Replacing a Quadraverb screen

Aaaages ago, on some kind of Nineties techno kick I bought a cheap Alesis Quadraverb, and this is how the screen looked

Quadraverb broken Screen

…which is a boringly common problem, apparently. It made using it a bit of a chore, so I’ve left it stuck on a random massive reverb patch.

Replacement screens have been popping up on ebay so I decided to fix it. Here’s the new one:

Quadraverb replacement screen - front

Quadraverb replacement screen - back

No soldering needed to install it apparently, so I sat in front of the Belgium-Italy match and started to take it to bits. Have some shots of the guts:

Quadraverb main board - above

Quadraverb main board - angle

The code here dates my Quadraverb to 27th March 1991:

Quadraverb date code

Here’s the original screen in place:

Quadraverb original screen - in-place

…just a header cable and four screws to undo to get it out. Here’s the new screen installed:

Quadraverb new screen in-place

Power on… and… well, it turns out I’ve got a Quadraverb Plus. The pixels on that side of the screen were always broken, so I couldn’t tell. Here’s a picture of the screen from the front, much brighter than the original:

Quadraverb new screen front

From start to finish it took me about twenty minutes, including pausing to gawp at Belgium being unexpectedly useless, hooray. Totally recommended if your Quadraverb screen is playing up.

Still not fixed my broken Midiverb II though, I keep poking around at it.

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4 comments

  1. 13th January 2018Chris Boland says:

    Clever old you! I have the same problem. Where did you get hold of the replacement part and how much did it set you back? Seriously impressed. Chris

  2. 14th January 2018ua726 says:

    Type “quadraverb screen” in eBay, it should pop up. At the time it was 12 quid plus postage, seems like they’ve gone up a bit since then. It might be possible to find a generic LCD screen from China for a lot less, but I don’t think it’s worth the hassle.

  3. 10th February 2023Paul S says:

    Great job, I’ve just bought a new screen from Circuit Benders for £12 plus £2 postage (U.K.)
    and got a further £1.20 also on top of that using a Discount Code from Circuit Benders
    Facebook Page which they do in a few different colours. I will fit it later on 🙂
    https://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/forsale/HRscreen/HRscreen.html#
    Circuit Benders Facebook Page
    https://www.facebook.com/circuitbenders.co.uk

    The battery looks a nightmare to change in the Alesis Quadraverb
    https://quadraverb.nl/manuals/QuadraVerb_GT_Battery_replacement.pdf

    I’m looking for a similar screen for my Roland JV-880 which is similar to the Quadraverb but longer at (24×2 Charcaters)

  4. 11th February 2023ua726 says:

    Nice, good tip on Circuitbenders as a source for these displays. I’ve still got one of their Boss DR-55 voice board clones which I need to put in a box or something.

    My Quadraverb hasn’t seen a lot of use since I got the Midiverb II up and running, so I’m not sure if mine needs a replacement or not, but the doc could be handy. It’s nice the way that the top and bottom of the case are removable, so that makes it easy to get to the other side of the circuit board.

    Dunno on the JV-880 front. There are 5V 24×2 LCD screens available on eBay from buydisplay (and also on their website) but who knows if they’d work, could be a worth a go if you’re feeling brave.

    The one listing I found which is purportedly a replacement for the JV-880 has the same connector as the buydisplay one, but the circuit board pattern looks different.

    I don’t know if the service manual for the JV-880 might give you any more information. Jordan’s Space collects a good list of which OLED displays work with what synth, although there’s nothing currently suggested for the 880. Sozza.

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