That's there to let the game know when you're cradling

Loving the strategy involved with this custom rom.

Since the queens rescue resets each game, it’s on the player that game to build it up and collect it.

I find myself getting invincible, shooting everything but one target, then after the timer runs out, shoot invincible again to build up the value more and collect it. Fun risk reward goal.

I also like the victory laps after saving the Queen. A level of depth not seen in other sys 11s.

I'm working on a big guns and want to replace the green forcefield cap. It looks like you just pull really hard and it snaps off then you snap the new one on. Is that right or is there another way that is proper?

Good question and thanks for reminding me I have to change mine at some point too.

Joined the Big Guns club last friday. Totally in love with this piece of art! Last picture is the translite with the leds they came in removed. They really wash out the original artwork. Now i still need to remove those green and blue GI led’s on the playfield.

But so far, really impressed with this system 11!

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Wanting to join the club. If anyone wants to trade for a nice Rollergames in the Metro Detroit area or within a few hour drive let me know.

Congrats on getting a Big Guns!
The white bulbs for the G I and translite really show off Python's artwork, and look great.
One slight mod we did to ours was adding a slow color changer bulb behind the planet with the eye on the right side along with 2 fire bulbs from Comet to animate the laser blasts going on on each side of the castle.

It just added a nice little pop without muddling all the colors with color leds.

Nice! Mine came with a 'color matched' LED kit installed as well and uh... Yeah whoever thought that looks better in that game needs to get their eyes checked I think they might be colorblind. What sort of bulbs are you running in the after pic?

Just warm white led’s. I did leave the red ones begin the letters of “Big Guns”. And that color changing led for the planet sounds like a nice touch, Pablito. Should try it myself.

There were bright blue and green led’s for the playfield GI. They’re all warm whites now. Game’s poppin’ now! Even the upper playfield is well lit.

A small mod i made for the pachislo game in the backbox. I used pieces of straw i cut to length to add a little more bounce to the ball on the way down. Giving the player a slight bigger chance to switch the positions of the inserts. I went for orange coloured straws because orange already being very present throughout the cabinet.

Might be considered a cheat, yea. But hey, it’s how i want to play my machines at my place, right?

I’m pretty sure Python would have loved the orange penises on those five knights. The fact that there are nails already hammered in the crotch says enough.

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Good save. Eesh...

I just listed a bunch of NOS and super hard to find Big Guns parts here on pinside.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/80038

If you are looking to do a restoration or upgrade your machine, here is your chance.

Hi there, I have a Big Guns now.

Had quite a blast when I read through the posts and found the question about the flashing "5X" -- do you ever read the playfield?

But hey, here's your chance to touché!

My question: how do you light the "ALL SCORES DOUBLE" lamp on the right?

By the way. I have "NOVA APPARATE" REV.11 ROMs (and they *say* "REV" 11). I do wonder how they relate to Level 8 ROMs ("L-8").
And then I have Level-A ROMs from the IPDB. There is a letter from WMS about Level-A there. Am I right that this must be the latest and greatest official bugfix release, for maximum operator's profitability thanks to a number of compensation measures for broken hardware?
Like- this version needs only two working switches in the bagatelle.... hahaha...

One more question -- can somebody please post an image of their... well. I mean, their ***Big Guns'*** back side?

Multiball, then become invincible by hitting the lit cannon shot. Once you’re invincible, double scoring starts.

That’s bonus multiplier. Increase by hitting a set of drop targets down and hitting the loop behind them. Hit the side with the green flashing arrow. If you reach the flashing 5X it will light special on the outlines.

We've had our Big Guns for exactly one year today, and I never posted pics of it here.
So here goes!

We didn't do much to it as it was already in great shape when we got it.
I took out all of the boards and reflowed solder everywhere, and added one of Frank's awesome battery boards.
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After a quick clean and wax we installed all new LED's from comet along with all new rubbers.
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We installed a couple of comet's fire LED's in the backbox where the laser blasts are hitting their target, and a slow color changer behind the planet with the eye. I think it looks cool!
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The cab is in great shape too and only required a little cleaning.
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I have to say this game is a lot of fun. So far my wife has been the only one to save the queen so far, and still holds the high score.

In the near future I plan on strategically adding a few LED strips behind the plastics to lighten up the upper half of the playfield, and maybe one behind the flippers.

So any way.... it's been a year and we still love it!

