Gotcha, too much work for me. I actually had a speaker from another BSMT 2000 game sitting on my shelf and adding it made a big difference. It was a perfect fit for empty speaker grill and took about 5 mins to get installed. It's just daisy chained to the stock speaker, the same way most Bally/Williams are.

Corey (and other posters) are right, there is no stereo. I just went and pulled the glass off my game and triggered orbits, ramps and inlane/outlanes, and when paying close attention, the sound seems to be the same regardless of the side of playfield you shot.

I think what made it sound stereo are 2 things: increasing the fidelity of output with new speakers and EQ, but more importantly, the backbox speakers not actually facing the player directly - they point to the left and right slightly due to the curve. This makes some SFX and the post-multiball music have some subtle weird effects depending on where your head is. If you stick your head near the backbox it sounds mono, but in the player position the sound seems to spread out at times and shifts if you move side to side a bit. Has anyone who just doubled-up the left speaker output noticed anything like that?

I actually added everything needed for the right speaker amp. I also replaced the stock left speaker and with a pair of BRS40's. They were pretty much a drop in replacement.

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So, I just picked up a SST and I've realized something that I didn't notice until I started shopping it out; the Bug Kill inserts are lifted ever so slightly above the playfield. Is this a common problem with this machine? I've search this and other topics and haven't seen very much posted about it. Looking below the playfield I don't see where there was any movement and they're all pretty uniform in their height making me think it may have left the factory that way (but I can't bring myself to believe it). I Just wanted to get other owners' input on this before going to town on the playfield. Thanks!

Mine are actually slightly cupped. The bug counters on mine will change the ball path if the ball is moving slow enough.

Risen/lifted inserts on dmd games are usually caused by years of the heat from the bulbs under them.
And the inserts that are lit the most often are usually the first to rise.
If the game spent most of it's life in an arcade environment turned on 12 hours a day 7 days a week, that'll do it.

Anyways, once they start lifting above the playfield they will eventually start to get chipped by the pinballs.
Search pinside for 'fixing lifted inserts' and you'll get some suggestions. Ideally you'd gradually heat them from below with a heat gun to loosen the glue, then from the top with a hammer and block gently tap them back level, then apply your choice of glue from underneath to secure them in place.

If they're BARELY lifted above the playfield, you could elect to just put a larger piece of mylar over that area and not mess with re-leveling.

YMMV because I've had some inserts go back level with one tap, and I had Gottlieb Vegas inserts that would NOT move at all no matter how much heat or how hard the swing of a hammer. You also run the risk of burning the insert or damaging the playfield. I never F'd up an insert doing the above leveling, but accept no responsibility if you F up yours

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That’s the interesting/questionable thing to me since these are above the LED digit displays

I don't remember from the SST I had if that LED board underneath got unusually hot, but put your hand on the pf there after the game's been on an hour and see how it feels. I also don't remember if the inserts were normal inserts or something special with the frosted look, but mine were level.

Wow, where do you guys find these games?

They seem quite rare around me.

I would love to restore one!

My autolauncher is incredibly sloppy leading to balls not making their way all the way up the ramp. I know this game is well known for having launcher issues. Has there ever been any kind of fix to this found?

You probably just have to investigate to see why it's doing that. Mine seems perfectly fine, except when it launches a multiball while there is another ball in the area. But I think that's why this game has such a long ball save during multiball. Actually, the previous owner of mine had put a felt strip on the right wall to absorb the ball energy from the kickout hole. Half my launches were just draining until I removed that strip of felt.

On my machine, the kicker giving me trouble is the one on the left. I replaced the whole mechanism and coil with new ones and it still does the same thing. Sometimes it kicks the ball to the right flipper, sometimes barely, and sometimes it goes to the left flipper or SDTM. I'm wondering if it is the metal deflector above the kickout hole causing it.

My brain bug and magnets just stopped working. Has anyone else had this happen?
I'll open it up and take a look later today but just throwing it out there in case someone knows the cause?

Are the brain bug and magnets on the same power line? Maybe a cable came loose.

I think I may have gone a little overboard on my SST. So far, Mirror Blades, All LED's, LED OCD board, Pinball Pro Speakers and Sub, Buckwerks controller in coin door, and now Color dmd went in today.

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You can never go to far...
Mine has the same plus color screen bug display and demirrored glass, pinsound and a shaker.

Original cabinet 9.5/10 playfield 9/10

All GI is cold white, and there is an orange plastic protector set around the slings.

Last but not least I made a playfield protector for the game.

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yes, it was for me the problem that the ball was not hit straight by the mech. I bent some things until it was OK. I can imagine that when it is worn more it becomes worse.

I have the invisiglass as well now. I did not know there was a shaker for SST. Do not see it in the software settings.

Where can you get the colored bug displays?

There is not a shaker for the game specifically, BUT you can get the shaker for Pinsound (which I did)
Next, you can start making your own shaking patterns with specific sounds.
Many, many options there. I never finished it but I hope to do this somewhere this year.

