Has anyone here played a Pegna theremin?

The title pretty much says it all, has anyone actually played one of these?

I'm looking at getting a proper theremin (my modded SC kit is proving much more valuable as a learning exercise than an instrument) and the Pegna caught my eye.
I like the look of it and the description on the website sounds promising, but it's hard enough trying to decide between a Burns B3 Deluxe and a Moog Etherwave without having the chance to actually play either.

Seems to me one of the Theremin World regulars tried to order a Pegna theremin recently and had PROBLEMS. (Sarah......come in Sarah.....)

Buying a theremin because you like the look of it, or because the manufacturer's description sounds promising, is like buying a car because you like the color.

"Seems to me one of the Theremin World regulars tried to order a Pegna theremin recently and had PROBLEMS. (Sarah......come in Sarah.....)

Buying a theremin because you like the look of it, or because the manufacturer's description sounds promising, is like buying a car because you like the color."

I remember Sarah's post, part of my motivation for this thread was to find out what happened.

Love the "buying a car because you like the color" analogy. I'm very picky about my instruments and like to do a lot of homework before buying. There's no way I'm jumping in without some solid feedback, not even if it were painted in Ferrari red ;)

Signore Pegna lists Thomas Grillo on his site (http://www.pegna-instruments.com/eng/credits.htm). I know Thomas is on this forum but didn't see any reference to the Pegna theremin on his site so I wasn't sure whether Thomas is someone that Sr. Pegna has worked with or admires (love the videos on Thomas' site, by the way!)

Does Thomas Grillo have any videos using a Pegna instrument?

Not that I can see on his Youtube channel. There are videos there featuring the Moog Etherwave; Burns B3, B3 Deluxe and B3 Pro; Moog Etherwave Pro and Wavefront travel case. There's a link to the Pegna site on the "links" page of Thomas' website, but that's it. I might email him and ask whether he's played one.

His videos are great, they haven't made it any easier to decide between the Burns and Moog theremins, he gets a great sound out of both :)

One of the advantages of the Moog Etherwave is that there are modifications available for it that can extend its range capabilities considerably should you decide to get serious about the instrument. It can also be "hot-rodded" by the user in a variety of interesting ways.

I think the only problem Sarah has with the Pegna, is that she doesn't have it.

She ordered one eons ago, was told it would be there in September and it's Mid-November and still missing in action.

Well, the Pegna is definitely out of the equation. Thomas said he's never played one and the problems with Sarah's order make me wary, so that's that - Burns or Moog it is.

The B3 deluxe appeals because it sounds less "pure", so that suggests to me the harmonic content is nice and rich - I'm keen to experiment with a talkbox or using the theremin output as a carrier signal in a vocoder, so more harmonics would be a good thing. Then again, modding and hot-rodding are right up my alley - decisions, decisions :)

I would recomment a Subscope. I have a V-3 and it is amazing... If you want to see it in action, you can view here:

It is one heck of a theremin!

Fantastic! The website's excellent, too. Do you mind if I ask what the damage to the wallet was? There aren't any prices listed on the Subscope site so it may be a case of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" :)