MFB
33Also known as: MFB Berlin, Manfred Fricke Berlin
UnclaimedFounded in 1976 by engineer Manfred Fricke in Berlin, MFB (Manfred Fricke Berlin) is a German electronic instruments company with a legacy spanning decades of analog drum machines, synthesizers, and Eurorack modules. The company first gained recognition with the MFB-501 drum machine in 1979, which became one of the best-selling drum machines in West Germany, reportedly outselling the Roland TR-...
$18.02
in Drum Machines Rank
$379.19
in Drum Machines Rank
$318.27
in Drum Machines Rank
$324.28
in Audio Sequencers Rank
Founded in 1976 by engineer Manfred Fricke in Berlin, MFB (Manfred Fricke Berlin) is a German electronic instruments company with a legacy spanning decades of analog drum machines, synthesizers, and Eurorack modules. The company first gained recognition with the MFB-501 drum machine in 1979, which became one of the best-selling drum machines in West Germany, reportedly outselling the Roland TR-808 in German shops. MFB built a reputation for making affordable, no-nonsense analog instruments housed in compact plastic enclosures — gear designed to be accessible entry points into electronic music production without sacrificing sound quality.
MFB's product line grew to include a wide range of instruments. The Tanzbär is a hybrid analog/digital drum machine with dedicated analog percussion voices, while the Tanzbär 2 expanded on the concept with eight analog and eight sample-based sounds. The Dominion 1 is a three-oscillator paraphonic analog synthesizer with an extensive patch bay for modular integration, and the Dominion Club offers a compact desktop version of that architecture. The Synth Pro is an eight-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with dual filters and onboard effects. MFB also produces a substantial catalog of Eurorack modules, including oscillators (OSC-01, OSC-02, OSC-03), filters, sequencers (SEQ-01, SEQ-02, SEQ-03), drum modules (Drum-99, BASS 522, SNARE 522), and complete synth voices like the Nanozwerg Pro and Megazwerg.
Following Manfred Fricke's passing in 2021, his son Jean-Marcel took over the company, continuing production of MFB's synthesizer and drum machine lines. The company operates out of Berlin, where Fricke spent over four decades pioneering affordable electronic instrument design — well before the city became a global hub for electronic music.
MFB has 56 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Synthesizers, Modular Synthesizers, and Drum Machines. Their gear is featured by 53 artists, with the strongest followings in Electronic, Rock, and Pop. Notable users include KiNK, Boys Noize, and Todd Terje. MFB's catalog spans the full price spectrum — from entry-level options to high-end flagships.
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