Nord User Forum

Sorry to hear of your ebay woes, but at least you found out in time.

As for buying a Minimoog, I would think about it long and hard. As a synth it is extremely limited in its capabilities. You're paying an awful lot basically for the kudos of owning one. The Voyager is simply in another league in terms of versatility - as are many others. True, the Minimoog will always have the edge of "that sound", but is it a sound you really need? Every synth has its own sound for you to use and shape in your own music, and there are plenty of iconic pieces of music and artistes that used synths that were not Minimoogs - the Bladerunner soundtrack, Weather Report, Genesis, Ultravox - the list is endless.

Also bear in mind that the the Minimoog is not a rare instrument, so you don't need to rush out and buy the first one that comes along. I can understand the temptation, but you could spend 4k far more wisely.

Still, if you do end up buying one, well, who could blame you?

Heres what the seller replied to my questions :-

hello again!

the moog got midified in the course of a complete restauration. i asked him what else he can modifie but he told be that he modifies nothing, cause he is specialized in preserving that special moog sound.

the lmc interface implementation and the restauration happened in 2007, and i paid 1500 incl. the lmc but without the case which costs about 250.
and the craziest thing was: i sent my mini to rudi linhard and THAN waitet HALF A YEAR until i got it back!

Rudi told me that he has so much to do and that some minis are there for a year before he can service them!

but all in all he is a very handsome guy! and an absolute professional. great knowledge and A MOOG LEGEND!

i´ve got the moog from a school teacher! and the last years it stayed in school untouched for about 15 years or so.. when i got it it was heavily detuned.. but noone opened it before. so it really is an untouched treasure.

greets.

Hi Red Leo,

i definately want to buy one but this is my main dilema :-

i don't want to spent as little amount as possible and buy one which has either been not well cared for or is likely to malfunction. And at the same time i don't want to spend an over the top amount and basically get ripped off !! So its finding that middle ground. i don't mind paying extra for one which has been serviced and restored but i don't agree with the sky high prices people ask on ebay.

Cheers.

I understand your dilemma, however one thing to bear in mind is that Minimoogs are, by and large, not difficult or expensive to service and repair. With a couple of exceptions, parts are standard or easy to come by. As long as it's not a real dog, a Minimoog with a few minor problems can be returned to full working order without too much trouble or expense by an experienced tech. Obviously, completely refurbishing a real basket case is a different matter.

Have you considered a Voyager at all? You mentioned that you had been surprised by the Voyager's sound compared to the Minimoog, but what was the difference as you perceived it?

And again, what are you looking to buy? A piece of history or a working tool?

Hi,

The Minimoog was completely restored by Rudi and apparently sounds better than anything !!

i did not know that they were quite cheap and fairly easy to repair (not that i would ever do it myself). i just got my Multimoog serviced (after owning it for five years) and it cost me £100 which is not too bad.

Yes, Minimoogs do appear on ebay once every two or three months so obviously another one will pop up again for sure. i would only ever buy one which was in perfect order or needed very little work doing to it.

i tried a Voyager once (can't remember which exact model) in a music shop and also at my friends. The Voyager just sounded digital and processed (for lack of a better description). My Multimoog sounded way better in terms of Moog 'authenticity'.

It would be used to sit on top of my Rhodes and Clavinet (on the odd gig). But owning one is something i have dreamed of for about 20 x years now. It would be for local jazz/funk gigs and not on my cruise ship type gigs. So partly historical and partly practical.

i just found a really great and useful demo video on You Tube :-

This is on ebay at £11K !! Someone has already made an offer !!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOOG-MINIMOOG ... 1759wt_934

I too have wanted a Minimoog model D since I was a teenager, but the only one that I came across when I had the money was in a bit of a state, in that the keys were all over the place. That put me off, though since then I have found out that it is not such a big problem.
I also find the Voyager and Little Phatty to be a little cold and 'digital' sounding, and I feel that this is down to the large amount of digital implementation in their layout - patch memories and rapid rock solid tuning stability have their prices.
So I bought a Vermona Mono Lancet.
I have spent the last month attempting to imitate all my favourite minimoog sounds from my youth - Kerry Minnear, Rick Wakeman, Kieth Emerson etc.etc.
and while there are differences, the results are often pretty damn close, and are good enough to satisfy me. I get 90% of the sounds that I want for 7% of the outlay.
The only reasons for me to buy a minimoog D now would be nostalgia and snob appeal.

Thanks Pitfall,

Where in the UK do you live mate ?? And did you buy the VML off ebay ??

Have you posted any videos on You Tube yet with it yet ??

Ta,

Paul

pitfall wrote:I also find the Voyager and Little Phatty to be a little cold and 'digital' sounding, and I feel that this is down to the large amount of digital implementation in their layout - patch memories and rapid rock solid tuning stability have their prices.

Patch memories and a digital control system have no effect on the sound at all, as the signal path (the sound you hear) does not go through any digital circuitry, it's entirely analogue. The sound of the Old School Voyager (no patch memories or digital control circuitry) is *identical* to the ordinary Voyagers, as attested to by people who own both. If you don't like the sound of the Voyager or Little Phatty, well...you just don't like them. But saying they sound "digital" because they contain digital control circuitry is misunderstanding how it works.