I'm on my second. I had some regret after getting rid of my first one, took me a couple years to land another, just kept running into bad timing when some came available.

Well...here's what I know about Black Rose.

The theme is great, the music is top notch, fun modes, video modes, art work is cool.

It's a John Trudeau/Brian Eddy design, and the software is also by Brian Eddy (Brian Eddy of course would next make the Shadow, AFM and MM...) Pretty easy to see the comparison here, sinking ships.

Speaking of sinking ships, my best is 11. I think they were 110 million per sunk. Over a Billion points is my high score. I find my version setup pretty easy, that's why I ordered lighting flipper bats.

Some say it came with Lightning bolts bats from the factory, but the Bally Promo video shows otherwise, and I have not seen any stock photos of one with them.

To really score huge in this game, you want to get into a multi-ball. While in multi-ball, every ramp scores a letter in ""SINK SHIP" once you fill up your letters, out of multiball will sink the ship. The really cool part about this is, you can stack your sink ship letters, so lets say you spell it out like 5 times, that will be 5 sinkable ships waiting outside of multi-ball play.

One of only a few games to have a double general illumination (others being Party Zone and Space Station off the top of my head)

The not so good. The cannon. This puts a beating on the center of the playfield, and the plastic cover to it is nearly impossible to level/or gets warped, making the ball do some squirly things. Just something you have to live with.

There is a Gameroom issue I think it was, where a guy stripped down and refurbished a Black Rose, it was a cool article, he did some nice mods/add ons to it too.

I just recently picked up my first pinball machine, which is Black Rose. So far I am really enjoying it. I thoroughly enjoyed it on my virtual cabinet and since it is priced right (underestimated if you ask me) I grabbed one! Mine is not a perfect example of a pinball machine, but it plays well, everything works and I am enjoying the hell out of it. It has a lot of wear by the cannon too. I got a cliffy to install, not that it will make any difference now. It came missing the level, a post and a cracked playfield glass channel, but I have replacements to install, along with new rubbers. Everything else seems to be in good shape. Afterall it is a 22 year old machine!

I am not good at pinball and so far I have only sunk 1 ship, although I do it pretty regularly. I didn't know about the multiball trick... good to know. The knife throw is the bane of my playing... I cannot seem to hit the mark! LOL Otherwise I am getting good at hitting ramps, the whirlpool in general. I have a hard time with that left ramp. it always seems to carom off the post. Everything else is pretty sweet though it does drain down the sides often.

What is double GI?

Is that Gameroom issue something that can be found online?

OP, when you say sticker art files, do you mean for the cabinet? I have been looking at times myself. My cabinet is faded and have a friend with a print shop. Not high on my list, but on my list.

Including a picture of my Black Rose next to my virtual, playing Black Rose! Pay no mind to the condition of the basement. I am cleaning it up this week... I need to make room for the next pin!

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There is one for sale near me at a really attractive price. I watched some gameplay video and it seemed like it was pretty redundant. All they did was shoot the whirlpool ramp. There didn't seem to be much in the way of call outs.

How is the rule set and the call outs? There doesn't seem to be any decent gameplay videos online that I can find.

I know what video you are talking about. The whirlpool ramp is for scoring extra balls and setting up ball lock. This player needed to work the ball to the right flipper more for opening Davey Jones locker, in my opinion.

I don't think this is the table to have if it is your only table, but it's a great change of pace from a more traditional style.

I have mine at my nautical/pirate themed lake cabin

Congrats to all you guys who have a BR. It really is a super fun pin that's not a whole lot of money. Honestly, my plan is to sell my Hurricane at Pintastic next July and hopefully find a really nice example of one at the show. Till then, I'm on the outside looking in. ;( But again, congrats to you BR owners. I hope to join the club at some point.

I read a lot that the game is redundant and not very complex. I would have to agree that it is not a complex game and takes little to grasp, but there are plenty of shots and combos to make (or if you are me, to try and make) and it is a very fun pin to play. I don't want to stop at one (my wallet prevents me from more for now) but I don't think it is a bad pin to have in a one pinball household either. Fun to play, cool theme, enough to do to keep you entertained and enough to master to keep you busy for a while.

Everyone has an opinion though and everyone's will differ. Great example is that I do not care for TAF, at all really. It is the highest selling pinball machine though I think. So my opinion probably sucks compared to most. Thank God I am in the Black Rose Owner's Club discussing this!

fun pin. took me a while to get one. i will have to remember the multiball tips mentioned above.

I think I am getting an LED kit for Christmas. I wanted to put together my own but my wife kind of tipped me to it when I started looking the other day so I cannot wait to see. I also just bought one of those Rose shooter rods. Those will be my next mods.

