after, save the cash and invest in a Multimoog.

Thanks Muksys,

Apparently the very early Prodigys DID have some tuning problems despite their heated oscillators.
Embarrassingly, I already had the info regarding these mods and serial numbers on my site.

http://www.synthfool.com/docs/Moog/prodigymods.pdf

In reading that doc, it says "information on the first 11,000 Prodigys produced..." !
How many more than that were made ??

http://www.moogmusic.com/products/cloth ... rodigy-tee

According to Moog Music it was 11,000.