Any Moog Melodia owners out there?

Posted: 9/30/2018 9:56:17 AM
pitts8rh

From: Minnesota USA

Joined: 11/27/2015

For some time I have been acquiring materials and many unique vintage parts in order to build a spot-on replica of the Melodia, just for fun.  Fortunately there are many decent photos out there showing the internal views, and I have a copy of the original assembly manual (this would be the 2N414 PNP version).

I was hoping that I could get the exact case dimensions if anyone out there has an original, factory produced model.  With at least those as a starting point I can if necessary derive the other internal dimensions using Photoshop.  Also, I am unsure of the type of wood used for the cabinet.  In some photos where the finish is chipped the underlying wood looks lighter like mahogany (which seems unlikely), but in other views the face grain would suggest that it is cherry or walnut.

Any help would be appreciated.  I would like to make it as accurate as possible. 

Thanks.
Roger

Posted: 9/30/2018 3:05:06 PM
senior_falcon

Joined: 10/23/2014

I have an original Melodia that was built from a kit. I can measure every dimension for you; even the thickness of the metal sheet. With that information, you can make it 100% accurate. No need to use Photoshop for this. Before you get started, you should be sure you can get four duplicates of the original tuning coils and the bakelite knobs.

The wood used in mine is walnut. The case sides and bottom are solid walnut and the top is 1/2" walnut plywood with edge tape. Mine is a later model, built from a kit. It has the note in a circle on the front panel, which makes it after 1964. Most of the pics I have seen of earlier models (with the treble clef and vacuum tube on the front panel) show a solid wood top with breadboarded ends; some are mitered so you only see the end grain in the back, but I just saw a picture of an earlier one with a plywood top like mine.
 
Most look like walnut to me, although at least one appears to be made of mahogany. 

Posted: 9/30/2018 6:43:51 PM
pitts8rh

From: Minnesota USA

Joined: 11/27/2015

That's great news.  This is what I was hoping for.  I don't know what variations there are between early and late, kit and factory models, but I was hoping to replicate the version with the musical staff/zigzag/vacuum tube logo.  I have a decent photo of the front panel of this model to enable reconstruction of the graphics.

I think the coils and knobs are covered.  Although fairly similar coil forms are available from SurplusSales (info thanks to Fat Bob, I think), it would be easier for me to match the original design using phenolic tubes with machined end caps and formed triangular solder lugs crimped onto the phenolic tubes.  I even have some tan #36 cotton covered wire that has been around since the 70s for the coils. The coils can be honeycomb-wound as the originals were, and it looks neater than the scramble-winding approach of the magazine version. 

Ebay had some vintage Davies bakelite knobs of the correct scalloped design (assuming the diameter is 1.75, I hope I hope), although they are black.  I have already made a silicone mold to recast them in brown urethane, which should look for all purposes identical to brown bakelite.  Although I do think black looks a little better, and there was at least one example out there that did have black knobs with the brown panel, but hopefully you can advise me on this.  It is possible that they could have been replacements. After buying the "vintage" knobs for a collectable price on eBay (and finding 1/4 of them broken in the bag they arrived in), I learned that the exact same knobs are still sold by Davies plastics for less than the eBay price.

Most of the remaining parts (including the Johnson 5M11 variable capacitors, Mallory 3123J power switch, and striped hookup wire! ) are all gathering dust in a box waiting for some time this winter.  The only missing parts are what appear to be unusual pin or banana jacks and plugs that are used for the antenna connections into the metal housing.  Can you tell me what these are?

So yes,  I could use the following bits of information for starters if you are willing:

1) External cabinet dimensions and the wood thicknesses (guessing 1/2", except 3/4" for the ends?)

2) The metal chassis width.  It looks like the height and depths match the case.

3) Chassis metal thickness (guessing about .050" or so).  Looks like tin-plated steel? I can't see the sides that extend into the front panel, but it looks like they may be flanged outward so they can screw to the front panel.  A photo of the backside of the front panel would be very useful - this is one thing missing from my photo collection.  Also, are the rear corners of your metal chassis simply meeting with a gap, or do you have the type of box with the extra fold of metal and spot-welded corners? 

4)  Is the front panel also steel, or is is possibly aluminum?  The sharp bend corners of the panel suggest that the metal is thinner than I guessed or perhaps softer.

5)  Approximate heights (measured from the bottom board) for the centers of the chassis inductor and transistor socket holes, and maybe the antenna jacks.  I can't easily estimate these.

6)  Knob center locations on the front panel.

Realistically I will probably have to make some guesstimates on part locations by scaling in Photoshop, and I'm okay with that.  I know it's difficult to get in there to measure everything, and that would be asking a lot.  It would be a huge help just to know the things I have asked above, and I would be indebted to you for that.  I'll document progress here as I go along.

I'll PM you my direct email in case you need it for anything.  And again, thank you for your offer to help.

Roger

Posted: 9/30/2018 7:54:13 PM
senior_falcon

Joined: 10/23/2014

I will measure everything you are asking for and anything else that seems helpful.

The on/off switch is black and the tuning knobs are brown bakelite. Maybe you could paint your black knobs brown? There are photos on this site that show a brown front panel with the vacuum tube logo and in that picture you can see that the on/off switch is black.  My front panel is definitely painted black. There are enough variations in this design to make me suspect that Moog used whatever was handy.

Page 3 of the photo album section has my scans of the Melodia construction manual. 

Posted: 10/1/2018 1:42:51 AM
pitts8rh

From: Minnesota USA

Joined: 11/27/2015

So does your black panel have the staff logo that I described or does it have the smaller white ring logo?  I'm trying to figure out which is newer or older, and if there is any difference between the kit and factory designs.  It's hard to draw any conclusions about what is correct based on the few models that have pictures posted online.  They seem, as you say, somewhat random.

BTW, I just realized that my copy of the manual came from your photo album, so thanks for that too.  I've pillaged everything I could find, and I don't even know where it all came from now.

Posted: 10/1/2018 3:02:27 AM
senior_falcon

Joined: 10/23/2014

The treble clef, staff, and vacuum tube logo is the first logo used by Moog. According to the Moog archives and Michelle Moog, in 1964 the logo was changed to a circle around a note. Rob Schwimmer's and mine are the only ones I know about with that logo. There are more pictures of melodias with the older logo. So perhaps the newer ones are rarer. 

Hope to get some measurements for you in the next couple of days.

Posted: 10/1/2018 5:48:43 PM
mpampouras

From: Lausanne, Switzerland

Joined: 3/15/2005

Mine as well! Good luck with your instrument it's a lovely theremin.

Posted: 10/1/2018 7:07:00 PM
pitts8rh

From: Minnesota USA

Joined: 11/27/2015

Mine as well! Good luck with your instrument it's a lovely theremin.

Does this mean that yours has the older staff/tube logo or the newer round logo?  And what color panel and knobs do you have?

Posted: 10/2/2018 4:14:26 PM
mpampouras

From: Lausanne, Switzerland

Joined: 3/15/2005

Like this one: 

Posted: 10/4/2018 2:54:37 AM
senior_falcon

Joined: 10/23/2014

I have measured the case and made drawings that you should be able to decipher. I will measure the face plate and chassis tomorrow night.

If you want duplicate the face with the circle/note logo I can take a sharp picture that is square to the front and distortion free.

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