Why would you want to powedercoat the ramps? There are lights under them. Might miss some of the show! I might clean my ramps up a bit, they look a little cloudy, but don't think I would powdercoat them. Just my opinion.

Earlier today I decided to get a few games in. Tried the multiball tips but of course because I was trying I couldn't hit a ramp and worse, it drained constantly on me. I was able to sink 1 ship almost every game and even sunk 2 ships! I was so excited! Then it said special was lit and while I was hitting that corner so easy all night, I could not hit it when needed! Anyway, on my last "one more game", the stars aligned and I got my high score and most ships sunk. It isn't a billion points like posted about but I ended up with 3 ships sunk and 154,809,760! I am horrible at pinball so that is quite the accomplishment for me.

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She's an awesome game. I bought one on a whim because my buddy said it was a cool game. Glad I listened to him. Mine came with significant cannon wear, but after addressing this and applying a new cannon with cannon Cliffy, mine is locked in.

In fact, it's available to be played at the local bowling alley in Brookings, SD.

It truly is a great game. Now send em to Davey Jones!!!

Had mine for almost a year now and still love it. Cabinet is nice, very minimal fade on right side. left side looks great. Full LEDs, very nice playfield w/cannon cliffy, and found me a nice topper for her too. Plays great, and still gets played regularly. Very underrated game IMO.BR 2.jpgBR 8.jpgBR 1.jpgBR6.jpg

Looks very nice man! I like the topper a lot.

Am looking at one currently, but it has a ton of cannon wear. I know the cliffy covers it and cosmetically will make it look better. BUT, does the cliffy impede the ball travel, etc?

If you bondo (or whatever filler you prefer) the damage so that it's flush and level, then apply the Cliffy, you shouldn't have any interference. It seems like it sits slightly above the play field when applied, but I've never had it affect game play.

Is the cliffy hard to install?

I've heard the cannon is a bitch to level, but what about installing the clif?

The Cliffy is not difficult to apply at all.

I believe Black_Rose has a thread out here outlining exactly what to do.

Me and my buddy printed his guide and had no problems.

If you can't find the instructions, let me know.

Cannon is not hard to level. 3 adjusting screws. Detailed instructions in the manual. Mine had the cliffy already installed when i got it. I don't think it affects gameplay.

I have a crazy amount of cannon wear on mine. I plan to address that before installing the cliffy. I would let that swap me from buying one of these if the price was right.

My new Black Rose also has a ton of cannon wear. In fact, it's the one that they used to design the cliffy. Seems to be the bane of this game. Anyone out there able to point me to someone who could make some Davy Jones stickers?

I do have an opinion on leveling the cannon. Three adjusters was a design flaw, in my opinion. Four would have been ideal, but what can you do? It's not technically difficult to move the three adjusters up and down. However, I do believe it's somewhat challenging to get the perfect level with only three adjusters.

Many four leg tables and chairs wobble but I have never seen a three leg table or chair wobble. Three level adjusters much easier to work with IMHO. The Cliffy cannon protector does not hurt the play at all.

I still haven't had time to get mine going. It has some kind of issue where I think one of the flashers is locked on. It had NO cannon wear which I know is rare. I bought a Cliffy for it, but someone told me I shouldn't put it on? Any other opinions on not putting it on?

We talking about three legged chairs???

Come on man!!!!

Ok stools.

FINALLY!!! While I may have played like complete and utter crap tonight, I finally hit the barrel in video mode. Wow, why is that so hard!

Can we talk about the red connectors under the playfield for a sec? The guy I got it from was a super nice, very legit retiree and he told me without blinking "those connectors are factory." I didn't think anything of it at the time. Now my tech friend Dave has the machine and said 'no way are those factory!' Well, sure enough the pics on IPDB show them... so I guess they *are* factory(?) Can anyone confirm this? Did Bally use these on other games? They don't look so great...

I had the same reaction. I figured they couldn't be from the factory, but every pic I've seen of the underside of a Black Rose pf has them, so they must be!

It's funny how many people have recently bought a Black Rose, considering only 3 or 4 thousand were made. They must all be on the market now.

I picked up one two weeks ago as my first pin.

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Really faded cabinet, I know, but the playfield is in immaculate condition as the machine was home use for over a decade. The only real problem is the "Special" light in the top right of the playfield that has lifted slightly and causes the ball to bounce up and hit that pirate behind it. I'll get around to fixing this soon.
While the cannon plastic itself is fairly dirty and in need of a good clean, there is basically no wear at all around it and this is the reason I'm holding out on buying a Cliffy for the moment.
I did notice that after a few plays today, the solenoid in the cannon wasn't pushing the ball out very fast, like it should be. How should I go about fixing this? Could the solenoid be dirty and if so how does one clean a solenoid?

