Cult of the Optigan: Meet your newest member...

[Aj]

Ok, after holding off for the longest time, my gear lust for ever weirder and more obscure musical instruments finally got the better of me. So I finally bought one of these clunky, unreliable, yet wonderful little mystery machines. And needless to say, not everything works right. But it's in fantastic cosmetic shape, which counts for something!

And, no surprise, it's been next to impossible to find anybody that is familar with the innards of these things. Does anybody here who also succumbed to the Optigan siren call have any answers to the following problems? Any help will be sincerely appreciated (and yes, I've been to Optigan.com already - does anybody still post on that board? I hear crickets over there)...

1) Intermittent Chord Buttons - My chord buttons (and special effects switches) only work if you REALLY press them down (and jiggle hard). Optigan.com's Service FAQ says to try a pencil eraser on the contacts. But how do I open up the chord buttons and get inside? I can't figure it out... it's like Fort Knox in there! Spritzing contact cleaner in there didn't help.

2) Tuning - When first turned on, my Optigan usually sounds totally warbly and out of tune. Every note. If I open and close the door a bunch of times, I can (eventually) get it to sound relatively steady and in-tune. I'd like to not have to do this every time though. I'm guessing the disc isn't always spinning properly? Maybe it's an idler wheel thing? (Is this common?)

3) Headphone Out - My headphone out definitely works, but it has a buzz - which sounds suspiciously like 60 cycle hum to me. Flipping the wall plug the other way doesn't fix it. Is this common? Is there a recommended fix?

I'm guessing these are the typical "my Optigan needs work" questions, given the reputation of this instrument. So thanks in advance for any and all help you veteran Optiganers might be able to offer. I certainly appreciate it!

Best,
Aj
(who would love to find a local Michigan Optigan repair tech. Hey, I can dream, right?)

[JohnDavisNYC]

the singer in my bands has fixed a few... he just redid ours again, and it kicks ass. pm me for his email.

john

[Aj]

PM'ed you.

Also I forgot to ask in my initial post:

Are there some basic things a first-time used Optigan owner should do straight away (rotors to lubricate, contacts to clean, that sort of thing)?

Aj

[blunderfonics]

1) You basically have to disassemble the entire beast in order to get at the contacts. It's been a while since I've had mine apart but if I remember correctly you start by removing the rear and sides of the cabinet first. There are also several hidden screws up under the top that you get at from the inside of the cabinet. Sorry if this isn't too specific.

2) That can happen if the disc doesn't go all the way down on the spindle when you close the door. There is a piece of metal linkage that connects to the door, so that when it is open the spindle is retracted and then it pops up after the disc is inserted and the door is closed. Sometimes when the door is closed the spindle lifts the center of the disc causing things to warble and drift horribly even by Optigan standards. I ended up disconnecting the linkage from the door so that I can manually retract the spindle, insert the disc and then release the spindle and if the spindle should lift the disc a little I can press it down by hand.

3) They all seem to do this. I haven't heard of a fix, other than rebuilding the entire amp. If you find one please post back here.

[Aj]

Blunderfonics, thanks for the tips.

Success! I just tried disconnecting the metal linkage that connects to the door. Fixed the problem - now I can see what was happening. The hole in the record wasn't "seating" itself all the way down on top of the center spindle post. With the door open though, I can just push the disc down and it's perfect (well, as perfect as things get in Optigania.)

Your news about cleaning the chord key contacts is disheartening. I really have to disassemble the whole beast, eh? Yuck. Well, I suppose it's a right of passage.

If anyone has any more specific tips on how to do this (take apart the Optigan to get to the chord key contacts), I'd appreciate it. I'm notorious for taking things apart and not being able to get them back in one piece.

Aj

[???????]

DUDE.

Try this:

Get some Caig DeOxit D5.

Squirt a bunch of that shit down into where the buttons are. It won't hurt anything.

Press all the buttons a bunch of times over and over.

Wait a minute for it to sort of dry out.

Turn it on and try, see if it's better.

[Aj]

Squirt a bunch of that shit down into where the buttons are. It won't hurt anything.

That was the first thing I tried (see my first post). Didn't work... guess those contacts are really gunked? At least I know they work if you press hard (really super-crazy hard). I'm guessing I'm going to have to open this thing up, and I'd hate to go to all that trouble if the buttons were completely DOA.

Aj

[???????]

DOH, i must've missed that line the first time around. Itchy posting-finger.

Good luck with it all. Did you try cycling the buttons a bunch of times while they were wet with contact cleaner? Sometimes that's all it takes to break the gunk up. But you probably know that already.

When I got my Farfisa Compact it had been stored a long time and all of the keys were scratchy and staticky as hell. I soaked the keyboard with contact cleaner from both the top and the bottom, and played all the keys over and over and over. It didn't do much at first but eventually it started to get better and better and finally went away altogether.

