Yamaha RX-21 Drum Machine. “Cosmetically Challenged”

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This popped up on one of my old eBay searches, on a £30 Buy-It-Now. So I did.

I’ve had a LOT of Yamaha RX machines in the past, and I’m not a big fan, tbh. They are limited to their built-in samples, with little or no scope to modify their sounds.

If you are looking for standard 80’s sounds, though, this may be just what you are looking for.

Me, I go for more basic, analog machines (think DR-55), or my digital go-to, the Alesis SR-16.

However, they are solidly built, and I don’t think I’ve ever had one that didn’t work.

This one arrived looking like a dog’s dinner, with filth all over the front, back between the buttons and all over the screen. There were also cheap and nasty plastic “rubber” feet, stuck all over the back. There are also lots of scratches, especially the back. A fight with a cat, perhaps?

Half an hour with baby wipes and elbow grease, and the grime is gone, along with the feet. I will put some proper feet on when I’ve sorted out the scratches.

 

Not sure how far to go with the scratch repairs, tbh. There’s one on the front, and that’s on the plastic. Tricky. The back has deep scratches and what looks like super glue! Maybe acetone will get that off? The alternative is a rubdown and respray in gloss black.

Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself here, as I don’t even know if it works yet. There’s no power adapter with it and I not sure where my 1/4″ jack leads are.

It doesn’t look like it’s been in a car crash, though, so fingers crossed it’ll be ok.

I’ll sort out a power supply and something to plug it into this week, so stay tuned for updates.

 

** There ARE images in this post, but WordPress is being a dick as usual. Hopefully, it will sort itself out.

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