Just to clarify a few things ...
The Wiard Mini-Wave and Joyrider modules both used the circuit boards from
modules in the "regular" Wiard series - Waveform City and Borg Filter,
respectively, both of which are still available. The boards on the "mini"
modules, however, are not fully populated - the Mini-Wave lacks the analog
oscillator, EG & VCA from Waveform City and the Joyrider doesn't have the
two VCO's from the Borg Filter module. However, both "mini" modules DID
have neat features that weren't implemented in the corresponding "regular"
modules - the Mini-Wave has a CV input to sweep through the banks (the
Waveform City only has a CV input to sweep through the waves in one bank,
but not a CV input to sweep through *all* the banks in the wavetable), and
the Joyrider has a push-pull switch to change the filter configuration
between serial and parallel (obviously, this could be done with patchcords
on the Borg module, but would require additional hardware for the
instantaneous switching).
In general, the "regular" modules have vastly superior panel
graphics/screening (especially the newer Borg Filter), as long as the
bright blue and crypto-celtic designs don't bug you (I'm only worrying
about whether they'll clash with the Andromeda when I get one). They also
tend to have more patchpoints/connections/controls (with the exceptions I
mentioned above) - for instance the Joyrider has a single Q knob that sets
resonance to the same level for both filters, while the Borg has a separate
Q knob for each filter.
And finally, although the Borg Filter is modeled partly on the MS-20
filter, the MOTM-420 is NOT an exact substitute (or vice versa). The Borg
uses Vactrols (despite the acronym, it's more 3/4-Buchla, 1/4-Korg, than
vice-versa), which give it a bit of a woody/natural sound that's pretty
unique for all the filters I've tried (it can still get pretty harsh, but
not quite as screamingly so as a -420 or original MS-20). And despite the
common use of Vactrols, it doesn't sound like the MOTM-410, either (duh!
it's not triple bandpass). All 3 definitely have their own unique
characteristics (as do the MOTM-440, "regular" Wiard multimode filter,
Blacet Final Filtre, etc. - I love 'em all!).
Anyway, I hope that John is able to make these available to the public
again (especially since I missed out on the Mini-Wave!). I know that Grant
(mr. Wiard) is prototyping 50-kazillion different concepts these days (so
we're pretty lucky that he took the time out to make small runs of the
1200-series "mini" modules), and the next addition to his regular module
series sounds pretty exciting, if not necessarily conducive to a "live"
synth rig ...
-Doug
ceres@...
ceres[at]sirius.com
P.S. Try these links, even though they're no longer "real":
http://www.wiard.com/Grants%201200/MiniWave/MiniManual.html
http://www.wiard.com/Grants%201200/JoyRider/Joy%20Rider%20Manual.html
http://www.wiard.com/Grants%201200/Joystick/1209.htm