Moog Grandmother

First impression out of the box is that it looks nice. But I didn't expect the graphics to be an actual sticker over the metal plastic chassis. It's already dirty on the stickers edges when you take it out of the box.

Secondly...oh, that sustain slider. It feels broken, it has zero resistance but it seems they are built that way. Anyway very unpleasant to touch.

Thirdly...I'm having major problems with the sustain. The synths goes on sustaining an infinite note out of the blue
even when on Envelope mode. I turned it off and turned it back on and that note was still sustained. I turned it off again and turned it back on and it worked. However after less than 1 minute of playing, upon touching the pitch-wheel, I get that sustained note again...

Some knobs feel wobbly and have less resistance than others.

I must say I am dissapointed with this synthesizer's built and feel. Will try ordering another one in hopes it doesn't have these problems.

On the plus side: sound is nice, keybed is very nice.

I was looking at either this or the Sub 37 (I actually ended up with both, but that's another story)

I loved the idea of having access to the old modular circuits because let's face it a big Moog modular will only be a dream for most of us.

The one thing that struck me about the grandmother is the immediacy and playability of the synth. Everything feels like it's where it should be and the keybed is so very nice to play. Dare I say one of my favourites. The build quality is top notch and comparing it to my old Moog Rogue in a similar form factor it's like night and day. The Rogue is cheap and plastic whereas the Grandmother is heavy, solid and feels like no expense has been spared. Two criticisms on the build, I would have like to see bigger toggle switches. Not a big problem though. I would have also liked an IEC power supply as opposed to a power brick with IEC connection. Not a big problem but I'd prefer a universal option that are easy to come by.

In terms of sound this thing sounds HUGE!!! It's that classic Moog sound in the lows and can soar when it wants too all passed through a butter filter. I'm mainly using it for basses so I'm getting lots of dirty sequences and arpeggios from it. The mixer past 12 is just gritty deliciousness.

In terms of features It's got all the ingredients a mono synth should have and they've even thrown in a spring reverb. I'm not one for mental modulation so happy enough with the LFO. Sequencer is great, easy to program and 256 notes!

I bought this and a Prophet Rev 2 at the same time and have barely touched the prophet. I can just get where I want to be so quickly with the grandmother but I also feel like it has depths that are as yet unexplored.

For me it's just beautiful. My favourite Moog I've owned so far.

Let me start with the fact that this thing is a true analog stuff! Even on board effect is analog. And it is truly great!

If compare it to mini moog , this one easily tops it with sound design possibilities. Just learn this synth a little bit.

Grandmother has multiple patch points : need FM ? you got it . FM doesn't sound in tune? - click the SYNC button and you get nice and polite FM that follows pitch.

Modulation wheel - wow there are a lot of destination options unlike what we have in mini. Patch points allows you re-trigger the lfo and use S&H and some other cool tricks.

What Grandmother does the best is the bass. It has so much bass that you need to cut it with the eq! Simply combine PWM square and Saw oscillators and it starts moving your room already.

You can also do beautiful Moog style leads just add a chorus and a good lush reverb on top.

But don't expect it to do everything. This machine is mainly focused on basses and leads.

CONS - Quality (thats why 3 stars)

Thats the main thing I was struggling with this synth! It looks like its built like a tank from the outside, but its really an old fragile grandmother inside. I had to send it twice to the service department because cutoff filter knob was
becoming noisy and this looks like a typical issue with this synth, really didn't expect it from the Moog machine :(

In general, this synth gets my highest recommendations and I strongly suggest to buy with the Thomann. They give 3 years guarantee which already helped my in dealing with the quality issues ;)