Repairs to a Roland Boss GT-8 Guitar Effects Pedal

Hi - recently got a broken GT-8 to try out. It had a fine crack on the PCB which caused lots of buttons to stop working and took out a 5V regulator. Didn't have a direct replacement regulator so plumbed one in temporarily (now that Christmas and new year has been dispensed with, have received a proper one).

Rather than link out the tracks at the crack, I connected a wire to each end of the break since you can solder to proper solder pads on IC's or components which are much more reliable. It took a jolly long time - but works great now.

The sounds are great - the best bit so far is having 2 parallel amp simulators - so you can have one doing the basic guitar sound and the other with distortion etc mixed together.

Here's some photos:
Roland Boss GT-8 Guitar Effects Pedal


The temporary 5V regulator on the main logic board

The front panel board after repair

The crack is horizontally across the centre of this photo - this shows the wire links I've added



Cheers Chris

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous5 January 2018 at 10:14

    Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6 March 2018 at 08:58

    Hey buddy, I got a GT8 that is down, dont start anymore, just solid blocks in screen. What can I do?
    Regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown20 March 2019 at 02:14

      Dear Anonymous,
      I've recently had this same exact problem with my GT-8 unit and have managed to figure out a solution to the problem and now my GT-8 is powering up and loading in normal working order. I'll give a written series of instructions and if you need further assistance I can provide you with some photos of you can't figure it out from the written...
      1. Remove the all the screws from the bottom of the casing to access the internal electronics and PCB boards.
      2. The problem with my unit had to do with the LCD display screen hence the "solid blocks" that were showing up when powering on the unit. To access the smaller LCD PCB board, you'll need to remove the larger PCB board that is covering and blocking access to the smaller LCD board located to the upper right of the opened unit.
      3. Carefully unplug all of the multi-pin connectors separating the male from the female ends.
      4. Turn the unit so that you can remove all of the thin lug nuts and washers holding all of the 1/4 female jacks(12mm or 1/2inch sockets or just use some needle nose pliers).
      5. Unscrew the four black screws holding the "AC IN, MIDI IN/OUT jacks, and the DIGITAL OUT jack.
      6. There are two silver/goldish colored screws located near the bottom of the PCB board securing the larger PCB board to the unit, remove both of these.
      7. Carefully remove the larger PCB board to gain access to the smaller LCD PCB board located in the upper right of the opened unit.
      8. If you look carefully at the LCD's PCB board you'll see six large shiny copper pads that are trapezoidal shaped and six bent and folded pieces of metal that are over these shiny contact pads. Inspect the pads and you want to make sure that there is good contact between each of the bent metal pieces and the shiny pads. I just used a pair of needle nose pliers to readjust the positioning and bend of the hovering metal pieces and I pushed them firmly against the shiny trapezoidal pads using the socket wrench piece to make good contact between all six bent metal pieces and the shiny pads of the LCD PCB.
      9. While the unit is still opened replace the larger PCB board and all of the multi pin connectors and do a test power up. If the unit now powers on in working order without the "solid blocks" you're good to go.
      10. Simply reassemble the unit and start making music to the Lord and praise our Father in Heaven. Hallelujah!

      Hope this helps you out and may I guide you to immerse yourself into God's word and truth of the Holy Bible. God Bless!
      -Brother Randall-

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  3. Unknown11 July 2019 at 20:48

    Hi Chris!

    Im looking for a replacement button for my GT8. Its the "parameter right" button. Can you please help me where to find one of those? It would be a great help! THX man! Thomas

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  4. Unknown22 November 2021 at 00:59

    Hi Chris, good day...i would like to ask how does the expression pedal switch works. My gt8 pedal switch for wah doesn't work anymore..i tried to dismantle the ractangular rubber beneath the pedal but theres nothing inside and i wonder how does the wah effect switch on and off when.pedal is pressed?...thank you for kind reply...

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  5. Felipe28 March 2022 at 08:59

    I do have kinda the same problem. When I move the pedal forward it automatically turns on the "WAH". I don't know what to do. I already reset it to factory settings. Did you manage to get any solution?

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  6. Mark11 July 2022 at 02:07

    Hello..
    Pls can anyone help me. I have a gt8 model and yesterday the guitar input is not working anymore.. i tried different cable but not successful.. its like the unit is did not detect the guitar and im thingking maybe i hit some button in the panel accidentally or the input is broken. Really need advice. Thanks

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