Roland CR8000

CR8000

Roland, 1981

I purchased my CR8000 from an eBay listing in August 2023 after the seller accepted what I thought was a reasonable offer for the machine (lights come on, but functionality was uncertain). I already had a CR5000 in my collection so the sounds and general character of the machine were already familiar, but curiosity (and the allure of a three digit LED tempo display) got the best of me.

The unit arrived in the condition indicated by the seller; I’d missed that the LED display was non-functional in the listing images and found (both before and after cleaning the unit) that a number of the buttons were non-responsive – these sounds like a handful and a headache to repair, but when the time and tools converge, I’m excited to take that restoration on.

I initially thought that the machine was nearly entirely unresponsive, but was relieved to find a laugh hiding on the other side of the Syncro in/out switch.

As previously mentioned, a handful of pushbuttons will need to be restored (arranger buttons are largely unresponsive, as is one of the bank selectors) and the tempo LED repaired. Despite these behaviors, the machine is a blast to use and program.