How to Replace the LCD Display on a Roland Juno-G
So on this very snowy weekend in northern Virginia, I had enough time to try out replacing the defecitve LCD display on my Roland Juno-G. This has been a common problem with this keyboard, especially with the the first units produced. I purchased my Juno-G used from Guitar Center for $650 in December of 2008. About 6 monthhs later, the display started to act strangley. At first, the display was distorting. Eventually, half to 3/4 of the screen went blank.
After reading several blog posts about other folks having this issue, I called Roland Support. They informed me I could buy the part for $135 or go to an authorized repair center. Maybe it was my recent experience with embedded device software engineering, but I had the urge to try the repair myself for the first time. So I ordered the part, and it was delivered a week later.
So here are my instructions on replacing the LCD. It took me about 2 hours, but I was really going slow :
- Get about a dozen small bowls or container to keep the screws organized. Get little strips of paper. When you remove the screws from a section, write a label of what the section is, put the label in the container, and put the screws in the container. There are close to 50 screws, and you don’t want to confuse them.
- Grab a philips screw driver, small wire cutters, and small needle nose plyers.
- Remove the data wheel to the right of screen. Keep pulling firmly and it will eventually slide off.
- Flip the keyboard over and begin removing the screws to separate the case. You need to remove every single screw you see on the bottom of the keyboard.
- Separate the case.
Inside the Roland Juno-G
- Unscrew the mounting screws from the circuit board containing the jacks and disconnect any ribbon connectors that are in your way. You should be able to flip the board back and over and out of the way.
Getting Juno-G jack circuit board out of the way
- Next, unscrew the mounting screws from the motherboard on your far right. You may need to snip a couple wire ties to make room to move the motherboard up enough to get at the center board. Disconnect any ribbon connectors that get in your way.
Juno-G Mother Board disconnected to free up the center board
- The LCD display is on the other side of the center circuit board, so you are almost there. Unscrew mounting screws and disconnect any ribbon connectors. There are a few screws hidden under black pieces of tape. You also may need to cut some the the clear plastic sheets that back the circuit board.
- Flip the center board over and unscrew the LCD display.
Juno-G Center board flipped over to reveal LCD display
- Screw in the new display, and work backwards mounting the circuit boards back into place and reconnecting the ribbon connectors.
- Put the case back together and put the data knob back on.
- Plug in, switch on, and get back to enjoying your Roland Juno-G.
I’ve got a little confidence now, so I suspect I’ll be trying more of my own repairs in the future.
June 29 2010 Update…. I started having problems, AGAIN WITH THE DISPLAY. The screen was not redrawing from page to page. I called Roland Support and they had me ship the keyboard back to them. They fixed the issue for free and shipped it back. Cost me $70 to pack and ship from Virginia. According to the shipping notes, they removed an unneeded board that is related to the LCD. This seems odd. I think they meant to say replaced. Either way, things are working well again. I started working on a punk rock cover of I Wanna Be Adored by The Stone Roses. I missed my keyboard.
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Thanks for visiting! My name is Keith Forsythe and this is my blog about product development, product marketing, mobile devices and general business practices at an Internet Startup.
I am currently co-founder and Director of Product Development at RideCharge, Inc (Taxi Magic), a startup mobile and web taxi booking service. Prior to RideCharge, I was an IT project manager as CVS/Caremark, and a software engineer at Baxter Healthcare. I have a MS in E-Commerce Technolgy from DePaul University and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana.
Skeptek.com 
Hi,
great write up on the repair! I try and do as many repairs myself as I can. Did you buy the LCD screen from Roland then? Do you know where to obtain LCD display screens? The screen on my Roland TD-20 is half blanking out and I would love to fix it myself. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for the kind words. Yes, I bought the LCD screen from Roland Customer Support. Cost about 140 for the Juno-G. Took about 10 days to ship to me. There are a few third party websites that sell lcd display replacements. Try searching the google. If the TD-20 is similar to the Juno, then the replacement is definitely doable yourself. The ribbon cables made everything very easy.
Its pretty easy to replace parts and boards.just be carefull not to lose your way,write down each move and then work backward.make sure you have no static discharge,good luck!!!!!!!!
hey keith,thanx for the intel.my lcd is shipping now..ill let u know,,Peace…….
