PACKAGING Alright, it looks cheap and feels cheap. The body is molded from plastic, the keys are plastic and the action isn't great. No blazing 32nd-note solos on this keyboard. But the switches are smooth (esp. since they've all been replaced!) It is a Radio Shack packaging on the outside, though it is pure Moog goodness on the inside.

MECHANICS This is basically a Moog Rogue in Radio Shack clothing: two voltage-controlled oscillators (w/hard-sync and detune options) voltage-controlled amplifier (ASR) the classic Moog voltage-controlled filter low-frequency oscillator (affects VCF and/or VCO) ring modulation white noise generator 10-note divide-down polyphonic synth (sounds more like the Polymoog than an organ) that can be routed through LFO and VCF glide five-channel mixer (for both VCF's, noise, ring mod and polyphony)

The only thing it lacks are wheels for modulation and pitch (I don't really miss them) and no routing of external audio to the VCF (though there are web resources that show you how to do that if you want)

POSITIVES It is pure Moog. The squiggly hip-hop leads? Got 'em. Deep bass? Got it. Insane robot noises? You betcha. The filter is edgy as hell. And the polyphony sound is surprisingly versatile. All toll, the MG-1 is a very aggressive little synth. Not exactly a Minimoog but it is more reliable and far cheaper. You can generally pick one of these up for less than any other Moog. With a little elbow grease and solder you can make one of these like-new.

NEGATIVES Most of these have not been cleaned up. There is a layer of black foam under the keyboard that deteriorates into goo that clogs up the switches and such. A gentle alcohol bath will clean that up. But it is still a drag to repair. And once upon a time these keyboards could be found in pawn shops and at the Goodwill for next to nothing. Now they are collectible because chumps like me will shell out good coin for them. But it is by far the best analog I've owned.