Bass Bot TT-303

This has been out for a few months but people are only just getting wind of it.

For a 3rd of the price of a 30 year old TB-303 it seems pretty good value.

yeah... such a well done repro.. even if it were the same as the existing ones... 100 points for the shell/case reproduction alone. I bet that will do very well in the UK.

See, this is what I was talking about. Can't wait for that bootlegged MPC 3000!

Acid synths are my favorite things in the world... in the past I have owned a Future Retro Revolution and, most recently, an Acid Lab Bassline 3. I have never owned a real 303, but I have played them. I got wind of this late last year and followed the early reviews; there eventually was a massive thread on the Gearslutz board, and I think every TT owner out there ended up on it, so I was able to get a lot of great impressions from trusted forumers. I took the plunge and ordered one in January and I am so happy I did. I eventually sold my Bass Line to fund a second TT 303, which arrived about two weeks ago.

It looks and feels very plasticy and it is light and not really designed for abuse. The knobs feel a bit cheap as well (not as good as a real 303). But it feels, plays, sounds, and, for the most part, looks like the real deal. The form-factor is spot on, the sequencer is easy to use and has a very nice "mutate" function for subtle tweaks to your sequence; it also has a pattern AI which can generate some nice starting points for your own patterns; colored LEDs for sorting out sequences and full MIDI as well. All that adds up to a really fun box to play.

But none of this would matter if it didn't sound the part, and the TT 303 delivers. The square wave is just about spot on; less so with the saw, but it is still very, very close. And the sequencer gives you all that nice "rubber" that a real 303 can generate. The accent knob can be a bit aggressive, but you can dial that back easy enough. This is the best 303 clone I have ever heard; in a mix or live it would be indistinguishable from the real thing.

If you live in the UK, hit up Martin @ Superior Sounds in London for a demo; in the States I think the only reseller is in Texas (not 100% sure on that). You can also read the massive (several hundred post) thread @ Gearslutz... plenty of audio examples from real owners there as well. If you are an Acid head, this is the clone 303 that you want...

looks real damn nice... i was curious about the casing as well... thanks for clearin up the fact that it's also lightweight plastic [like the original]. i was secretly wishing they'd done it with metal casing, but i know they're also trying to keep it affordable. back in the day i used to lust over the TB-303, nowadays i'm kinda over it i guess... i've owned a x0xb0x which was a spot-on emulation if i've ever heard one... i ended up selling it for a bit more than i'd invested in it... now i have the FAT FREEBASS FB-383 which is a single rack unit TB-303 clone... kinda rare and no sequencer, but nice & analog as well... i'm thinking about selling it though as i rarely use it.

crossings wrote:looks real damn nice... i was curious about the casing as well... thanks for clearin up the fact that it's also lightweight plastic [like the original].

No prob - Coz and I were PMing and he suggested I post in this thread.

And you are right - people tend to forget that a real 303 is very light and plasticy as well - this TT seems to follow well in that tradition. I mentioned this to Coz, but I love looking at them in my setup. When I walk to to my studio and see them both there it brings a smile to my face. They really nailed the form factor and layout. Can't wait to see what they do with the TT-606 (which is mentioned in the TT-303 manual).

More build notes: the TT has a slight gloss to the case; the knobs feel like they are capped with a fake "metal" coating. It is easy to keep clean and wipe down though. The sequencer panel is an overlay with a nice texture; the rest of the writing is screened on the plastic. For as light as it is, it has a solid feel to it - i.e. nothing rattles or feel loose on it. That said, I would hate to see what would happen if you dropped it on a hard floor.

is the tt-606 going to be a drumatix clone?

^^^Yes - the tt-303 manual refers to it as the "TT-606 Drumdrone" and my reseller confirmed it would be like the Roland 606. I don't really know much past that. I assume they will use the same form factor. Would love to see multiple outs, full MIDI spec and the mutate feature of the TT-303.

Jive Talking Robot wrote:^^^Yes - the tt-303 manual calls it the TT-606 Drumdrone and my reseller confirmed it would be like the Roland 606. I don't really know much past that. I assume they will use the same form factor. Would love to see multiple outs, full MIDI spec and the mutate feature of the TT-303.

Are tr-606 machines that expensive these days to make it worth creating a clone? It probably will be a better machine though I guess if it can do a bit more.

multiple outs would be insane.. maybe they would need to use a breakaway cable or something.. like, if they put a DB port on the back or something like you see on other gear. It would look slick with those two side by side.

The interesting part I find is how they did such a nice job at getting the looks down as well as the sound.

I've been checking out the TT-303 for the past month.
I think with the x0xb0x you can modify the OS to play random patterns and play patterns backwards. Once I finally put my x0xb0x #911 together (after 4 years of partially putting it together) I'll let you know.

mr_debauch wrote:Are tr-606 machines that expensive these days to make it worth creating a clone?

I never really liked the TR-606 but I have been keeping an eye out on ebay for a TR-707.

JUKE 179r wrote:Once I finally put my x0xb0x #911 together (after 4 years of partially putting it together) I'll let you know.

does it bother anyone else when someone just has something awesome sitting around and doesn't use it?

Jive Talking Robot wrote:Coz and I were PMing and he suggested I post in this thread.

Nice one for contributing!

I read through the 900 post thread at gearslutz before I hit you up. It took me 2 days to wade through the whole thing!

Do you have any plans to get the Devil Fish mod carried out?

Coz wrote:Nice one for contributing!

I read through the 900 post thread at gearslutz before I hit you up. It took me 2 days to wade through the whole thing!

Do you have any plans to get the Devil Fish mod carried out?

Cheers! And yeah, that gearslutz thread is a monster... it was fun reading everyone sneer at the TT-303 at first and then to see attitudes change once people got their hands on it. There are some real acid producers on that thread now using it, so I figured if it was good enough for them, I would take a try.

I have been thinking about the devilfish, which I why I got the 2nd model - it may be nice have one modded (or one I can tinker with myself) and one "pure".

mr_debauch wrote: Are tr-606 machines that expensive these days to make it worth creating a clone? It probably will be a better machine though I guess if it can do a bit more.

They actually don't go for much on eBay these days. But you do have to factor in the expense/hassle of getting it modded (assuming you want four outs) and the fear of using 20+ year old analog gear. That said, if Cyclone Analogic can add some of the sequencer mods and add four outs to their clone, to me it would be worth it for a nice, straightforward analog drum machine. I think it would be great to use it in tandem with a ren or other sampling drum machine myself.

I think it was the 707 in the vid I saw that showed it modded up by diabolical devices.. **** insane. I am pretty sure they do 505s and probably 606s too.. the 505 is not too great, but some people are really into that roland sound set (I am sure some of their other gear uses the same sounds) .. I have a friend who loves the 505 sound.

That's pretty amazing!
Damn , my wife will kill me if I buy any more a this Sh!t!