Here’s a list of the weights and dimensions of the various Optigan models (minus the 37003, which I don’t have info for), to aid in estimating shipping costs. Note that these figures are for just the Optigan itself, not including a bench or any other extras.
Model 34001:
width: 34.75″
height: 32″
depth: 18″
weight: 76 lbs

Model 35001 & 35002:
width: [...]

Yes and no. From a musical standpoint, they’re very very wrong. But nothing is actually wrong with your Optigan. In order to fit enough stuff onto the discs, they had to cut corners a bit. There wasn’t enough room for A and E major, so they decided that they would take a C# dim chord [...]

There were several different models of benches made to match the different cabinet designs. If you bought your Optigan at Sears, though, chances are you received a generic Sears organ bench. These are the most common type of bench found with Optigans today. Each Optigan also came with a felt cleaning wand, used to clean [...]

Again, yes and no. The center hole diameter is slightly different between the two types of discs. It’s a very small difference, but one that results in more crosstalk when you try to play a disc on the other machine. Also, the Talentmaker discs contained a total of 61 rings of soundtrack, versus the Optigan’s [...]

Yes and no. First of all, the Orchestron was not an “organ” and thus did not have an chord buttons- only a 37 note keyboard. Second, the actual track layout of the Orchestron discs differs from the that of Optigan discs. With the Orchestron, Mike devised a track layout which was much more forgiving of [...]

Information on the Vako Orchestron and Chilton Talentmaker can be found on this page.

Yes, and you’re in luck because all of the known Optigan promotional audio material is now available on a single CD, available for purchase from this website!! Just go to the Shoptigan page for more info!

Yes- two in fact. The original was produced under Mattel and was hailed as one of the first TV commercials for a musical instrument. From what I’ve heard, this commercial’s theme was “Make Your Own Kind Of Music.” It featured a middle-aged guy who was not very successful as the host of a party until [...]

Gimmicky techniques such as upside-down and multiple discs are obvious, and hence pretty boring. As far as disc manipulation goes, I like to take two copies of the same disc and tape them together back-to-back so that the beats line up perfectly. This way you get some cool reverse echo effects on the drums. As [...]

Well, the most common way is “Optigon,” hence the frequent misspelling. But if you want to be a complete purist, you’ll pronouce it just the way it’s spelled (ie pronounce “-gan” as in “organ”). The only people I’ve met that pronounce it this way consistantly are Gus Wylde, Mike LeDoux and Johnny Largo.