borg - TB-303 modification upgrade
 

pictures correct as of 1/2006 - specification subkect to change - read text!

This is a major upgrade available for the TB303 from Analogue Solutions.
This upgrade adds features that allow greater creativity and flexibility in creating new sounds and live performance.
 

Order
Price:	Fitted £249 exc. VAT and delivery Kit £99 exc. VAT and delivery
Check out some BORG sounds   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Available as a kit:
Kit comes with full instructions and parts. Kit is assembled as much as possible.
All that is involved for the customer is a lot of soldering, moving a couple of components, cutting some tracks, and drilling holes;
This kit is very involved, so good soldering skills essential, electronics and mechanical (for drilling and assembling) common sense and experience required.
There are some instructional aspects to the kit that are very difficult to put into words. We have explained everything as best as we can, but you really need to use some initiative when putting in some of the sockets (due to tight spacing) and closing up the 303 (again tight spaces - you need to watch the wires don't interfere with screw holes etc).

Controls and Features

Control inputs;

Although these are primarily for use with a MIDI-CV converter, any analogue synth or sequencer can be used to control these.

CV (pitch, V/Oct)
Gate (+5V)
Filter cut-off [VCF] (0-5V)
Accent (+5V on)
Slide (+5V off, 0V on)

Control outputs;

Accent out
A 6V signals is will appear on the output whenever an Accent is played. This could be used to trigger another analogue synth to play, or add some other effect, like open up the filter.

Slide out
A 6V signal will appear on the output whenever a Slide is played. This could be used to trigger another analogue synth to play, or add some other effect, like open up the filter.

Analogue signal outputs;

Envelope signal
The envelope signal is available on a socket. This could be patched into the CV input of the TB-303 for pitch sweeps, or to any other synthesizer's control input.

Sawtooth audio out
Square wave audio out
These two waveforms are on their own sockets. These audio signals are straight from the VCO, before any other processing. These could be patched to another synth for processing by another filter or effects unit (for example, before being patched back into the 303's VCF audio input), or fed into a VCF input for cross modulation.

VCF audio output
This is audio straight out from the filter, before the VCA. This could be used to process the signal (with another synth, or say reverb) before, for example, feeding it back into the VCA audio input.

Audio inputs;

Audio input to VCF
Any audio place in here will go through the filter and VCA. This allows you to insert your own audio into the Bassline to be used as if they were a new Bassline VCO. This is ideal for adding filter sweeps to drum loops or vocals.
Audio fed into here is not affected by the overdrive control.

Audio input to VCA
Similar to the VCF audio input, except any audio place in here will go through the VCA and be subject to the envelope decay and is not affected by the filter.

Manual controls;

These are ideal for live interaction with your sequences.

Manual Accent on/off switch
When this switch is up, all notes will Accent. When down, notes will Accent.
Will also send a 6V gate out of the Accent Out socket when active.

Slide on/off switch
When this switch is up, all notes will Slide. When down, notes will Slide.
Will also send a 6V gate out of the Slide Out socket.

Bend on/off switch
When this switch is up, all notes will Bend (be modulated by the EG) a large amount. When down, notes will Bend a lesser amount than the up position.

Overdrive control
This controls the level of TB303 VCO signal fed to the filter. It ranges from no audio (off) to total overdrive. Excellent for those fat, distorted 303 bass lines.

VCA decay time
The VCA decay time is normally fixed at about 2 seconds. Now, with this new control, you can set the time from about 5mSecs to about 2 seconds.

Q Boost
This control increases the amount of resonance past the standard capability of the 303. Whack up the resonance and Q Boost to full, apply some Bend and turn up the XMod control, and listen the this kick!

X-Modulation
This routes audio from the VCO (either Saw, or Square as selected by switch below) directly to the filter cut-off control. Set below about half way, this control adds extra harmonics to the waveform. As the control is increased, the sound gets more harmonically rich (a kind of distorted sound). Finally, as the control hits the end stop, the sound has gone mental!

X-Mod Source
Selects the source for the X-Mod. The 2 sources are:
Sawtooth
Square
(and centre OFF)

External audio can be used to control the Filter and create X-Mod. Just feed audio into the VCF cut-off input. Note; the X-Mod pot does not affect the external audio. Control this from source.

Indicators;

The more lights the better, so 3 BLue LED indicators are supplied showing the activity of..

Gate
Accent
Slide

Other;

The Filter cut-off range has been increased so it now goes lower! (Top range not affected).

Note: silver knobs as shown in the photo subject to availability.

Well, that about covers all the new features! More may be added at a later date.

What does it sound like? That's hard to sum up. What with the new features and patching possibilities, you should be able to get an unlimited range of new tones. The slide and accent manual controls add a further live element to the sound. The new inputs and outputs allow several of your analogue synths to interact with each other. As it should always be, you are only limited by your imagination, and The Borg gives you wider dimensions to express this.
Although a 303 Borg has all these new controls, it still retains it's own unique flavour, and of course, the original sound can still be easily reproduced by moving the extra controls to their off positions.

