How much for a SH101

started a thread with the Pro1 few days ago… I really liked the input / answers / thoughts, worries, shame, lack of insults, etc …

why not continue?

so, here is my question: how much for a Roland Sh 101 … what do you guys love and hate about it ?

btw…going to grap one in an hour …will let you know later what I will have paid (that tense is called future 2 and hardly used :slight_smile: )

Great synth but for what they go for you could of bought a Intelligel Atlantis for less… It is basically a clone of the 101 with more options but it is eurorack kind of wish they made a desktop version…

kind of wish they made a desktop version…

Get a Pittsburgh Modular Cell [48] with it and you have a desktop version :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
You can use the 8 remaining HP for a MIDI to CV convertor or a filter or…Peaks from Mutable Instruments.
With this last option you have a SH808 :imp:


I traded an acoustic guitar (~$600US used) for mine. I love it. It has so many “sweet spots” and cv works just fine with modular gear. I put it through a delay and reverb and have fun for hours. Be sure to check out the stability of the power switch. Wiggle it while it is on and listen for anything weird. Its relatively easy to replace but may give you a little reason for bargaining.

guys, … I am staying super fucking hard away from the modular hole! … omg… … aaah… panik !

Just buy a small case… :imp:
It will be ok…
Worst case? GAS becomes MAS!

Still have a mint SH-101 : weirdly it’s about the only vintage piece I haven’t sold. … Though not sure why. It does a handful of sounds really well… But is hardly what you’d call versatile. If you want that classic Roland 80s bass sound though & acidy stuff it’s the one for sure.
But … I refer to my earlier post - don’t hate me :slight_smile: - plenty of other much better options for the money these days. If you need the 101 sound,buy an Aira. System 1 &get the plug out. … I’m serious.

Just checked out the Aira System One page. Looks way cool. As much as I’d like to own an SH-101, I think it makes much more sense to purchase a new product that marries the classic design with modern capabilities.

can´t say how much i´d pay these days. i had 3 of them. ordered one from japan. shipping to germany was
very expensive, but still cheaper than european prices. i opened the first one to tune it and i was really shocked.
it was in a very bad condition. must have been in a moist room for years and i´m sure animals have lived in there.
the pitch/mod stick didn´t work like it should. (be careful, there are many models like that - there was a time noone
gave a shit about that old stuff…)
the ebay shop from tokio took it back and sent me another one. very nice people, they payed the additional shipping costs.
(must have been about 200 euros !!!)
did not look as nice as the first one, but was very clean inside and everything worked perfect.
it took me some time to get the tuning right, but it was one of my most favorite synths i´ve ever owned !
i payed less than 600 euros including shipping and taxes. (with mod grip and a roland leather belt) but that was about
7 years ago.

later i found an ebay offer, a blue sh 101, 5 minutes left, actual bid was 400 euros - got it for 401 euros.
looked like brand new, no scratch, nothing. but pitch/mod stick was broken… just gave it back

would buy one anytime again, but in the meantime they are in a price range of very interesting other (new) synths !

to be honest, some ebay offers for roland products are just ridiculous (just found one: tb 303, has a poti with loose contact, and tr 606 = 3000,- euros - plus shipping - lol )

anyway, i´m sure you´ll have a lot of fun with the 101. it´s one of the classics!

btw, if i could choose: a free sh 101 or a free aira … i´d take the sh 101 !!!

How will age the AIRA series and its plugins?

e.g.: DX200, Nord Modular…
Software maintenance and updates have definitively a shorter lifespan than their hardware.

Btw. there is a desktop version of the SH101/MC202:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/cmu810.php

It’s ultra rare, I nearly bought one a couple of years ago, but then got a SH101 from a friend. Btw. the fun thing besides the sound is the sequencer and triggering it from an external source. That’s actually what all the fuss is about…

Bought a 202 for $20 in the mid 90’s from a comic book video game store… Sold it for $450…

The Novation Bass Station II is very close to the SH-101 in sound, has many more features and can be had for dirt cheap.

Comparison video:

I think that you made a good choice TrabanT: SH101 has such a huge legacy that you have to own it at least one time in your life :joy:
You will experience its CV, cheap plastic, arpeggietor, filter., filter and filter.

Bass Station is indeed a very good replica with an awesome sequencer too IMO.

Atlantis is more an interpretation with crazy modular patching options and possibilities. :heart:

that BS II sure is close … at times sounds even nicer to me … often wonder why there are hardly any 2nd hand BSII out there … lucky my BSB (best synthesizer buddy) has one for me to play around with! … thanks for posting"!

true that! … just the pure act of having XYZ hands on experience cant be beat with tutorials, reading or pure listening … plugging the CV from the A4 into the sh101 made my learning curve spike (and a anti spike in my piggy bank :stuck_out_tongue: )

The BSII’s sequencer is only good in theory, when it comes to syncing it up in an all hardware setup it sucks big time. You can only trigger the arp/seq in time when sending MIDI-notes to the BSII as it won’t start or reset on MIDI-clock-start like the Brutes do.

Besides that, there’s no way to e.g. trigger the BSII’s seq with analog trigger inputs so together with an A4 you’re pretty much lost or you’ll have to be ultra tight manually starting the BSII. But that’s nearly impossible since it will start in on MIDI-Clock-resolution, so it will always likely be off a few clock-ticks…

yes good one, the bass is really nice. the sequencer and arp is really fast and fun to use too but there is a small 3-5ms delay in the response time while the 101 processes the cv/gate & trigs at clk in… if you have a sampler or OT you can download my trig sample Trigger the Roland SH 101 and adjust with the microtiming by advancing the trigs to compensate. also, if you are not running it on batteries it will be noisy unless you get a proper power supply, the big boss supplies are ok, even better is adding capacitance to any 9v wall wart adaptor… i did this and it made all the difference in the world. another tip is to attach a 3v lithium clock battery in the compartment using alligator clips, this retains the seq and arp memory when its turned off but it will not power the synth. if you do this, remember to turn off the synth when its unplugged or the battery will go flat quickly.

from hyperreal

  • Wall wart transformers are all of varying quality.
  • Wall wart transformer’s DC output quality varies when load and no load
    is applied.
  • SH-101’s seem to bring out the worst in wall warts.
  • SH-101’s are very suseptible to poor wall wart supplies.

Solution:

APPLY HEAVY CAPACITANCE TO THE DC SIDE OF A WALLWART FEEDING AN SH-101.
470uf…mild improvement
1,000uf…acceptable improvement
10,000uf…equivalent to lab test bench supply

You can mount the capacitor in the 101 or on the cable feeding the 101
from the wall wart transformer. Note the 101’s center pin on it’s DC
jack is - while the sleeve is +

Philip Pilgrim The Lab Audio Works