A long time ago I imported Qchords in the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) It was more a hobby than a business, since I sold maybe 10 to 20 a year. But, it was fun to do. The market here wasn't big for a niche product like the Qchord. Being an Omnichord fan, I missed certain features and also disliked a lot of the changes Suzuki made with the new Qchord. So I decided to design one myself and present it to Suzuki. I had some ideas, put pen to paper, drew the first sketches and sent hundreds of emails back and forth to omnichord players around the world to find out what a player/ songwriter wanted from an Omnichord. I discussed the future of omnichords with Suzuki Europe's mr. Howard Johnson and we presented our plans to Suzuki at the Frankfurter Messe in 2005. To cut a long story short: they were polite & interested, but they didn't do anything with it. It all boiled down to one thing: money, minimum orders etc. In hindsight I can't blame them, the omnichord is just a small product for them also and I think their global sales & profit margins aren't huge. But....I think when you design something so amazing, you have an obligation to your fans:-)
In the last few years I've seen a growing interest in omnichords. A new generation of musicians discovered the Omnichord, play around with it, use it in bands and in live performances. Prices on ebay are rising, parts are more and more difficult to find. Everyone wants the older models, OM-84 or OM-100 and onwards. I think it's time for a
35 year anniversary model. I would love to see an upgraded OM-100, with some extra possibilities, retro beats and USB.
Any thoughts on that?
Anyone? send in your reaction
here or leave your reaction below.
Here's a picture of my 2005 'Boomerang' model. the
Omnichord 'Songwriter'
OK, I think the shape isn't 'now' anymore, but seemed a good idea at the time. I'll tell more about the features I added and the general idea behind it later.
-to be continued -
