It's not that people don't like them. The ball is made of of ceramic, it originated in Twilight Zone, so that it wouldn't be affected by magnets. As such it's lighter, so it plays a lot faster, doesn't respond like you would expect.

You can use it, but it will change the gameplay, and you might not care for it. If you want to spend the money to find out though then go for it!

Little help here. Rebuilding the pop bumpers on my friends EBD but the manual doesn't have any part numbers. Is there an easy place to find this info?

I think there are parts manuals on planetary pinball's website.

will check it out. would be nice to be able to order parts along with that manual so Im not making two separate orders.

http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/BLY_Parts_1981/index.html#/10/

Oh! I see. I should have checked before replying. You can look at the parts manuals online, thought I would have to buy one! Thanks guys, big help and much appreciated!

Yeah, I was pumped when I first found that. I was able to order from PBR with confidence, haha.

Hey guys! My EBDLE won best in show at the Cleveland event this weekend. Posted over in that thread already but thought I'd post here to represent our group!

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AWESOME GAME! CONGRATS!

Good stuff chuckwurt!!!!

Sweet! Congratulations!!

Quick question. How does everyone have their flippers adjusted? A good buddy of mine played mine and said he didn't like how low mine sit. I have mine in line with the metal bars under each flipper, as in, in the rest position, the bat is touching those bars. I adjusted mine last night to get them off those bars, but I hated how high the flipper travels when I do that. It's so much so that you can trap a ball that is flying down the inlane. I don't think you should ever be able to do that.

I would probably adjust them inline with the inlanes or maybe just a bit of downward slope. The linear flipper design has more pivot action on the flipper which is the reason they travel so high.

You do not want them to touch the metal guide bars. If you do, the bars will eventually break from the flipper constantly smacking against them. You see this on a lot of pins where the flippers are set incorrectly. To set the flippers correctly, there are two dimples in the playfield that show where the flippers are supposed to be set. Basically you want the tips of the flippers to be pointing at the dimples and the top edge of the flippers will be in a straight line with the lane guide.

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Can you show me a pic of your flippers in the up position too? Also I don't see how a metal bar can be broken by a plastic flipper bat, but good point if true.

"If true" huh?

Let your flippers continue to smack them then and see what happens.

Just saying the plastic the flipper bats are made out of doesn't seem like it can break a metal bar in two. There's been 500 plus games and counting with them like that, but I definitely don't want anything to break so I moved them up off of touching those bars. Thanks for the heads up.

I've had a couple EBD playfields where one or both were broken-off flush right where the flipper hits them. It's not that uncommon.

Had to remove the broken pieces from the playfield and then fabricate my own new ones because I couldn't find them anywhere.

These machines had a lot more than 500 plays on them though. Even though the flippers are plastic, if you smack anything enough times it will break eventually. That's what the dimples at the end of the flippers are for. To make it easier to properly align the flippers.

Here's what the flippers are supposed to look like in the up position. I could only show one side at a time though because I needed the other hand to snap the picture.

IMG_1004.JPG

IMG_1005.JPG

Sweet. Thanks for the pic. I set mine up just like that now.

There is supposed to be a slight gap between the upper left flipper and the metal wire guide too. I've seen that one snapped-off too.

One thing to note about adjusting the flippers is that it can be difficult to change their position without installing brand-new flipper shafts. With the linear flippers the set screws in the flipper crank tend to dig into the shaft making it a permanent setting. When you try to change the position they usually come loose and go back to where they were.

New flipper bats and shafts are $3.95 each from Marco and others. Well-worth the investment and once you set them properly, they will stay there forever.

Totally agree. I've noticed this with other flippers I have had. Luckily here I can adjust them okay.

If the bats/shoes are good you can grind the shaft smooth so that the set screws can bite without slipping into the old grooves.

Well you know, I've tried that plus several other things and none of them ever seems to hold-up. I thought I had found the fix when I took some original Bally flipper bats and shafts and turned down the area where the screw had embedded on a lathe essentially removing the marks. I must have turned down 20 pairs. They would hold-up for a while but would eventually fail because they would deflect from the two set screws which are 90 degrees from each other.

Next I turned the ends of the set screws down to a sharp point on the lathe so they would dig into the flipper shafts. That worked for a while too but eventually slipped.

The only thing I've found that is permanent is to replace them with brand-new and torque down the set screws. It sucks because the factory bats were better quality and had a replaceable plastic bat shell but the repops do the job.

I'll be putting a beautiful EBD LE up for trade soon. It's a really nice machine with a brand new clear coated playfield, recently been fully torn down, shopped, leds, and flippers rebuilt. Fellow pinsider Zen and I are headed to Expo again this year and are going to look for a trade, but it will be hard to part with this one.

IMAG4947.jpg

Wish I had something you'd be interested in.

That looks like a sweet 8BDLX

When I first started collecting these, I would swap the flippers to help with that issue. Seemed to work ok, but buying new flippers is the ultimate answer.

I dig the pool theme, but I have to admit, the backglass has to be my least favorite of all the early Ballys. Doesn't mean I'll pass one up given the chance, but it keeps it off my "must have" hunt list.

Said the maker of killer translite remakes!

You know, I thought that too, the theme is nothing I care for, not a country western fan AT ALL, but after a while it really grows on you. Dont let it prevent getting one.

Not yet a maker of mirrored backglasses though!

Oh yeah, for sure, I've already tried to buy a local one once. I'll do it again if I can, the gameplay is great. Just not on the actual hunt for one, has to be a decent deal that just comes up.

