This one in via joe. You can find the rest of the pics and discussion on this VSE thread. I mirrored the shots here for when the thread goes to limbo. Images and the find via badhatharry, who had the following to say on the VSE post:"Hi. First time listener and caller. I joined this forum because I discovered my work had a modular moog sitting uncovered in storage. I talked my boss into letting me get that thing up and running. Today my co-worker (Jacob) and I (Drew) pulled the thing out of storage, ran an air compressor through it, set it up in an empty office, and got it up and running with no maintenance. The pots and switches are all pretty dirty, and will need to be hit with some contact cleaner, but I was able to get the two keyboards and ribbon controller running. I've never used anything like this before (I'm more of a crappy guitar player), but am looking forward to learning how to use this thing.
Here is a list of the moog's components:
2 Keyboard controllers
1 Ribbon controller
1 950 B Scale Programmer (does this tune the keyboards? I know, not really "tune," but for all intents and purposes?)
3 901 ABB Oscillator banks
3 901 VCO
2 904 4 channel mixers
2 960 sequencers
2 962 Sequential switches (no idea what these do)
2 panels of something called "Multiples" with two banks of 4 1/4" jacks. Also have no idea what this does.
2 961 interfaces (no idea about these, either)
1 914 Fixed Filter Bank
1 905 Reverb Unit
1 904 B Voltage Controlled High Pass Filter
1 904 C Filter Coupler (don't know about this one, either)
1 904 A Voltage Controlled Low Pass Filter
3 902 VCA
3 911 Envelope Generators
1 911 A Dual Trigger Delay
1 912 Envelope Follower
Trying to get the sequencer up and running, but when I assign a tone to a track, all it does is pop when the sequencer gets to that track. It's a pretty loud pop. Anyone know what might cause that? Is it just dirty?
Sorry for the long post, but a lot on information to get through. Will update with shorter posts as I figure out how to use this thing."
"It was purchased new, and if I'm reading the codes on the components right, it was made in October of '69."
"I work for the Buck Owens Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, Ca. They know exactly what they have with this thing. It took a while to get my boss to let me mess with it. They tell me that this was the second one shipped. The first one was sent to Wendy Carlos."
Holy Moly!
ReplyDeleteLike finding a Ferrari in a chicken coop, eh.
cue: Take Me Back Again
(to) The Streets of Bakersfield
(cuz) I Got a Tiger by the Tail
To the "finder" of this piece - Please don't hurt this thing you've been messing with. By messing with, I mean what you've been doing so far. DO NOT spray contact cleaner in the pots without seeking professional guidance first. The sequencer probably works fine - judging by your lack of knowledge about what the various modules are, and your terminology of what was happening when you tried it, you most likely have no idea how it works. Stop trying to make it work the way you've been doing, and get some guidance from someone who knows what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteHope this can be communicated somehow to the original poster of this thing. Thanks.
Two suggestions:
ReplyDeleteYou probably did this, but for those who may not know this - in the future if you use compressed (canned) air, make sure it's ionized - ESP safe. Most spraycan compressed air products are cool with this, but most are compressors are not. Blowing air over parts at speed has the same effect as rubbing your hand on balloon - it creates a strong static charge which, depending how it discharges, can degrade or worst case blow parts which are sensitive to ESD (Electro-static Discharge). There's no good in blapping static sensitive devices when you're just trying to clean away dust and debris.
The problem with ESD is it very rarely causes a catastrophic failure - meaning very rarely do the effected parts immediately stop working as a result. More commonly they are degraded, meaning they will fail in time. It effects their mortality rate. The rub on this is you're not aware you've caused damage because it's not immediately obvious. ALso keep in mind that there is a possibility that t will not case any damage - but it's not worth the risk.
In regard to the sequencer - which outputs are coming out of? From our description of when it's happening and the result (the pop), it sounds like you may be going out of the jacks which are located below the voltage pots. Those I believe are gate outputs so the result you're getting is to be expected. If you haven't already, try coming out of the three bank sum outputs - which are on the right side of the sequencer labeled A, B and C - meaning the summed voltage pattern from the A row of pots, B row of pots and C row of pots.
If I've misunderstood your original comment, please forgive.
hope this helps,
-n P
I'm surprised that Barney's Pie Hotel know what they have, actually, considering the terrible condition it sounds like it's in and the fact that it was left uncovered.
ReplyDeletei'm guessing this is the moog used on jeff haskell's "switched on buck" album?
ReplyDeleteThe beast must need to be re-capped at a bare minimum...I certainly wouldn't put juice to it until having it refurbed...
ReplyDeleteMay I offer this bit of advice regarding cleaning tools.
ReplyDelete"Suck, don't blow!"
You want to take the dirty stuff out not force it back in deeper.