-Paul

If anyone is looking to join the club, my Big Guns is for sale: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/89024

Brought home some guns to play with today. First order of business is to figure out which of the color LEDs needs to go and get them replaced with some sunlight white ones.

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That's easy.... every BLUE one! (and the red ones behind the Williams logo)

Python's artwork on this backglass really gets washed out with bright LED's no matter the color on this one. We put in 1smd warm white frosted bulbs in our's, and we really like it.

Congrats on the game.

-Paul

Yeah, I am very much not a fan of any of the colored LEDs in the backglass and agree with you that it just washes everything out. I've got a couple of other things I need to address first though. The upper left bank of drop targets aren't working at all, and the upper-left segment of every digit in the 3rd player score display doesn't light up so I've at least got to get the drop targets working before I tackle any cosmetic stuff.

I just found this thread, hi guys!

I picked up a Big Guns last year from a local auction. Ive been tidying it up and fixing various things on it.

https://flic.kr/p/2hFffHw

[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201[/img]
A few things ive fixed on it.

[IMG]https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201[/img]

header and connector were replaced

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFhYtE][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49015055956_1e385dd3af_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFhYtE]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFj1vz][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49015257907_cb3f514a0a_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFj1vz]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

dodgy fuses
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFj1PR][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49015258967_c405354308_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFj1PR]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

applied new guard decals as half of mine were missing.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFfgC2][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49014528293_a694b850d6_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFfgC2]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

A few things im struggeling with. i need a Player 3 screen as mine isnt working.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFhWP2][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49015050351_345bb2e603_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFhWP2]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

i think its gassed out

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFfg1f][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49014526218_7ce6a8a2cb_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2hFfg1f]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

ive been struggeling with the ball saver post, ive replaced the springs and greased the mechanism but i think i need a new plastic cam piece but they dont seem to be available anywhere. does anyone have any new ones.

Another issue is ive got switch faults on 17,18, and 19. Ive cleaned all my optos and reflowed all the headers pins on both boards but nothing has changed.

one thing i found today is i have a white with green stripe broken wire near the bottom of the play field but i dont know where it should go as there is nothing obvious, if someone could check their machine for me where it should go that would be great as that might be my issue.

Where should this wire go to?
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iu6aqH][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49544626757_ebd515d918_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2iu6aqH]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

Another thing ive noticed is the big resistors on the main board look like the white stuff is bursting out of them so i think i need to order some replacements for these.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iu2rtP][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49543900313_1cb0aadf78_h.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2iu2rtP]Big guns[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151744201@N07/]Bean Beano[/url], on Flickr

Any help would be much appreciated as i want to get this machine working 100%

i cant seem to get my pictures to work on here??
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Also just realised i no longer have any music playing. i still have the sound effects but no music. anyone any ideas. ive had the sound board out and checked over it and reseated and socketed chips and ive done the same to the sound roms on the cpu board.

Defuckulated my backglass lighting tonight...replaced most of the colored lighting with Sunlight White Comet bulbs.

Before:
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After:
After - No Cannon (resized).jpg

Before:
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After:
After Lights (resized).jpg

Here's an after with the cannons lit up. It was basically the only color I left in the backbox aside from the color changing ones behind the castle eyes (which looks pretty cool, actually):
After - With Cannon (resized).jpg

That looks so much nicer!

What an improvement ! Thanks for the pictures and ideas.

Have had a Big Guns for years now. Long story short it was unplayable for awhile. Decided to dig in and fix it. Almost 100% working. I have a few playfield items I would like fixed. And start swapping out the lamps for LEDs. From pics in this thread I know got an idea of what and what not to do.

Save the Queen!

Tim

So for the past year we've been talking about ways to lighten up the playfield a bit. It just seemed way too dark around the cannons and the upper third around the drop targets and under the plastics. We ordered a bunch of 4" warm white strips from Comet Pinball months ago, and finally put them to use.

First here's a pic of what we started with.
IMG_20190614_182814716 (resized).jpg

As you can see there really isn't anything past the cannons. It's just dark.

So I made a metal bracket for each cannon plastic to adhere the strip to. I also added strips to the horsheshoe behind each of the troll drop targets.

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The difference was dramatic, and so much more enjoyable to play. It doesn't look like a dark hole in our lineup anymore.
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The pics sure do wash things out quite a bit, but in person it's awesome.

