I’ve considered buying a 303 for the past 25 years. It’s just that one has never come up for sale for the price I’d pay!
I inherited a number of synths 25 years ago and was always mildly saddened when it was mentioned that there was a 303 that had been passed on to someone else an ocean away in the distribution of the instruments.
Then a couple of years ago I found a photo of everything set up together and realised it was an MC-303, so while that would have been fun, the regret was lessened.
3 Likes
I did consider it once… but now, with x0xb0xes, TD-3s and Dinsync RE-303 on the market? NEVER.
Blockquote
The internet has both ruined both bargain hunting and also created a false economy where everyone takes their cues not from the gear that has actually sold, but from the scalpers who overprice their items and then since they do not sell, are perpetually listed and give those who have no idea what they’re doing a delusional frame of reference for the value of an object vis a vis they price their items accordingly and nothing sells but people infer that this is how much they sell for.
Also OP: purchasing a tb-303 for $4k USD is the kind of thing rich people do so if you’re rich then do it, otherwise it’s the kind of thing delusional obsessed people do so if you’re delusional and obsessed you have another valid excuse.
So true. But those thoughts frequently comes into my mind, whenever I browse along Reverb offers. Which basically has nothing to do with 2nd hand prices.
Local “Kleinanzeigen” is full of scammers. Also not the best option.
Blockquote
I would get an RE-303 (in black) now.
A silver sibling for my first is, what I have currently in mind. 
Blockquote
Xoxbox- Which was the first commercially available 303 clone, and sounds pretty bloody good to my ears, plus it has a nice friendly sequencer.)
I have two of those little buggers, and like the sequencer a lot - but 9V DC really annoys me, especially while running both units at the same time with the clonky PSUs. I had the impression that the reso pot starts catching quickly. Have this on my no 2 and a XOX I had formerly (meanwhile sold after fixing the pot. I mean the pots are not encapsulated and rather on the cheap side 
TBH - never.
Most important reason to say no is the same as with vintage cars … we have to be prepared for expensive repairs. Vintage electronics are prone to failure and if you are not capable to repair it yourself, it may get expensive even if we have luck to know a capable repair shop.
AFAIK most of what we listen to and appreciate is TB-303 plus applied FX, sometimes heavily applied FX. This said - even to buy a good clone might need some support from pedals or other FX to become, what we want.
When I was about to get a TB-303 like instrument, I compared the original sound to clones and at the end to Erica Synths Bassline DB-01. It’s definitely not a clone, has it’s own philosophy, includes a filter pointing to Polivoks, and IMO sounds much more interesting and balanced than the pure TB-303 out of the box. I got the DB-01 and didn’t regret it.
definitely no.
i like 303 overdriven and roaring/screaming, so all those subtle or even not so subtle nuances don’t really matter for me anyway.
2 Likes
Its a very popular sound.
Cant stand it myself. Clean acid tones is what I like. Smooth boingy zappy square waves yum.
2 Likes
I’ll never ever get the sound of my TD3 with an original 303. Maybe 98% but not 100%. Sorry, I’m a TD3 purist. So I don’t see spend that amount of money. 
1 Like
No, but I’ve recently been tempted by one of the TT-303 MK2 things that looks like a pencil case.
2 Likes
Not at all. But I‘m obsessively recreating the shit out of every other synth I‘ve ever owned. 
I briefly considered a fresh RE-303. But at that price point it’s hard to justify if your audience will barely notice the difference.
3 Likes
Back about 20 years ago when I was putting together my first studio I wanted to get loads of vintage Roland stuff, ended up with a bunch of stuff, 101, 202, 606, 707, SH-2. I was pretty happy but then I saw a 303 on ebay in the next town over, I think the reserve price was in the region of £800-900 which was like over twice what I’d paid for any of the other bits of kit. Back in those days hardware 303 clones were a bit harder to come by but I decided to leave it and stick with trusty Audiorealism Bassline thinking a bit of kit that old it would probably break down soon. So far all of my other Roland shit is still going strong today. Don’t really regret it much but do wonder what my life would be like if I robbed the Kwik E Mart sorry owned my own 303.
