Suzuki Portachord Tronichord

via this auction

"Also Known as 'Tronichord' model pc-27

This is the "original" omnichord (well, it was the beginning of the evolution of the omnichord). This is the first of it's kind, and it then led to the future production of the Omnichord which has more features/options.

I sent this to Suzuki to have the power source modified. Being that this is from the late 70's, the battery compartment had a very old terminal for AA batteries. I could barely get today's AA batteries to fit in, and when they did, they were almost impossible to get them back out. The connection was also undependable and the batteries often felt hot. So about a year ago, I sent it to Suzuki and "Franz"(I guess he is known as the omnichord guy) replaced the AA terminal with a 9-volt. This is much more convenient for quickly swapping batteries out if you were to play it on stage. The battery life seems to be unaffected by replacing the AA's with one 9-volt. Franz from Suzuki thought, if anything it might last longer. He tested it for 4 hours and said it still played(battery didn't die)... After being serviced, the battery door hasn't stayed on as well as it used to..."

This one in via brian comnes.