Dude, those are bad ass! Wish I could get em for my pro

I am hoping to have 5.25" speaker plates (as well as various colored speaker surrounds) available in the future to make the 4" to 5.25" speaker upgrade a more affordable option. The target goal is to make it so a person can do the speaker WITH speaker light upgrade for a comparable price to what the speaker upgrade alone is currently.

Also... I already have 2 different style of Speaker Light Kits that are designed for BK:SoR Pro on my website now. I should have the BK:SoR acrylic design from the video listed on my website next week sometime.

http://www.speakerlightkits.com/SPIKE-2-Standard-or-Deluxe.html

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

Does anyone else think it is a party fail to not offer the Black Knight SOR LP's to game owners first? At least for the LE's like they did with DP? Just curious what everyone thought.. I am seeing them on Ebay for 200 bucks.. wow...

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Yes. Stern is an ass for not letting LE owners get the first shot at those albums. I bid up to $140 on the ebay one last night... it sold for $202.
Theres no way I could have gotten one, i live on the other side of the country.

They should have followed their own production model: LE buyers get (or minimally get first dibs on) a deluxe/exclusive limited release, then Pro/Premium owners can either get what's left over (first come first served) or only be able to purchase it on black vinyl and/or CD and/or digital download.

What baffles me is why (at least so far) they decided to only take in a whopping $2,000 gross on it. Given the following of Anthrax, Scott Ian, etc., I could see people who never heard of BKSOR and people not even interested in pinball wanting to buy this music. And I bet a few of them are happily paying the eBay prices right now along with some of our pinhead fanatics right here.

Where is that from?

Speaking of music downloads, can anyone confirm whether or not you get access to a download of the album if you purchased (or subsequently purcha$$$$ed) the vinyl?

None of you guys must be into vinyl collecting if you think $250 USD is ridiculous for rare vinyl. Hell my original pressing of Aenima by Tool by was like $300 and it isn't even *that* rare. 100 copies from a known producer of a niche property with a great sound to boot? Shit, I'm surprised they're not listed for $500. That being said, I don't need it. I listen to it every time I play, there is no reason for me to buy it other than just to have it.

That is what I keep telling myself when I look on eBay. Not to mention that I don't own a turntable, nor would I want to open the package if I bought it.

My upper flipper still drags back to its starting position.

I can't tell if my issue is with the coil at all. Everything seems tight. Are there any known issues or adjustments with the shaft and component stack up through to the upper play field? It feels like the resistance is in the rotation on that axis and not the coil/sleeve setup.

Can you pull the flipper straight up away from the playfield even the slightest bit? There is supposed to be a millimeter of play or so.

YES!

Just bought a NIB BKSOR LE. It’s joining my BK2K. For me, it was a dream theme that I began pushing inside the company since 2016. When I learned they were moving forward with it after all it was like a dream come true. I didn’t think I’d be able to get a LE, but I was and I’m so excited. For me I can’t imagine owning a BK game without a mirrored back glass and upper PF so there was only ever one option for me.

Excited for some of the cool mods you guys have cooked up.

OMG the BKSOR Pro with lightning flippers at Pinburg was off the hook.

I gotta do this to my Premium it was Insano

Jediturtle I too am liking BKSOR a great deal. And come on down to my house and play my DP since you miss yours. I also have a big box of EM parts here still waiting for you.

What/where are lightning flippers ?

Lightning Bolt Flippers on Williams games Fish Tales and BSD had em few others to.

They are a tad shorter than stock flippers.

I got my upper playfield enhancement kit yesterday from Pinball Life and it has the original plastic in it without the additional hole for the new post. Oh well. Email sent to Pinball Life to see what the story is.

Hmm.. my distro just mailed mine to me without even having to ask and it was fine .

Also didn’t Steve mention a few plastic protectors ?

Here's a picture of mine. I just drilled a new hole in the old one. I'm just going to keep the new one as a spare, I measured it and it's 7/16 of an inch over and 1/8 of an inch up on that left corner. Drill bit size is 5/32".
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Thanks. I sized your picture the same as the plastic and held my plastic up to the screen so I could mark the spot for the hole. Worked great.

The lightning flippers actually shot really well. I played it once and got over 60m which I felt like was pretty good. Not sure why they felt they needed to make the game even more of a bastard though!

PSA for Premium and LE owners using Playfield Protectors: After quite a bit of testing I have determined that it is best to cut the protector shy of the flail ramp. I believe that the plastic allows for the ball to lose momentum after bouncing off of the sides of the metal ramp.

I modified mine and I am now very happy with the performance.