The colored bug displays were sold by some guy in Holland. I have his contact, but I don't know if he's active on Pinside.
It is a very nice add on to the game.

It's great to see SST get more love now than it used to, but it does make them harder to find.

I've owned 40-ish games over 22 years (20 was the most at one time), and liquidated twice. Currently I only have room for 2, so it had to be the 2 most fun, TFTC and SST. Picked up a TFTC from a friend last August, and looking for a clean/working SST now.

Does anyone still make the colored bug counters? I'd really like to add this.

The gent in the Netherlands has made another batch and has them for sale, I plan on ordering one this week.
They are not cheap with Euro exchange and shipping.

I've emailed him to see what info/cost he wants posted here, it's after midnight there now.
I'll post again when I hear back.

MM

The segments on the board are socketed, so they would be easy to swap, but I haven't been able to find colored replacements with the same pinout. Mouser didn't have the original ones, but they might have a workable alternate. I wonder if there is a blank board available.

SST COLOR LED BUG COUNTER BOARD
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Tom in the Netherlands has asked that anyone interested in one PM me for board pricing and his contact email.
Contact him with your full address and choice of shipping, then he will send you a Paypal invoice in Euros.
When you go to pay the invoice Paypal will convert it to U.S. dollars (or wherever you are from).
Thanks to Faust/Felix for his help in connecting to Tom, pic of board in game is cropped from Felix's earlier post.

MM/Spencer
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SST COLOR LED BUG COUNTER BOARD Update
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Between buyers in the U.S. and E.U. Tom has sold his current batch of boards.
He is surprised at the demand for them and is ordering more parts to make another batch, targeting end of March.

He will start a new list for those who contact him and want one, and will not take any more money until the next batch is complete and ready to ship. Then he will contact those on the list to confirm they still want one, and send an invoice at that time.

So still PM me for his info, and when you contact him ask to be put on the list for the next batch.

I would be interested. but have no idea who to contact.

No problem, 2 posts up I explain to PM me for his contact info, board pricing and shipping choices.
But I'll go ahead and PM all that to you asap

MM

Received my color bug counter board today. Will test soon, game in storage.

Cool Beans! Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow, then I just need to buy a SST to put it in

Hey SST owners -- I only have one rule: everyone flips, no one tilts!

By request, here's the Starship Troopers version of my line of new 3-D Coin Reject Buttons!

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They're 3D-printed with THREE different filaments (one contiguous print), with a protruding design modeled after the logo of the Federal Network from the film. Button can be translucent color of your choice (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, clear/white), with a teal globe/mesh and bronze logo.

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...WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
Website: https://rocketcitypinball.com
Item in Pinside shop: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1282-rocket-city-pinball/04946-3d-coin-reject-buttons-starship-troopers

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This is awesome. You have to watch the whole thing, there's a great payoff before it's over.

Hey! new club member here. Bought mine shortly before pinside went down. I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me with something.

I'm trying to have my playfield restored, there's a fair amount of damage above inserts and some decals need replacing. I love this table and I want to take it back to it's proper glory. I may not want to live forever but my pin should.

If anyone knows where I can reliably get some parts or a high quality scan I will be eternally grateful.

Not sure what parts you're looking for but Marcospecialties.com will likely have the biggest selection of parts for it. You can also try Pinballlife.com or Pbresource.

Post pics here of the playfield damage/wear, if it's substantial and you want it 'like new' you'll have to strip everything off the top and bottom and send it to one of the restorers.

I have some spare targets and plastics available. Plastics are in good shape, with exception of crack on two that are hard to see. No damage at screw holes.

Targets all good.

PM for more pics if interested. $40 plus shpg

EDIT: SOLD

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Does anyone know anything about the Rottendog driver boards? That's what I have in my SST and it blows the F20 fuse almost immediately. I'm assuming this has something to do with my brain bug and magnets not working.

Is a transistor bad? What is the best way to test that?

I will be joining the army tonight. I'm just wondering from those already in the club, what is your typical goal for this game? Are you shooting for high score, going for safer shots like Orbit MB and ramps to Recon? Are you shooting bugs and trying to advance though the planets? The later sounds more fun, but I wish it was also the most lucrative option for scoring.

Can't say the pickup went as smoothly as I was hoping. The guy I purchased the game from sounds like he buys and sells pinball machines often, so I was pretty trusting with his description of the game, that was my error. The ad said, "Needs a few things to be perfect." I wasn't expecting perfect, but I was expecting a nice working game. I called and talked with him on the phone and he walked me though the game: wear by the flipper buttons, could probably use new rubbers, no LEDs, etc.

