The Asheville Citizen Times has an article today that looks at Moog Music and how they’ve found international success:

Only a few businesses inspire such fierce loyalty that their customers tattoo the name of the company on their bodies. Harley-Davidson comes to mind as one. Another is Moog Music, local manufacturers of legendary keyboard synthesizers and effects pedals for various instruments.

“We have photos that people send us of their Moog tattoos,” said company president Mike Adams, who doesn’t have one. Yet.

Founded by inventor and sound engineer Bob Moog more than 50 years ago, the company’s influence on the worlds of music and sound are part of what inspires customer loyalty. Moog was an early pioneer of electronic music, and his name has become synonymous with the field. He lived and worked in Asheville for more than 30 years.

Every piece of equipment carrying the Grammy-award-winning Moog name is produced at the company’s warehouse on Riverside Road.

The company moved to this location in 2005, the same week that Bob Moog died. Since then, the business has expanded by adding employees and creating new products. When Adams started working at Moog six years ago, the company had only eight employees. Now there are 40.

Adams said he’s been cautious and produces only products that customers want. For example, he’s reissuing a bass pedal synthesizer first built in the 70s. He put the specifics out on the Moog Web site, which includes an active forum of music enthusiasts. Within 10 days, he had 300 orders for the synthesizer, each of which included a $500 deposit. Now he’s got to build the synthesizers, which probably won’t be delivered until late 2009. Every piece of Moog equipment is made to order, so there’s no back stock.

“That’s the kind of confidence in this company our customers have. They’ll put down a deposit on something we haven’t even built because they know it will be great,” Adams said.

Full article here.