Not sure either. Think it adds some rando factor to make things more fair.

We are doing a soft launch for our flipper toppers. We will list them here in our pinside shop today. The web site will have them by Sunday night. Kits come with the black flipper cover and our metal cast swords. Black mask overly install is optional but it really makes the swords pop.
Orders placed here on pinside will ship by Monday.

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Just ordered a Black Knight Pro yesterday....! I'm finally in the club! Any must have mods?

An upper playfield.

Just KIDDING!!! Both versions are adrenaline-pumping, just-one-more-game fun.

Mods I absolutely had to have were speaker upgrades and the Stern shooter knob (spring strength should not be an issue on the Pro as it has been for some folks on the Premium/LEs.) I also added speaker lights and lighted flipper buttons - each doing a "slow breathing" breathing effect. Went for the real knocker too.

Pingulp. That's all that is needed.

"Need an upper PF.....You sumbitch!!! haha!!! Those are great ideas. I noticed on my DP premium...the stock speakers weren't too bad. However, with a kickass soundtrack with Black Knight....I may do that.

When I saw the painted black lightning flippers at pinburg I fell in love. I think that just a 2d Topper like that for the Standard Stern
flipper set would be killer. Anyone take pics of that BKSOR

If you really want great sound, be sure to get the top-of-the-line subwoofer offered by the speaker upgrade vendors above their regular upgraded subwoofer if not already included. Bonus: after installing that on a BKSOR you won't need a shaker motor.

How do they attach to the flipper?

Why did they cut a hole and insert a plastic insert piece underneath the upper playfield flipper? Not sure how this passed quality control. The ball gets stuck frequently.

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I noticed that on my buddy's LE......not very often...but we had to take the glass off a couple of times.....

This has been discussed many times. This allows the upper playfield to be removed without removing the flipper. Some games are missing a washer or something under the plate. Easy fix. Search this thread.

Black decal on flipper top. 3m adhesive sword to decal. Takes longer to pull the glass off than install one sword on the flipper.
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For those that missed it, Steve himself asked on FB for this to be posted in this very thread, so owners who don’t read this thread often, would have another chance to see his suggestions and fixes for some common issues.

From the king himself:

“I'm posting fixes for problems with Black Knight Sword of Rage once again for those that missed the posts:

1) If the ball is flying off the right wire ramp near the lower right flipper on the Pro, here's what you need to do: Run the ball up and down gently on the lower section of the wire ramp. You might feel the ball hitting a screw end. Gently lift the wire ramp with your hand from underneath (it's flexible) until the ball flows down the wire ramp smoothly. If it doesn't fix the problem, lift a bit higher and harder. Once set, the wire ramp will stay put, and the ball won't touch the screw any longer.

2) If the ball gets stuck behind the Shield, or if the one way gate traps the ball under it, do this: With the game turned off, lift the shield with one hand and find the gate wire with the fingers of your other hand. Flex the wire gate all the way up a few times. This gate is a spring gate, with a piece of spring steel forcing the gate to close after the ball passes through to the up kicker. Flex it, and the sticking problems will go away. If not, locate the little strip of spring steel mounted on the gate and give it an upward bend and test it until the gate opens easily and the ball ends up in the VUK.

3) Black Knight Sword of Rage was designed to play at 6.5 to 7 degrees. While I realize game owners can do as they wish with their games, this game plays fast at 6.5-7 degrees. Making it steeper is absolutely cheating, because it removes the side-to-side action that makes the game interesting. I hate a floaty game as much as you guys do, you think? It is fun to learn to react with the right nudges and flipper skills to keep the ball in play, and is part of the Black Knight's challenge. It will help improve your game play skills. Side-to-side ball action when mastered also affords some really cool ways of knocking down the drops, scoring the Ball Saver in the left drain and setting up for nice feeds to the flippers. BKSOR has made me a better player, but I am no champion. With the Premium and LE, a steeper slope is not a good idea. Besides cheating, fewer shots will make it to the upper playfield through the Flail Lane.

All NIB pins need some small adjustments to get them to play near perfectly. If you ask any experienced owners, they will tell you the same thing. While we at Stern strive to make sure your games work well, sometimes things are missed or change in transit and handling. If you aren't a klutz and have some mechanical sensibilities, don't be afraid to make adjustments when something isn't working quite right. If mechanics aren't your thing, there are plenty of people on Pinside that can help you get it right. I'm thinking Lloyd, Levi, and if you ask me for help, I will do what I can. Just write here on my Facebook page. I don't know all games, but I know mine pretty well.

