Hey All - just picked up a Bone Busters in nice shape. I don't have the manual yet, but I had a few quick questions I'm hoping other Bone Busters owners (past or present) may be able to answer real quick. I'm sure I'll have more, but for now:

1) Dip Switch settings - can someone send me a list of the dip switch settings? I could go with the trial and error method, but I'd prefer to just know which switch does what before playing around with it.

2) Gameplay question - The Opera jackpot/lane to the far upper left seems tough to get to; is that intentional? When I try to sneak the ball past the pop bumper on the left side, it feels like almost every time it catches the edge of the pop and comes back. Is this supposed to be a really difficult and narrow shot? I just want to make sure it's not something wrong with the pop bumper itself (cap isn't original, hoping the rest of it is)

UPDATE - See new questions below

It's awesome - such a quirky fun machine. So few of them probably out there in working, nice shape. Glad I snagged this one finally!

Nope, the trouble is getting by the pop. The wafer isn't cut on mine, so perhaps someone replaced it and didn't do that. I see the pic on IPDB and it looks like this (left side of pic): http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=347&picno=47628&zoom=1 Is that the correct (factory) cutout?

I've decided to cut my own since I have some spare wafer / skirts lying around. It will be white, but I'll cut another in blue if this works out. Almost done with it now.

Thank you to those that PM'd me info from the manual!

I just realized something is completely missing from the game: The top left should have a captive ball according to what I'm seeing and reading. This game doesn't have one (the ball guard is missing). I thought I had to actually shoot the in-game ball up the narrow gap to his the spot target. Turns out there's supposed to be a captive ball there, which is then hit up into that target.

I see some pics online, but they're not the greatest. Can someone upload some pics of their captive ball setup on their Bone Busters perhaps?

Looks like I might be in some trouble on this issue. I contacted PBR, and they do not carry this captive ball shield part. Does anyone know where I can track one down, or maybe have one lying around in their parts pile? I could try to manufacture something similar, or rig up another captive ball design, but the correct part would be ideal. Please see the below pics. I could not find a clear image of the captive ball on a Bone Busters, but here is the exact same part from a Freddy pin (grabbed this from another post). Also attached is an image of where the part should go on my pin, but is clearly missing.

Please let me know if someone has one of these, or knows where I can get one. Thank you in advance

captive_Ball_freddy1 (resized).jpg

captive_missing_bb1 (resized).jpg

So I decided to cut my own bracket, designed with some sheet metal and using pics I found online. It's not perfect, and I'll probably make a nicer once out of slightly thicker metal, but it's working great so far after a bunch of games. Definitely improves game play now that I can hit that opera jackpot shot. Attaching a pic for those curious.

Captive_Ball_Shield_bb (resized).jpg

Oh THAT'S what you meant. So an airball can land up there and get stuck? That's funny, I haven't had that happen yet. Good idea, thanks. The new homemade bracket is still going strong, dozens of games, no issues. It's nice to be able to hit that jackpot more often now.

Silly GENERAL pin question... most of my modern (post 1980) games have a plastic post down inside the drain, below the apron (can't see it unless you look down into the drain area). None of them have ever had a rubber ring on them, but since they're normal posts they clearly could. I added it on most of my games, thinking it was something that was just missed by former owners. The ball can hit it pretty hard sometimes, so I didn't like the idea of it breaking down there. However, it causes some ball saves when the ball hits it at high speed at the right angle. I'm wondering if it's supposed to be without a ring? Is that a preference thing? The chart in the manual doesn't show a ring there, or even reference the post.

Awesome, thanks

Thank you! And yea, great game. I have to wonder how many working, decent shape ones there are still out there. With less than 2k made, and 200 conversion kits to Amazon Hunt III possibly done... then add in attrition over the years. Good chance there aren't a ton of these left. Glad I snagged this one, great game.

Any Bone Busters owners wire up the GI to give the skull some illumination like Todd Tuckey's people did in their BB video? I figure I can just run it off the backbox GI wiring, toss an LED or two up there. Just curious how people did it and if they ran into any issues.

Yea, I mean fixed lighting. My flashers, head rotation and jaw all work great. If you google bone busters TNT you'll get the video I'm talking about, it's one of TNT Amusements many videos going over a game they worked on. They added constant lighting (green LED) by installing some bulbs hooked up to the GI. That way he's "always lit" from below and looks a little cooler when he's not talking.

Okay, cool. Did you just run it from the lighting on the backbox I assume?

I had to take the dome off so it would fit in my game room, but there's just enough clearance for the skull so it fits perfectly. Had to do the same with my Tee'd Off gopher topper. The games look great side-by-side, such great tops. The dome is more to protect it in a public gaming environment (and from dust and such of course). Looks better without it honestly, just have to make sure "old one-eye" doesn't get dusty up there.

Not sure what you mean by using the matrix system. I'm an EM guy that recently switched to SS/DMD in the past year or so, so I'm still learning

I shop with them all the time for bulbs, never really looked into that, looks pretty cool. If you get a chance, toss up some pics of your wiring, I'd be curious. I think I would use this for some additional playfield lighting. Thanks!

Sidenote... anyone ever lit up Flipper buttons that have that "bakelite" stuff shielding them on the inside of the cabinet? I can post a pic if it helps, but basically on the inside of the cab there's a piece of material that prevents light from getting through. I was tempted to drill it out a little and add a light, but I'm not sure if there's a known method for lighting flipper buttons of this style without replacing them.

Excellent, thanks. I'll have to look for that video. I have several games like that now, so it would be a nice little addition.

I haven't seen that before on PBR, I'll look around thanks

EDIT: Found it under the "buttons" area here: http://www.pbresource.com/buttons.html It's called "Clear Strap #GTB-A13898+" Marco has it too, though currently slightly more expensive.

Unfortunately, I don't see it in "double" button format, and since Bone Busters has two buttons on one side, it will take a little figuring out, but it's pretty cool nonetheless. Thanks for the tip!

Updating: first off, Mike (psd4me) is an awesome guy. He found the bracket I needed in his spare parts pile and sent it my way. No one stocks it anywhere, so it was a game saver. Thanks again Mike!

I ordered an LED strip and matrix setup from comet since I was making another order. Should be fun to try out when it arrives. I replaced the left light tube on the upper playfield as it was burned out (I love that Marco still has light tubes). Also put on the correct pop bumper cap and decal. Looking good.

I lit up the buttons on my Arena using the clear plates described a few posts back. I wired sockets into the coin door bulbs, running the wire cleanly and zip tying to the existing run. Works great. I'll do the same for BB soon.

There are two small red light tubes on the red plastic form piece that the ball "jumps" into off the center ramp. I originally thought it was an electric chair, but it might be a "proton pack" that the "Bone Busters" use to bust the skeletons. The two light tubes stick out like guns and light up/flash. They have metal spring-like wiring wrapped around them decoratively.

You can see a pic of them on ipdb here: http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=347&picno=67788&zoom=1

Only $9 at Marco as of right now, easy to replace. For those curious: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/26511