When Moog Music partnered with Radio Shack in 1981 to create an affordable synthesizer for the masses, they made a surprising choice: they didn't strip away the soul, they just removed the frills. The result was the Concertmate MG-1, which went on to become Moog's best-selling synthesizer ever, with nearly 23,000 units moving between 1982 and 1983.
This is a compact, 32-key analog synthesizer built around two voltage-controlled oscillators feeding into a genuine Moog 24dB/octave filter—the same filter architecture that defined the company's sound. The MG-1 is monophonic in its main synth section, but it includes a paraphonic polyphony mode that lets you play chords using a separate tone generator, which was genuinely unusual for the price point in the early 80s. You get dual VCOs with sync capability, a pink noise generator, ring modulation (labeled as bell tone), and portamento for smooth pitch transitions. Control comes via sliders for VCF and VCO modulation rather than the traditional pitch and mod wheels found on pricier Moog models, keeping costs down without sacrificing expressiveness. The unit weighs about 12 pounds and runs on an internal power supply, making it reasonably portable for a synth of that era.
What's remarkable about the MG-1 is how it's aged. Once dismissed as a budget instrument sold next to home keyboards in electronics stores, it's become genuinely sought-after by modern producers and musicians who appreciate its warm, characterful sound and surprising feature set. The paraphonic section combined with a proper Moog filter gives it sonic personality that punches well above its original price tag. It accepts CV and gate inputs for external control and includes RCA pass-through inputs so you could layer it with other audio sources, making it flexible for various setups. Collectors and players alike have found that this little synth delivers authentic Moog character in a form factor that actually fits on a desk.
