Description
Roland TB303 clone from German manufacturers Music and More (MAM). One of the many TB303 clones manufactured in the last thirty years, the MAM FB383 was also sold under the FAT brand name & distributed by the Turnkey Shop in London’s Charing Cross
Reportedly, the FB383 is a super-close clone of the original Roland synth and sounds very similar. There are some interesting sound demos of a number of clones on the Acidvoice page – see the links tab for details
Like the original Roland TB303, the FB383 is super-simple with a set of controls that are always live. There are no menus to dive into, no presets, no complex routing – just a simple synth with a super-expressive filter
The back panel has a VCF input which bypasses the oscillators and allows external audio to be fed to the filter. Midi channel selection is also on the back panel via DIP switches so it’s best to set it & leave it alone
“The FB 383 offers all the same basic sounds and controls as the original TB-303 in a 1-unit rack module. It has just 8 basic knobs for the same basic 303-like control: tune, filter cutoff, resonance, envmod, accent and decay. Unlike the 303 however, the oscillator can be varied from sawtooth to square from a knob on the front! Also featured is an external audio input to the filter for processing other elements”
“The Freebass is limited but sounds good to me, real VCO and an authentic 303 filter – it feels and sounds like a real analogue synth”
“I think for price and availability the Freebass FB383 seems to fit the bill for me and judging from the sound-bites that I have heard it seems to offer a more than usable sound”
“I have one of these for about 2 years now and i still use it. it sounds good as 303 clone but i use it for normal bass sounds too. nice percussive bass psy sounds are possible with it”
“I have to say that this is one hell of a synth for a cheap price. The 383 can make low, percussive and chirpy bass”
“What can i say! amazing, just gotta hit it with the right type of pattern and you’ve got a TB right there”
In very good used condition with minimal rack rash. External 12 V AC power supply included. Tested & working 100%. Photos show the synth for sale
