GEAR HATE THREAD

[Circuitbenders]

Todays victim:

Roland TR-606:
WHY? Not that i would ever suggest that the words 'Roland', 'Drum Machine' and 'Analogue' in the same sentence would cause people to go temporarily insane but lets face it, the TR-606 is a piece of utter crap. If these things were valued on simple music making potential then you wouldn't be able to shift a 606 for £20 but stick the word Roland on it, give it a case like a 303 and suddenly its worth £150. Put it this way, if someone described to you a drum machine with 6 cheap sounds that you can't edit in any way, with one output, which is impossible to sync up without a DIN sync converter, with bugger all memory and with a really shit programming interface, and then offered to sell it to you for £150 you'd just laugh in their face. And yet this is exactly what people are buying when they get a 606. Get a sampler, sample the sounds and then fuck off with your cheap electro bollocks. 
Ever heard of a Boss DR-110? More or less exactly the same machine as a 606 but with more sounds and an LCD screen for grid programming, oh and its analogue. How much would one of these set you back? £20-£30 maximum as it doesn't say Roland on it.

arrrrgghhhhhhhhhh!

[iqoruvuc]

How can you hate the TR-606?

It is an instant signifier from the 80's and fits well into any all-girl electrotrash outfit in between the Juno and the Polysix.  The drum sounds make an excellent backing to occasional swearing and songs about pornography, whilst the silver catches the flash light from magazine photographers particularly well too.  I tell you what, you haven't really lived (in shoreditch) untill owned one of these things.

[Circuitbenders]

I tell you what, you haven't really lived (in shoreditch) untill owned one of these things.

Its a tough decision but I think that might be a risk i'm willing to run.

[iqoruvuc]

I love electroclash/shoreditch/art school so much I have 'Roland Fag Whore' tattoed on my forehead in letraset

Seriously though, I tend to agree that the 606 nothing but a polished turd.  Open it up and instead of circuitry it is just full of banana skins and household waste, or so I have been told.

[Circuitbenders]

Open it up and instead of circuitry it is just full of banana skins and household waste, or so I have been told.

Weirdly you are not that far off. As i understand it the 303 and 606 circuitboards are made from compressed cardboard or some kind of crappy wood substitute which was used at the time for making prototype boards and should never have been used for a final instrument run as they just fall apart.

Another quality Roland maneuver!

[voodoolikeudoo]

yeah, the 606 is a piece of crap but then so is the 303 if you wanted a bass synth.

[mr ibrahiem]

hahahaahahaha...TWO WORD COME TO MY MIND ........EPIC FAIL!!!! 

[nochtanseenspecht]

hmm.. i like the 606  but more for the groovy sequencer, and the triggers out..
of course i would't pay what people ask for it  i have one here from a friend that found it in the garbage
if you run it trough an equalizer, it sounds better already..

but the 303 on the other hand.. totally overrated piece of plastic. just good for one trick
a jupiter 6 with europa upgrade is cheaper than a 303.. i don't get it 

[manufactured zero]

Ok, already posted about this one in overrated. But the Yamaha MR 10 takes the crown for being the rancid dogs cock any day. The 606 may be not much more than a fashion victims wet dream but the MR10. @?%& WHY? I suppose old doug down the eight dogs struming away some old folk tunes might find a use for it but the fact it sells for over a quid confuses and saddens me more than trying to figure out what the attraction of walking like you've shat yourself but secretly enjoy the feeling and spending your time in what adds up to years hanging about outside a shop doorway is to chavs.

Pass me the magnum!

[Circuitbenders]

but the 303 on the other hand.. totally overrated piece of plastic. just good for one trick

You could say the same thing about a whole lot of instruments couldn't you? 99% of monophonic instruments only have one trick, it depends what you do with that trick. Personally i like that one trick but £1000 or whatever absurd amount they are going for these days is just completely ridiculous, and i'd agree that both physically and electronically they are a piece of crap.

Which is why i have an x0xb0x instead 

[nochtanseenspecht]

 yeah, thats what i mean, 1000 for 1 trick..
i found it also funny little thing.. but better like my jp6 that can do a lot more for less
not that they are realy comparible..

ontopic : did someone mention the casio vl tone ?
got rid of it before i realy got the chance to hate it
but the rhythm section..  and the totaly unhandy enveloppe control 
not to speak about its sound in general (puke smiley)