Realistic MG-1 by MOOG: Taste the PAIN-bow

[@dawnr8511]

Oldie, but a goodie. Thanks for archiving all these really cool vintage and new surprises. You do all the work, so we don't have to.

[@gearfacts]

Thank you Dawn. Must say I was expecting a smooth, creamy kind of synth but I found this one more like a battering ram. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[@googlepigs7027]

When Radio Shack was great !

[@lundsweden]

The sound reminds me of my old Micromoog.

[@TheSnowLeopard]

Mum, can we get a Moog? We have a Moog at home. The Moog at home: Realistic MG-1.

[@JimmyLem]

Radio Shack had a pile of surprises in stock - cool reverbs/delays, better mics than people realized and some cool instruments. I've never played and probably have never seen this, but I can tell right away from the "mystery" inputs (pitch and trigger) that this could probably be used with a sequencer. My guess is that it uses S-Trig and might not be something that works as intended with modern/euro gates.

[@organfairy]

The way I see it it's a classic garish monstrosity - so both options! Some instruments are not really that good, but because of their impact on culture, or simply the fact that they are cheap and therefore has been sold in high numbers, can make them classic - I am thinking about something like the Stylophone or Casio's CZ-101.

[@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx]

I remember this being for sale in my local Tandy shop here in north-east England. At the time, I had already bought my first synth, a Moog Prodigy, and I could see that this one wasn't in the same league really.

[@gearfacts]

Agree - I wanted this one to be a moog but it just ...isn't.

[@BillyBanter100]

I have the VST version. By using it as a starting point and running it thru creative filters some decent sounds can be achived. Don't knock it, it was sold as a budget keyboard and not aimed at professionals.

[@soloharmonicsrobj8246]

It's definitely a classic analog synthesizer. I have and use the VST version by Cherry Audio. It's a basic but nifty synthesizer with that classic analog sound, no doubt! Thanks for sharing.

[@gearfacts]

Thanks for watching, Rob (I assume it's Rob?)

[@irradix213]

even growing up in Asheville, these were usually seen used for live noise projects or sampling, i played Quasigod's for one of his shows, not comfy but harsh fun

[@EBTheOriginalMaster]

Love the Skittles slogan pun in the title

[@kimdiez2681]

Man tjis thing sounds great ! It looks like 2 oscillators with saw tooth and square on each right? 😮

[@gearfacts]

Yep it's a very simple synth!

[@freeplayfrank7736]

They were only offered by Radio Shack in 1981. My friend bought one new it was 499$. I don't remember it being that annoying sounding, had more of a real Moog bass sound in the low octave range. I picked one up at a yard sale a few years ago, it's only half working. though, hope to get it fully working. There used to be a Yahoo support group for these.

[@gearfacts]

It's great to hear it's still out there, Hope you get it working.

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Hi Gearfacts can you please a special keyboard video like the you did a few years ago

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

Tandy were a strange company, they tended to produce cheap crap or cheap and amazingly good, rarely did cheap and just OK! 😆 I have a few pieces of Tandy gear that have been going strong for 30 odd years (and some of those years were very odd). Graphic EQs; cassette decks; an amazing rack-able power amp that now needs some new volume pots, they are a bit temperamental, Their PZM mics were classics, which if you overpower (with a 9volt battery or phantom power) it really extended their top end and you can convert them back to Balanced outputs! Some of their ordinary dynamic mics were made by Sure and were actually balanced outs but were only connected to a mono jack, stick in a XLR cable and Bobs your uncle! Bizarre company.

[@gearfacts]

They were indeed. I used to like going there but even as a kid I could see how much of it was imitation stuff, or just very low quality. But then, here we see proof of your comment!

[@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx]

Those PZM mics were widely adopted by police forces in the UK for use in their interview rooms after the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984) cleaned up the corrupt practices police were fond of using against ordinary people, mandating audio recording of interviews with suspects.

[@erichkohl9317]

Today I installed Cherry Audio’s version of this, it’s pretty cool.

[@gefthetalkingmongoose]

It hurts me every time I pronounce it 'mogue'. I'm always mentally preparing a follow-up of 'sorry that's how it's meant to be said' :/

[@gearfacts]

Yes I've decided that Mr Moog was actually pronouncing his name wrong. I will hereafter invincibly say mOOOOOOOOg ;)