Is there anyone currently making/selling these kits?
The Stern knockers scare the shit out of me even when turned down to low.
Sometimes I start cringing & wincing during a good game in negative anticipation of the pending knocker screeeeeeeeech!
But like sour candy I sorta like it...
Terry at Pinball Life has had them in the past. Contact him about availability when he gets back from vacation.
LTG
Quoted from PW79:The Stern knockers scare the shit out of me even when turned down to low.
Sometimes I start cringing & wincing during a good game in negative anticipation of the pending knocker screeeeeeeeech!
But like sour candy I sorta like it...
Man I always feel like a loose wire just screwed up my speakers when that goes off! CANT STAND IT!
Quoted from LTG:Terry at Pinball Life has had them in the past. Contact him about availability when he gets back from vacation.
LTG
I'll definately ask him about when vacation ends...thanks!
Quoted from charles4400:I'll definately ask him about when vacation ends...thanks!
Hopefully Terry has some or the person that originaly made the kit can make some more (I forget who made them). I have one in my Black Spider-Man and would be interested in another, but I'm not about to pay the high prices some people are asking for them.
Quoted from APB_Enterprises:Hey Guy's
These are in the works again... Stay tuned.
Andrew
Yeah!
Please keep us updated or if you have a mailing list let me know where to signup! I've been wanting these (3+ of them) for awhile but always seem to miss all the runs!
Goonie,
Not much to it, you have to mount the bracket for the knocker in the cabinet and connect a few wire harnesses to the game. After that you have to simply update the settings in the game and away you go!
Charles, I will post on Pinside and RGP when they are available again.
Thanks
Andrew
Count me in, Andrew. I just picked up my first Stern, and that "pseudo knocker" is already getting on my nerves big time.
Quoted from gweempose:Count me in, Andrew. I just picked up my first Stern, and that "pseudo knocker" is already getting on my nerves big time.
Me too!
I put one of Andrew's kits in my Black Spider-Man without any problems at all....and believe me, that means it's really simple.
Works great and now I'm in need of one for my incoming X-Men LE. I'll be keeping my eyes open for your post Andrew. Any chance of signing up for a text message alert?
Quoted from charles4400:Man I always feel like a loose wire just screwed up my speakers when that goes off! CANT STAND IT!
So turn it off.
Hey Charles,
We worked on making a kit that would work in the backbox. The trouble we found is Stern's backbox is different.... even from same game to same game. The glued wood parts are different, the ballast is in a different spot, wires or groud braid are in the way. Simply put, there was no way to make a simple kit to allow people to do this. If you feel like doing it yourself, let me know. I will let you know what parts you will need and can sell an extension harness to get the wire in the right spot.
Was thinking about turning the coil up a bit too to see if it helps. They come with 23-800's, but I wonder what a 22-600 would sound like, so on. I am messing with that over the next week or so.
Regards,
Andrew
Quoted from APB_Enterprises:Hey Charles,
We worked on making a kit that would work in the backbox. The trouble we found is Stern's backbox is different.... even from same game to same game. The glued wood parts are different, the ballast is in a different spot, wires or groud braid are in the way. Simply put, there was no way to make a simple kit to allow people to do this. If you feel like doing it yourself, let me know. I will let you know what parts you will need and can sell an extension harness to get the wire in the right spot.
Was thinking about turning the coil up a bit too to see if it helps. They come with 23-800's, but I wonder what a 22-600 would sound like, so on. I am messing with that over the next week or so.
Regards,
Andrew
I didn't even get that far as to look for where it mounts on the backbox, I'll wait and see how your kit works in the cabinet and go from there...thanks for the option for help in the backbox though!
Look forward to what you come up with, I'll be definately ordering some!
Quoted from charles4400:Andrew can these be designed to mount in the backbox to get that "THWACK" sound we miss so much from the Williams Games (ala TAF!)
Funny thing is, I think TAF is one of the games that has the knocker in the cab, IIRC. I did find a spot in the backbox and successfully mounted one of the knocker kits there on LOTR, but as Andrew indicated, I did have to build an extension wiring harness to mount it there. On the flipside, there was no good place to mount one in the POTC backbox IMO, so I mounted it in the cab. Whether or not you have a space to put it in the backbox will probably vary from game to game.
Rob
Quoted from APB_Enterprises:Here is the kit mounting location, we went with where DE/Sega installed the knockers in the past...
Are these the same, more or less, as the one's Pinball Life used to sell?
Funny thing is, I think TAF is one of the games that has the knocker in the cab, IIRC. I did find a spot in the backbox and successfully mounted one of the knocker kits there on LOTR, but as Andrew indicated, I did have to build an extension wiring harness to mount it there. On the flipside, there was no good place to mount one in the POTC backbox IMO, so I mounted it in the cab. Whether or not you have a space to put it in the backbox will probably vary from game to game.
Rob
Your right Razor! I didn't even notice that but just lifted the PF and sure enough there was the knocker.... maybe its the location or even age of the wood, but for whatever reason my TAF has the loudest knocker followed by STTNG. I noticed there is a rubber block there is as well, I would think that would muffle the sound but apparently it doesn't!?
Quoted from APB_Enterprises:Charles,
Here is the kit mounting location, we went with where DE/Sega installed the knockers in the past...
Thanks,
Andrew
Hey Andrew , whatever works is actually great with me, I honestly am just happy you're making these! The one pictured looks clean and easy to install!
Maybe just experiment with where on the cab would be acoustically best, but wherever it is , is going to be 110% better than the electronic screech!
Quoted from jarozi:Are these the same, more or less, as the one's Pinball Life used to sell?
I believe they are the same. Meaning the exact same..they are Andrew's kits that Pinball Life sells.
