Roland R-8 - Repainting the Backplate - Restoration Part 6

Some months ago I stripped down the Roland R-8 and discovered that the back plates that are enclosed within the plastic case of the drum machine were badly damaged.

The back plate on the source machine was far worse than the back plate on the target machine. But both were in need of restoration work.

Now I know that this component of the Roland R-8 never gets scene, but I didn't feel right putting the drum machine back together knowing that this component was so damaged.

At the time of stripping down the Roland R-8 the weather was not good enough to work outside to strip down the metal plate to base metal and then re-paint it.

In the meantime I did consider getting these stripped by blasting and then having them powder coated. I approached a few companies in the area where I live about undertaking this work. Many weren't interested as there were not enough components to make it worth while for them, and a couple of others gave me quotes that were so expensive that it was not economical to go down this route.

So we came back to stripping the paint off using the equipment in the workshop and spraying them with a can of spray paint.

Background

The Roland R-8 was acquired as a job lot with another instrument. I am a sucker for a drum machine, so the acquisition of this Roland R-8 was a bonus. The second bonus was that when I opened the box containing the Roland R-8 I also found a Roland R-5. But the R-5 will be the subject of another video series.

On acquisition I noticed that the screen on the R-8 was not displaying the characters correctly. After a bit of Googling and reviewing a number of the forums it appeared that R-8's having defective screens was a known issue and would require the screen to be replaced to fix the problem.

This created a problem in itself. Most instruments of this era were supplied with an LCD screen and back light combination. And there are after market screens based on OLED technology that, with a few changes, can be fitted to the instrument. This is not the case for the Roland R-8. This LCD screen made by Samsung has a custom display and is no longer manufactured. There is no OLED equivalent that replicates this custom display.

Once I started to strip the drum machine down I found that there was additional work required to bring this instrument back into use within my studio.

The equipment mentioned above (if you can still buy it!):
Roland R-8 (Used): https://themusictechguyuk.me/3ewF3ZE

Tools and spares used to make this video:
Dremel Drill: https://themusictechguyuk.me/DremelDrill
Stanley Ratchet Screwdriver : https://themusictechguyuk.me/3m4eMFQ
Bosch Screw Driver Bits: https://themusictechguyuk.me/2WcZR3l
Black Primer Spray Paint: https://themusictechguyuk.me/BlackSpr...
Masks for sanding and spraying: https://themusictechguyuk.me/FaceMask...
Wera Kraftform 1000V Screwdrivers: https://themusictechguyuk.me/1000VScr...
Storage Box Organiser: https://themusictechguyuk.me/StorageB...

📖Chapters:
00:00 Opening
00:14 Time to fix the damage back panels
02:35 Channel promotion
02:57 Removing the panels from Roland R-8 No.2
03:34 Applying the Nitro Morse
03:49 Standing the sanding process
04:20 Swapping to the Dremel for paint stripping
05:09 The temporary spray booth
05:50 Spraying the panels
06:04 The final product

#rolandr8 #RolandR8DrumMachine #r8 #Roland #drummachine

Videos in this series:
Part 1:    • Roland R-8 - Assessment of the project - R...  
Part 2:    • Roland R-8 - Accessing the drum machine - ...  
Part 3:    • Roland R-8 - Removing the display from the...  
Part 4:    • Roland R-8 - Installing the display to the...  
Part 5:    • Roland R-8 - Removing the rear plate for r...  
Part 6:    • Roland R-8 - Repainting the Backplate - Re...  
Part 7:    • Roland R-8 - Reassembling the circuits to ...  
Part 8:    • Roland R-8 - Cleaning the top for assembly...  
Part 9:    • Roland R-8 - At last the final assembly - ...  
Part 10:    • Roland R 8 - Clips from the cutting room f...  

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Roland R 8 - Repainting the Backplate - Restoration Part 6 - 2025-07-26