Bally Eight Ball Deluxe is hands-down the best SS pinball machine ever made (and the most sought-after).

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Here's what it takes to properly rebuild linear flippers from a 34 year old pinball machine. It might cost a little to do it right but it's worth it:

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My guess is if you are having problems with the flipper sticking in the up position, you need to look at the coil sleeve, the plunger, the nylon bushing and the plunger stop. Another thing to look at is binding on the nylon bushing or if the bracket is cocked or bent. It sounds like something pretty-simple to me. I think I've had a problem like that once but was able to eliminate it after proper diagnosis.

I'm pretty anal about having all of my pins working 100% right down to every bulb.

If these flippers were as unreliable as they have been for you, EBD wouldn't have lasted a week on location because they got the crap played out of them back then.

I ought to know. As a kid in 1981 I fed EBD more quarters than I ever fed any other pinball machine.

Everybody wants an Eight Ball Deluxe. For me it's #1. The two pins in the picture in my previous post are two of the best I've ever had. Keepers with super-nice original cabinets and playfields both as clean as a whistle. One was HUO and the other is just as clean so I don't know what its story is.

I've had a bunch of these. Here are a couple more. A pimped-out 1981 model next to a pimped-out 1983 "Classic" edition:

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Here's some Eight Ball Deluxe trivia for you guys who were born too late to have experienced these pins during the pinnacle of pinball's popularity. There were three versions of EBD. The original from 1981, the Limited Edition from 1982, and what has come to be called the "Classic" edition from 1984.

The most-popular version is the original from 1981. The 2nd most-popular is the 1984 Classic edition from 1984. The Limited Edition comes in last because of the goofy cabinet and displays. However, all three versions play exactly the same.

Here's the trivia part. Back in the days when these machines were new, we used to call the 1981 version the "Bad Guy" because it has an evil-looking ghoul on the backbox.

The 1984 version was the "Nice Guy" because it had a normal-looking dude with a wedding band on his finger.

So the picture above is of a "Bad Guy" sitting next to a "Nice Guy".

It wasn't Stacy Keach or Daniel Simpson Day.

The artwork was created by Margaret Hudson and as far as I know, it wasn't based on any living person.

Crazy? I don't think so. I have a Fathom too but Eight Ball Deluxe is a better pin (and was ten times more popular in the day).

I remember when both were new in the arcades. There were a couple guys we would always see on Fathom. That's all they would play and we liked it too but if it came down to a choice between Fathom and Eight Ball Deluxe it was pretty-much a no-brainer.

Stop Talkin' and Start Chalkin'!

It's very nice but I would have painted the cabinet the correct custard color if the goal was to make it a "collector's piece".

You must not do a complete job of rebuilding them after 40 years of use if you still have problems afterwards. When I do mine they are perfect and good for another 30 years of hard play. No further problems and best of all, the pinball machine performs exactly as it was designed to when new.

Now if you are less than 50 years old, it probably doesn't matter as much because you weren't playing these pins when they were brand-new and don't know any better. But to us purists who grew up with these machines from the day they came out until now it matters a lot and changing to the older style definitely changes the game play. The same goes for all the classic Bally pins that originally came equipped with linear flippers.

That's not a restoration then. It's a modification and takes away the value of the machine to hard-core EBD aficionados like me. I would be able to tell the difference in gameplay right away.

It's like when guys claim they are "restoring" a classic car but take liberties with things that were not originally used on a car. To "restore" something means to return it to as close to like new condition as possible. The fewer deviations from absolute originality, the higher the level of restoration is.

When you say you are 'restoring" a playfield by clearcoating it, that's not really a restoration either. It's a modification because it changes the way the game plays afterwards.

I'm not opposed to all mods. I just don't have the issues you guys seem to have with linear flippers and prefer them to the older style in pins that originally came with them from the factory. I see zero value in switching to the older style and would never even consider it.

Both of my current EBD pins play exactly like they did new. I've had a lot of EBD pins over the years and never have any problems with the linear flippers after refurbishing them. I don't ever have any problem with the older style either when they are in good shape.

I'd be willing to bet money that a truly objective player wouldn't say the older style are better though. The style you like are newer. The coils also look bigger on your modified flippers vs the linears. It doesn't look like you are comparing apples to apples.

The reason linears are smoother than the earlier Bally style though is because of the guided plunger and the variable fulcrum of the arm. With the older style, the fulcrum is fixed and the plunger flops around more due to the arc of the arm. With the linear design the plungers are precisely guided through additional nylon bushings giving the mechanism a smoother and more true linear action inside the coil sleeve. The nylon bushing on the actuator arms acts as a self-lubricating variable fulcrum point that is constantly changing throughout the plunger movement as it floats in the slot in the plunger body. It's a more precise transmission of linear to rotary motion than the older style.

Now of course if you let the parts wear out and don't rebuild them properly or maintain them afterwards on your linear flippers, they won't have the precise movement they were originally designed to have. But if kept in like new condition, the performance is superior to the older style.

You can definitely tell the difference between the two designs and if I were to install a linear flipper in perfect operating condition on one side of a pin and an older style on the other, 99% of the objective users would prefer the linear.

