A bridge rectifier IS an electronic (ie, solid-state) device, essentially a simplified transistor with no base layer. Therefore, a high-voltage back-EMF spike from a coil when it shuts off could break down the P-N junction in one of the diodes in the bridge. I'm pretty sure that's why you sometimes find one shorted leg in the under-PF rectifiers of early 70s Williams games. Those games ran their bumper and kicker coils on DC, but didn't have back-EMF diodes on those coils.

- TimMe