New Front Panel Overlay coming for JD-XA

[DWareham02]

Here is a photo of my JDXA with the "synthgraphics" panel overlay
and wooden sides that I created and placed over the red triangle shape.
I love how my JDXA looks now!

Placing the panel overlays were fairly simple.

MyJDXA.jpg

The wood end caps are beautiful. I'd love to have a set of those for my JD-XA. Do you have a drawing with dimensions? I'm pretty handy with wood. Can you tell us how you got the angle dimensions on the depth and did you use double sided tape or glue to secure them.

I might try it with mine. I have a spare oak board that I could use and stain it to the dark grain like yours.

Tell us about it. Thanks.

[richardbates1]

Here is a photo of my JDXA with the "synthgraphics" panel overlay
and wooden sides that I created and placed over the red triangle shape.
I love how my JDXA looks now!

Placing the panel overlays were fairly simple.

MyJDXA.jpg

The wood end caps are beautiful. I'd love to have a set of those for my JD-XA. Do you have a drawing with dimensions? I'm pretty handy with wood. Can you tell us how you got the angle dimensions on the depth and did you use double sided tape or glue to secure them.

I might try it with mine. I have a spare oak board that I could use and stain it to the dark grain like yours.

Tell us about it. Thanks.

I used a thick paper and just traced the triangular shape of the red ends, then created a template.
I used a hardwood and cut out the triangular shapes.
Once the wood ends were shaped and sanded I used an epoxy glue to glue the wood ends onto the red triangular ends.....I made sure not to glue the ends to the black shell of the synth.
You might find a better way to glue the ends?
Anyway that is how I did it.

[F5D]

Anybody else received? Please post overlayed photos of the beast! :)

[JPWC]

Hey F5D, there are many photos on face book.

The overlay stickers make the machine much easier to read, especially with my aging eyesight. I don't know what Roland was thinking, Red letters and a shiny black background.

The sticks apply very easily, just peel, aim and apply. (don't push them down until you verify they are correctly aligned, they can be pulled up and re-applied if you a careful. Make sure the place you apply has good lighting to help ensure squarely hitting the target.

You have to remove the slider knobs, and that's pretty easy, Just pinch them off (two fingers), applying force straight up.

I think they were a little expensive, but I'd buy them again. Quality is first rate.

[F5D]

Hi JPWC, my overlays are coming in NY at the moment, waiting to get in an airplane I assume, should be here in Finland in a few days. I have seen the Synthgraphics pics, just wondering if anybody else has applied the overlays and has pics of the end result (taken with another camera and lighting conditions).

[SynthGraphics]

There's a pic one customer sent me.

[poupouye]

Hi from France

I received mine on last saturday

one picture with only one panel put in the middle and the other picture all completed.

I'm very pleased about the result, easy to install and nice, thanks Jamie for the good job

Be patient :)

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JD1.jpg (329.74 KiB) Viewed 3706 times

[lekanout]

Ho everybody.
I've received like poupouye mine on the last saturday.
I will put the panels in a few days ant put some pics here;)

Thanks jamie and everybody!

[SynthGraphics]

Hi from France

I received mine on last saturday

one picture with only one panel put in the middle and the other picture all completed.

I'm very pleased about the result, easy to install and nice, thanks Jamie for the good job

Be patient :)

JD2.jpg

JD1.jpg

Looks like piece got stuck on the OSC 1 Pulse Wave led light hole. I try to double check each one but sometimes the little holes need pushed out. Just noticed it on the photo you posted.

[F5D]

I am glad to report that the overlays arrived today safely. It is friday evening here in Finland and I am drinking beer, so I will wait until tomorrow to attempt the install. The TR-8 overlay I will install later, as I need to do further modifications to the machine, swap the LEDs to different colors and paint the chassis first. Thanks Jamie, I will post pics when done. The quality of the overlay is high. I have the right-most fx-section piece just laying on top of the panel at the moment and it looks so much better than the stock surface. I can easily see all the prints now from a distance, even though the lighting in my gear nest is quite dim. I am planning to remove the complete front panel and boards and apply a dot of black permanent pen on top of each of the red LEDs that illuminate the pot rings and fader surroundings to attenuate the level to about half of the original. Then, the JD will be quite perfect for my use.

