I also sent an inquiry to them without response. Seems a few have said the same thing on RGP. I also assume they are just very busy. Seems like a great opportunity for a nice glass for games that won't get enough support for silk screen reproductions. Hopefully, they start to return emails at some point.
Alex

Well, up until recently your choices for replacement were finding a good used glass, wait for a silk screened reproduction or make or have a translite made. My preference among these would be perfect original, silk screened repro and translite in that order. I still think a nice silk screened glass would probably be my first choice. The tricky part is your kind of limited to what is available and can be expensive. This new process is exciting because your not limited to availability. Plus from what I understand Bgresto has pretty fair pricing. I haven't seen one in person yet but from what I have read people seem to like the quality. These may be more durable than silk screen as well which would be a nice bonus.

What glasses are you looking for? I see you added a Pro Pool to the collection! Congrats.
Alex

I also emailed bores to with no response.

CPR has Space Odyssey available for $239. I see BGresto also has the art on file.

It shows up in the Pinside archive. I'm not sure why you cant add it?
Alex

bgresto will be at Pinball at the Zoo this weekend, so you can see the glasses in person and discuss your situation with the proprietor.

I'll mention to Clay and Steve that they are getting backed up on email.

This is a hobby for both those guys and I know all the artwork photoshop stuff is a ton of work for them.

Thanks! I like your collection too.
Alex

I cannot recommend their restorations enough. Patience will be rewarded with beautiful work.

They do great work! i had a jet spin glass restored by them and it looks GREAT! The other great news is that i just ran into a n.o.s jet spin backglass so now i really dont need the bgresto one so may be selling it for what i paid.

Have you compared the colors/intensity, etc. of the two? Would like to know how they vary. Their process sounds a lot like John Greatwich (spelling) using digital images of originals, but laser type printing. I saw some of John's work, and at the risk of being critical, there were many differences to the original silk-screened type glass.

I have had recent contact with them. Their responses to my emails were very quick and complete. I think 8-9 messages between us over about two days. I will be buying a glass from them soon and returning my old one in the box they shipped the new on to me in.

Hmm, it makes me wonder if it was how I worded my inquiry. I was interested in buying a Jungle back glass. They have the art on file already and I wondered if I needed to send mine in as a core or if I could buy outright and what was the price if so. Maybe they thought I was baiting them for some intellectual property suit. Or maybe it's a lottery system.

It's ok though as my Jungle glass isn't terrible, but perfect would be awesome. I do have another glass that I absolutely want to have done. It's for a 1950 United Skee Alley. It's such an oddball none of the regular guys will ever consider doing a silk screen run. Maybe I'll have to try again after Pinball at the Zoo.
Alex

The way I understand it is, They want your old glass as a "core" to rework and have ready for the next person to come along.

The price is good too. Not sure if it is the same for all BG's but the price quoted me was half the cost of a new or repro to purchase.

I found their link here the other day in reference to doing a 54 super pennant pitch and bat and they responded promptly and have exchanged multiple emails. I will have to send my BG in as they don't have a copy of this to work from. Price for doing 2 for me is reasonable.

They should change their name to BgRepro, because they're not doing "restoration" by any legitimate definition of the word, that I'm aware of.

Are they doing any actual spot repair (doesn't seem like it, and I didn't get that impression from their site when I looked at it a while back), or just taking any backglass with minor damage and just cleaning all the original art off with a razor after scanning it and then re-printing it? It makes sense when the thing is like 50% gone, but I'm a bit concerned that people are sending in a backglass that may have one small flaking area or scratch, and then the original art is completely destroyed by their "restoration".

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this, but you can always make your own if you're halfway competent in Photoshop. I've done a half a dozen over the past eight years out of necessity. It started when I bought a Williams Base Hit in 2005 and Shay showed that the glass was "out of stock."

It's been out of stock ever since, and I decided to find my own solution. A typical glass takes me about 12-15 hours in Photoshop, plus another couple of hours for assembly. Cost runs about $75 or so.

The method described here works really well: http://www.ballybingo.co.uk/index1.html

Click on "Backglass" and "Making a Backglass."

He's good about answering questions, too.

Charlie

If they did not "restore" your old backglass, then they would have to get a license and the cost would double.

There are plenty of auto parts you send back the core and they get "restored" for the next customer, Transmissions, Starters....think of it that way.

I'm pretty good with Photoshop and need a Jack in the Box backglass. How are you capturing the artwork, camera? What material are you printing on, clear vinyl?

Not panicked yet but I ordered (and payed for) a restored BG just under two weeks ago with an estimated ship time of 7-10 days but haven't heard from them or had them return an email. Typical wait? I'll love it when it gets here but I'm just nervous that there isn't really very good order tracking.

