Roland R-8 - At last the final assembly - Part 9

At last the final stretch on this Roland R-8 restoration.

In this episode I re-install the shield and then the circuit assemble back into the lid assemble of the Roland R-8.

All the connectors from the screen and control surface are then re-attached.

I then deal with a little surface rust on the bottom cover of the Roland R-8 and polish the securing screws before re-attaching the bottom to the lid assembly.

Finally, I discover whether the unit boots up and the screen looks like it is displaying the correct information.

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:
Stanley Ratchet Screwdriver : https://themusictechguyuk.me/3m4eMFQ
Bosch Screw Driver Bits: https://themusictechguyuk.me/2WcZR3l
Wera Kraftform 1000V Screwdrivers: https://themusictechguyuk.me/1000VScr...
Storage Box Organiser: https://themusictechguyuk.me/StorageB...

📖Chapters:
00:00 Opening
00:13 Recap and the final leg
01:42 Channel promotion
02:05 Installing the shield
03:23 Offering up the circuit assembly
04:37 Securing the shield
05:21 Securing the circuit assembly
07:44 Reconnecting the screen and control surfaces
09:25 Replacing the CR2032 battery
10:25 Removing surface rust from bottom case
13:01 Putting the bottom on the case and securing it
13:53 Cleaning the case screws
16:24 Opps! contact cleaner
17:23 Does it work?

#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 - At last the final assembly - Part 9 - 2025-09-06