I realise analog synth repair isn't rocket science however for something like this that is valuable and looks to be otherwise in great shape the owner should consider sending it to a qualified technician to work on.
ReplyDeleteI see stuff that would have been a simple repair come through all the time that has been f*cked up by someone who tried to fix it themselves.
those of us that maintain high end gear for a living tend to know what needs ( and more importantly what does NOT need) to be done to certain gear.
Yow!
ReplyDeleteAs Buck himself might have said, you've got a tiger by the tail!
ReplyDelete(Now all you have to do is act naturally).
Buck Owens is a great musician, but I guess I missed his "synth" phase. What the hell is that Moog doing there?
ReplyDeleteIt appears to be a Moog IIIC with the optional 960 double sequencer complement and a 950B scale-programmer.
ReplyDeleteim sure the initial customers for whole Moog systems were people with LARGE amounts of cash....who could afford something that they didnt know how to use....just to satisfy their curiosity....great find!
ReplyDeleteThe owner used it for a french horn before storing it away. That rules.
ReplyDeletereading things like 2 962 Sequential switches (no idea what these do) makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteI've VERY surprised it came up at all. The LAST thing I would have done after pulling it out would have been to power it up. wow.
i am as well quite shocked nothing blew up when he turned it on.
ReplyDeleteas far as a ferrari in a chicken coop, there's a guy in Raymond IL whose hobby is finding tiny little european cars from the 60s in downstate IL chicken coops. he's got about 14 Renaults in his quonoset hut in downtown Raymond.
he also threatened to kill me once but that's another story ....
That's amazing.
ReplyDeleteIf you're reading this, I must also throw in my two cents: don't use contact cleaner or any other spray on the pots. It will make them sound okay for a while but they'll soon end up more gummed up than ever.
Have a professional synth tech look at it.
If you must clean anything yourself stick with simple isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs.
"... 14 Renaults in his quonoset hut ..."
ReplyDeleteOh, you mean like several stored Ondiolines in Jean Michel Jarre's basement?
;-)
badhatharry, who found the MOOG asked me to post the following comment for him as his log-on isn't working.
ReplyDelete"Yes, I know about recapping it. I'm getting kinda fed up with people who assume the because I don't quite understand how the triggering system on this thing works, that I don't understand electronics. I disconnected the power supply from the unit before I turned it on, and metered the DC voltage, and then checked the AC ripple. The DC read 12v, 18v, and 24v, and the AC ripple was at 7mv. I understand that it's a rare piece of equipment, but at its heart, it's a piece of electronics, and I know what makes these things blow up. It's not run by magic, it's run by electrons. And I understand how those things behave. I contacted people regarding what voltages I should see, and the power supply works just fine. That being said, I am recapping it next week, and it was on for part of one day. And it worked fine. The rest of the time was spent cleaning the components with a contact cleaner that is essentially pressurized alcohol. The spray application means that I don't have to use cotton swabs.
As far as understanding what everything does, you guys seem to forget that there was a point where you had no idea about this gear, either. I am just in the rare position to learn by doing, rather than from books. And I'm not trying to be arrogant, or rub it in, I don't forget for one second how much of an honor it is to be able to use one of these pieces of equipment. As far as making people sad because I don't know how to use the sequential switches, sorry to make you sad, but I'm learning what this stuff does. I'm guessing the problems I was having with the sequencer was that I was patching the on/off voltage to the speaker, rather than to some sort of control input to get it to trigger the tone. Like analog MIDI. I just read Peter's comment. Thank you for the tips. I have both a service manual and a user's manual on the way, so those will be helpful. And I'm aware of ESD, and I used compressed air to clean the case, and ionized air to clean the circuitry.
Yes, this was the one used on "Switched On Buck."
Cebec, this thing is not in horrible condition, and me and my yokel friends know exactly what we have. My boss was the guy who originally used it, along with Jeff Haskell and Lee Furr. But thanks for you condescention.
Birdflu, I suspect Buck bought it more as an investment. He was a fan o unusual instrumentation. That same storage also houses a mellotron that was used of many records. He bought it as kind of a toy.
One thing: I posted that this was the second one shipped, after Wendy Carlos'. That is not true. I apologize. The SN on it is 1202, and I believe they went in sequence from 1001, making this the 202nd one built. Matrixsynth sent me the contact info for the Moog Foundation, and I am going to try and contact them today to get some history on this unit. If you would like, I could keep you up to date on those efforts, but I must ask that most of the "he has no idea what he's doing and will cause this thing to go up in flames" posts be stopped. I'm not so arrogant as to suggest that you don't try to call me out on things if you feel I am doing something wrong, but there was an incredibly dramatic missive on the forum that matrixsynth referenced by someone who said that I should apologize to my employers for the irreparable harm I have caused this instrument. Please, no stuff like that. I joined the forum because there are people out there who know a lot more about this thing than me, and I appriciate your help. But, please, no yelley comments."
