Mike Levin has an interesting review in this month’s issue of Electronic Musician of Moog Music‘s new Moog Guitar.
Is it worth the nearly six grand asking price?
Levin says:
Overall, I found the Moog Guitar to be an inspirational instrument. It opened up exciting new worlds of playing technique for me like no guitar I’ve ever played. Especially when I used external effects, like distortion, delay, and modulation, I found myself getting lost in the guitar and playing and improvising for long stretches without even realizing that time had passed. It was kind of like discovering a whole new side to my guitar skills.
That said, the Moog Guitar is quite expensive and at this point in its development is a luxury item that will be affordable only to some. I hope that in the not-too-distant future, Moog will release a lower-priced line, bringing the Moog Guitar’s exciting combination of sustain, mute, and filter effects to a wider range of potential buyers. I can already tell that I’m going to miss having this guitar around when I have to return it after this review is over. There’s simply nothing else out there like it.
In other words – if you got the 6K to drop, there’s nothing else like it.
Otherwise, you may have to wait for the Behringer version like the rest of us.
There’s no denying that its a brilliant bit of kit. But the price means only the pros like Lou Reed will be buying first generation units. However, once they start using these more publicly, it’s going to generate a very large buzz and increase demand for a cheaper version. I know I want one, and I can’t even play guitar very well…
It would be interesting to take the $6000 price tag and break it down to find out how much of that cost is the Paul Vo/Moog technology and how much is the guitar manufacture itself. As I understand it, the electronics are the main ingredient in making it special, but I don’t know how exacting the other side of the equation is.
They're now half the price and if you go to the Moog website, you can score one for less than $2000, with tremolo and MIDI costing extra. I'm contemplating ordering one now, and have been told it takes 8 weeks to make one, so I'd imagine a lot of the cost is in the manufacture and of course, you're paying for some fantastic technology. A bit more research and I'll more than likely place my order.