Ex-Gary Numan Minimoog

[mashtone]

I bought a Minimoog from Gary in the mid 90s, he said at the time it was one of 2 he still had, and that the other one was not in sellable condition as it had fallen out of the back of a tour truck in the 80s and he said he wanted one to stick on the wall for nostalga IIRC. I was a student in Manchester in the early 90s and we all wanted a machine to make deep thudding basslines with, and a Minimoog was the holy grail even then. The manner in which it came my way was that I put a 'wanted' ad in Sound on Sound magazine (yes, that's how we got our hands on rare stuff pre-internet), and Gemma called me and off I went to swap my student loan for a MInimoog

Anyway, my son was quizzing me about it earlier today and asked me who Gary Numan was , so we googled him together and came across an article from 2015 where in an interview he says he bought his first Minimoog in late 1979 - the year he said mine was from when I bought it, and I'm sure the serial number should back that up if correct. I also think it is highly likely I have his FIRST Minimoog which I'll explain after posting the link to the article:

https://www.side-line.com/gary-numan-te ... wildhoney/

So, why do I think I might have his first one? Well, I didn't think much of it until now but it also has '#1' inscribed into the wood just a few inches left of the Moog badge on the panel above the keyboard. This is obviously a way they used to ID each of the 5/6 Minimoogs they had, and whether it was there when it was in Gary's posession will have to be verified by either Gary or someone who was there at the time. I know it was definitely there but I understand anyone who can use a marker pen could have done it.

I play more guitar nowadays but I still love the Moog and enjoy noodling around with it every once in a while, so I'm not lookng to sell it...unless a very rich superfan wants to swap it for a 59 burst - but what I'd like is advice on whether or not to service it in any way? The tuning is a bit wobbly when I first turn it on, but when warmed up it is fine, and so far with the exception of me changing a cracked (perished) fuse holder about 20 years ago, it has had no mods or repairs since I've had it. It's also never been MIDI'd as I'm sure they just played them live back then - crazy eh!

I'm fully aware the '#1' inscription could mean absolutely anything so please don't get sweaty about me trying to create something out of nothing - but one of the 5/6 Minimoogs he owned back then had to be his first, so why not his one?

Thx
M

[le bouch]

Hi,

I know you posted this nearly a year back but… cool story.

I don’t know where you are in the UK but (assuming you still have the synth) I can connect you with the tech who serviced Gary’s synths before he left for LA. In fact, he brought back to life Gary’s last remaining Mini that was discovered in his garage attic, covered in ivy!

[ummagumma]

Now THAT'S a good picture of a synth, with plants!

[Zev Miller]

Thanks a lot for the explanation.