Repairing an old Moog

[Sha]

Long story short, my old moog ends up in a shared practice space in Knoxville TN and I don't see it for years.

I finally got it back today, and, well, it looks like it's been left in a shared practice space for several years.

Several subtle cracks along the surface as if it had been dropped and a few knobs either bent or missing. All things considered, it was decent. I plugged it in and the sound is inconsistant, more chaotic than normal (and old moogs are already wild, untamed beasts). It's also scratchy where it shouldn't be scratchy.

It handles polyphony well on the more musical settings, but there is this persistant undercurrent of noise that I can't do away with. I also have a very difficult time coaxing a solid bass note out of it, and one of my favorite things about this old keyboard was it's bass.

My uneducated guess is that it needs to be cleaned and rewired at the very least.

My question is: Has anyone ever had experience with repairing an old Moog? Is it ungodly expensive? And, last but not least, am I going to old synth hell for negligence?

[fuzzjunkie]

Ive never fixed one, but just reading other forums I know that tuning can drift and needs to be adjusted. Pots get scratchy and need a spray. Caps dry out or leak like in old amps and need to replaced. Some can be self administered but the soldering you might want to leave to someone with experience.

[chrisjedijane]

I agree, it's not something that you'd want to do yourself. What kind of Moog is it? a Polymoog?

[aen]

I feel for you. i was gifted a korg analog synth as a repair project, and the schematic alone convinced me to use it "as is"

[soundhack]

fuzzjunkie is right... an old moog needs

1) cleaning of pots, switches, connectors and inter-board contacts
2) replacement of dried out electrolytics
3) tweaking of trim-pots for calibration
4) occasionally the replacement of a transistor or ic
5) i've seen power supplies get weak or unregulated on old synths - replace or repair (usually caps) (moog sometimes used +12/-6V power supplies - a bit odd)

1 & 3 are things you could do with a can of de-oxit and a jeweller screwdriver. the rest requires experience. most cities have one or two places that can repair these old moogs... the analog circuits aren't actually all that complex.

however, if it is some sort of digital-analog hybrid, it may be more difficult. the old digital electronics components are often hard to get.

[jetset]

You have a polyphonic Moog? Lucky.

I just coincidentally picked up a Moog/Realistic MG-1 that needed a little help. After a little on-line research I found the users manual and service manual, and I was able to diagnose and fix a faulty slider. I was lucky, but I did not find the circuit and manual all that daunting. Of course a polyphonic synth is a bit more complex.

[idiotbear]

Didn't Brad do some work on his Moog. Maybe sha could PM him? Username øøøøøøø (I hope I got the right number of Øs there )

[gherb]

hi there,

i myself had polymoog that was in need of some serious work. i wound up catching a polymoog for (BRACE YOURSELF) $50...thats right you read it right FIFTY DOLLARS.

The thing had some dead keys and some noises coming out of it, so i thought, eh, if i have to put a couple hundred into it to repair it...i'm good.

there is a local guy i discovered to me that will fix antying that has keys on it....moogs, oberheims, korgs, ANYTHING...

I don't know if they guy will deal with shipping, but I could get phone numbers if youa re interested...

[redeyeflight]

if it is a polymoog then it's pretty much guaranteed to have problems. Those are notoriously the most inconsistently manufactured instruments from the original moog company and apparently they had problems that were endemic to the circuit. Having said that they can be repaired, although it will be expensive, and.....it's the fuckin Gary Numan pleasure principal keyboard! Aaaaahhh....love that record!