Too bad my replacement LCD just started having the same problem again. Time to replace one more time, then sell. Hello Fantom
hi ,this is gk saikrishna i am also suffering with same lcd problem please tell me where i can getlcd kit for roland juno g
Just call Roland Customer support: http://www.rolandus.com/support/?tab=contact
hi, i have the some problem,,i dont know where can buy the lcd of juno G sombebody tll me?
and what is the cost of the lcd
TY
simply call Roland Customer support. The number is on their website. The part costs about $160 I think.
Keith, do you still have the old LCD? I need some components from one. I can give you a few bucks for it.
i found the old lcd the other day. do you still want it?
I appreciate the response but I have since found a smashed LCD with the chips I wanted to remove to try to fix the LCD I have. I haven’t tried yet – just wanted to see if it is the LCD itself or the driver chips on it that fail.
So much for replacing the LCD Display. New post coming. Don’t buy a Juno-G! The LCD display is crap. The new display I purchased went bad 4 months after replacing the other one that went bad.
the screens are about 130.00 incl. shipping.i installed mine ,it works great…………………
That’s awesome! I hope your’s works for longer than mine. 4 months later, same ol problem. 😦
Thank you! :-)Loving the Journeys you share here. :>One fuethrr request: would you please put in one of those ‘subscribe to comments’ plug-ins so that we readers could follow the conversational goodnesses? :-)I didn’t realize you’d replied to my comment until I came back just now for a different reason. :-)Have an Awesome!
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yea,not like the old days.a d-50 still has working screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never had a D-50. Did have a RD-600 for 10 years when I used to play out. Thing was beast! Seriously, I’m really sad about the quality in the Juno-G. I can make music so fast on it, but I’m gonna get rid of it. I already know Roland products, so I want to stay in the Roland family and maybe get a Fantom, but I’m worried about the quality again.
Hi, the light in my display doesn´t turn on, i can see every thing but in the day light cause the orage light went gone, some one has repaired it?… can you tell me how, or i need to buy a display new?
Probably need to buy a new one. Before you take the keyboard to your local music store for repair, just call Roland support and describe the problem. If the problem is covered by warranty, they will fix it for free, but you will have to pay for shipping to them. They will also pay for shipping back to you.
Ha–mine took a poop this morning. At first, half of the screen was “jerked” downward. Now, nothing. Blank screen. I bought min ein December of 2006.
Keith–question: given your update, and given yours and others having the same problem after swapping out the screen, would it make sense to just ship it to Roland/have an authorized Roland dealer repair it?
BTW, I bought an Ensoniq ASR-10 in 1993. That thing has gone through lots and lots of use and still runs like the workhorse that it is!
I think you should call them and describe the problem and ask them what they suggest. I’m unclear on which parts are under warranty, so I’m not sure if they will charge you or not. They told me to ship it to them, and if it was a problem with a part under warranty, they’d fix it and ship it back for free. Seems fair enough.
ASR-10 was the sampler I always wanted as a kid! I had a SQ1 I bough in 1990, my first workstation. I was in high school and college, so couldn’t afford to buy a ASR. The SQ1 was fun, but underpowered. I would have to output the audio to cakewalk and cut out latency delays that would occur when the sequencer was stepping through different sequences.
I’ve gone away from computer based recording last couple years. I spent too much time trying to get my computer hardware and software and interface and control surface, etc…. working. I like just switching on my keyboard and getting to work, even if the screens are a little small. I’m hoping Roland comes out with a workstation with a big fat touchscreen like the korgs have.
LCD diplay on my daughter’s 3 year old Roland E50 needs replaced. Roland said they have to ship from Japan – none in stock. Will take 4-6 weeks and cost approx $480. Any suggestions?
$480! Ouch. I think you should look for a third party website that might sell replacement LCD’s.
WOW!!! $480??? Sheesh… I know this an old post, but people still come across this so anyway, for that price you might as well just buy her a whole nother,(<—not even a real word lol), keyboard…a used GW-8 maybe…I am going to be purchasing a JUNO G within the next few hours and am glad I found this because the guy at the store said "Uh yeah dude, the screen is done" so I said "that's fine, I'll just buy a replacement and install it myself". now all I am trying to do is get them to lower the price just a bit to help offset the cost of the screen. The Juno G would fit right into my tiny setup since. An MPC 2000 and my mixer/recorder. the Akai MPC 2000's are notorious for the bad screens. They will share this ironically common trait.
