Optigan Service FAQ v. 1.0

How do I dismantle my Optigan for repairs?
The quick and dirty answer to this question is: just get in there and start unscrewing everything in sight!! While it can be a time consuming process, Optigans are not that hard to take apart and your intuition should guide you pretty well. Since disassembly varies for the different Optigan cabinet designs, I'm hesitant to try to write down step-by-step instructions on how to dismantle each kind of Optigan. But eventually I'll have a .pdf version of the Optigan Service Manual available for purchase, which has lots of great exploded view diagrams to guide you through the process.

My Optigan has unstable pitch. Is there hope??
Yes, thankfully. Pitch problems on an Optigan are mostly due to a worn down idler-wheel. This is the small black hard rubber wheel that rests against the drive shaft and spins the disc. (Note- the larger metal flywheel is almost never the culprit in pitch-related problems.) There a couple different options for having your idler-wheel resurfaced. Kasche Organ Service in Royal Palm Beach, Florida (1-800-329-7075) is the only place still around which advertises Optigan repair services. The price is a bit high (about $75.00 last time I checked) but well worth it if you truly value your Optigan.

Some of the chord buttons on my Optigan don't work. How do I fix this?
Usually this problem can be cleared up by getting into the contact board and using a pencil eraser to "erase" all the gunk and oxidization from the contacts. This process is actually very easy- it just takes awhile to gain access to the contact board itself. Sometimes the problem remains no matter how much you manage to clean your contacts. In this case, usually you've got a bad photo-cell, and there's not really anything you can do.

Some of the keys on my Optigan don't work. How do I fix this?
Often this problem can be cleared up by pressing the keys quickly and repeatedly. If this doesn't work, you might try getting inside the thing and cleaning any gunk that may have gotten in between the rubber contact strip and the metal contact plates. I've also had good luck by simply turning the rubber strip over. It's a bit difficult to remove and replace the strip, but I've done it successfully several times. In extreme cases, the rubber strip may need to be replaced, though I have yet to find a source for an exact match for these strips.

When I play the top most key on my Optigan, I hear one of the chord tracks bleeding through. What's wrong?
Crosstalk! Learn to live with it! If you don't have the test discs, the easiest way to hear the crosstalk is by pressing the top most key on the keyboard. Crosstalk changes with the weather, basically- the light detector is very sensitive to temperature and atmospheric changes. The result is that adjacent tracks on the disc will bleed into each other. The top most key on the keyboard lies right next to one of the chord buttons, so usually you will hear that pattern bleeding through. The test discs were designed primarily to measure how much crosstalk you had on your optigan, but they weren't much help in alleviating the problem!! Interestingly enough, I've found that in the Southern California climate, I can usually clear up crosstalk problems by leaving an Optigan in the trunk of my car for a day or so. (Basically this discovery was a fringe-benefit of laziness!!!) The bottom line is this: with an Optigan, your best bet is to simply wait a day or so until the problem magically disappears. Attempts to re-align the light-detector usually prove to be a frustrating waste of time, and often you will end up making matters worse by fiddling with it. When the Orchestron was designed, special attention was paid to the crosstalk problem, resulting in a more musically sensible track layout on the discs and a more easily adjustable light detector. But with the Optigan you'd better start getting used to the sound of your melodies played as parallel minor seconds!!

How do I clean my Optigan discs?
It's largely a futile effort, because the scratchiness is mostly caused by actual scratches on the discs, but if you really want to clean them, DON'T use water! Go out and buy some film cleaning fluid from a camera store. Keep in mind even a mint Optigan disc sounds pretty bad right out of the shrinkwrap!! If you don't believe me, just order a copy of "The Joyous Sounds Of Christmas: Johnny Largo At The Optigan" to hear the absolute best-case-scenario sound quality that the Optigan ever produced!

My Optigan is making a knocking or grinding noise. What's wrong?
Chances are, there's a small divot cut into your idler wheel. As the wheel goes around, it makes a knocking noise every time the divot hits the drive shaft. This is fairly easy to fix. If you remove the idler wheel (that's the black, hard rubber one) and fill the divot with super glue, you can later sand it down to be equal with the edge of the rest of the wheel. I've had good luck with this process. If you don't trust yourself to do the job, you can always simply have the idler resurfaced (see above), which probably needs to be done anyway.

The "A Major" and "E Major" buttons on my Optigan sound wrong. Are they?
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 (which has a couple of notes in common with A major) and use that for multiple chord buttons. Similarly, a G# dim serves as the E major. The best way to bolster the tonal implications of these chords is to back them up with full-fisted majors on the keyboard. Even then, you're still only getting dominant 7ths with the third in the bass!

Is it possible to install a more stable drive system in my Optigan?
Probably not. Mattel patented a better drive system for the Optigan, but you'd have to build the thing up from scratch in order to implement it. It's based on a belt driven, electronically controlled system as opposed to an electro-mechanical system. The Chilton Talentmaker and the Vako Orchestron both feature a more reliable direct-drive system.

My Optigan makes a lot of buzz and hum. What's wrong?
Basically, you're going to have to face the fact that the Optigan is inherently a very buzzy, noisy machine. Unless you want to completely replace the grounding and amplification system, your only hope is to try to minimize the buzz and maybe notch it out with a multi-band EQ or some noise reduction DSP. The first thing you can do is try reversing the way the power cord is plugged into the wall socket. In fact, there's a sticker on the back of every Optigan which tells you to do this. Find the polarity that gives you the least amount of buzz. In a reverb-equipped Optigan, you have another problem to surmount. If the foam insulation has eroded away from the chord button contact area, you'll get a nasty buzz as your hand gets closer to the buttons. I've yet to find a suitable replacement insulation, but I'm sure there's something out there that will do the trick.

The overall volume seems a bit weak. What can I do?
Attached to each amplifier is a little trimpot for adjusting the chord/keyboard volumes. On most Optigans, these trimpots can be accessed by the little holes on the back of the unit. If you still can't get much sound out of an amp, or the sound is particularly distorted, the the amp has gone bad and would ultimately need to be replaced. If you're clever with this sort of thing, I'm sure it's very easy to come up with some kind of alterate amplification scheme. Keep this in mind, though, if you plan to switch the chord/keyboard amps around: The only difference between the two amps is the presence of a small jumper in the lower left hand corner of the amp. Only the keyboard amp has this jumper: the chord amp does not. It's fairly easy to add or remove the jumper if you decide to switch the amps around.

The little red metronome tab has fallen off my Optigan disc. What should I do to make sure I stay on the beat?
The best way to replace those red tabs is to simply buy a red permanent Sharpie pen and color over the appropriate metronome window. It works fine, and shouldn't rub off. If you desire maximum redness, try rubbing it on both sides of the disc.