Bob Moog's synthesizers and effects changed the world. Now, the company that bears his name is trying to apply its vision to a new instrument: the guitar.
The Moog Guitar Paul Vo Edition has infinite sustain -- enough to keep Nigel Tufnel holding the guitar up to his ear until the end of time -- while a muted mode allows players to add the sound of their fingers holding down the strings loosely and then taking them away from the strings right away after the strum for a banjo-type sound. These effects operate separately on each pickup, giving players a wider range of sonic options.
The special sauce: strings that have "a specific metallurgy designed to work with the Moog pickups." Marketing manager Chris Stack told Listening Post, "the pickups are simultaneously listening to the strings and controlling them."
The last time we heard from Moog was when it launched the Little Phatty synthesizer in 2006. That synth was basically a modernized, digitally-controlled version of the earlier analog keyboards for which Moog has traditionally been known. This guitar represents a far more significant leap for the company -- perhaps its biggest since Bob Moog left it in '77.
The video above to the right, in which Lou Reed, Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and other musicians put the Moog Guitar - Paul Vo Edition through its paces, does a fine job of explaining how this $6500 piece of six-string bliss sounds. Here's Moog's full run-down on each of the guitar's modes:
full link:
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/moog-unveils-ba.html 
