Roland TR-505 Teardown

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

I've always loved these. Looking for number Five (I already have four), because they're good at clocking sequencers, are small and light, and the various third party rom options are interesting. Mainly, I just hoard them for nostalgia.

[@bd594]

So your are the sole reason why the world's prices have risen?!?! :)

[@iixorb]

That's a nice clean example! Got mine new in 1987 (instead of a second hand '909 in the same shop, for the same price 🤬) but the buttons and knobs went yellow on mine. Yours probably spent 35 years in its box!!

[@Jammoko]

Yup... very interesting Brad, esp the tear-down :) I purchased one of these in the late eighties, paid £50 which was quite a bit of dosh back then. Don't use it much now as I have a Boss DR880. Glad I kept it now if its appreciating in value... my daughters are always telling my I should junk all my old 'gear' (that's a polite word substitution). They are part of the (poor) modern throw away society! LOL 73's de G4NWP

[@MSM5500]

This unit was produced by Panasonic as there is a "Matsushita Electric" logo can be seen on the PCB.

[@Lhenndyn]

Very interesting indeed ! This demux process is original. I like those boards from Roland in the 80s, like you say, they where so creative and they made incredible machines, futur classics... too bad they lose this knowledge...

[@Barry101er]

That box is in great condition :)

[@sjgreaves]

Do you have a suggestions for fixing a dim Boss Dr Rhythm DR606 LCD? The drum machine works, I had to replace the DC jack but otherwise, aside from the dim display it works fine. I don't think the display is supposed to be back lit, it looks more like the contrast setting is off but not sure. Any suggestions?

[@williestyle2345]

Nice Room Set up. Great Job.

[@mikaras]

Thanks. Really informational. Like the added comments a lot. They fill in the gaps nicely and are well done. Now to roam eBay for a 505. :-)

[@DJDiskmachine]

Thanks for the rundown! =) Can't help but wonder, why would you need an envelope generator for a sample player if you have no possibility of manipulating the envelope?

[@BluePlanetMedia]

Any advice for a dim and barely legible display? No splotching of liquid crystal on my display, just real hard to see.

[@ronhmason]

Mine is the same. How to fix it?

[@toosmoothchrist]

Nice video ! I have two sound buttons and the midi button not working on my 505.. do you know where the problem could come from? (the sounds trigger via midi)

[@Sequenceserenade]

Can you do a video where you make this 505 have individual out puts for each voice ? I guess that's what the tr 626 is from factory lol

[@djvartan]

Any idea why song mode won’t work? I can only play sounds individually.

[@Skechi]

Great vids.

[@w0mblemania]

This was very interesting. Cheers.

[@Meuszik]

I just picked up one of these! Thanks for the walkthrough! Wondering though - I'm getting a buzz out of the volume input and a scratch when I move the dial. Any idea how to fix?

[@CoroaEntertainment]

Use some contact cleaner on the pots, shown here.. --> 13:53

[@matthollandsf]

good vid. subscribed.

[@solidrate]

Got rid of my original 505 years ago and regretted it. Got one the other day, for $20 but BD, SD, Rim, Clap, Hats and Cymbals are barely audible. They are there but very, very faint, even with levels at 5. You can also hear a click on those (along with the faint drum sounds), almost like VCA is firing but not getting full signal from those sounds. Hmmm, any ideas? btw, I'm pretty handy with soldering iron ;o) -Sean

[@tiocoolj]

Sean Ober Im having the same issue, did you ever solve it?

[@CoroaEntertainment]

After watching the above video, I would check out the 8 part section of the circuit board located just below the headphone jack. bradthx points to that section at 12:47 I would also check all the IC chips to see if there's any corrosion on their pins.

[@pebbleschan6085]

Mine has a similar problem where all sounds are inaudible upon power up; however, just like a vintage valve TV set the volume increases gradually over 15 minutes to the proper levels. Hopefully the culprits can be found and be fixed or replaced.

[@justinevans7217]

Do you do 505 repairs ?

[@MidnightVisions]

The tops of the caps all look distorted, especially the big one on the far right has an obvious blown top. Most likely the power supply failed and that caused the cap damage.

[@melona3727]

Genius...

[@b0bhumperdinck795]

Guy doesn't know what he's talking about with this funny

[@chrismcloughlin163]

I still have my 505 from about 1991... the manual was an awful translation.. full of bad grammar.