I've had a few of them over the years and have converted some 1981 EBD pins over to the twist lamp printed circuit boards. As you are aware, only the third and final 1983 "Classic Edition" Bally/Midway version used the PCB lamp sockets. I have even swapped complete 1983 wiring harnesses over to 1981 EBD pins.

In addition to the PCB lamps, the 1983 Midway EBD wiring harness had a few other improvements. The drop target assemblies all had Molex connectors making it easier to swap out the entire assemblies where the two earlier EBD versions had the horseshoe drop target coil arrays hard-wired to the wring harnesses.

Whenever I see someone parting out a 1983 EBD, I always buy the lamp socket PCBs and the entire wiring harnesses too if they aren't hacked up too bad. As a pinball parts manufacturer and a Ham Radio operator who has made printed circuit boards in the past, I have considered making these boards but have never gotten around to it. I have a lot of other projects going on.

Each EBD pin requires three PCBs for the playfield lamps. Here are two complete sets I have right now that I bought a few years ago. I'm really not looking to sell them though.

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Since they only made about 1,500 of the Midway machines, they are getting harder to find. You can still buy the twist sockets brand-new though and I have a bag full of them. Keep looking on eBay and continue to look around. You'll probably find some eventually.

My two current EBD pins still have the original individual 555 lamp sockets but I still keep these for future projects. They are awful nice. I don't know why one is a different color? It's an oddball I guess.

I also still have one complete 1983 wiring harness that could be used with one set of these to do the full Midway conversion. A few years ago I built a gawdy pimped-out 1981 EBD and added the complete 1983 wiring harness. It had an NOS clear-coated playfield and brand-new everything and a lot of chrome. I do both type of machines (hard-core restorations and modified pins) and am not totally opposed to mods. All of my EBD pins retain the linear flippers though. That is one thing I never change.

lol

Adjustment 22 (from pressing the self-test button on the coin door) controls how many games are awarded when you get all six DELUXE lights lit.

00 = no award
01 = one free game
02 = two free games
03 = three free games

Switch # 22 on the MPU is the control for how the D-E-L-U-X-E lights in the backbox are advanced.

>With switch 22 "on" - every time you complete D-E-L-U-X-E on the playfield the backbox will advance one letter.
>With switch 22 "off" - every time you complete D-E-L-U-X-E when "Special" is lit the backbox will advance one letter.

All you have to remember is "22" for both.

I remember when EBD was new and we figured out what the D-E-L-U-X-E lights on the backbox meant, we used to love walking into an arcade and finding a EBD machine sitting there with "D-E-L-U-X" lit. We would fight over who got to put their quarter in first.

Most operators had them set up with switch 22 turned "on" and self-test adjustment 22 set to "03" which were the most-liberal settings. That's the way I have all my EBD pins set up too.

Lol I think there's a little more to the story of Bally's demise than that. The writing was on the wall for commercial pinball as a growth industry after 1982 and Bally wanted out. The flipper design wasn't a factor as far as the demise of pinball goes. Bally would have been gone no matter what flipper design they used.

As far as I'm concerned, EBD was everyone's last big pinball "hit". There were later pins that had more units produced but none that ever rose to the level of outright fanatical popularity of EBD. At least not in my book.

I would never change the linear flippers because they work fantastic for me (and I don't mind the noise). It's part of the game. It is loud with the playfield up though. So I guess you change out the flippers in your old EM pins too? I wouldn't do that either even though the newer style you prefer would definitely be stronger.

Yes you are correct. I have seen a few of the LEs with the lamp PCBs too. Not too many though.

It must have happened towards the end of the production run. It would be interesting to know at what serial number they started putting them in?

The CPR playfields were more pale white than the original factory playfields were. That's because they duplicated the Fabulous Fantasies overlays which are also on the pale side. They don't look bad though. The one in the bonzo442's pictures looks to be a CPR repop or it may be a Fabulous Fantasies overlay. I also restored a couple OEM playfields and had them touched up pale white so it could be one like that too but I doubt it.

The IPB playfields look more authentic as compared to OEM. They are supposed to be a light custard color rather than the stark white that is similar to the color of the metal apron and the cabinet.

On the left is a CPR playfield and on the right is an IPB:

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As was mentioned earlier, all you have to do is to look underneath the metal apron. If there is a color palette it is an IPB (Illinois Pinball).

Your playfield looks like either a CPR repop or a Fabulous Fantasies overlay but I see what you are saying and it does look somewhat yellow up there too so it's hard to tell from the pic. Your cabinet looks like it was repainted by Fabulous Fantasies though (they also paint the cabinets a pale white instead of the light yellow custard they originally were). It's definitely more pale than OEM.

The 1981 machine used a light custard yellow for the cabinet. If you want an exact match you can take one of your back boxes that is still painted the factory color to a paint store and have them color match it. Home Depot or Lowes can do it.

As for the switch, it's just a leaf switch. What I usually do is to replace the blades with the contacts and use the rest of the parts from the original. But you can purchase the entire assembly too if you need to. Marco Specialties carries the individual contact blades (25 cents each) or a complete roll-over switch assembly for $6.00. Go to the Marco website and type "leaf switch" in the search box.

