Review: Moog Music Moog Guitar Paul Vo Collector Edition

Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Mike Levine

             

A LEGENDARY SYNTH COMPANY'S TAKE ON THE GUITAR

BONUS MATERIAL
Download the Spec Sheet as a PDF

Considering the company's pedigree, you shouldn't be surprised to learn that the Moog Guitar expands the expressive palette of the electric guitar into new territory. What's most impressive about this instrument is that it engenders creativity. You sit down to play it, and you find yourself playing things and getting sounds in totally new ways.

The instrument, designed by Paul Vo, is imbued with many unique features, and its processing is all analog. Its user-adjustable infinite sustain is one of the highlights. Yes, infinite sustain is not new (the Fernandes Sustainer, for one, has offered it for years), but the Moog Guitar implements it with a great degree of user control over both the nature of the sustain and its harmonic content. The guitar also features a mute mode that reduces sustain to create a staccato attack. To enhance the tonal palette, you get a built-in 4-pole Moog lowpass ladder filter, which can be triggered by right-hand attack or with the included Control Pedal. Also onboard are Graph Tech piezo bridge saddles for acoustic-guitar-like tones. The piezo output can be blended with or taken separate from the magnetic pickups' signal. The Moog Guitar is not a synth guitar, but rather a guitar with extended sonic and expressive capabilities.

According to Moog, in the short time since the guitar's release in September, it has already been purchased by a number of high-profile musicians, including Trent Reznor, Joe Walsh, Lionel Loueke of Herbie Hancock's band, James Valentine of Maroon 5, Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts, and Lou Reed. So what makes the Moog Guitar so special? I'll start with a closer look at its features.

Maple Candy

FIG. 1: The Moog Guitar is a boutique electric guitar with built-in sustain, mute, and filter features.

The construction is first-class all the way (see Fig. 1). It's a solidbody instrument made of either mahogany or swamp ash (depending on availability). It has a gorgeous top, either flame or quilted maple, which is available in a range of colors. The guitar I reviewed had a golden yellow quilted-maple top (Moog calls that finish Honey). The 22-fret set neck features an ebony fingerboard.

In conjunction with locking Sperzel tuners, the Wilkinson bridge/tremolo system stays in tune remarkably well. A pair of proprietary, single-coil Moog pickups provide the electric guitar sound. Moog is very hush-hush about the pickup design, saying on its Web site that “we cannot divulge too much detail” about them.

The Moog Guitar comes set up with heavier-than-normal strings (.011, .018, .024, .030, .044, .052). I normally play 10s, and the guitar felt a bit stiff at first. However, bending was comfortable enough, and I soon adjusted to the guitar's feel. According to Moog's Jason Daniello, the heavy strings produce a stronger electromagnetic field, which makes the guitar's sustain and mute features (which Moog terms Vo Power in honor of the guitar's designer) function better. Daniello says that the guitar will work with a .010 or even a .009 on top (the recommended lower-string gauges are heavier than in conventional sets), but that the 11s are optimal. Moog is selling its own strings for the guitar, which contain a metallic composition designed to optimize electromagnetic response. The company recommends using conventional strings only in a pinch; the response, it says, will be “weaker and less stable.”

The guitar electronics require power, which comes through the 5-pin XLR cable that also carries the audio from the guitar and connects to the Control Pedal, which has a metal bottom and a plastic body and treadle. The pedal then plugs into the wall with a line-lump transformer and has a high-impedance output to go to an amp or DI. The pedal is also a key part of the extensive user control of the guitar's sustain and filter features. A 9V battery, which powers the piezo pickups, is located in a compartment in the back of the guitar's body. The guitar comes in a snazzy-looking tweed hard-shell case, which has a substantial handle, gold hardware, and a pocket for the Control Pedal.

Of Knobs and Switches

It took me several playing sessions until I felt like I had a good grasp on the Moog Guitar's controls. I found the 6-page printed User's Guide to be well written and thorough. It was invaluable to have at hand when I was learning how to “work” the guitar.