When I pulled in after my four hour drive the game is obviously fresh off +20 years on route. It was one of those games where you could wipe your finger across the playfield and pickup grime. When I go to press the start button, I notice it's not set to freeplay and and the coin door has been pried open and he doesn't have the key...strike one. While opening the door to hit the coin button there is a broken piece of plastic laying in the bottom of the game, I had specifically asked about broken plastics, and was told all were good...strike two. Pretty minor for far, but it these were signs to me that the seller hasn't really looked over the game too closely. When I coin up the machine and hit the start button two balls shoot out...strike three. The guy said, "Oh, it's never done that before." When I go to pull the plunger the black piece of the plunger and outer spring are missing...strike four. Even worse not a single one of the general illumination lights is working...strike five.

At this point, I'm basically thinking one of two things. Either this guy has no idea what he's doing or he was deliberately trying to withhold information. I ask him for a 44 bulb so I can test if all the lights are burnt out or if it's a fuse, wiring, board work, etc. He says all he has are 555 bulbs. There are other games in the garage, so I ask him to take out a bulb from one of the other games. He pulls one from the coin door looks at it and says it has a broken filament. That seemed to be the end of his effort. Internally, I'm pretty upset at this point but I keep my cool. I ask if I can pull off the glass from that game and take out a working bulb. Since every single light was out I was thinking it was going to be either a fuse or board issue, but to my surprise when I put in the working bulb it lights up. Still, to me that's something that should be disclosed.

With one working bulb in the game I proceed to start my first game. Right away the ball doesn't eject from the scoop...strike six. At this point, I'm ready to call it a waste of time. I said that I feel bad, but ask him if he'll just refund my deposit for holding the game for three days. Right away he said "You should feel bad, we had a deal and I turned away other buyers." I told him that's great that he has other buyers and can just sell it to one of them, but he responds with something like, "They have probably already moved on to other games."

After that exchange, he said it's not worth it for me to badmouth him over our $100 deposit and he'll return the money if that will make me happy. I explain that we're beyond the point of me being happy. I have to choose between being unhappy about wasting eight ours of driving or unhappy about buying a game that wasn't what I was expecting. He proceeds to tell me how we both know that Starship Troopers is an $3,800 game. I told him that I disagree based on the comparable sales on Pinside. He says that Pinside is always $1,000 low. He eventually agrees to knock off $100 from our agreed on price. Reluctantly, I decided to just pickup the game with the discount. I was just hoping that I found everything that wasn't disclosed.

Over the weekend I completely tore the game apart and then placed an order into Pinball Life. The other issues I found while doing my at home diagnostic were two broken switches ($30) and the optos switches in the orbits not working ($90). It's going to take a few days, but I'll get it shined up and will share pictures shortly. I'm happy to be in the club, but wish my entry wasn't started with such a frustrating experience.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the seller removed the battery holder, but had not replace it. Again, it didn't take me long to wire up a remote holder, but was another example of something I'd prefer was disclosed.

You should post the guy's name (or first name) and city/area he lives in so others are aware of his sales tactics.
And without the price you paid listed we can't really tell how off the price was.

It's great you have the game, and it's now in the hands of someone who will give it the care it needs.

My first pin purchase I asked the guy if I could open the machine. I think he was just thinking the coin door but when I popped the lockdown bar off and pulled the glass he said, "Wow, I didn't know you could do that." I asked how long he had the machine and he said 12 years. I really blew his mind when I lifted the playfield. Almost all the lights were out, rubbers broken and it wouldn't boot. He was asking 700, I offered him 500 bucks and he took it. Was a Gottlieb Monte Carlo. Now he didn't say he knew it was a 1200 dollar pin working. We both left happy and he was glad to get it out of his storage unit. I learned a lot on that pin.

If he thought his SST was worth 3800 dollars most of us on here our SSTs are worth 5k or more.

WHAT!!! Have prices gone up that much on these? I think I got mine for $1400 7 years ago.

That said, you must have really wanted it to still purchase after the obvious sleazeball that guy was. Good luck, it's a great game.
I'm currently troubleshooting why the mosfets for my brain bug and two magnets blew (replacement mosfets are on order).

Regarding the optos, you don't need to spend the $90 or whatever to replace them. More likely they just need to be cleaned and correctly adjusted. And if that's not the problem, you can probably just replace the LEDS with MV8114 that cost a few cents.

I don't know. I do feel it's an underrated game, especially given the relatively low production run. As I mentioned, I don't think there was any "win" after driving four hours there. I ultimately decided I'd rather be upset with a pinball machine versus upset without a pinball machine. I'm going to try to focus on the positive form here on out in the club.

Yeah, I spent quite awhile messing with the optos. I swapped them around to see if I could isolate the problem, but had little luck. I was able to get them to trigger if I held them much closer and even then, they were crazy sensitive to alignment. I did find replacements for about half the price of Pinball Life or Marco. I ordered them, but I'll still try to replace the LEDs on the others as well. If they end up working I'll either just keep them as spare or pass them onto someone else in need.

A few hundred bucks in parts and some elbow grease do wonders.

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If you rotate the connector 90 degrees will it fit that way? Would have to bend the wires right as they come out of the housing but might fit through.