Super Moog Rarities

[HowIMadeMyMillions]

Interested in what moog rarities people have in their collections....was the Constellation setup ever produced? Anyone have a Sanctuary Memorymoog?
Sonic v's? ....(and of course pictures for the less fortunate!)

[THM]

I don't know if this is at the right place here but I own a L.A.M.M. Memorymoog (a Memorymoog with the Lintronics modifications).
Imho pretty rare - as as far as I know there are only ± 200 of those.
Please tell me if I'm wrong !!

[MC]

Constellation is a prototype package which consisted of three units - a lead synth, a polyphonic synth, and pedal synth.

The lead synth was the Moog Lyra which never went into production. Keith Emerson used this synth all over Brain Salad Surgery and it was in his possession until he donated it to Audities. AFAIK it still works.

The polyphonic synth was the Moog Apollo which became the Polymoog. This was in Roger Luther's hands until he donated it to Audities. The Apollo and Lyra went on the ELP BSS tour, but the Apollo crapped out a couple of months into the tour. This unit had been cannabilized long ago and is not likely to breathe life ever again.

The pedal synth became the Taurus pedals, but the prototype unit from the Constellation is long gone.

[stampdmatt]

I've been talking with people on another forum about my prodigy that seems to be a prototype. The pics can be seen at www.msu.edu/~wesenerm/moog.html .
Note that the serial number is DD-08, osc 1 is 16'-4', the rectangle wave is missing (its square like osc 2), the polarity on sawtooth waveform is reversed, and there isn't any graphics around the pitch/mod wheels. Please check it out and let me know what you all think I have here because I have no idea.

[DirtyLarry]

I've been talking with people on another forum about my prodigy that seems to be a prototype. The pics can be seen at www.msu.edu/~wesenerm/moog.html .
Note that the serial number is DD-08, osc 1 is 16'-4', the rectangle wave is missing (its square like osc 2), the polarity on sawtooth waveform is reversed, and there isn't any graphics around the pitch/mod wheels. Please check it out and let me know what you all think I have here because I have no idea.

yes that has to be a prototype of sorts. I suggest you mail a couple hard copy photos to the moog and ask em to let you know what exactly is up with it... someone might be able to help

[ebg31]

I don't have a Moog of any kind, let alone a rare one, but I know of one instrument in the Audities collection that was built for the afforementioned Roger Luther. From the looks of it, the front panel is twice the size of Keith Emerson's synth. The top keyboard had individual tuning pots set into each key. No pictures, but I bet there's a snapshot of it online, somewhere.

Whoever this Roger Luther is, he must've been someone of great importance, in order to afford such a behemoth atomic bomb.

[ebg31]

Okay, here it is.

http://www.hotrodmotm.com/images/luthermoog1.jpg

[Kevin Lightner]

I didn't know it at the time, but I had serial #1 HP filter (904B s/n 1001) in my synth shop at one time.
I asked Roger Luther if he knew who originally owned it and he sent me a copy of the actual sales receipt. Seems it was made for one, W. Carlos.
Date 12-22-1966
I wish I could recall who the current owner was.
Too many Moogs have come and gone since then.

[Nick Montoya]

Thats dope Kevin.. Whoever has that now is stoked !

That Prodigy proto is crazy lookin'... Never seen anything like it and I've probably seen more Prodigys around than any other moog ! I also noticed
that on the back panel the word "Prodigy" is in the same font as the moog logo itself (w/ the note in the O).. Cool find..

I have a 3 band parametric EQ (norlin days) not sure if they are rare, but they've gone on ebay for 700.00 +... I know one other guy that has one and he won't give it up.

And my favorite rarity..my Model D with Mr. Lightner's beautiful blue wheels.
I realize others have blue wheels but not Kevin's. And considering he was on the AE design team, well , need I say more..

[Rob Smith]

There are pictures of the apollo/lyra on greg lakes web site and will smith talks about them on emersons web site he is keiths keyboard tech.there was also a custom built mini moog with some more modulation capabilities that emerson used on bbs tour. i guess it was nice to have bob as a friend

[Rob Smith]

im sorry emersons tech is will alexander!

[ebg31]

Judging by the pictures I've seen of the Apollo and Lyra, both instruments were preset. Is this a mis-calculation?

I'm rather fascinated as to why the Lyra, at least never caught on. A lead line synth with a dedicated LFO, as opposed to an optional one, must've been pretty fat-sounding. Judging by the response to the Voyager over the last two years, wouldn't such a synth been pretty succesful, in its own right?

Cheers,
Eric.

[MC]

The Apollo had presets, but not the Lyra.

The Lyra was what should have been the next progression from the Minimoog. It had all the features of the Mini, then added a dedicated LFO, aftertouch, hard sync, VCO2->VCO1 FM, and PWM. Alas the EGs were AR with full/zero sustain.

I had the Apollo in my hands, attempting to bring it back to life for Dave Kean of Audities. Unfortunately there were no schematics - Dave Luce, the designer, had nothing. The Apollo's power supply had long been scavenged. Being familiar with Luce's Polymoog with its multiple power rails, it was anybody's guess what rails the Apollo used. This thing had TTL, CMOS, and analog opamps in it. Trimpot settings are senstive to power rails. This is not the kind of product where you make guesses at power rails.

The Apollo blew up while on ELP's BSS tour in 1974. That was the last time it breathed life. Nobody ever revived it and its power supply was torn out, probably for another prototype project.

Half the circuits boards are wire wrap - this stuff is delicate and does not last long. Wire wrapped boards are only practical for prototyping - the 30ga wires are so fine that they break easily and oxidation builds quickly. It is a rat's nest and an exercise in futility trying to locate/repair a broken wire, because you can easily break another wire while probing for the one you were looking for.

So between the lack of documentation, a missing power supply, and the mass of wire wrapping - the Apollo isn't ever likely to breathe life again.

[Elgee Noro]

There is a photograph of Emerson playing his modular during the recording of Brain Salad Surgery. The Apollo and lyra can bes een in e background.

Is there a way to to insert it in messages on this forum?

[MC]

Yes - past the URL in the message box, then press the "Img" button.