Moog MemoryMoog
Released in the early '80's just a few short years before Moog's undoing, the MemoryMoog is without a doubt one of the finest analog poly-synths on the block. Six voices, 100 programmable memory locations, arpeggiator, 24dB/oct filter, all the CV and other important ins and outs (pre-midi), one beefy stacked unison mode, plenty of knobs and a sound to die for. However, the MemoryMoog is also an unreliable beast, plagued with tuning unstabilities and other quirky glitches. Many of these problems have been ironed out with upgrades by a company called Lintronics and by Bob Moog's Big Briar company.
Average Advertised Price:$1600 to $2200. No kidding, these things are in serious vogue.
Jetboy's Humble Opinion Of Worth:
$1800 if it's a well behaved unit with the "Plus" upgrade. If it's buggy, then the buyer will be footing some cash for repairs and upgrades so a lower selling price must exist in this circumstance. If it weren't for the MemoryMoog's reliability issues, then it would be a complete seller's market.
Jetboy's Review - "Oh boy, what a synth! I had the oppertunity to buy one in the late '80's for $500(!) but being a broke high schooler, I had to pass - I still owned mom and dad for my first Jupiter-6. My time will come...."
Mark at keysplaer@aol.com fasinates us with his funky facts: "I've owned a MemoryMoog+ for over 12 years now and I will never sell this synth. Dbm Technical in NYC did a retrofit on the beast to enable midi control of pitch bend,program change,hold pedal and Modulation wheel. The synth now sits untuneable in desprite need of recalibration of the oscillator boards. The synth and I will be flying up to Buffalo, NY where Fred McNiff will perform the tuning operation. If you loved the music of Miami Vice (Jan Hammer), the MemoryMoog and Fairlight 3 are the main synths used. "
AdamT at his computer somewhere in cyberspace(?) uses his Scotty to beam us the following synth sci-fi: "Without a doubt the most powerful and least reliable polyphonic Analog to date, owning one is like running an old classic car, you know somethings going to break but you still have to have one and keep fixing it when it does.. only a stack of 6 Waldorf pulses in poly mode comes even remotely close for sheer welly and then only on a very good day."
Luca at baldinl@tiscalinet.it makes the following noise about the MemoryMoog from her 2nd floor apartment in the middle of the night: "I own two Memorymoogs,the first one is a normal one,the second is a "plus"one.Think it is the greatest synth ever made because of its possibilities,that let you cover a huge range of styles,from funky to psychedelic.Obviously its reliability is poor,but if you're in luck to find out a mint condition "plus"model,then you could be pretty sure you won't get any problem for a long time,'cause that version is capable to work in almost any condition;I mean I use mine for live-sets,under the stage-spots without gettin'troubles for about 90 minutes.It sounds terrific,looks great and is pleasant to play.No other synths sounds like it,as you'll discover as soon you'll take a chance w/it.
Rod MacQuarrie challenges the status quo with: I'd like to clarify something re your MemoryMoog article on your homepage. 1) The MM+ models are the units that have garnered the most complaints about being buggy and crashing. 2) The MM+ models have delayed keyboard response because the processor was not designed to handle the midi that was added after the fact 3) The non-autotune models sound fatter. Period. 4) The MM+ models are harder to add the Linntronics upgrade to. 5) The midi in the MM+ sucks 6) It is easy to add a Kenton midi kit to a stock model. Therefore, the best MM to buy is the non-autotune, non-plus model. I've owned two of them and have never had one problem with either. They tuned up within 30 seconds. There was an article in Keyboard Magazine about 3 years ago, where a tech explained why the MM's are preferable to the MM+'s, and he mentioned the above points.
Click here for another MemoryMoog picture.
Above image of MemoryMoog from unknown source. If you have a good pic of this marvelous instrument, then email me.