Some quick questions:
What colour rubbers do you guys have on your BR?
I have black and am considering buying white rubbers due to how dirty the black ones make the playfield.

Lightning bolt flippers or regular flippers?
My BR came with lightning bolt, but regular are what most machines have, so I'll probably buy some.

Anyone else getting sick of the outlanes?
I am, especially with the one on the right. If I hit a sneak attack or a shot from the upper flipper that doesn't quite make the ramp and rolls back down, it is almost guaranteed to go down the outlane. I've noticed that it's a big deterrent for the rest of the family or friends that come over and have a game.

How easy is it buying and fitting LEDs yourself (especially for a first time pin owner)?

Thankyou fellow Black Rose owners!

Tom

Tom,

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the club. Nice looking machine.

I wish I could give you more help on some of the issues you've listed. I will tell you that I had no problem upgrading my machine with LEDs and think they look awesome.

Also, my flippers are regular, not the lightning bolt. And, I believe I have white rubber bands versus black.

Congrats again. Sinking ships and hitting the whirlpool to grab an extra ball is some good pinning fun!!

I'm going to be using black rubber, because I've got some black super bands. I'm hoping those don't leave anything on the ball/ field.

Also not using the lightning bolt flippers in mine.

Question, why are you guys not using the lighting flippers?

Pretty easy answer. Mine came with normal, non lightning bolt, flippers. Was this game original sold with lightning bolt flippers? I never gave it a second thought. Too busy blowing up ships

I was pretty sure it came with lightning flippers

Bump for anyone with the sticker vector art.

I will have a crossover ramp for sale soon. If anyone is looking for spare parts.

Hi Tom!

The outlane posts can be moved to make them less dangerous. Check if your posts are in the most liberal position. If so I heard it suggested that a larger rubber could also be used on the post. I guess we need to remember that ball drains = operator money, these machines were designed to drain!

What exactly is the issue with your VUK -- fails to kick the ball out? Try replacing the coil sleeve.

If you decide to replace the lights do so with the machine off. I fried a chip on mine by doing it while on, which began a journey of learning how to solder and desolder so not a total waste....

Hello ye fellow maties:

I just got my Black Rose yesterday, its my first machine..I am a newbie, as green as can be!!

We played it yesterday for several hours until the right flipper got locked up. I already have the fliptronics board out and have ordered new TIP36C transistors. I am really impressed about how much information and data was available online to fix and troubleshoot these machines.

As a newbie, I am sure I will have many many more questions

Can someone take a high res pic of the Davey Jones Locker Decal? I am going to try to get some repro'd but I need a better source than the one I have in my machine.

hopefully this helps you

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Any opinions on leaving a cliffy OFF a cannon that doesn't have any wear? I forgot who it was but someone told me I'm better off leaving it off, that it will throw it off having it on & if it's not broke don't fix it...
I already bought it so I can go either way..

Great game but I wish someone would make a non warped cannon assembly. Mine has a spare in it where it looked as if somebody belt sanded it flat. Even though it looks terrible I think I may put that one in

Thanks so much for posting that image! Working on cleaning it up now!

Bowmp.

Been surfing the pinside and the net in general and found that most Black Roses have a red "100 000" insert under the Whirlpool ramp. Mine has a white insert.
So what is up with that? What colour do you guys have on that insert?

EDIT: Also noticed my playfield doesn't have say "Diamond Plate" above the right flipper like a lot of the machines on the net. Maybe I've got an early production game?

I have a Black Rose and have had it for 8 or so years, never going to get rid of it. Even though I have the game figured out to a tea and can regularly put up 300 mil + games (highest game was about 1.9 bil), I still love playing it!
Once you get that Whirlpool shot down, you can basically play forever. It gives you extra balls and lights multiball. Normally, I would consider this a bad thing, but Black Rose has so much to offer I don't mind getting infinite extra balls. The multiball rules are awesome, and getting three ball with hidden treasure is super satisfying. I'll post a picture at some point, love this game!

I miss mine....

Bubbatom, I have a white insert as well.

I spent the last few days doing a few mods to the ol' girl. Have a sweet Black Rose shooter knob, installed a new blackglass trim piece (original was cracked), new bubble level (which was missing), Cannon stickers (originally missing) and started installing LEDs. Got the backbox, on the playfield and flashers done and wow what a difference. Can't wait to finish under the playfield. I have to probably get some more as the cointaker kit I got came with a bunch I can't sue and seems to be missing a few as well. Gonna see if I can trade them in. I will post pictures when completed!