Moog Retail Price List, June 28, 1980

Moog 2-page fold out Retail Price List from June 28, 1980.

What isn't to love about this price sheet?

A list of awesome Moog synths? Check!  Retail prices for those synth history buffs like me? Yup!  And last but definitely not least, Tom Schuman from Spyro Gyra. No wonder he is smiling, by the time this price list came out, the guy was still barely into his twenties and already had three albums under his belt.

AND he's playing a Moog Liberation keytar. That would definitely make me smile too.

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If this photo of Tom appears familiar, it probably means you are old.

Or a fan of vintage synth ads.

Or both.

Because a full colour version appeared in a July 1980 Moog Liberation advertisement, around the same time this price list did. As mentioned in the blog post for that ad, 1980 really was the year that the Keytar broke out.

Which makes it a good year indeed.

As mentioned above, as a synth history buff, I love to see prices listed. Most ads don't include prices and its like a puzzle missing one of the most important pieces.  I've posted a few other Moog price lists (with more to come!) and its fun (and a little terrifying) to watch inflation unfold.

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For example, The July 1, 1974 Moog Retail Price List contains some of the same products, and I've included a few of those below for comparison. 

Minimoog:
1974 - $1,595.00
1980 - $1,995.00

Percussion Controller:
1974 - $249.00 
1980 - $350.00

Ribbon Controller:
1974 - $295.00
1980 - $$395.00

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Also, the March 1, 1976 Moog Professional Systems Price List gives us a good comparison for their modular systems.

System 15:
1976 - $3,845.00
1980 - $4,960.00

System 35:
1976 - $5,935
1980 - $7,980

System 55:
1976 - $9,675
1980 - $12,000

Time to look for more Keytar ads.

Moog Synthesizer 15 modular system six-page brochure, 1974

Moog Synthesizer 15 modular system six-page brochure from 1974.

Ooooh... Aaaah... There we go. I feel so much better now.

I need order in my life. Whether its aligning my cutlery on a restaurant table just so or posting a particular series of synth brochures in a particular order. It drives me batty until its finished.

In this case, it was finally getting to post the third Moog Modular brochure in the 55/35/15 series.

Seeing them all in row below completes me. :)

You have to admit - they do look rather nice all lined up like that.

There are a few noticeable differences between the brochure for the Synthesizer 15 when compared to the others. First, as I pointed in my last blog post for the Moog Synthesizer 35, is the accent colour - this time a lovely baby blue.  I do rather like seeing that Moog logo in the inner-centre page pop so nicely on the page.

Next, and this also drive me a little batty, is that Moog decided to change the third subheading a little bit. The first two subheadings on the inner pages are consistent among all three brochures, But in this Moog 15 brochure, the third subheading reads "The Synthesizer 15 can:", while the Moog 55 and 35 brochures read "The Synthesizer 55/35 will:".  Gah.

But, I gotta say, one difference I do like is the "Moog Model 15 Synthesizer" label that can be found on the bottom of the control voltage and trigger output panel.

That label isn't found on the 55 or 35, and I've always thought the one thing missing from these Moog Modulars is some kind of model brand/identity. Of course, every module contains a lovely little Moog logo - a tradition that has remained with most, if not all modular synth manufacturers since. And I also get that the modular nature of these instruments means that model numbers mean very little when so much customization can be done. A Moog 35 can quickly blend into something that more resembles a Moog 55 with the addition of a few modules.

One other thing I really dig about this brochure is the module chart list. All three brochures included them, and the Synthesizer 55 is definitely the most impressive, but because there are less modules in the Moog 15 chart than in the Moog 55 or 35, it means each module photo in the chart can be larger. That makes for one sweet lookin' image:

Just as I was finishing up this blog post early Sunday morning, wise friend of the blog Micke dropped by last weeks post to leave a comment on the print/availability dates of the brochures. The print date for this brochure, like the others in the series is 1974. But I posed the question that since the 921 oscillators were referenced as "new" in this brochure, I thought there was a chance that there had been an earlier printing since those oscillators actually became available around 1972.

So, I'll end the post with the full comment from Micke that includes two links to early 1970's price lists...

"To the best of my knowledge the Moog systems 15/35/55 were all introduced in early 1974 and therefore I'm pretty sure this is the original version of the brochure.
Moog system/module price list Feb 1974:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23461646@N03/2793105680/sizes/l
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23461646@N03/2792253573/sizes/l

It is correct however that the 921 series oscillators became available in '72.
Moog system/module price list oct '72:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23461646@N03/3931303117/sizes/l
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23461646@N03/3931275147/sizes/l

The Moog 12 (with the new 921s) appears to have been released this year as well. I seriously doubt that the system 15/35/55 became available as early as '72 though. The fact that the older systems are still being listed in this price list from late '72 should be proof enough that the 15/35/55 didn't exist yet.

cheers,
Micke"

Thanks Micke!

Moog 1982 Product Catalog

Moog 1982 Product Catalog featuring the Memorymoog, DSC, The Source, Taurus II, Liberation, Opus 3, The Rogue, and the System 15 and 55 modular systems.

I thought I would try something a little different today and post a scan of a product catalog that I haven't seen around online too much - hopefully you will find it as enjoyable as I find Moog's 2009 catalog.

As always, you can click on the images above to view each page. I've also tried something else a bit different - I've put all the pages into a PDF for those that want to download and view all the pages in one document. Let me know if you have a preference.

This four-page catalog is great - it contains photos and some good descriptive text for each instrument. But what I find most interesting are the list prices. This helps me really understand how good we have it today. For example, the Memorymoog listed for $4,195 in 1982. That's around $7,800.00 in today's dollars.

Here's the others in today's dollars:

• DSC $1700
• The Source $2600.00
• Liberation $2700
• Opus 3 $2400
• The Rogue $900

The best example is the Taurus II. In 1982 it listed for $895 - the equivalent of around $1700 today. Moog recently announced a limited run of 1000 Taurus III's that will be faithful to the Taurus I sound, and also includes MIDI and CV, 48 programmable presents, and an arpeggiator for only $1,995. Seriously great stuff.

For the record, Moog isn't paying me for any of this... I doubt they even know this blog exists :o)

I also have an emotional attachment to this particular piece because it was one of the first Moog catalogs that I ever held in my hands.

I distinctly recall being in a friend's basement years ago where he was showing off his ever-expanding home-built modular. While noodling around with the machine I mentioned that I had recently bought a Pro-1 and, due to his generous nature, he immediately turned his attention to a nearby box to find a copy of a manual.

As he dug deeper and deeper into this container of wonders, more and more synthesizer manuals, catalogs, and magazines started appearing like rabbits out of a hat. The amount of synthesizer history that came out of that box was almost comical, and a copy of this catalog was among the treasure. If my memory is not mistaken, he mentioned that he received the catalog along with some other manuals during a gear trade with another member of the Analogue Heaven email list.

I remember spending hours in that basement reading material out of that box. Then, years later, a copy of the catalog fell into my lap. And I obsessed over it - all over again.

End note: This same friend retrofitted the Pro-1 I mention above with a blue LED while it was at his house for a good cleaning and check-up. Blue LEDs were very rare in synthesizers at the time, I think due to their cost, and his thinking was that if it was ever stolen and used on stage, I would be able to easily identify it as mine. A sincerely generous and thoughtful dude.