jgpo@iwu1c.UUCP (John, KA9MNK) (04/05/84)
Does anyone have any information at all about the Optigan Corporation,
Compton, CA? I can't find them in the Los Angeles phone book. Did they
go out of business?
A friend of mine just bought an extremely used Optigan Stereo Chord Organ
from Amvets. Needless to say, there was absolutely no documentation with
it, and it needs work badly. I could probably fix it, but I'd really like
to have the service manual before I delve into its innards.
If Optigan really has gone under and there is no "legal" way to get ahold
of the service and owner's manuals, I will gladly pay for copying and postage.
Also, is there any way to get more "records" for the thing?
DETAILS:
Model #: 35002 62-7952C 413-47261202
Serial #: 86157
Service #: 35002002
The copyright date on the "records" is 1972.
Please reply by mail, as I sincerely doubt this is of general interest!
Thanks,
John Opalko
USMail: AT&T Bell Labs
2D-336
1100 Warrenville Rd.
Naperville, IL 60566
UUCP: {whatever}!ihnp4!iwu1c!jgpowmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/09/84)
(Mail doesn't work here... [at least the "r" command doesn't]) Optigan organs were handled by Sears around here for a while, so you might be able to get some info/parts/pointers from them. Look for a salesperson in the Sears audio/tv section that is old enough to have been around for some years, as it was a while ago that they carried them. For those who don't know why Optigan organs are different from any ordinary electonic organ: Instead of generating the tones from internal oscillators, these have a rotating flexible plastic disc, the size of an LP, on which are optically-encoded tracks, using technology similar to optical movie soundtracks. Pressing a key reads a track, pressing a chord button reads a group of tracks (I believe, as opposed to a chord track), and there are five special effect tracks (applause, jungle birds, whatever, depending on the disc in place). Discs are slid in and out of a slot under the keyboard, and easily changed. Tempo is varied by a control that affects the disc speed; a flashing light on the panel shows the tempo. Volume varies with a foot pedal. It's really not a bad idea; makes a very simple organ into a most versatile device simply by changing discs to the type best suited to the music you play. [Or most bizarre, by choosing discs LEAST suited, like jungle melodies to play Xmas carols...] Will Martin St. Louis, MO