Hey guys,

Just received my 1973 Williams Gulfstream Backglass (for the 2nd time). The first one was missing the "Tilt"window but the 2nd one came out just fine. Clay and Steve are busy guys so give them time to get back to you as they will do their best to get things going.

I would say the process/quality is somewhere in between a Translite and a Silk Screened Backglass. It should be noted that the colors on their Backglass are Not exact and do not let as much light through the glass as the original so be aware of this and be happy with it if you plan to order one.

Bgresto is a great solution if you cannot find an actual reproduction Silk Screen or just want a more economical way to get that old Backglass replaced.

Overall I am very happy with their product and plan to have them do a couple more glasses for me in the near future.

For those interested I will be sending them a high resolution scan of a Williams "Doodle Bug", Chicago Coin "Top Ten", and a Gottlieb "Big Shot" so these Backglasses will be available to others as well.

Ken

Way to go Ken

Hey, would you check out this thread? I need a little help.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/repair-an-em-oxo

Here is the link to the schematic

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/1733/Williams_OXO_EM.pdf

Thanks for the reassurance, Ken. It's not that I thought they ran off to the Bahamas with my money, I just want my machine to look good NOW!

It took me over a couple of months After they had started producing the Backglass for me to finally receive the end product, but the wait is worth it. It's not like your going to wait a couple years for a new pre-paid pinball machine like some folks have, so a couple months plus is an easy wait by comparison.

Ken

*laughing*

The BGresto stuff is coming along. It's been a huge learning process. Just tested out Four Square and Team One backglasses and I'm really happy with how good these came out. It's been a struggle to figure out which Pantone colors are the "right" ones; the color has to be right and the translucency. But especially with Gottlieb, they re-used the same pantone colors from glass to glass, to a large extent. So i've been tracking the pantone colors, and as we move down the path to the next glass, I can figure out which colors work/look best. Also the back mask layer has had some generational shifts. We're now at a point where i really like how it looks.

I have to admit that GulfStream was one of the first glasses i worked on, and it's had *6* different iterations! The last version darkened the flesh tone colors a bit. I would say the colors are pretty much dead right now.

One advantage to this system is that we can make changes easily. Everything is "on demand" so it's easy to make a change. For example i think the Space Mission glass came out exceptionally well. I compared the BGresto version to the CPR version, and frankly, I think the BGresto version is much better (in regards to color.) Though CPR's is silkscreened, which is an obvious advantage, the colors don't look "right" to me.

Matching silk screen colors must be a headache. On the computer the pantone colors are consistent. But with silk screening the colors are formulated, and a human must weigh out the mix and get it "right." This can't be easy, and causes variations. You can see this on original glasses too. For example on Bally Wizard, I've noticed different flesh tone colorations from early and late serial number games. With BGresto the colors are consistent (unless changed on the computer.)

This is an exciting new company for sure. Potentially I have the following glasses to be restored for starters: Fire Queen, Jack in the Box (2) and 2001. I tried to contact via the email on the website a couple of weeks ago and have not heard back...

Being produced by Ron Webb soon.

Ken

Might also want to check with Shay Group with "Jack in the Box" as they will be producing "Jumping Jack" soon and may be doing "Jack in the Box" soon as well.

Ken

I'm on the list. It says later than sooner. I'd really like to have it prior to the Southern Pinball Festival in November...

I've been working that angle for a couple of years now... The artwork is very similar, but I haven't heard word one that they plan to produce JITB.

With me needing so many glasses, the price of the BGResto glasses is definitely a big factor too.

Edit: forgot to thank you for the suggestions!! Thanks!

We've done all those glasses. Firequeen, Jack in the Box, Jumping Jack, and 2001. I really like how Firequeen and 2001 came out!

Clay, do you need a couple of back glasses to do any work with? I have a Spirit of 76 and a Cleopatra SS if interested.

We don't have any restoration requests for those glasses right now. But i would certainly like to scan them just in case someone does ask, thanks!

PM sent!

Clay, let me know what day/time/place best suits your your schedule and I can drop them by.

Garrett call me or email me (no PM) i'm around a lot (most evenings.)

On these restorations, it's funny some of the requests i hear. Like Bally Nitro Ground Shaker and Williams Pharaoh. We did these "on spec", scanned and art ready, because I heard so many people complaining they had bad glass. Yet Steve never got an order to do either. I find that strange...

Clay,

I took front and rear pics of a Bonanza glass and e-mailed to you guys on May 14th and haven't heard anything back. I wanted to see if it is doable and what the price will be so I can get back to a customer. If there's anything else I need to do let me know.

Thx
Dave

i did not see your email Dave. can you resend? send to [email protected]

Will do - thx