Gearjunkies is usually not the platform to talk about guitars and stuff, but this is of course very much worth mentioning. At first we thought it was a classic "aprils fool" joke but ... it was not. Moog Music just released The Moog Guitar. Really!
The much-anticipated and much-talked-about Moog Guitar will debut at Summer NAMM in Nashville. The Moog Guitar is "a fantastic axe designed to be played by the best musicians in the world," says Moog Music President Mike Adams.
According to Adams, The Moog Guitar opens the guitarist to a whole new musical vocabulary: "It's not a guitar synthesizer; not a MIDI guitar; not an effects processor," Adams said. "The guitarist is intimately connected to The Moog Guitar because it works its magic on the strings themselves."
The first ever Moog Guitar will be the limited edition Paul Vo Collector Edition Guitar. The AAAAA maple top guitar with a mahogany body and ebony finger board will be a much sought-after axe even without the addition of the patented Moog electronics. Each guitar will be individually signed by Moog associate and guitar inventor Paul Vo and will carry a sealed Certificate of Authenticity identifying it as the first ever Moog Guitar.
The Moog Guitar offers three unique modes...Sustain, Mute and Controlled Sustain. In the Sustain mode, it provides infinite, powerful sustain on every string and at every fret position; Mute removes energy from the strings, resulting in a variety of staccato effects; Controlled Sustain allows the musician to play sustained, single-note or even polyphonic lines with strong sustain and effortless clarity. In this mode, the Moog Guitar sustains the notes being played while actively muting the notes not being played.
"Take the powerful combination of sustain and mute...add the ability to move that power between the neck and bridge pick-ups, and suddenly you can pull both subtle and dramatic harmonic blends from the strings," said Moog Senior Engineer Cyril Lance. The Moog Guitar's creative power is further enhanced by the built-in Moog ladder filter. Both the harmonic blending as well as the ladder filter are controlled from the included expression pedal, according to Lance.
The late Bob Moog and Adams often spoke of entering the guitar market, but it was not until Vo's invention that Moog Music felt it had something truly innovative to bring to the guitar market. "Clearly, this guitar meets the definition of a Moog product that Bob ingrained here at Moog Music: A Moog product must be an inspiration to the creative process of making music," Adams said.
- What makes this guitar so special?
The Moog Guitar Electronics add an unparalleled range of expression to the Moog Guitar:
* FULL SUSTAIN MODE - like no other sustainer; infinite sustain on every string, at every fret position and at any volume. You may have heard sustain before but not with this power (we call it �Vo Power�) and clarity.
* CONTROLLED SUSTAIN MODE - allows you to play sustained single or polyphonic lines without muting technique. The Moog Guitar sustains the notes you are playing while actively muting the strings you are not playing.
* MUTE MODE - removes energy from the strings, resulting in a variety of staccato articulations. The mute mode has never been heard on any other guitar; the Vo Power stops the strings with the same intensity that it sustains them. You feel the instrument transform in your hands.
* HARMONIC BLENDS � use the included foot pedal to shift the positive energy of Vo Power in Sustain mode and the subtractive force of Vo Power in Mute mode between the bridge and neck pick-ups to pull both subtle and dramatic harmonics from the strings.
* MOOG FILTER - control the frequency of the built-in, resonant Moog ladder filter using the foot pedal or a CV Input.
- Moog Guitar Controls
There are five knobs:
* Vo Power this is the amount of coherent power that is applied to the strings to either sustain or mute them.
* Piezo Blend blends the piezo output with the Moog pick-ups.
* Harmonic Balance shifts the Vo Power (sustain/mute) power between the neck and bridge pick-up. In the center position the power is balanced between the neck and bridge.
* Master Volume controls overall volume including both the Moog Pick-up output as well as the piezos.
* Tone/Filter controls both tone and the resonance of the Moog ladder filter dependent upon the position of the Filter Mode Toggle switch.
There are three switches:
* Moog Guitar Mode determines the application of the Vo Power. There are three positions: Sustain, Controlled Sustain, and Mute
* Filter Mode Toggle with three positions: Standard Guitar Tone, an articulated Moog filter (e.g similar to an auto-wah), and classic Moog Ladder filter
* Five Position Pick-up Selector Switch: Piezo, Bridge only, Out of Phase, In Phase, Neck only.
Moog Music
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