Hi Keith! I’ve got the same problem with my Juno-G LCD! Could you please email me how can i contact Roland support team? I live in Riga, Latvia. I’ve found their phone number only. But for me it would be better to write to them, cause my english is not so pretty to speak about the problem:) Thanks in advance!
Email support form here: http://www.rolandus.com/support/email_support/
You will need to create a Roland userid before you can get access to the support pages.
Also, checkout: http://www.rolandus.com/support/international_contacts.php
Hey Keith, have just received my first replacement, so will be using your instructions tomorrow – thanks for these 🙂
You mention a ‘new post coming soon’ did this happen?
I tried approaching ‘fortress’ Roland but it was a total brick wall – they don’t seem to be accepting any liability for Juno-G screens – which makes them pure bastards in my book!
Keith – all done and working a treat – thank goodness – phew.
Some feedback on your instructions…
I was concerned about removing ribbon cables and tried to do the whole thing without removing any – but this became impossible when I got to the central board. However I then realised from looking at the screens ribbon, that you simply pull the plastic ribbon from the plastic housing !!! I had tried pulling the whole housing off from the previous ribbons, and gave up because they wouldn’t come loose – I had no idea that ribbon cables attach this simply; I could easily have broken housings – call me a dummy, but I feel others may also not realise this.
Also you did not mention the mystery metal bar that falls out when you remove the case, took me a while to figure out where it went back, but quite simply, there is no need to remove the 5 bottom screws in the base (opposite the keys). Mine had double washers on them. These simply hold the metal bar in place, and can stay as part of the back casing.
I’ve had years of experience repairing PC’s but this was a slightly different ball game, a little nerve racking, especialy when it came to switch on time lol, but I would now be happy doing it again – just go real slow and careful, especialy when cutting the 2 cable ties that get in the way.
I used my camera to take photos when bits got tricky, so I could reassemble properly, this worked for me when it came to replacing the middle metal bracket to the central board – I had put it in the wrong place and it was interfering with the main ribbon cable running along the bottom half!
All in all thanks for this info, I saved $200 on having it repaired professionaly.
Sorry, me again – as a side note, the serial stamps on the back of my new screen had ‘revision C’ written on them – I hope this means it’s the revised non-breaking version, as my original screen did not have this marking.
Oh and a punk version of stone roses sounds great – where can I find it?
Thanks so much! This was a great help. I just finished putting in my new LCD.
480?????????? buy the same keyboard on ebay,its probably cheaper than the screen
HI I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM “LCD BROKEN” BUT I DONT HAVE MONEY FOR REPAIR AND HOW CAN SEE THE LCD ON THE COMPUTER???? ANY KNOW?? PLZ HELP ME HEHE :p
has anyone ever thought about modding the screen to work on a monitor?!?!?! if there were some way to have the display show up on a monitor screen.
how?? i have the usb cable but i want see the lcd screen on my monitor
Does anyone have the LCD part number? chances are it is not a Roland custom part.
Thanks for the info. I would be wary of shelling out more cash on a screen for it to break again though.
If anyone ever figures a way to get what the LCD shows onto a PC or monitor it would be totally awesome!!
my keyboard is messed up like the screen part and idk what to do…i guess ima have to take it to get it fixed!!! i miss playing it!
can you buy a lCD somewhere around your area….??? i need it bad cause i have a gig coming up pretty soon…ugh!!! i hate this!
I changed mine out a year ago,bo problem as of yet………
Power fluctuation is the major cause of burning the Display.thats what many have been advising me.my juno G display was gone and got the new display but not yet fixed.i must use UPS in order to prevent burning of the Display.
hi sir,
i am also trying to get a display for juno g. how did u get? where did u get?
my email id blezingmni@yahoo.com. pls respond this.
Call Roland support. Their phone number is on their website. They will be happy to sell you the part.
call Roland.my new screen was replace 14 month’s ago.work’s fine…..
buy a little power conditioner. I have one that plugs into the wall, it has 2 plug out put’s…….
You mean an UPS in front of the keyboard ?
Please have in mind that there are two type of UPS. The regular one which switch over to battery when the mains are gone but your equipment are powered by mains when its available and the ONLINE UPS which always supply you from the batteries even when mains is available. The ONLINE UPS gives a stable power even if the mains are flucturating or is noizy.
