Actual information on Claravox

Bendra, out of curiosity, when did you order yours?

Bendra, out of curiosity, when did you order yours?

October 23rd. I also ordered from a small boutique shop who sent the order to Moog right away. YMMV

Hi there,

Just wanted to share that I have received my Claravox as well, serial 0029.

Here is some the feedback I shared with moog:

Hi there,

Very excited to have received the Claravox, serial number 0029! Still waiting for the stand but wanted to share some feedback:

Pros:

1. Volume response - it’s *really* good. You can adjust it well, and coming from my Etherwave Pro that I had a mod installed on, it’s much better.

2. Aesthetically - looks absolutely fantastic. Looking forward to have a proper stand for it, because it leans back on my traditional mic stand.

3. The dials are easy to turn, and not as loud as they were on the E-Pro

4. The bass register is… amazing. 

Cons:

1. Physical Instrument:
A. The cloth/vinyl front and back - looks *amazing* - but is going to get so dirty over the years. 

B. The arm doesn’t sit flush against the instrument.

[color=#000000][font=UICTFontTextStyleBody]It is flush against the instrument on the bottom, but not the top. Functionality is fine, however[/font][/color]

2. Register Resets - so, every time the timbre is adjusted, the register defaults back to “0”, even if I was previously playing in -2, -1 or +1. The same thing has been happening with the filter - the filter often resets back to the middle point, without the nobs being turned. I don’t know why when one switch is changed, others are impacted but to have to adjust multiple switches isn’t practical during performance. This problem doesn’t occur on my Etherwave Pro.

3. Timbre’s - There’s a lot going on here, but for a traditional theremin, it doesn’t have many traditional sounding timbre’s. Timbre 2 is good, and Timbre 3 is OK. After that, it becomes a different instrument, which may have been the idea, but was a little surprising

4. The stand - I haven’t received it yet, but it doesn’t look like it will have an adjustment to go low enough to sit with. That is disappointing - the e-pro stand has a long range so you can sit or stand. I will have to mod it to work.

5. The artwork - SO cool - this is definitely a pro, but a quick note about the history that is listed on the right: The Ethervox & Etherwave Pro theremins aren’t listed at all - I also noticed you cannot register those instruments on the Moog site - is there any particular reason?

[color=#000000][font=UICTFontTextStyleBody]6. Serial Number: This isn’t visible from the outside of the instrument. Most instruments have a badge - is it on the inside somewhere?
[/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=UICTFontTextStyleBody][color=#000000][size=3][font=UICTFontTextStyleBody]Overall I’m pleased to have it, but do wish there were a few adjustments that could be made. Also, will there be a case that will be released for this instrument?[/font][/color][/font][/size][/color]

^ sorry for the jumbo font. Copied and pasted from my email.

@tom_nomnom on Instagram if you have any questions!

Thanks.

FYI you can edit your post, switch to markup mode (far right button in the editor) and remove unwanted tags if you want cleaner text from copy-and-paste.

I also noticed the pitch arm doesn't sit flush, which really bugs me for no good reason. I suppose it would be possible to make a thin silicone rubber "cap" for the arm to make a snugger fit for someone so inclined...

Regarding the timbre settings, I think the idea is that you use the knobs to get whatever timbre you want and then store it (either as one of the six presets you can select with the dial or in the advanced editor software). That way when you return to a timbre it sounds exactly like when you set it, regardless of the positions of dials.

So, there are definitely a few more kinks that need to be worked out before they send more of these units out! 

Yesterday, I could not get any audio from the instrument. I swapped out multiple theremins in the same cable setup and ruled out the amp, the pedals, the cables etc, and it was an issue with the main audio out port on the Claravox.

This morning I swapped out amps, and had the same issue. After about 10 minutes of being turned on, I started to hear a slight hum, even with the instrument muted, and not on “traditional” mode but on “modern”, and when I turned off the mute switch, it was back to normal.  This shouldn’t be happening and I am worried that there’s a different issue going on. 

Thoughts?

So, there are definitely a few more kinks that need to be worked out before they send more of these units out!  . . . This shouldn’t be happening and I am worried that there’s a different issue going on. Thoughts?

I was wondering if this would happen with the early units as they are part of what Moog has called the “pilot production.” Without saying too much, I have very good reason to believe that they only shipped out ~30 instruments - no more.

Moog just announced an update on Monday and stated:

We continue to struggle with receiving the quality and quantity of parts that we need to produce Claravox at a steady and high-volume build rate. Until we resolve these supply issues and produce Claravox Centennial consistently, predicting future shipments is not yet possible. We are optimistic we are rounding a corner and will see predictability in our production output in the coming months.

Here’s a link to Moog’s June 21st Update. So sorry to hear about your problems. 😢 

FWIW, this problem has not happened to me (no audio). If the issue only occurs in modern mode and can be remedied by toggling the mute switch then perhaps it can be fixed with a firmware update at some point?

tcordara - So, there are definitely a few more kinks that need to be worked out before they send more of these units out! Yesterday, I could not get any audio from the instrument. I swapped out multiple theremins in the same cable setup and ruled out the amp, the pedals, the cables etc, and it was an issue with the main audio out port on the Claravox.This morning I swapped out amps, and had the same issue. After about 10 minutes of being turned on, I started to hear a slight hum, even with the instrument muted, and not on “traditional” mode but on “modern”, and when I turned off the mute switch, it was back to normal.  This shouldn’t be happening and I am worried that there’s a different issue going on. Thoughts?

Have your problems been resolved? Have new ones shown up? Moog has stated (in private correspondence) that:

“While pilot production can produce acceptable products for shipment, it can also expose shortcomings in supply or quality of materials, which was encountered in this case of this instrument.”

This seems to suggest there are problems with the very limited number of instruments they’ve shipped. 

Regarding when more instruments will be shipped, Moog has just stated:

“Currently, we are preparing to receive material supply from a new partner who replaced a supplier whose component quality was rejected. These components are due in the middle of July. We are beginning to build instruments to the extent they can be preassembled. Once these materials are received, and provided they meet our quality standards, we will begin standard production. At this point, our partners can expect to receive significantly greater volumes of product. We do expect this to begin in July with a sizable increase in August and continue until all ordered product is fulfilled.”

tcordara - So, there are definitely a few more kinks that need to be worked out before they send more of these units out! Yesterday, I could not get any audio from the instrument. I swapped out multiple theremins in the same cable setup and ruled out the amp, the pedals, the cables etc, and it was an issue with the main audio out port on the Claravox.This morning I swapped out amps, and had the same issue. After about 10 minutes of being turned on, I started to hear a slight hum, even with the instrument muted, and not on “traditional” mode but on “modern”, and when I turned off the mute switch, it was back to normal.  This shouldn’t be happening and I am worried that there’s a different issue going on. Thoughts?

Have your problems been resolved? Have new ones shown up? Moog has stated (in private correspondence) that:

“While pilot production can produce acceptable products for shipment, it can also expose shortcomings in supply or quality of materials, which was encountered in this case of this instrument.”

This seems to suggest there are problems with the very limited number of instruments they’ve shipped.

That's interesting, and I want to be careful here because I'm totally speculating, but since I haven't seen this issue (having played the instrument every day for almost a month now) I wonder if some of the components are different between my instrument and this one. If there are dire materials shortages as Moog is claiming I can see how that could happen out of expedience. If so - which is a big if - then I'd say Moog owes a replacement/repair to tcordara and anyone else who paid for an instrument with such "shortcomings".