Good luck in any case!

[djimbe]

The biggest problem with the chord buttons is that there was originally a piece of foam in there as part of the mechanism. Had a sorta "spring" to it that pushed the buttons back up when you release them. That foam deteriorates into sticky gunk after 35 years. Gunk that coats the contacts underneath and has to be removed. De-Oxit from the outside won't do the trick. I had to use adhesive remover and some fine steel wool to get the crap in mine off. You do need to take the thing apart. It's not that difficult. Take off the back, remove the top "wood" part (it slides out the back after you remove a pair of screws), then remove the cover on the key board. That gets you access to the contacts underneath. You'll need to find a suitable replacement for the foam piece or the buttons won't pop back up. I used some thin (1/16") closed cell foam sheeting.

I did a complete recap on mine, and added a grounded plug and that took care of almost all of the buzz issues. I also did the "instrument level out" mod so I could plug the thing into a guitar amp and hear the sound through something more than two 5" speakers. Big improvement in the sonics there. Actually, I did a modification of the mod, since the mod disables the organ speakers, and I want to be able to use either the organ or an amp. I added a switch.

The schematics are easily available on these here inter-webs, and the amps are super basic and easy to work on. Well marked PCB's and good removable wire connections. The amps were made in Ireland. I bet that in 1972 Irish labor was pretty cheap and skilled...

Hey, make sure your discs are clean too, they get driven better when they're clean. While you have the thing open, it would be a smart idea to clean the photo-optic receiver too. It's the black bar looking thing with all the wires coming out of it. You'll figure it out once you get it all opened up.

I'll see mine again this weekend and can get you better help then if you still need some...

Good luck!

[toothpastefordinner]

You will probably find some melted plastic/rubber junk in a couple places... the plasticizers leak out after decades of storage. I seem to remember cleaning a lot of stuff inside my old optigan with 91% isopropyl.

The output stages are crappy and noisy (or at least they were on mine) - if you're capable or you know someone who is, it would be awesome to install a new mixer/output module, tapping in before the power amp. I did the "headphone jack" mod and used it to record, but it didn't sound that great.

The speaker wiring on mine was flying everywhere and picked up a lot of hum so I replaced a lot of it with mid-grade shielded cable, which helped.

[Aj]

Djimbe (and toothpastefordinner),

Thanks for posting all this info. Extremely helpful stuff - a goldmine really. More in-depth than Optigan.com. Someone should update the FAQ over there. (Irish labor you say? I think I like Optigan's even more now. That would be unheard of today. Can you imagine Mattel making toys in Dublin? Would never happen.)

I'm going to set aside some time next week to crack this thing open and do The Big Cleanup. I'll check back and let you all know how it goes. Maybe I should find my digital camera too...

Aj

P.S. Djimbe, how did you add the three prong? Did you just lop-off the old plug, or did you need to rewire a new power cable?

[???????]

yes, pics please!

While you've got it apart replacing the electrolytic caps sure wouldn't hurt.

Adding a 3-prong plug to anything is easy. Just attach the black and white wires to where the old wires went, and find a good ground point for the green wire. Often this ground point is a solder lug that you attach to the chassis off a power transformer mounting bolt, or some other bolt (PT if there is one is usually near the power cord anyway). Great first-time project if you're totally new to soldering and electronics DIY.

[pwrb]

Regarding the afore-mentioned foam pad that usually deteriorates... I had luck removing the residue from the contacts with a pencil eraser. Also, the pad is (was) very similar to a thin mousepad (like maybe 1/3 as thick as a mousepad) so, if you can find something like that to replace the original, you'll be in good shape. It's the springiness that's key.

Good luck!

-Pete

www.weissy.com
www.weisstronauts.com
www.verdantstudio.com

[djimbe]

I did the "headphone jack" mod and used it to record, but it didn't sound that great.

didja DI or use a guitar amp? Or a channel strip? I recall there being two versions of that mod. Honestly, I didn't try routing the output through a DI. A simple low watt amp driving a Vibratone does wonders for the Optigan sound...

[linus]

Please post some specific info about getting the damn thing open if you can. Pictures, diagrams, hints, insturctions... Anything.

I have two of these things now, an Optigan, and a Choptigan (modded to be portable) and neither of them work. Pretty typical. When I REALLY need an optigan sound I end up loading the Optigan sample disc into Gigastudio and use that.

I have the replacement parts to fix mine I can just never figure out how the hell to get it apart and don't trust myself to get it back together.

I don't WANT to be a repairman. I just want to write and record.

I figure EVENTUALLY I'll find someone who can fix it for me. Until then...