Moog Opus III

easy (for a moog). lots of variability in "preset" sounds. basically, this synth is way more useable for good sounding synth parts than other moogs i've played. these include the prodigy (too much bass, little else) and the mg-1 (cool but cheaply built, not surprising for radioshack). perfect for recording. as stated in another review, sliders aren't always accurate, but mine only has one which seems to act up.

4 sound sections. i consider the brass/variable as two-in-one. great on all sections. sooo versatile. little cheese. moog filter, quality features. colorful layout. wood sides. super sweet!

polyphony. you can actually play parts on it. not as good for the "moog" solo, but so much more useful. totally underrated. listen to stereolab.

stays in tune! no issues. still has the foam dust cover which i'm not going to bother to remove as some people say you should. it's this old and still kicking, why bother?

n/a

i love it, i love it, i love it!

it doesn't get any easier. spend an half an hour with it and you'll have it figured out. i never looked at a manual... never needed to. you'd be hard pressed to NOT get a good sound out of this thing. IMHO it's the easiest moog to use.

it's full polyphony! in a moog! it's got three instruments (strings, organ, brass) that it uses simultaneously unless you cut the volume on one of them.
it has a decent filter for sweeps... but as far as moogs go it's probably the most limited. i think of it more like a rhodes or wurlitzer than a rogue or prodigy.

this thing sounds so huge! a friend of mine had one and i spent a long time trying to compete with his tone. i bought all kinds of synths... juno-60, korg ms-2000, and nothing came close... i finally broke down and bought one.

if you want to play big fat chords this is the keyboard you want. i liked it so much i bought two, one for the practice space, and one for home.

if you want to hear samples go to myspace[dot]com[slash]sleepyeyesofdeath
the opus 3 is all over those recordings. you can't miss it. i love the sound of this synth. for what it does it's very versital in that it can get crunchy hot, or soft round.

again, i can't stress this enough. this synth sounds incredibly full. with just 10 fingers you can sound like a full band doing the lead, rhythm and bass all at the same time.

of all the moogs i've owned (mini/rogue) this one is by far the most reliable. in fact, it couldn't be more reliable. i tune before every practice (out of habit really, though most times i don't need to) and it never goes out of tune. everything works on it like the day it came from the factory. i've played shows with no back up synth. it's very trustworthy... i wish i could say the same for my other moogs.

none. unless you live in LA or new york, goodluck trying to find a tech in your town. so make sure it works when you buy it and hope for the best!

i have two opus-3's one is in MINT condition and i'd be really really really heartbroken if someone stole it. but they're not too hard to find, so i'd just go get another. i can't see myself ever selling it. i've been playing it for about a year and a half. i also own a rogue and a juno-60 and it's my favorite synth.
i love how it cuts through the mix... it's so fat and scorching that no guitar (or digital synths) can't compete with it.

This is a relatively easy instrument to use (once you learn what all the sliders do, which admittedly can take a while) that once you get the hang of it can be a great little synth.

Full polyphony on this baby. The brass section's VCO can be a GREAT sounding filter sweep is you know how to use it, and the churus depth slider can be used as sort of a makeshift mod-wheel, just keep it close to all the day down, with the chorus set to fast, and when you want the vibrato, bring the slider all the way up (just like you'd work a modulation wheel.) The pitch bender has got that great moog "5th up, 7th down" range, but again, it takes some getting used to if you're used to playing with the typical "major second in either direction" wheel or joystick. The string section I haven't had much use for, except for recreating a relatively low-grade imitation of the Joe Zawinul arp oddysey lead sound. Organ, oddly enough, can be made to sound just about exactly like the classic Rick Wakeman "And You And I" mini lead, by selecting a register (preferably 4',) turning all the rest of them all of the way down, and bringing the "tone" slider all the way up. OF course, then make sure the chorus is all the way in the "organ" direction, and you've got a very good square wave lead sound (just make sure to move the attack slider over a little bit, just a hair, otherwise you'll get to harsh a sound.)

like i said above, this little synth is great for prog and fusion, but i've also been able to get the brass section to give me a really FAT sounding synth/clav sound with a big filter sweep on it thats just perfect for playing in a funk band.

I bring it out on gigs without any backup. Once you learn how to reprogram it quickly, its pretty reliable and easy to use on gigs (and it actually stays in tune very well unless you go completely nuts with the pitch wheel on every solo!)

nada

While I love this synth, if it were to be lost or stolen, I'd probably just save up and buy a mini, in addition to perhaps a poly-moog or a memory-moog.

A lovely hands on feel to this moog,useing the manual presets give effective results.How about a fat moog bass it comes close,many sliders cover this machine and the filters to have slider control.
If you start from scratch with programing great things evolve.A well laid out manual takes you though synthersis basics.

No midi on this moog,a foot pedal input and stereo out,You can pan strings,brass,and organ.Theres a lovely chourus effect where speed and rate can be changed,the strings and organ can be routed through this.No sequencer but lots of sliders.

As with all patches in the old ano manuals,some of the instruments don t sound anything like the real thing!but its good for spacey effects big filter sweeps ,and u can blend the vcf brass,strings and organ together and modulate them. Its different to other moogs ,its been used my 808 state theres is midi.Nice.