4) If the ball in play gets stuck endlessly behind the rotating Flail (not the Shield), you need to check the optical switches at the mid-Flail Lane: There are 2 sets of optos in the Flail Lane, one at the entrance, and one set about halfway up the Flail lane. Look for 1/4" holes in both left and right Flail Lane ball guides. Lift the playfield and follow the opto wires coming out of the holes in the playfield to connectors, and see that the connections are good. Next, go into switch test in the diagnostics, and break the opto beam with your fingers. If the opto set is working, you will hear a beep and see the switch closing in a graphic LCD display. Most of the time, the problem is caused by bad or intermittent wire connections at the connectors.

5) If a ball is stuck behind the upper right flipper on the white plastic “ironing board” shaped plastic, you are missing the metal washer in the “flipper stack” consisting of a 2” long clear small diameter spacer, a fat white nylon spacer, a metal washer between the fat spacer and the ironing board from bottom to top. Some games got out without the metal washer. Use a metal washer (with a ¼” inner diameter, and just about any outer diameter under ¾”) and insert into the stack on the flipper shaft between the fat nylon spacer and the ironing board. Here’s how to do it:

* You do not have to remove the plastic upper playfield.*

Remove all 6 balls from the lower trough. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox making sure that it is stable, (check the manual) then loosen the upper right flipper shaft clamping block (on the bottom of the wood playfield) with a 5/32” hex (Allen) wrench allowing a bit of rotational and up and down movement of the flipper shaft. Use your manual to locate assemblies if you don’t know the names of the parts I’m mentioning.

Lay the playfield back down on the playfield support brackets. Pull the playfield toward the front of the game until the round rubber feet on the playfield support brackets are securely in the hand protector trough. Carefully prop up the rear of the playfield with an 18” long piece of 2X4 or other prop using the cabinet floor and a blank spot on the bottom of the playfield so that the entire flipper stack is visible and within your reach from the right side of the game.

Slowly pull the loosened flipper shaft upward, freeing up the different parts of the flipper stack, and removing them carefully. Remove the flipper shaft pulling upward. When you have the flipper removed from the game, slide the ironing board on the shaft, then slide the new metal washer up the shaft under the ironing board, then the fat white nylon bushing, then the clear plastic bushing onto the shaft, and feed the lower tip of the flipper shaft through the plastic upper playfield and back into the flipper bushing on and through the lower wood playfield. Guide the ironing board into the flipper-shaped hole in the plastic upper playfield. Remove the playfield prop and lower the rear of the playfield onto the playfield cabinet rails. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox while holding the upper right flipper in place. Feed the flipper shaft through the flipper clamp block and tighten just enough so that you can still rotate and move the flipper up and down in the clamp block.

Next, the goal is to have zero up and down play in the upper right flipper assembly. Locate the plastic flipper body over the ironing board and aligned the flipper with it on all sides. Push down on the flipper and up on the clamping block until there is zero up and down movement of the flipper. Tighten the hex screw with the 5/32” Allen wrench lower the playfield back into the company and check for flipper alignment and up and down end play. The ball will no longer stay stuck behind the upper right flipper. There will still be enough up and down play due to the flexiblity and softness of the plastic parts in the stack.

When a game is new, the ball can fly all over the playfield. I don't design this into the game, but it happens with fast loops and rebounds off of closer shots. My games utilize stronger flipper power, and when they are new, they can be overwhelming, especially with good players. I ship them that way, so that later in the games' life, with parts wear & heat accounted for, the power to flip or kick the ball game remains fully playable for a longer time.

We have included flipper power adjustments in the diagnostics. The flipper power can be dialed up or down. Most games settle into a sweet spot after break in. Use the adjustments if you must, but some of the excitement and adrenaline in BKSOR will be lost.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Steve Ritchie ”

Its about to go down.....

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I hope someone post a video of this. It would be less intimidating than reading that wall of text

After second thoughts...

(Self edited for better pinball discussion)

“Crawl home to your mamma, maggot!”

I just ordered a pro

Haha, yeah what do you want, I'm a visual.

My game had a washer, but the order was:

Flipper
Washer
White plastic
Nylon plug
Plastic tube

I was getting a lot of ball hangs so I added a second washer between the white plastic and the nylon plug.

Was my washer in the wrong place from the factory? It seems like the flipper bat might rub against the white plastic otherwise.

Had a party last weekend and got nothing but positive comments on the LE speaker lighting kit. They look awesome!!!

Running .97. Is it worth updating to the latest code or should I wait for the next update?
Better callouts? Besides the easier game settings, I just need to know if this is worth updating now.

Do it.