I would gladly use one of your original art translites. Mirror/original is nice, but not a deal breaker for me. Killer art is better. Come on Aurich, a Helen playing pool, wearing a cowboy hat translite! I'd buy it!

Does anybody know of a source for the bottom backglass channel on an EBD Classic?
EBDLowerChannel2.jpg
(Original source: http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=5021&picno=44036&zoom=1)

Ill stick with the original art on this game, but if you want to redo Flash

I think the backglass is awesome. Margaret Hudson is an excellent artist. Wouldn't want any of my machines to have anything else.

The cabinet artwork is excellent too (especially on the 1st machine).

Eight Ball Deluxe is the best SS Bally ever made (and arguably the best pinball machine Bally ever made IMO).

What he said.

It's just not for me is all. I think it's very well done, I dig the typography and the layout with the rope frames. I just don't dig the Marlboro Man / cowboy vibe personally. It wouldn't stop me from owning it, it's a great game, and I love early Bally SS a lot. Right now I have Fathom (on loan), Flash Gordon, Mystic, and Fireball II.

At some point Fathom will go home, and I'll probably try and trade my Fireball II for another Bally when something comes up. EBD is definitely on the list to go in one of those slots if I get a chance. But I'm not sure I'd pay a lot for a collector quality one for instance, because the theme doesn't make it worth it to me.

My favorite solid state Bally is Flash Gordon. IMHO it's the "Iron Man" of the era. Hard and fast, keeps you coming back for more. Mine's in decent condition, but not a looker. Backglass is great though, that's important. But man, it plays great.

Have any of you EBD people tried Cliffy's tweaked ball guides? I'm not sure how they are for EBD, he said they worked, but on Flash Gordon they're really nice. Smooths out that ball hop transition. Might not be "purist original", but I love the way it plays and feels.

Anything 1980 Bally is cool to me really. Not a hater!

Completely agree 100%!!!

I certainly like the 70's vibe overall in the BG.

I always felt like the dude's eye socket is about 1" too far outside (and possibly too small). It's a dislocated eye socket to me. I can't "unsee" it.
-mof

For one thing, using those Cliffys ball guides for anything other than the upper garnish on EBD is a mistake IMO. I can see possibly using them on machines that originally had that style if the originals are worn out but not on EBD. Bally went to the plastic style for a reason. Because you don't want a semi-sharp stainless steel edge scratching the ball up which in turn ruins the playfield.

The stainless edge is never supposed to touch the ball on EBD. It's just a garnish. If you have ball hop transition as you call it, that means either your plastic guides are worn-out or improperly adjusted. If they are good shape there is no ball hop. Bally must have decided it was better to have to replace a couple plastic guides after extensive use rather than the entire playfield.

I have restored a lot of EBD machines and occasionally I'll get one where the lower plastic guides were either worn or melted from the lamp underneath and a previous owner decided to flip them around and put the stainless steel one below the plastic so they can eliminate the ball hop. Well the stainless guides are always ruined with big burrs on the edge and the playfields are shot from excessive ball wear. Usually worn down to bare wood.

If you replace the plastic ones once every 40 years or so you won't ever have any problems - plus your EBD will look they way it is supposed to look. But those Cliffys would be good to replace the upper garnishes if someone used them as the ball guides and ruined them. I wish I still had some of the ones I've found because some of the stainless guides were worn down to almost nothing - and they caused a ball hop too.

EBD is without a doubt the most sought-after SS pin of all-time. Fathom is a cool machine but it doesn't hold a candle to EBD and never did in the field either. Fathom was not nearly as successful commercially. I have both and love my Fathom too but it would be long gone before EBD.

Oh yeah, and that picture you show in your post is not from 1980. That is the backglass from the 3rd edition of EBD (aka Classic) and it was released in 1985. The original Bally EBD was released in 1981.

Here are the two next to each other. The 1985 Bally/Williams release has a smaller backglass than the original and it slides out of the hinged channel instead of lifting out like the original.

IMG_9818.JPG

How's this? Is this better?

Chipmunk_Chet.jpg

No. Still doesn't look quite "Right"
-mof

I must be misunderstanding you here.

Are you by chance claiming that the industry-standard stainless steel inlane return guide designs and materials that have been preferred by all manufacturers for the last 40 years have actually been a complete mistake?

-mof

Quit talking and start chalking!

EBD HELLEN.jpg

Yikes.

EBD > AC/DC every day of the week.
I always vote pro-outlane visibility.
And if seeing your outlanes isn't a priority for you, you're doing it wrong.

-mof

Ha!

I would love a retheme on the glass and get rid of "Chet". He needs to go. As for the game; a must for any Solid State collection but defnitely not in my top 10. I do like playing it every now and then though.

That's cause you are spoiled by all those classic Sterns in your lineup.

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Well I have a few Classic Stern's i.e. Stern JUNK and some SS Bally's....

This style is definitely a mistake. They weren't used on tons of machines though.

That's probably why Bally changed them to just be garnishes on Eight Bally Deluxe rather than guides. The effects of the edge wearing and ruining the balls becomes a lot more noticeable as gameplay became a lot faster in the SS era. Unprotected playfields lasted longer on EMs than they did on the later SS pins.

The stainless garnish on EBD was not intended to be used as a lane guide. On EBD machines where they have been used improperly as guides, they are almost always worn excessively with huge burrs on the edge and the playfield is shot. These Cliffys parts would be great to use as Bally intended on EBD. They are beautiful looking and until now I don't think anyone has ever made them. Using them as lane guides though is a mistake IMO. It is not an improvement over good plastic guides. Plus it makes the machine look wrong.