Since i have had the machine it has had just one key that seems to cut the release of the others if its touched? but otherwise no problems.

I use sequential ,roland,and korg anos and they all have there own sound,they don t sound like my opus lll though.The strings using its filters sound fantastic through reverb ,you can just play with the res and its great.I wish it had cv ins though ,its original no mods but still great to jam with its nice looking to.If you have a new synth with a smooth pad then layer this moogs strings under and play with the filters,you will wish you had 3 arms trust me!.I would replace if lost in the either? but hay don t part with more than 300 pounds!.

Simple, Large sounding Brass and minimal displacement of volume through the Organ and Strings section. Nicey Nice.

Polyphonic with a wonderful range and a smooth VCA. It's all booyacka when you want it to be and smooth and clean when you need that. Versitile.

Easy to use, Screaching VCA and it's pretty efficient live. Good replacement organ sound, if you ain't into the whole lugin' your hammond and leslie around (but in that instance it is far a replacement for either). BOOM!

Had it serviced orginally when purchased and has run smmmooooooooth as butta. It's been gigged for the last year and used in every application possible. It is smooth and a lot lighter than my Crumar Stratus.

Although Bob lives in my basement, he hasn't come out in over 10 years. That's o.k. after an original servicing by a super duper trained professional it has worked without a single problem.

It's a beautiful synth that is replacable i'm sure but who cares. It runs sweet, it has a fat low end bass, and a super nice vca. Strings =sweet Organ =sweet. You know it's a moog. Nice and fat and the polyphony of the Opus is the best i've heard thus far.

Just turn it on and move those sliders and turn those knobs. A very hands on and easy to use machine just like all vintage analog synthesizers.

The Opus 3 offers a fully polyphonic 49 note keyboard, which is its best feature. This makes it the cheapest priced Moog polyphonic made. Since it is a vintage synth it has no memory, no MIDI capabilities, no effects, and no sequencer. But its a Moog and it doesn't need any of these :-)

The Opus 3 offers three voices: strings, organ, and brass. The strings and organ can be mixed to the chorus while the brass and organ can be mixed to the VCF. The brass can be played in preset and variable modes. The variable mode incorporates a great sounding Moog 24/dB filter. The strings sound the best, brass is best in the variable mode, and the organ sounds average. Also there is an LFO that can be set to control the VCF or the VCO's. Its a great Moog synth that can be used best in electronic music.

Some of the sliders are slow to work but a good cleaning should fix it. I think that after it is cleaned it could be used some on a gig but not too often since it is 20 years old and can crash at any unforseen moment.

The original Moog Music company has been out of business for over ten years so all repairs, parts, etc. will have to be taken care of on an individual basis.

I think 250 US dollars is a fair price for a working Opus 3. I would probably not pay anymore than $400 for another one. It is definately not a Minimoog (which I also own) but it has a great Moog sound. If you are looking for a decently priced Moog synth then the Opus 3 is definately a good choice.

Pretty simple and straightforward. Some controls seem to have effect on other sounds even when that voice's master switch is off- the organ tone settings have effect on both violin and brass voices. since this is an old analog you are basically at the mercy of what the machine feels like giving you. This is fun to play with, but it would be hard to duplicate some sounds in a live setting, especially without visual markers. It's versatile as a noisemaker, and I often run it through effects processors, which produces some very cool sounds

3 voice (violin, organ, brass) polyphonic (can be distorted at lower notes) stereo and mono outs, sustain footswitch jack, no inputs. Organ and violin mix to chorus, organ and brass mix to VCF. VCF and FM modulation (exclusive) Voltage control filter provides for the wet sci-fi swooping and siren-like stuff. The violin is ok, but overall most would comment on the high cheesiness factor. Keyboard action is good, and the thing is fun to play with, but is by no means a minimoog. BUT, throw some effects between this and the amp, and it becomes whatever you want it to be. Dense noise, weird atmospherics, and even guitar-like sounds are possible. I plug this into my guitar amps (which clips off the frequency range at either end) and get some satisfying noise. But without the effects this would be pretty boring. Oh yeah, wood sides, constructed well, big and dorky looking (for the features) and a ton of slider and knob controls. Tone bending wheel, pitch control and separate master controls for each voice.

voicings are not realistic, although at long sustain the strings sound close. Like I said- cheesy. but this could work well in a lot of situations. Not very expressive, but perfect for some noise or sci-fi type stuff. Actually, when I bought it, it had settings marked with "eye of the tiger", so you know it's ready for rock. Some of the sliders are a little scratchy, and there is a delayed response sometimes after flipping certain switches, which is charateristic of an older machine. If you can find this cheap, get it. I usually hate keyboardists and keyboards, but this is a fun toy to 4-track with.

Not real dependable- I wouldn't gig it unless I had it checked out and maintained/repaired by a pro. like I said, the sliders aren't accurate all of the time, so wouldn't be great in a situation when you're changing settings mid-song. Would be good for a nice, noisy backdrop, though

Haven't they started making stuff again?

I would buy it again, but not for any more than I paid. If you are thinking "I want a moog", then this is not the machine you are drooling about. If you are looking for a cheapo noise maker, this is fun, looks cool, and you can squeeze out some bizarre stuff if you try hard enough