Aside from this, we can also provide...

MIDI-CV or SYNC24 converters to control the TB303 from MIDI
Replace the any worn step buttons with new ones (or any other repairs)
Change LED colours
Cut down versions of The Borg upgrade

Lastly, any questions about this, just email or call us.

Borg instructions

These instructions are brief simply because the new features are generally self-explanatory;

Congratulations on having The Borg. Your TB303 now has a significant number of new possibilities. Some basic knowledge of modular synthesis is essential to get the most out of it, but here you will find some guidelines and example patches:

OVERVIEW

Sockets:

Switches:

Controls:

LEDs

There are 3 extra LEDs to show condition of programmed Gate, Accent and Slides. External control or using the manual switches will not effect the LED condition.

 

Other:

The VCF cut-off range now goes right down without effecting the upper range.

 

CV

Pitch control. Use any control voltage, e.g. EG out, or the CV out of your MIDI-CV converter to control the pitch. For cross mod effects, try sticking audio into here.

Gate

The TB303 can be gated from an analogue sequencer, drum machine (e.g. TR808, TR606), or from a MIDI-CV converter (use the Gate out socket).

VCF

VCF cut-off control. Use any control voltage, e.g. EG out, to control cut-off. For cross mod effects, try sticking audio into here. When using a MIDI-CV converter, you can control the VCF cut-off from MIDI by patching the auxiliary out from your converter into VCF in.

Accent and Slide
Use the auxiliary on your MIDI-CV converter to turn on/off accent/slide from MIDI.

VCF audio out and Q in

You can use these as insert point to add effects into the resonance feedback loop (try Chorus, Flange or Delay, for example). The send to your effects is VCF audio out, the return from your effects is Q in. Try various return levels - more overdrive possible, but will drown out TB303 VCO. Lower levels will provide a good mix of TB303 VCO and effects.

Accent and Slide Switches
Ideal for live interaction

Q Boost

For best effect, put Q boost and resonance to maximum, and add lots of Accents.

X-Mod
Cross modulates the VCO waveforms with the Filter. For best effect, put Q boost and resonance to maximum, and add lots of Accents. XM Src must be on either waveform. Play around with the XM level, decay, ENV mod, Bend, and cut-off.

EXAMPLE PATCHING:

Patch either VCO waveform audio out into the VCF cut-off input. This gives harsher Cross mod effects. Any type of audio can be patched into the VCF control input to cross modulate the filter.

The VCO waveform audio outputs can be patched anywhere on a monosynth or modular, e.g. VCF cut-off input, VCA/VCF input, etc.

Patch EG output into the CV pitch control input. The pitch will sweep down with the envelope signal. Try different decay settings.

The EG output can be patched anywhere on a monosynth or modular, e.g. VCF cut-off input, PWM input, VCA level input, etc.

Patch Slide or Accent trigger output into the VCF-cut off control input to give an extra boost of filter cut-off whenever there is a Slide or Accent programmed.

Patch Slide trigger output into the Accent trigger input.

Patch Accent trigger output into the Slide trigger input.

The Slide and Accent trigger outputs can also be used to trigger an external analogue sequencer, drum synth, analogue monosynth, or be patched anywhere on a monosynth or modular, e.g. VCF cut-off input, PWM input, VCA level input, etc.

VCF audio out provides a continuos signal after the VCF but before the VCA. So it is effected by the filter, but not the VCA envelope. This can be patched into another external filter, monosynth or modular for more processing.

Patch any external audio (monosynth's VCO, drum loops, vocal, etc) into the VCF audio input to process the external audio through the TB303's filter and VCA section. Add resonance and manually sweep cut-off. Try short VCA decay to cut-up the external signal.
Please note: as signal goes through same sections as the 303's own audio, the sequencer must be playing to hear the external audio.

Patch any external audio (monosynth's VCO, drum loops, vocal, etc) into the VCA audio input to process the external audio through the TB303's VCA section only. Filter settings will not effect the audio. Turn Overdrive to nearly zero to only hear the external audio and not the 303 also. Try short VCA decay to cut-up the external signal. Please note: as signal goes through the VCA, so the sequencer must be playing to hear the external audio.

With some of the patch sockets, it is best to make the connection with the power off. This is as the signal tip of the jack lead will short the signal to ground as it touches the metal nut of the socket which is grounded. It is unlikely that you will damaged the TB303 if you don’t disconnect the power when patching, but it’s up to you if you want to be extra careful.

Concussor Modular Synthesizer from Analogue Solutions
Tel:+44 1384 35 36 94 Fax:+44 1384 35 36 94
e&oe (c) 12 2004

Concussor Modular Synthesizer from Analogue Solutions
Tel:+44 1384 35 36 94 Fax:+44 1384 35 36 94
e&oe (c) 12 2007