Sound Pure’s Ross Gruet with Moog employee at guitar station
This past Monday I visited the Moog Music headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina. The lovely Linda Lafferty, Director of Sales, gave me a tour of the facility, a hands-on demonstration of the Moog Guitar, and updated me on the upcoming promotional events and news of their future relocation to the downtown area of Asheville.
The factory is a truly impressive operation. Every product has a station where a small team of people assemble each unit and test everything for quality assurance. It was interesting to see synths and pedals on racks with all lights glowing, in their final stage before packaging. Almost the entire operation is in one large factory room. There were shelves stacked with guitar cases, racks of every product they make, and a great group of people working hard at making some amazing gear.
Moog Guitar cases and Moog employee building synths
The Moog Guitar demo took place in their recording and demo room, loaded with every Moogerfooger pedal, some amps, and a bunch of guitars. I was lucky enough to play a guitar that was on hold for legendary guitarist Vernon Reid. I hope to see him playing that dark red beauty so I can say I played that exact guitar! There are many unique features of the Moog Guitar that you will not find on any other production guitar. With the Moog infinite sustain system, you can control the amount of sustain with the twist of a knob and create tons of lush overtones with the included expression pedal. There is even a function that allows any two notes to sustain while muting all other notes played. Another unique feature is the filter toggle that controls the auto-wah or envelope filter effect. Flick the switch to its manual setting, and use the expression pedal as a classic wah that is distinctively Moog Filter-esque. The newest Moog Guitar has MIDI capability, opening up endless amounts of tonal nuggets. There are so many more great features on these guitars. I just wanted to mention the most unique features and share my enthusiasm for this innovative guitar technology. The Moog Guitar opens up a new world of creative possibilities. And the Moogerfooger pedals are perfect for professional musicians looking for a wide range of fresh customizable effects.
Moog’s huge giveaway. May 28th – August 22nd, 2010
From May 28th – August 22nd, Moog is running a huge promotional giveaway at all Moog dealer locations. Anyone who comes in for a demo of the Moog Guitar gets a free Moog sweatband. Fill out the “Sonic Explosion Experience” sheet and be entered into a weekly drawing for a Moogerfooger pedal. And if you purchase a Moog Guitar, you get entered into a drawing for the ultimate Moog pedal board that includes every Moogerfooger pedal and the multi-pedal on a custom pedalboard. With incentives like these, I see the Moog guitar and pedal line getting some serious attention this summer!
I picked a great time to visit the factory, as they had just announced the new location they will be moving to in the near future. I drove past the new building on my way to the current location. It looks like they will have more space and be more visible to the already vibrant Asheville community. I highly recommend taking a tour of the Moog Music factory. Demo the gear and get educated on the technology. Next time I visit Asheville, I will be sure to stop in and see what’s new in the world of Moog Music.
Moog EP-3 Expression Pedal