Vintage Synth Repair

during the mid-70's, at the height of my Synth repair business, a new customer came in (Chris is now and still my best buddy) with a MiniKorg he picked up cheap at a music store.  It was his first synth and he said it had some tuning stability problems.  

When I put it up on the bench and turned it on, the pitch kept climbing up and up, and the top of the case started getting really warm, so I immediately shut it down and unplugged it.  I told Chris this could be serious, as I opened it up in front of him.

To our surprize, inside was a crudely made bent wire hanger bracket, screwed to the base, holding the guts of an old Radio Shack soldering iron that had its leads crudely wound around the AC terminal strip - just ready to short out (which could have caused a fire quicker that the soldering iron)!!!!

After we pulled our chins up off the floor and stopped laughing, I removed the errant equipment, and the thing ran as well as that vintage could have hoped.

This is one of those mysteries in life where you can only say:
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???