Maybe one could paint "Moog" on a Motif and pass it off? At any rate, they've cashed my check already, so I'm not gonna sweat it. 

Again thank you for the replies it is appreciated.
 
I have downloaded the demo with the free Zebralette to have a go.
 
I have enjoyed using Z3ta 2 so far and found it a bit less daunting that the Native Instruments Synths.

I was googling for some Zebra programming tips and ran across this interview with Hans Zimmer. Although only tangentially related to my search, I enjoyed the interview a lot and thought others might, too. He does mention Zebra in it, though.
 
Note: it's a German website so the text is in German (natürlich) but the interview itself is in English.
 

Thanks, Carl!
 

...to be honest, today's flood of synth-based, beat-powered instrumentals either leaves me cold or even grates on my old-style musical sensibilities.

Amen to that, Howie.
 
I've been reverse-engineering some of Howard's patches, and the guy has a real talent for getting cool sounds in unusual and/or elegant ways. I'd have never have thought that much could be done with nothing more than a noise generator and a comb filter, but it's a combination that he uses a lot.
 

I'm tempted, because dissecting Howard's patches is a masterclass in itself. But a hundred bucks is a little steep even for a very good tutorial. The additional features in the HZ edition don't have much draw for me at this stage because I still haven't hit the limits of what Zebra can do. Plus those features will probably be rolled into Zebra 3 when it's released (probably not until next year, but that's OK by me).
 
There are other, less-expensive sound sets on the market that might also serve the purpose. The best I've heard so far is Joseph Hollo's Padsheaven collection. Volumes 1 and 2 (261 presets) are $45 for the bundle or $25 apiece. 
 
But so far I've resisted the temptation to buy any canned patch libraries for Zebra, lest it dampen my enthusiasm for rolling my own.