Yeah, you could sample the 909 for sure and have it sound pretty much identical ... make sure you use quality samples 'cause you bizarrely can't sample the kick properly on an old akai sampler 'cause it doesn't get the transient at the beginning.

Can't remember that details, but I had a mate who said the thing couldn't be sampled so i had to give it a go and it was either that the auto trigger on the sampler just missed the beginning or that the converters were shit ... but i think that's where the 'can't sample a 909 myth comes from.