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muSonics Moog Sonic V,

“Musonics (properly spelled “muSonics”, per its trademark), was a synth manufacturer that existed briefly in the late 1960s. It is notable for the fact that its owner, Bill Waytena, bought Moog Music from Bob Moog in 1970.

Waytena created Musonics in 1967 or ’68, with the idea that he would market a synth as a home entertainment device, a market that Waytena saw as much larger than the professional musician market. He hired ex-Moog employee Gene Zumchak to design a synth called the Sonic V. However, the synth did not sell, and Waytena reasoned that it needed a well-known brand name for marketing purposes. In 1969 he learned that Bob Moog’s existing company, R. A. Moog, was in financial trouble, and arranged to buy the company from Moog in 1970. He then merged Musonics with it. Thus, Waytena became the owner of the first incarnation of Moog Music. The merged companies were first called Moog/Musonics, changing to Moog Music in 1972.

The Sonic V was Musonics’ only product prior to the merger. Post-merger, Bob Moog took the design and made a few improvements, fitting it into an integrated flight case design that had been proposed during the Minimoog prototyping stage. This became the Sonic Six, a model that Moog himself subsequently often used for public lectures and demonstrations.” Click here to visit listing on eBay

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Moog MuSonics Minimoog Model D

” Up for sale is this very rare Moog Mini Moog model D, under the Musonics nameplate. Musonics owned the company for about 2 years in the early 70’s, and not many of these were manufactured during that time. Some cool things about this Moog are the expanded delineation on the envelope generators, the pitch wheel that does not have a center detent, the hand-printed serial number, and the funky lamp cord for the power cord (all original).

When I bought this Moog, it was very dirty, had not been used in years, and sounds barely squeaked out of it. I had it cleaned, and now all the controls work as they should, and it sounds mammoth! There are some minor issues that I will try to cover: The oscillator scaling needs to be adjusted, as when you change octaves, the oscillators do not shift by an exact octave. They are all in tune with each other, but you have to retune them when switching octaves. (A very astute synth collector from Illinois ((shoutout to Len)), told me that this is very common on early models, and can be fixed with a buffer modification by a skilled tech). Also, two keys on the upper end of the keyboard need to have the contacts cleaned as sometimes the notes get a bit wanky. (that is, in fact a musical term). Again, a simple fix. Finally, there are 2 small holes in the bottom of the cabinet, perhaps at one time there were rubber feat installed, but I’m not sure, and it is not noticeable.

I bought this synth as a fixer upper, and have not had a long history of it, but I have been playing it in my studio for a week as I have cleaned it, and it does sound wonderful. I own a Moog Voyager XL, a Moog Matriarch, and have had 2 Model D’s previously, and this synth does not disappoint. It is completely playable and recordable as is, but if you invest into a thorough service with a qualified tech, it would be worth it, and will be a keeper for life.

I have tried to price this synth fairly, compared to two others currently on the market, mine is considerably less, but has NOT been fully serviced by any means. Please keep that in mind. I am a synth collector as well as a musician, and would be open to interesting trades as partial payment. Let’s bat some ideas around! Finally, I am not willing to ship this Mini Moog, as it is irreplaceable, and I don’t trust any shipping companies, (who I think sometimes see the big red “Fragile” stickers as a test). Local pickup in Elkhart, Indiana (90 minutes from Chicago), I will consider driving and meeting a buyer up to 300 miles or so. I do have this item for sale on multiple sites, so I reserve the right to end the listing at any time. ”
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