Claravox Centennial- known issues, bugs and quirks

"Yep, this person was me, if you're talking about the FB thread."  - Op106

Yes, and thank you for elaborating on your experience here!  Though others have reported the same issue, with similar disappointment and no resolution.

"I suspect that having the option to play in "traditional mode" was a little bit of an afterthought and Moog expected folks to stay primarily in modern, which is a disappointment for those of us hoping for an Etherwave Pro experience on that side of the instrument."

I think the Cvox probably started out life more as an overgrown Theremini, rather than an EPro Jr.  The dual mode stuff looks good in the promo material, and probably sounded genius in the meetings, but supporting a traditional mode really ties your hands when implementing a modern mode (analog bank switching in particular is an issue).  Perhaps after the notorious sluggishness of the Theremini they didn't want to be seen as releasing yet another (mostly) digital Theremin?

My claravox is allergic to American celebrations. My first issue arose on Halloween, my second on Thanksgiving. Which of course is a long weekend when Moog is closed.

So on the off-chance anyone can offer some insight, including @Flounderguts and his recent dissection of his instrument...

Last month, I had two separate issues.
1. One was resolved via firmware update
2. The other 'somehow' resolved itself, as I was able to wriggle the volume antenna which fixed the physical connection

Issue number 2 is back with a vengeance - ie. no sound at all. With the notable exception of when the volume loop is not inserted fully (I've tried inserting a photo below, fingers crossed it's worked).

As you'll see, when the metal twiglets are flush against the disc (which means the loop is vertical, dropping under its own weight), I'm getting sound, and the Cvox is behaving as I'd expect it to; obviously the loop is at this stage unusuable, being fully vertical. When the volume loop is inserted again fully, no sound whatsoever.

Thoughts & contributions welcome...

"Thoughts & contributions welcome..."  - Guillaume

Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on?  (sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Serial number?

Mute logic working OK?

Have you sanded the very end face of the volume loop?  You don't have to go crazy, just remove the varnish or whatever is on there.

Take a knife to the "twiglets" so that they are bare metal where they contact the inside of the plate.

Take off the back (just a few screws) and see if yours has the wires that electrically connect to the pressure springs.

Guillaume - The antenna, as shown in your photo, is not installed properly - what you refer to as “twiglets” (Moog calls them “retaining pins”) are supposed to go inside the CVox. This is (poorly) described by Moog on page 17 of the manual and in Figure 4. 

@contradude: I know! the antenna on the photo is the only position that lets off a sound. When the antenna is properly inserted I get nothing at all. 

@dewster: SN00250. I did try unplugging everything… several times! I’ve sanded the varnish on the end of the loop, but not on the “retaining pins” (aka twiglets ); I hadn’t realised that needed doing too. I’ll try that thanks. I’m a bit wary of removing the back due to my general low level of techie knowledge, and I’m not sure I’d know what I’m looking for. But it might have to come to that if sanding the twiglets doesn’t do anything. 

What’s strange is that the sound stopped suddenly overnight; and I didn’t move the instrument or do anything silly…

@Gulllaume: The problem you describe with the antenna is EXACTLY what I experienced - audio for less than one day, then nothing. After Dewster and I spent several hours working on it and we thought it was working, I tried it at home and then it stopped again. By that point, I was done with Moog and I I created the following video. I suspect this is quite similar to your current situation.

https://youtu.be/EdcDtWqxXvk

Eric (dewster) then invited me back and we fixed it after several more hours of work. I’ve had no problems since, although I have never moved it from its current location. The video that shows the fix is posted here:

https://youtu.be/_YFWcVWdEI0

This solution has helped several others. Moog should be grateful for the problem solving/quality control we did for them.

BTW, it’ll be exactly three months since I received my CVox and yet they still haven’t shipped my stand (and the Dealer, Prymaxe, is equally useless). Given that there are now many reports of defective stands, I wonder what Moog is doing now? One person just posted a video, elsewhere, showing the legs falling off the flimsy, cheaply made thing. Just how difficult is it to design a solid stand? Heck, for what it costs, it should be built like a tank. It also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to design a simple stand! Oh well, my D-Lev is my favorite instrument!

Thanks a lot. That sounds exactly like what i'm experiencing.

So... that magical red tuning tool... Did you or Eric write any blurb on how you went about fixing it? You mention going 'counter-clockwise by a significant amount', any advice?

(btw, my stand 'works', in that legs don't fall off and the theremin fits. To be fair, i'd have rather the theremin working and the stand being broken but hey...)

@Guillaume: I thought it was very similar to my situation - many others have had the same issue. Eric did all the electronic adjustments and he also used his test equipment - a very good thing, to calibrate my CVox. One of several tools he used was an oscilloscope. While I’m not sure I should mention how far Eric turned the tool (every instrument may be different), it was a LOT. He did a great job and it’s been fine ever since. Eric can be credited with all of the calibration and electrical issues; my role is that I’m cranky (LOL) and I identified the issue with the lacquer (acoustic instruments made from brass are nearly always lacquered). I’ll let him provide any additional information.

I’m with you - I’d rather have a working instrument than a stand. I’m using a mic stand now that’s fine. It’s just disgraceful that I haven’t received mine yet. BTW, Moog promised the NC DOJ, a few weeks ago, that they were “expediting” the stand to my dealer. That probably means they will ship it a year from now 🤪

Hope this helps.

Wow. You guys. Heroes of the week. Absolute legends. I'd have taken you two out for a thank-you pint if it hadn't been for the 3,000 miles of distance!

I don't have any oscilloscope or other equipment. But your video convinced me we had the same issue (great video by the way, Moog should buy it off you, it'd save their techie team quite some time!). So I decided to give the red tuning tool a go.

Long story short; I had to turn it one entire turn anti-clockwise. For a super-fine-precise-state-of-the-art device, this felt really dirty, and there was a small moment when I was half a turn in when I *might* have cursed you a little bit. But being the stubborn person I am, I kept on going and eventually heard a faint sound (about 3/4 of a turn in). At exactly one full turn, the level of sound was as I expected/wanted.

I will add this - the comment of 'making a little flag with some tape' was genuis. Love it. So simple and clever, and provided me with the reassurance that I'd be able to undo it if needed.

Thanks again to you two!