[F5D]

I could not wait doing nothing, so I took the synth apart and applied the black permanent marker on top of all red pot and fader LEDs. Just put the synth back together and noticed that I need to take the synth apart again tomorrow, as it seems that I missed 2 faders and 2 pots. In any case, the dimming with the black marker pen works. The LEDs are actually really small with a flat top and also emit from the sides. Therefore, it is quite easy to "paint" the top of the LEDs with a very large permanent marker, so that the top surface is fully black. It will still pass light through and also the edges will emit light into the bright light guides that appear illuminated. Tomorrow, I will finish the dimming of the LEDs first and then apply the synthgraphics overlays. In the pic I just had the overlay placed on top of the panel (not glued) checking out how it works with the dimmed LEDs. The dimmed LEDs actually work quite nicely and are about as bright as the LCD display. The overall intensity of the LEDs is quite dim, but gives the synth a nice more expensive look, not being over-bright. I actually have all the overlay pieces placed on top of the synth, and it looks really really nice. The JD-XA is starting to look quite proper now.

[richardbates1]

I could not wait doing nothing, so I took the synth apart and applied the black permanent marker on top of all red pot and fader LEDs. Just put the synth back together and noticed that I need to take the synth apart again tomorrow, as it seems that I missed 2 faders and 2 pots. In any case, the dimming with the black marker pen works. The LEDs are actually really small with a flat top and also emit from the sides. Therefore, it is quite easy to "paint" the top of the LEDs with a very large permanent marker, so that the top surface is fully black. It will still pass light through and also the edges will emit light into the bright light guides that appear illuminated. Tomorrow, I will finish the dimming of the LEDs first and then apply the synthgraphics overlays. In the pic I just had the overlay placed on top of the panel (not glued) checking out how it works with the dimmed LEDs. The dimmed LEDs actually work quite nicely and are about as bright as the LCD display. The overall intensity of the LEDs is quite dim, but gives the synth a nice more expensive look, not being over-bright. I actually have all the overlay pieces placed on top of the synth, and it looks really really nice. The JD-XA is starting to look quite proper now.

Thanks FSD for that tip. Great idea!
How hard is it to take the JDXA apart?

[richardbates1]

Here some more pics of the overlay on my JDXA.
I got most of the panels placed spot on, the filter section I placed a fraction off, oh well close enough.

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[F5D]

Just completed the LED dimming modification. I actually had to spend today quite a few hours to complete the mod. A little warning to those, who might attempt the same mod. It is a precision job to paint those smd LEDs. Even though a black permanent marker leaves quite thin layer of the paint / color on top of the LED, the thickness varies from LED to LED. Also, the LEDs are not exactly the same in intensity, so you easily end up with uneven intensity between the panel LEDs. So, be careful and think about this twice before doing the mod. I had to iterate about 10 times to get to the final result, meaning I had to take the synth apart and put it back together 10 times. To speed up the work, I used fewer screws to secure the boards in place, but you need to pull those sensitive cables from their miniature connectors several times and there is a risk that you might damage something, if you are not familiar working with electronics. Was it worth it, definitely, but it was quite a huge job. Next, I will apply the overlays that I believe is a much easier job, but care should be taken also in that job to align all panels carefully to obtain the pro look.

But, now for a 9 km walk, then back to finish with the overlays...

[F5D]

Ok, I have now completed the modifications. The LEDs are dimmed and the Synthgraphics overlay has been installed. I took it slowly, targeting for perfect alignment and attachment. I cleaned all surfaces with isopropyl alcohol at least twice before applying the overlay, because there could be some sort of grease-rejecting coating that Roland may have used. I used the method that Jamie proposed with tape alignment. Also, I had the power on all the time, as it helps in aligning the overlays, at least with the dimmed LEDs. The process took about 2 hours. I vacuum cleaned all possible dust out of the surface just seconds before applying the overlay. Combined with the dimmed LEDs, the JD-XA looks just epic now. The visibility is grea, no more glare. The synth looks pro, with a touch of Jupiter 8 due to the Synthgraphics overlay style. I am just amazed how it looks. Please see some pics below. It looks even better in real life. The red LEDs are not as bright as in the photos. The black surface and the LEDs are really difficult to capture using camera, althoug I used a stand with my DSLR and ISO100 sensitivity. This is, at the moment, possibly one of the best looking synth that I have available, real eye candy. I could only wish it had 8 analog voices and a metal chassis. But anyhow, it is quite perfect for what is available at the moment. Finally, it looks as good as it sounds. Thank you Jamie for the great work with the overlays!