Hats off to badhatharry for being such a stand-up guy.
ReplyDeletePersonally, the only downside is that for the past day and a half I've had "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" running on a continuous loop in my head.
All right, now I've got my login working. Thanks for the compliment, Reed. And as I am still getting talked down to on the other forum regarding the contact cleaner, I would like to clear this up once and for all:
ReplyDeleteThe use of contact cleaner is fine. It is a quick drying solution that leaves no residue, and is plastic safe. I work around many electrical engineers (I work for a company that also owns many radio stations, but is not Clear Channel), and consult them regarding any component level work, and we decide what steps I should take to restore this device. I am in no danger of destroying this instrument.
The Moog Foundation won't be of much help, it's not their place to help in situations like this. You'll want to aim at Roger Luther, c/o:
ReplyDeletehttp://moogarchives.com/
There's a list up there that runs to SN 1087. Roger has access to the rest of the records.
fwiw... the Moog modular I rescued from a pile of sawdust many years ago had reasonable PS voltages and ripple looked good. I still blew two of the VCOs and a couple of custom pieces when I powered it on.
You claim to "know what you have" there, but in reality you don't. Electrons can flow in whacky ways when you're talking about 40 years of clock time.
Don't be so cocky... ask for help from people that know that machine inside and out. If you don't, you may never get it right.
I do know what I have. I really wish people would stop telling me I have no idea what I am doing. This is not the first time I have opened something up. The fact that it's a Moog makes no difference. Its pots do the same thing as any other pots. And I'm not being cocky. I work around many people who are smarter than me, and I consult them before I do anything I'm not quite sure of. Relax, it's in good hands. And thanks for Roger Luther's name.
ReplyDeleteSo, I just read through the VSE thread. Looks like I'm not the only one that's been telling you these things.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that you neglected to mention here when quoting your PS readings was the rest of the post that you had on VSE: I heard from a friend who's the smartest person I have ever met that that thing won't blow until around 30v
That's one of the STOOPIDIST things I've heard in a while.
You're getting a LOT of good advice over there, and you're seemingly ignoring most of it. So carry on, plow through that thing as you are, and when you hit the generally harder-than-you-can-imagine-to-find parts in the VCOs, and you find that you popped 'em... look back on all this and have yourself a laugh.
I'm really sorry now that I gave you Roger's name - though you had the website from the other thread and his name's in the open.
yeah, I'm really sorry you've had any contact with me as well. Now stop talking to me.
ReplyDeleteBest matrixsynth comment thread ever.
ReplyDelete@dalas v. "Best matrixsynth comment thread ever."
ReplyDeleteyeah.. but I'm done taking up space here. The VSE forum is a better place for this.
BHH: You asked for this kind of feedback by making any of this public. You need to be able to accept it.
just blow it up to spite them!
ReplyDeleteLovely find indeed :D
ReplyDeleteSome of the comments made by other folks on here really make themselves out to be real dicks who are probably sat at home with nothing more than a Roland Sh 101
Moogs were built like tanks and all this talk of switch cleaners etc.. is making me Roffle
I very much doubt you will do any harm to this leviathan with anything
You just have to laugh at the synth geeks who have rooms full of em and have never made a decent peice of music in their lives :)
Threads like that are why I quit VSE.
ReplyDeleteGreat find, good luck with this!
heh set fire to it and post the video of it here dude, that'll teach em.
ReplyDeleteagree in support...these synth geeks are fucking awful. they're acting like you peed in the cabinet or something. jesus. how bout you all start making music with those synths instead of just buying them to put on a shelf; you're driving up prices for those of us that actually use them to make sound.
ReplyDeleteplug it in, douse it with gasoline and light it on fire. do not record this in any way. there is much beauty in destroying a beautiful thing.
ReplyDelete"Are most synth geeks jealous jackasses?"
ReplyDeletesynth geeks == porn kiddies. true fact.
wow, when I found an old moog modular, I threw out all that useless electronic crap and made the wood into a really nice book shelf. Maybe I should have got some help first, but whatever, it holds books!
ReplyDeleteGeez...I started reading this and it kind of got nasty. This is a cool story around an icon - a Moog Modular. Lay off the crap and focus on the reason why you hit this site...Moog Modular! I would love to get my hands on one.
ReplyDeleteGeez...I started reading this and it kind of got nasty. This is a cool story around an icon - a Moog Modular. Lay off the crap and focus on the reason why you hit this site...Moog Modular! I would love to get my hands on one.
ReplyDelete