All the secrecy and mystery surrounding the Moog Guitar has vanished as Moog finally gives away the full scoop on the Moog Guitar -- Paul Vo Collector Edition. After all the rumors of innovative capabilities that, as it turns out, are true, it seems far too useful to just be collected.

For starters, the guitar itself is built with an AAAAA maple top, mahogany body and ebony fingerboard. The Moog Guitar Electronics, however, provide the massive allure to this guitar. It's not a guitar synth, a MIDI guitar, an effects processor or anything else you'd initially imagine. Expression is all about the strings themselves, pretty much like it's always been on any guitar but reinvented to be augmented. Moog offers several modus operandi.

• Full Sustain Mode
• Sustain used to be Fernandes' bag, but Moog's Full Sustain Mode will undoubtedly make a more than formidable rival. In this mode, you've got infinite sustain on every string, fret and volume level. Moog touts its power and clarity.
• Controlled Sustain Mode
• Of course, you don't always want all of your notes to ring out for eternity. Controlled Sustain Mode overs sustain on both single notes or polyphonic lines. The guitar automatically mutes strings you are not playing.
• Mute Mode
• Mute Mode (in addition to being a pretty decent band name) is catered towards staccato play. Whereas the sustain modes intensely draw out your notes, mute mode stops them with the same annihilating force.
• Harmonic Blends
• Harmonic Blends (in addition to being a great name for a line of free-trade coffee beans) takes advantage of the special included foot pedal. It uses the positive energy of sustain mode's special Vo Power and the negative force of mute mode's use of Vo Power between the bridge and neck pickups for varied levels of incorporation of harmonics from subtle to extreme.
• Moog Filter
• Moog Filter allows you to manage the frequency of a built in resonant Moog ladder filter. This can also be done with the included foot pedal as well as via a CV Input.

The Moog Guitar includes five knobs that go a lot more in depth than tone and volume. The aforementioned Vo Power is controlled by the first knob. This controls how much power is put into sustaining or muting the strings. The Piezo Blend knob mixes the piezo output with the output from the Moog pick-ups, considered to be the heart of the guitar. Harmonic Balance alternates the distribution of Vo Power between the neck and the bridge pickups.

Of course it does have a master volume control and tone / filter controls. The former controls the overall volume of both the Moog pickup and the piezos while the tone / filter controls control (obviously) the tone and the resonance of the Moog ladder filter.

In addition to the knobs, a number of switches gives this guitar the controllability and versatility of a small rocket ship. The Moog Guitar Mode switch selects which mode is activated between Full Sustain, Controlled Sustain and Mute Mode. A filter mode toggle switches between standard guitar tone, an articulated Moog filter described as "auto-wah-esque" and the Moog Ladder filter. Finally, a five position pickup selector chooses between piezo, bridge only, out of phase, in phase and neck only.

Now for the tech specs from Moog:

• Guitar Body
• Total Body Thickness: 44.45mm
• Back: Mahogany (2 or 3 piece)
• Top: AAAAA Flame Maple or AAAAA Quilted Maple x 6.35mm thick
• Top Bent over carved upper bout (Bent Top), two-piece bookmatched
• Wood (General Specification)
• All woods used in construction to be six to eight percent moisture content
• All unfinished surfaces to be sealed
• Finish
• Colors:
• Tiger Eye and Tobacco Burst (Flame Maple)
• Honey, Emerald, Navy Mist, Agua, Plum and Scarlet (Quilted Maple -- or last names of Clue characters)
• Finish materials: Polyester, Urethane, Polyurethane
• .1mm - .15mm coating (sealer) on all interior surfaces
• Neck
• Neck Glued to Body (Set Neck)
• Back side: Natural, matte finish
• Hard Rock Maple Shaft (three piece)
• Ebony Fingerboard
• Moog logo Inlay at 12th Fret (White Mother of Pearl)
• Side Dots Only: 1.5mm diameter, positioned between frets: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 11-12, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
• Headstock Wood to match body; 2.3mm thickness
• Carved shelf is 2.3mm deep
• 12 in. Radius Fingerboard
• 22 Fret
• 25 1/2 in. Scale
• 1 11/16 in. Nut Width
• Graphite Nut
• .8 in. Thickness at 1st fret (Top of Fingerboard to back of neck)
• .9 in. Thickness at 12th Fret (Top of Fingerboard to back of neck)
• Neck Contour: Modified C-Shape
• Frets: Medium Jumbo; Nickel/Silver; 2.7mm W x 1.3mm H
• 2-Way of bi-way double-action truss rod installed -- adjustment at headstock

• Headstock
• Construction extends directly from the three piece neck
• Seven Degree tilt-back
• Finish matches the top and body
• Front side: Finish to match top and body of guitar (natural finish on the top edge and solid finish with Moog logo inlay in the curved shelf of the headstock)
• Back side: Natural matte finish
• Inlay of the Moog icon in the curve of the headstock
• Black ABS truss-rod cover on headstock -- Moog name on it

• Hardware
• Finish:- All GOLD except two black knobs and one black switch knob
• Six tuners
• Two end-pins

• Bridge
• Three knobs, metal-knurled, GOLD
• Two knobs, metal-knurled, BLACK
• One three-way, DP switch, GOLD knob
• One five-way, DP switch BLACK knob
• Pot Specs- Value 50K, Taper Linear, three position mini toggle switch, gold plated.
• XLR output jack from guitar to Moog footpedal; quarter inch jack from foot pedal to amp
• Quarter inch output jack (piezo only)
• Moog customized Wilkinson-style bridge with Graphtec piezo saddles and tremolo
• Pickups
• Two custom-designed, noise canceling, single coil Moog pickups (neck / bridge)
• Piezo saddles on Bridge
• The piezo is blended in with the normal output of the Moog Guitar or it can be output separately thru the 1/4 in. jack
• The piezo does not require external power; it receives auxiliary power from an on board 9V battery
• Electronics
• Moog patented Guitar Electronics including Moog Ladder Filter / LFO subsystem

Finally, the included Moog Foot Pedal controller powers the Moog guitar in addition to controlling parameters. It has an input for control voltage to work with other Moog products. It also comes with a hardshell gold tweed case with leather bound corners. A gold Moog logo is imprinted on the outside edge on a metal plate. It's a form fitting case with a covered storage compartment inside.

Moog is taking pre-orders on the guitar right now. It costs $6,495.00.