I think Roland has an extended guarantee for all owners of Juno G for its LCD problem.
I upgraded my firmware and LCD worked for 3-4 days without problem. I’m in India and the service centre here is not responding. Roland US agreed to replace the LCD but shipping from here to US may cost another Juno G!
Good article. Very good. One thing that was left out is the 5-6 machine screws on the second from the bottom row of screws do not hold the keyboard together. They are used to hold a metal bracket inside the keyboard used as a stop for the keys. You do not have to remove these screws to get inside the keyboard, but you have to remove the other 50…………….
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Thanks for the tutorial….just finished installing my new screen. I purchased it from Roland US. $125.00 + about $6.00 shipping. Everything is up and running.
On a thread on another website someone mentioned to be sure to ask for revision ‘C’ to the screen, as that’s the latest and greatest block of screen. Don’t know of the veracity of that statement, though.
Clarification on Rich’s comment (number 26). The row of screws that DO NOT need to be removed are the 1st row from the front on the bottom. Any screws in a ‘valley’ need to come out. Also, the two screws on the bottom that hold the memory card door can stay in.
I used dixie cups and a sharpie for screw separation/identification.
thank you so much for the write up
I have a different issue…
some of my buttons are triggering other buttons for example:
when i press the “arpeggiator” key it also triggers the “chord memory” key. unfortunately i got this keyboard like this… there are 3 keys like this (world / orch & up/dec) what do you think it is? I have gotten new confidence on how to fix this, and i think i will try it this weekend.. but i was hoping you had some insight on what could be wrong
I SHOULD HAVE NEVER SOLD MY ORIGINAL JUNOG 😦 !!!!!
Thanks so much! worked like a dream!
I had a similar display problem. My Juno-G was already once fixed and the display was replaced, and after a year the new display broke again same way as before. I opened it and noticed that it has something to do with the two ribbon cables that are not getting contact in the display unit. I warmed the ribbons gently with a soldering iron from points where they are connected to the display’s component side board. This helped for now.
At least now it has worked for some time. I guess they make some mistake in manufacturing process when attaching those cables as so many similar cases have appeared.
This is the ONLY solution which works, right!
I’ve done it in the same way, and used desoldering-wire between the strip and the soldering-tip. My temparature was about 310°C for best results. It’s done in aprox 30 minutes.
Thanks! I’ve spent much money with some real informations and got a perfect working display für free!
its sad but I think the screen problem was a ribbon connector.Now that Im not moving my Juno from hot to cold It works perfect,,no problems…..
Thank you very much. This is not just a defect as I was informed by Roland. It is nothing short of a recall. They should replace the screens for free, pay shipping both ways. It’s hard to believe that they have not stood behind this problem. On top of that the customer has to replace the screen ! I am and will have to purchase the part ,and do the corrective maintenance. It will be the last thing I ever purchase from them. Korg blows them away in sound and in customer care and service and care for their consumers. They told me they were aware of the problem, and still sent them down the assembly line. That is a recipe for failure in my estimation. The customer is still always right ! Especially if you know damn well the screens are no good and you still sell them to the people that believe in your product – or rather now know you don’t give a damn what kind of cheap crap you sell them !!!
Sincerely, knowingly deceived. Thank You once again. Great Site !
Agreed,Roland is typical of all shithead Corporations ….
As others have said, “Thank You!” We’ve had this issue for the last 2 years and since we bought the Juno G second hand, Roland wouldn’t fix it. However, the part was a little cheaper and prompt service got it here quickly. Tackled it tonight with very little knowledge about circuit boards and ribbons but I do know how to unscrew things and cut wire clips so I simply and methodically followed the steps. Only panic part was when I took out the lcd I didn’t really watch the orientation and I had already removed it from the other board but it was almost self evident when it went back in. Took the breath, plugged it in and Voila! Chris – Spearfish, SD July 10, 2012
I found this site 2 years ago after my screen got really whacky.It sometimes showed up and sometime was a quarter of the left upper or right lower screen.for abit it was blank.The band Im in we have a world class scarey guitarist/tech head.His friend who does repairs said if any screen shows up its most likely a connector pin…I live and play full time in PHX< az. Last saturday the temp dropped and the screen, after turning it on and off came back perfect.His key repair guide said to open up the guts and check pin connectors for screen.Chris has given a great free guide to dissassebly..try it before u screen up…. 100$….