-Paul

Just picked up a Big Guns today. It’s a project but not a basket case. It’s filthy. Needs some cabinet touch up.

Initial boot was failing. Tap of U27 and 51 and it came up. Flippers are dead. Not much sound and it’s scratchy and low. But no smoke! Will replace sockets off the start and get the boards stable then work on rest. It came with a new set of plastics and a really nice light board and chamber area.

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You've got some cleaning ahead of ya. Observation: be careful with that right upper playfield and the area where the two screws attach the shooter wireform. When I pulled mine, that piece was broken off and I had to epoxy it back together. Luckily it broke off clean and it was able to be repaired cleanly. These plastics are 30 years old and can be pretty brittle.

Cleaning doesn’t even begin to describe. I’ll need a gallon of NAPTHA AND Novis 1. It did come with a new set of plastics. I’m a romantic tho so will try to keep as original as can.

Thanks for tip in the upper area. I always presume something will be seized.

Love this game. Great art and theme. Wish it was deeper, but it's really good for it's time.

I'm here to help save the queen!

I picked up my Big Guns project last night. It needs a little TLC, but should fix up well. Biggest issue is that the only sound that it is producing is the music. Callouts and sound effects are missing. That'll be the first thing I troubleshoot. There's a broken drop target, but that's just parts.
A previous owner only put 1 screw in each board, so a run to the hardware store for some more 8-32x1/4" screws is also high on the priority list.

great game. one of the most underrated games of its time. beautiful art, cannons are awesome!

One simple mod that looks great... I added two lamps to the G.I. under the playfield and put them under the captive saucers.

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While going through the settings on my new-to-me Big Guns, I have an entry that says FACTORY ALTERED. Can someone clue me in to what that means?

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That means the game was set or restored to Factory settings and you had made changes that are different from those settings (like setting it to 5 balls per game, setting Free Play to 'Yes', etc.)

Hope you did not activate it or Williams will be knocking soon.

Somewhere along the way, the gates have been removed from the troll areas on my machine. They are part number 12-6746, which doesn't appear to be available anywhere. Does anyone have a template or scale drawing I can print and use to make a pair of gates?

There are gates? Can you take a picture of the area you are referring to? The only thing I have in front of my trolls are the drop targets.

It turns out that only my left troll gate is missing. The right one is there. These gates only let the ball go behind the troll from the top and prevent it from going through from the bottom.

Since the right one is there, I’ll use it as a pattern to make one for the left.

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Left the club yesterday.
Had BG for 8 years & it will be sorely missed. A friend bought it though, so I'll get to play it again sometime.

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I'm SPeD66's friend! I'm absolutely loving Big Guns (not to rub it in or anything... you can come over and play it anytime!)

One question for the club: With the factory ROMs, is it possible to set the Queen jackpot to a stationary value, say a million points? I thought I read somewhere in this thread that it was possible, but I was going through the settings tonight and couldn't find that option.

No. It is progressive. You need one of the modified roms to have it fair for all players.

Has anyone found a source for this decal?

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Ah. Thanks boss!

I found a couple threads on this topic, but no one seemed to have a definitive answer, so I thought I'd try the club: does anyone know where you can get a replacement spring for the center post mech? The part number is apparently 10-401. The center post pops up easily enough when activated, but sometimes it doesn't go back down when the timer runs out; it'll pop up and down three times before giving up and leaving the post up (the post lights also turn off). According to a couple threads I found on here, the problem seems to be that the spring that connects from the flat cam to the coil bracket wears out over time. I tried replacing the spring with a Bally drop target spring (it looks virtually identical to the one that was already on there). It improved the situation a bit, but it still struggles sometimes. I looked on Pinball Life and Marco, but neither one seems to carry that spring. Any help is appreciated!

I still haven't found the right spring for the pop-up center post, but I have found a half-assed workaround for anyone having this same issue: Take an early '80s Bally drop target spring, bend back three of the coils, and then clip off two of them so that the third coil serves as the "hook." I tried clipping off varying amounts of coils, but that seems to be the sweet spot. It still won't work perfectly, but it will be much more consistent.

Guys just wondering how the shop out is on a big guns? Easy? Difficult?

I've done a few system 11s before. Just wondering.

I bought mine as recently shopped, but I would guess it is about the same or less difficult as a Tomcat.

Picked up a big guns last night. The trans light is attached to a piece of plexi instead of actual glass. Is this factory?

Or do I need a piece of glass?