Roland's first stab at semi-modular synthesis, from 1975, and quietly one of the best-sounding things the company ever built. This is a three-module rig: the 101 keyboard synth at the heart, the 103 mixer with its onboard spring reverb and twin VU meters, and the 104 analog step sequencer to drive the whole thing. The filter runs from creamy to head-ripping scream, and the semi-modular layout means it plays straight out of the box but rewards a patch cable or ten. Beloved of the Human League, Aphex Twin, Vince Clarke and Tangerine Dream. Serviced and fully functional.

FEATURES & PROS:

• That filter: the legendary Roland low-pass, equally happy purring or screaming.
• Semi-modular: pre-patched and instantly playable, with patch points for going deep.
• 103 Mixer: four channels, panning, twin VU meters and a real spring reverb on board.
• 104 Sequencer: 12 x 2 analog step sequencing with variable gate and series or parallel modes.
• Tank-built: rock-solid 1970s Roland engineering that holds tuning better than it has any right to.

AS USED BY

• The Human League, the albums "Reproduction" and "Travelogue" and the single "Being Boiled", built on an expanded System-100 in this same 101 + 103 + 104 layout
• Depeche Mode, "A Broken Frame" (via producer Daniel Miller)
• Vince Clarke, across Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure
• Vangelis, slotting it in among his high-end rigs
• Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk
• Aphex Twin on the Model 101, plus Orbital and Front 242

THE WORD: Sound on Sound looks back on the System-100 as a trend-bucking Roland modular whose analogue low end still hits hard decades later. Read more at Sound on Sound.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Year: 1975
• Modules: 101 Synthesizer (keyboard), 103 Mixer, 104 Sequencer
• Synthesis: semi-modular monophonic, VCO plus sub-oscillator
• Filter: resonant self-oscillating low-pass
• 103: four inputs, panning, twin VU meters, spring reverb
• 104: 12 x 2 step sequencer, series or parallel
• Condition: serviced, fully functional