There is no overstating this one. The TR-808 is the most influential drum machine ever made: the booming kick, the ticking hats, the cowbell, the snap, the sound of hip-hop, electro, house, techno and pop for forty years and counting. Roland only built it from 1980 to 1983, so every original is a genuine piece of history. Pure analog, fully programmable, endlessly sampled but never truly replaced.

This one is something else: a pristine, mint example, complete with the original Japanese printed see-through plastic overlay sheet that sat over the top panel, explaining the controls and protecting the machine in use. Those overlays were almost always lost or binned decades ago, so finding one still with its 808 is genuinely rare and a real collector's detail.

FEATURES & PROS:

• Mint and complete: Pristine condition with the rare original Japanese see-through control overlay/protector still present.
• The original analog voice: That earth-shaking kick and unmistakable percussion, generated rather than sampled.
• Hands-on programming: The legendary step-button sequencer that taught the world to program beats.
• Tunable and tweakable: Per-instrument level, tone and decay for the deep 808 sub everyone wants.
• A true collector's piece: Built for only three years, and rarely found this clean or this complete.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Analog rhythm composer, 1980-1983
• 16-step sequencer, 32 patterns
• Individual analog drum voices with tuning, level and decay
• DIN sync, individual plus mix outputs
• Condition: mint, with original Japanese printed see-through overlay sheet

AS USED BY

• Marvin Gaye, "Sexual Healing" (1982), the cut that took the 808 mainstream and won two Grammys
• Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, "Planet Rock" (1982), the electro blueprint built on the 808
• Yellow Magic Orchestra, among the very first to put it on record in 1980
• New Order, "Confusion" (produced by Arthur Baker)
• Kanye West, the whole of "808s & Heartbreak" (2008), an album named for this machine
• Richie Hawtin (Plastikman), "Spastik", essentially one long 808 workout
• 808 State, the group that took their name from it
• Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Beastie Boys, through early Rick Rubin productions

HEAR IT & REVIEWS

Watch a full sound demo of a real TR-808 running through its kicks, claps, hats and that famous cowbell on YouTube. Looking back on the machine, Sound on Sound marvelled that few electronic instruments stay this desirable decades after launch, and fewer still ever get a band named after them. Read the full Sound on Sound review.