5 Likes
I’d personally not buy one because I don’t think I would hear the difference unless I was listening to a vintage and a modern unit side by side.
Even if I would hear the difference then, there is no way to know which one I would perceive to be “better” and how much of that would just be EQ or other sound shaping tools that one could tweak on modern drum machines.
It would be interesting to compare two vintage units side by side. My guess is they would also have differences in sound.
I think that the fact that it is vintage gear would be painfully obvious, starting with mundane things like no MIDI.
For 4k $ AMERICANOS - You could buy:
1: A Macbook Pro M4 Pro with 24 GB memory, 1 TB SSD
2: An Ableton Push 3 - Or probably some other controller that would fit your needs, like an Oxi One
3: Ableton Live suite
4: This shit Bass bot TT-303 the best clone of TB-303
5: Probably a plugin which emulates 303 almost perfectly
Now, if you can’t make acid techno with that, the original 303 is probably not going to help.
But I suspect most people who are making that kind of music couldn’t give a hoot about owning an original 303, just as most guitar players without billions wouldn’t care about owning Kurt Cobain’s Jaguar. They’re collectibles, like Pokemon cards and CS skins. They only have value outside their practical use.
4 Likes
No. Not worth it. For a fraction you can buy pretty much all clones/copies/plugins and have all variants of it’s sound.
Especially since with old analogue gear no unit sounded the same, so going for “that” sound is kind of a weird thing.
As a prestige historical museum kinda thing, yeah.
But I’m not “I wanna fill my house with expensive historical pieces” ritch, and I will never be.
If I WOULD be the operator of an synth/instrument/electronic music museum, then I would try to get one either by a fine donor by collecting money and buying the piece.
3 Likes
No. I love the sound of that thing, but I’ve got other stuff I’m more interested in sonically…and price. I think these things go for quite hefty prices.
1 Like
Blockquote
just as most guitar players without billions wouldn’t care about owning Kurt Cobain’s Jaguar.
Hm - I had exactly a guitar comparison in mind - where a lot of guitarists I know would never choose a squire (although quality is pretty descent these days) but lusting for the pre CBS-Vintage Strat, finally ending up with really expensive Fender Custom Strats.
Ok - mojo and feel of a TB-303 plastic box is obviously different
No, by the time I was making electronic music in 2002ish prices were already mental and I was broke, but I inherited a bunch of old music magazines way back and flicking through a 1987 issue of some UK guitar mag, I saw an ad from a shop in London with a TB-303 in the bargain bin for £30, and I’ve always wondered who bought it and what they did with it, I’ve probably heard it on a record at some point.
2 Likes
I assume you mean 9 V AC, not DC? DC is the norm these days, AC is the old-school anomaly.
I bought a second hand x0xb0x recently without a power supply, and yes, the huge wart from MyVolts I ended up with means I will probably never bring this thing to a gig. I’m pretty sure it weighs more than the instrument itself. Which is a bit of a shame, because I actually was hoping to do that.
Coincidentally, around the same time I also bought a Alesis MidiVerb 2 without a power supply and that one also uses a 9 VAC PS, so I got the same for both. Two big heavy warts, yay 
1 Like
Sorry - I meant AC of course!
(Have this PSU issue currently with my Acidlab Drumatix, where the big fat 12V AC 1.6 A PSU starts to hum - ending with even bigger replacements ).
I use this CIOKS PSU to power two X0XB0XEs (purchased originally for my guitar pedalboard). Not cheap, not small, but plenty of power sources, if you would also run some stompboxes on your X0XB0X.
Yes. It would feel cool to me. Not in a flashy way but just for me it would feel good to have an OG. I just like old shit. Maybe I would even make funkier lines than on my tb03.
1 Like