HAINBACH’s FBT Synther 2000: No Filter, No Mercy

Let’s get this straight: the FBT Synther 2000 is the synth equivalent of a punk gig in a condemned pub—no filters, no fancy tricks, just pure, unruly voltage. HAINBACH wastes no time painting a picture of a parallel universe where synths aren’t trying to sound like anything you’d find in an orchestra pit. Designed in 1973 by the same crew responsible for the legendarily awful Davoli Synth, the Synther 2000 doesn’t even pretend to be civilised.

Instead of the usual filter section, you get a bank of three oscillators and a shift register ready to mangle the sound beyond all recognition. The controls are odd, the approach is more mad scientist than polite engineer, and if you’re looking for a safe, normal synth experience, you’re in the wrong place. This machine is about raw power and sonic mischief, and HAINBACH is clearly in his element.

The Synther 2000 is the synth world’s equivalent of a rare punk 7-inch—an oddity hardly anyone’s heard, but one that could have rewritten the rulebook. HAINBACH points out that, unlike the lush, wannabe-acoustic synths of the era, this box proudly refuses to impersonate anything but itself. No presets for horns or cellos here, just brute force and a stubborn refusal to blend in.

Its scarcity only adds to the legend. This thing’s so rare you’re more likely to find a unicorn behind your local kebab shop than spot a Synther 2000 for sale. Yet, for the lucky few who get their hands on one, it’s a wild ride—one that hints at a parallel universe where synths were all about raw sound and mischief, not polite melodies.

Watching HAINBACH wrangle the Synther 2000 makes you wonder—what if this thing had caught on? Imagine a world where synths were built for raw, brutal power, not soft pads or airy ambience. Electronic music could have taken a turn for the wild, the weird, and the wonderfully unrefined. One thing’s certain: you’ll never see filters the same way again after this Italian troublemaker.