….Peace..
i have a problem to my screenlights up but theres nothing on the sreen do u know what the peoblem maybe roland juno g
Well it’s fall 2012, I happened to be L,A when my Juno screen went wacko, so I drove to Roland headquarters in the City of Commerce, picked up a replacement and followed Keith’s instructions. Powered up and all looks good! Here’s a hoping ….
Roland fan since analog days; my older brother and I went halfsies on a JX-8P. Ever since then, I’ve owned Roland and Boss equipment with no prob.
My Juno-G’s screen just dropped a deuce, while I was setting up my home studio. Can’t do a fix; no budget for parts, no tools or workspace.
pray for me…
Thank you sir for posting this. I JUST finished replacing mine. It looks like it works okay. The LCD screen I received from Roland looks like it had been used before, but it is fine.. for now. It said “REV C” on it so hopefully there won’t be an issue. The customer support rep told me that I should have it serviced by an authorized service representative “because there is a certain way that the new screens should be installed and they have that information”. We’ll see if it holds up!
There are a few very important things missing from this tutorial.
Firstly, to those that say their screen looks used, there is a protective plastic coating on the front that needs to be removed before installing (be careful of fingerprints though). This should be removed in the final step before flipping over the center panel board and re-assembling. CAREFULLY remove it from the corner of the front of the LCD and peel it away. Underneath is a shiny new screen. Also, there are sometimes marker marks on the ribbon cable. This is a QC mark from the factory that builds the LCDs.
Some of the problems are caused by the jumper board (LCD connector board) behind the LCD. Its the board that is approx 1×2″ and has only 2 white connectors on it. That should be removed and/or bypassed altogether, the new LCDs have a cable that is long enough to reach the connector on the mainboard. The original LCD had a short cable, the new ones do not. It is an unnecessary bunch of interconnect now due to the new long cable and a common source of poor connections leading to the assumption that the LCD has gone bad, but has not.
Also, when the new cable is attached to the mainboard, you need to be sure that there isnt a hard bend or tension on the connector on the mainboard or cable there. If you do this the FFC cable to separate from the blue backing and you will need another LCD , or worse, the connector on the mainboard will warp and you will need to have someone replace it that is very skilled with a soldering iron. A lot of LCDs go bad, but a lot of the repeat offenders are other issues causing the LCD to go bad.
IMPORTANT! Pay attention to where the screws come from! They’re not all the same. There are machine screws, binding screws and tap-tite screws (for plastic). if you put the wrong ones in the wrong holes, you damage the threads and limit the number of times the unit can be taken apart and reassembled. This may not mean anything to you now, but when you try to sell it in a few years and it’s falling apart, or if you need service in the future and it cant be reassembled, you’ll be sorry. Tape em to a piece of paper if you have to with a pic showing their locations. Its a good practice to reassemble things correctly for longevity’s sake…and just for the sake of doing it right! DONT USE A DRILL/DRIVER to reinstall the screws. Only something low voltage that has a clutch, or manually. You can crack boards or blow out heads otherwise.
Take pictures of your steps, at least a before shot, so you know what its supposed to look like when you’re done. The more the better. Be aware of the movements and changes you are making. This isn’t hard to do, but just be smart, careful, and take notes as you go.
Hello Keith,
Thank you so much for your post,
It saved me so much time & grief !!
took 20min & it was working again !!
Best Regards Michael Henshaw
Technical Manager NT Music School ,Darwin Australia
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The new screen will only last a couple of years.I replaced mine in 2011 and now its jacked up again ……
Same here. I replaced my screen in 2011 and now it’s messed up again. I’m not a musician and just poke around on the keyboard from time to time. I haven’t turned the thing on more than 7 times in 2 years and now it’s hosed again. …..Not sure if the replacement display I got was rev “C” or not. I plan to take it apart again and inspect the ribbon cables. No plans to fork over another $100 or or so dollars for a new display.
I need some info please. The actual display on my Juno G is fine, but it appears that the backlight is dying. Backlight is darker on the middle and right side. Is the backlight an integral part of the display unit, or maybe accessible/replacable/fixable independent of the display unit itself. Hope I make sense and would really appreciate feedback.
Thx in advance
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Johan;The screen is,I believe self lit.I did not see any lighting array inside…..The Juno is not a good investment…..just save 10 dfollars a month and in 2 years buy a new screen …peace..
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