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Has anyone taken apart their Moog Little Phatty?


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Hi everyone,

 

the side panels and the mod & pitch wheels on my Moog Little Phatty SEII have become sticky and gross. Dust and lint are just baking into it and it's no fun playing it anymore. I've searched the interwebs and it looks like it's a common problem once the plastic gets a couple of years old.

I just ordered wooden side panels but I wanna try my luck with rubbing alcohol or some other type of cleaning agent to salvage the wheels. It looks like it would be best to get them out of the housing to be able to clean them thouroughly. Has anyone ever taken their LP apart and gotten to the wheels? I only found videos of people opening up other parts of the Moog.

Looking forward to your replies! :cheers:

It's not a clone, it's a Suzuki.
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It's similar to doing the CV Out mod.

 

As far as the Pitch and Mod Wheels, they are part of a unit.

 

When you remove the side panels, you will see how that module is attached to the case, and plugs into the circuit board.

 

Just take your time, and don't force anything that doesn't want to come loose.

 

crZqJl.jpg

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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I upgraded my original Stage to the Stage II version years ago with the Moog kit. Didn't do anything with the mod wheels. So I went back and pulled mine out of the case today (haven't used it in over a year) and lo and behold mine is also gross and sticky.

 

Since I had it out, I went through and popped it open to check things out. Here is a brief tutorial for future generations, replete with crappy cell phone pictures:

 

1. Remove these 4 screws on the bottom. They hold the wheel module in place. With screws removed, it is still retained by the front panel, so more disassembly is required.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/bottom.jpg

 

Note: The LP uses two types of screws to attach the side panels, a fine thread (circled in blue) and a coarse self tapping thread (circled in yellow).

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/screws.jpg

 

2. Remove the right hand side panel. Remove all screws. Circles show locations of screws specified in previous note.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/right_side.jpg

 

3. Remove left hand side panel. Remove all screws, including those circled in red. Underneath the plastic/rubber side panel is a metal panel that some of the connectors are attached to, and those connectors are in turn connected to the circuit board. The metal panel does not have to be removed completely, just be aware of those cable connections and don't pull too hard on that panel (at least, that's how is on the Stage I to Stage II conversion side panel).

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/left_side.jpg

 

4. Pull out the front panel, and disconnect the wheel module connector.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/connector.jpg

 

5. The wheel module can now be removed. The cable is routed through a hole in the chassis, fish the wire through the hole to remove completely.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/connector_hole.jpg

 

6. Congratulations! The wheel module is removed.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/mod_module.jpg

 

7. It is possible to remove the mod wheel pretty easily, just remove the two screws and gentle pry it out of place. However, it seems that the mod wheel is glued on to the potentiometer. I didn't put much effort into trying to remove it as this was just exploratory surgery. The pitch wheel isn't as easy to remove, the wire going to the lower mod wheel LED is glued with hot melt adhesive to the pitch wheel assembly, so that would have to be removed to pull out the pitch wheel. But just being able to access the back side of everything should make it easier to clean.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/pitchmod1.jpg

 

8. Reverse procedure above to reassemble.

 

Optional: Use German screwdriver for best results.

 

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpantale/pics/little%20phatty/german_driver.jpg

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Rubbing alcohol works fine and is what was recommended to me by Moog. Note that it can take some elbow grease, so keep at it. Paper towels and alcohol. Be prepared to spend time on it. Once I got mine good and clean the problem has not returned (so far...we're talking several years, though).

 

I did not remove the wheels. I'm sure you can do a better, more complete job by removing the wheels, but I only care about the parts I touch so I didn't think it was worth the trouble to disassemble the unit. I did the end caps in place, too.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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I also cleaned mine with isopropyl alcohol, without taking it apart (only cleaned the external parts of the sides and wheels). It's now shiny hard plastic, not that velvety matte it was originally. But the problem has not come back, and I hope it never will.

It took a LOT of patience though...that slimy stuff is hard to remove, be prepared for many hours of cleaning!

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Wow, it is strange to see a manufacturer use two different screws that way. Does one type go into metal while the other goes into wood? Anyway, I had two Voyagers and 5 MoogerFooger pedals at one point. Now they are all gone and honestly I have lost confidence in Moog and their construction.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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Wow, it is strange to see a manufacturer use two different screws that way. Does one type go into metal while the other goes into wood?

The self-tapping screws circled in yellow do not require pre-drilling holes. Otherwise, not sure of why the manufacturer chose to use different screws.:cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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Looks as though the self-tapping screws go into channels in the extruded aluminum back. The machine screws, I imagine, go into nuts in the sheet metal part of the enclosure. I don't see what the fuss is about--completely normal. No, I've never taken my Phatty apart; I'm working from the pictures above and could be wrong. For all the fact that I've expressed concerns about some things I've seen/heard regarding Moog, this is not one of them. Normal engineering solution for electronics gear. Yes, you could go to the trouble to tap the channels in the extruded aluminum and use machine screws, but the self-tapping screws will be just fine.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Well, two different things. I'm not fussing about the use of two different screws, I'm curious. I could fuss about build quality and be well within my rights. I had a Model D with the common issue of not being able to keep osc 2 in tune. I had an early model MemoryMoog that was besieged with problems. I remember keyboard publications at the time, including Keyboard Player, stating that it was released too soon because of pressure from the parent company. I had a Moog Source that had a mind of its own. It would change patches and the arp would start playing notes at the worst of times. I had to quit using it on stage. It wasn't until around 10 years ago that I found an article on the internet explaining the source of the problem and how to fix it. Back in the 80's I could not find anyone who could fix it. I had a hard time selling my last Voyager because it was in a SN range with lots of publicized issues. Several potential customers asked me if I had sent it in to have the boards replaced. And around the internet there are several reported issues with the build quality of MoogerFoogers. I'm glad I sold mine when I did.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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Grey's right on the money regarding the fasteners. Self tappers into the extruded aluminum back, and machine screws into sheet metal nuts in the sheet metal base. Cutting machine screw threads into the aluminum extrusion would just add more to manufacturing costs and assembly costs. And the fine threads in aluminum would be more likely to be stripped. The choice of fasteners here is optimized for assembly.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a little follow up:

 

the new side panels arrived last week and on Saturday I picked up some cleaning alcohol. Cleaning the wheels worked surprisingly well, I freed them of all stickyness in about 10 minutes. The new panels feel great and are a great fit with the Prophet 6 :love:

 

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It's not a clone, it's a Suzuki.
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