The Maplin 3800 is based on a synth-kit, the Maplin 3600. As far as I know, the 3800 came pre-assembled, as opposed to the 3600 kit, but I'm not sure about this. Many sources call the 3800 a kit-synth, but maybe they're confused with the 3600... who knows?
Anyway, the build-quality of mine is first rate - nothing to indicate any sloppy assembling by some spotty hippy (no offense meant, really) - BUT...
The sound quality of mine isn't all that it could be. There's a LOT of noise in the sound, triggered together with the envelopes. Maybe it's a defective VCA, or internal dust - dunno. I'm going to have mine revised a.s.a.p. Once the noise is down this will be one HELL of a synth!
Already I love it to death for its moody, ARROGANT sounds and looks. It has some special features, like a patented way to produce a sort of clipped sawtooth wave, a 'transient' envelope which I don't fully understand yet, a VCO pitch-range which is four times normal (according to Peter Forrest's book), and some unusual ring modulation and AM (I think) options.
Released: 1979 | 
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