Synthfind

“I’m assuming that you know the fundamental basics of this synth if you’re considering a purchase. So, I will now address the issues that pertain to this specific machine. This Minimoog has been in my smoke-free studio for the last 7 years. I purchased it from another smoke-free studio where it spent a majority of it’s years (I’m acquainted with it’s previous owner). As you will see from the pictures, this particular Mini has survived all of it’s year’s of use, and still looks gorgeous! Cosmetically, I would say it’s a solid “Very Good”. It’s in excellent functioning condition. Everything works exactly as it should. No scratchy pots, bad switches, etc… I’ve also never had to tune the oscillators during the 7+ years I’ve owned it, not even once! The only fault I can find are two of it’s keys. Instead of triggering their respective notes, each of the two keys makes a bit of a warbly sound. They kind of wobble up and down, randomly. I’m not an expert on tech issues, but I believe this problem could easily be fixed by cleaning the keyboard’s buss bar. The rest of the keyboard plays great. That is the only issue there is on this synth, and it’s not much of an issue, especially if you’re going to play or sequence it using MIDI to CV, thus controlling it from your MIDI keyboard. Which brings me to the next exciting and unique feature of this beauty…

For those that do not know… The Minimoog is not the easiest vintage synthesizer to interface and sequence in a contemporary studio environment. It has a different standard (and jacks too) for CV and Gate than the majority of it’s analog peers. This creates an obvious challenge in regard to controlling it with MIDI. That’s why the previous owner had his tech perform a small modification that allows it to be hooked up to a standard MIDI to CV converter with no hassle. This “modification” is very unobtrusive and that was important to me, because I believe in keeping the integrity and appearance of such a legendary synth intact. Here’s how the CV/Gate mod works…

The 1/8″ input jacks that are neatly installed and labeled on the back panel (CV, Gate, Bend), allow you to plug any 1V/oct MIDI to CV converter in and start playing or sequencing, right away. You can use any converter on the market too, because the mod makes the Mini accept normal trigger signals at it’s 1/8″ jack, instead of the obscure S-trig jack that Moog originally implemented. Now, on the bottom left of the Mini’s control panel, (section “Controllers”) you will see a small toggle switch and a little blue-capped knob to it’s left. When you want to control the synth via CV/Gate you flip the switch, thus disengaging the Mini’s keyboard and allowing you to sequence or play it from your DAW, MIDI Keyboard Controller, etc…. In this state, the small blue-capped knob controls the amount of portamento, and the Minimoog’s keyboard is bypassed. Whenever you want to go back to playing the Minimoog’s keys, just flip the toggle switch back! It’s that simple.

I want to make it perfectly clear that the modification described above in no way affects or changes the characteristics inherent to the Minimoog. ALL of the Minimoog’s panel controls remain fully functional, including the very useful “Keyboard Tracking” switch (VCF function) and are completely unaffected by the “CV/Gate Mode”.

This beauty will fit right in great with your other gear. I’m not going to describe how incredible it sounds, as I don’t think there are any adjectives left that haven’t already been beat to death! But I will say that it is a very capable synth and yes, it does sound “fat” and all of those other things, courtesy of the Moog’s inimitable oscillators, filter, envelopes and amplifier.
The layout is worth mentioning…. It’s extremely sensible, almost bordering on simple. But don’t be fooled! There’s an inexhaustible amount of sounds that you can coax out of this iconic analog. It certainly does payoff to learn this machine, inside-out. I think some people glance at the panel and think they’ll be limited. Wrong. If you spend the time and learn it, get creative, you’ll reap the rewards. Then there’s the infamous External Filter Input. The Minimoog was designed so that you can only hear the external signal that’s being fed into it’s filter by pressing down a key, letting through the VCA. You will soon learn the benefits of being able to send gate signals to the Minimoog, synced to a MIDI clock while your drum machine plays away. This is an age old trick that has been used and abused but never stops being fun! For extra kicks you can program a MIDI sequence for the Mini while feeding another synth (or drum machine) through it’s glorious filter to warm (or even distort) things up a bit. Or maybe you just might prefer to run your “soft synth(s)” through the Mini’s famously smooth filter to add a bit of color to things….” Link