Thank God someone came up with this. Just got my first Stern a while ago and one more on the way soon. First time I heard that sound I damn near had an aneurism.
So Sterns games that have the software knocker all support a hardware one? Wow, they're really THAT damn cheap to leave out a bracket, some wire, a plunger, and a coil?!!?
Quoted from Frax:Wow, they're really THAT damn cheap to leave out a bracket, some wire, a plunger, and a coil?!!?
They weren't the only ones that did it to save a buck.....Bally/Williams games towards the end did it too. My CP was one of them that had a virtual knocker. B/W did it right though, they imitated an actual knocker, so it sounded good. The Stern screech is just amazingly awful!
Quoted from jarozi:Are these the same, more or less, as the one's Pinball Life used to sell?
These are the ones Pinball Life sells...
Thanks,
Andrew
Quoted from Drano:Thank God someone came up with this. Just got my first Stern a while ago and one more on the way soon. First time I heard that sound I damn near had an aneurism.
I'm not sure if it was divine intervention or a desire to not replace the speakers in my LOTR's again, I suppose either way it worked out!
Thanks,
Andrew
Quoted from Frax:So Sterns games that have the software knocker all support a hardware one? Wow, they're really THAT damn cheap to leave out a bracket, some wire, a plunger, and a coil?!!?
It's close, most do. When you get back to early games from Stern the did not. Assembly time, wire, bracket, coil and testing... Not sure what that adds up to.
That said, a pinball machine without a knocker is like a pizza place with no pizza. Does not make sense to me.
Andrew
I've been making my own knockers for Sterns for years now. The first thing I do when I get a Stern is go into the menus and disable the knocker sound. I'd rather have nothing than that sound. Most of the time I play Tournament games on the new Sterns, so the knocker is never used anyway... I have an extra knocker that I pulled out of LOTR before I traded it towards ACDC, so I will probably install it in ACDC. I haven't been playing Tournament games on ACDC because even with extra balls I still don't have marathon games like on most other Stern games.
The knocker is a simple circuit and pretty easy to build, but I still recommend getting Andrew's kit. As for the mounting location, it will be louder if you can get it in the backbox. If you do put it in the cabinet I recommend getting it up in the air so it can hit the side of the machine (like the TAF picture above). And yes, the 23-700 coil is louder than the 23-800. I have even tried a 22-600 coil and it is crazy, "make you jump" loud.
One other thing that I have found is the Stern cabinets in general are sturdier and therefore more acoustically dead than the old Williams cabinets.
John
Quoted from APB_Enterprises:It's close, most do. When you get back to early games from Stern the did not. Assembly time, wire, bracket, coil and testing... Not sure what that adds up to.
That said, a pinball machine without a knocker is like a pizza place with no pizza. Does not make sense to me.
Andrew
Not all will support the knocker. The newer SAM games (WPT and on will). Before WPT it is hit or miss.
It is also not just adding the coil and wire. The problem is that there are only so many 50volt channels available on the driver board. Those channels get used up on the playfield on most games. The knocker kit has to include circuitry to step up the voltage from 20volts to 50volts otherwise the knocker will be really, really wimpy. Andrew's kit taps into 50v power in order to supply the nice "crack' that you want to hear!
John
Quoted from MattElder:They weren't the only ones that did it to save a buck.....Bally/Williams games towards the end did it too. My CP was one of them that had a virtual knocker. B/W did it right though, they imitated an actual knocker, so it sounded good.
The Pin2K's have a pretty damn annoying "chirp". Not sure why Williams went that direction.
Quoted from gweempose:The Pin2K's have a pretty damn annoying "chirp". Not sure why Williams went that direction
Yes, you're right! I had forgotten that they changed it on the P2K's.....
I have Andrew's kit in my Iron Man. I have it set up to hit the side of the cabinet and it gives off a nice crisp and loud knock that is very similar to the old Bally/WMS knockers that were in the backbox. I initially set it up inside the cabinet as Data East did and as pictured above, but I wasn't happy with it as I felt it was too muffled.
I mounted mine at the lower right front of the cabinet to the right of the cash box. I put it there because there are no triangular bracing pieces that require you to raise the knocker off the cabinet floor. Plus it gives a great knock as it is right up front by the player. The wiring is long enough to do this if you are careful how you route it and where you place the control box. You do have to be careful when you fold down the head as it is right at the limits of the wiring's length.
You could probably mount it on the left side at the front and the wiring's length would be less of an issue, but I have a shaker motor in my IM and this wasn't an option.
Yeah, thanks. I didn't realize the step-up driver was available from Stern, so that solves the biggest problem. PBL has them in stock. We would just have to build the harness. Future project.
Quoted from herg:Yeah, thanks. I didn't realize the step-up driver was available from Stern, so that solves the biggest problem. PBL has them in stock. We would just have to build the harness. Future project.
Yeah, the fake knockers are so unnerving that I turned mine off after about the third time I heard it. It sounded sort of like a louder and longer version of a smoke alarm chirp when it needs new batteries.
dumb question? why did they remove them in the first place? i like the sound of a real knocker better then the "screech" noise.
cost issue? cant be THAT much extra right?
Quoted from Chitownpinball:dumb question? why did they remove them in the first place? i like the sound of a real knocker better then the "screech" noise.
cost issue? cant be THAT much extra right?
Obviosuly Stern is looking to cut costs in just about any imaginable way. They have already eliminated the physical knocker, changed to plastic aprons, pegs instead of slides for under the playfield, latches instead of lockdown mechanisms, and now it appears that they are starting to do away with providing full owner's manuals. I am sure there are some others that I have not listed.
It would cost about $40 to order the parts from PBL, so it would be less for Stern. It's the only reason I can think of, though.
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