Pinball resource has them too as do other places.

That's why the dimples in NOS playfields and even the CPR ones are not to be taken as gospel. They are "ballparky" at best. That's why when I hear someone say the CPR playfields are better than the IPB repops because they have the pre-spotted holes I have to disagree with their logic because to make the game perfect you usually need to tweak them some so the dimples aren't really that much of a deciding factor for me.

The main things I look for are the registration of the artwork, the flatness of the wood, and other cosmetic flaws.

If you don't want to drill holes just go buy some Lexan and make your own custom lane guides. I've made quite a few of them over the years. It isn't very hard. You can add a little extra material when you mark them to be cut on a jigsaw to compensate for the mismatch. It will still look factory then.

Making your own Lexan replacements maintains the correct lighting. Using two metal ones hides the lamp underneath. Not that big of a deal but making a Lexan one is cheaper and looks more original than adding another stainless blade. Plus with Lexan you can customize it exactly for your particular game to eliminate the mismatch. The Lexan holds-up to the heat better than the originals did too which warped over time.

The 84-85 "Classic" edition Bally/Midway EBD is a decent pin. I don't know why it is called the "Classic". The apron score cards say "Limited Edition" and the apron is identical to the previous Limited Edition too. Also referred to as the "Nice Guy" version.

Play is identical to the other two versions. One improvement to the playfield are the under playfield lamp circuit boards with twist-in #555 sockets.

The cabinets used decals instead of painted graphics. The decals always faded if exposed to UV. Cabinets can be stripped and repainted if desired but you must make your own stencils.

I paid $1200 a few years ago for one and fully restified it with a touched-up and clear-coated immaculate playfield, repainted cabinet, and blinged-out trim. Sold it for $4,000 on eBay.

When you say "it doesn't work as well", to most people that means it works just not as well as the others. In other words it is faint, not out altogether or works intermittently.

When you mean it doesn't light at all, one usually says "It doesn't work at all".

So which is it? If it is just not as bright as the rest or works intermittently you probably have a bad connection. If it is out altogether, then you could have a bad lamp driver board SCR as Vid mentioned or a broken connection somewhere.

Even though you didn't take my advice and stick with the linear flipper mechanisms I'll still help you get your flippers wired correctly. If you were to play one of mine though, I know you'd want to switch back to the linear setup. But we won't dwell on that.

LOL

So to get yours up and running.....

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> Your upper flipper is wired correctly.

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> Your Left flipper has the switch wired correctly but one wire is soldered to the wrong terminal on the coil and one is loose. Do all the work to the coil and leave the switch as-is. The brown wire on the switch with the red arrow is currently wired to the center terminal on the coil. Cut it from the center terminal on the coil and re-solder it to the coil terminal closest to the switch (marked with the other red arrow). (see pic)

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Then take the loose wire that is attached to the switch (marked by the blue arrow) and solder it to the center terminal on the coil. You could have reversed these wires and just soldered the loose wire to the coil terminal closest to the switch and it still would work but might as well return it to factory while you are at it. (call me anal if you want)

All your other wires look OK on this flipper.

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> Your right flipper is pretty easy to wire. You should have two brown wires twisted together (like it shows in your picture) and also one orange wire coming from your wiring harness. The two brown wire are soldered to the terminal on the coil that is furthest away from the switch (marked with the red arrows). The orange wire is then soldered to the coil terminal closest to the switch (marked with the blue arrows).

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You will then need to cut two jumper wires about 3" long each to wire the switch. They were brown from the factory if you want to keep everything looking original. Solder one of the jumper wires from a terminal on the switch to the terminal on the coil furthest from the switch (as marked with the blue arrows). Then solder the other jumper wire from the other terminal on the switch to the center terminal of the coil (as marked with the red arrow).

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As long as everything else is OK, your flippers should work. If they don't, at least they will be wired correctly and you will be able to troubleshoot more easily from there.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

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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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"If true" huh?

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

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.

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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.

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 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).

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.

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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.

I remember in 1981 when EBD first came out. It was an instant hit. The group of guys I used to hang out with as a teen and I would play pinball almost every day. I can't count the number of quarters I blew on pinball in the late 70s / early 80s. Back then every mall had at least one huge arcade. Some had more than one. Every bowling alley also had a generous assortment of pinball machines.

By that time though, Space Invaders and PacMan were coming out too and the video games were signaling the end of pinball as we knew it. My friends and I were hard-core pinball fanatics though and spent the vast majority of our quarters on pinball. We used to drive miles out of our way just to go to a certain bowling alley or arcade that had Eight Ball Deluxe. It was without a doubt the most-popular pinball machine back then and I can't think of any machine since that has matched that level of enthusiasm. I remember one sitting right next to a Fathom and guys would be lined-up slapping quarters on the playfield glass of the EBD while Fathom sat there with cobwebs hanging off it.

Then a few years later we had a decent arcade in the student union at college. What was the most-popular pin there? It was an EBD Limited Edition except by then the price had changed from 5 balls for 25 cents to 3 balls for 50 cents. We still played the crap out of it almost every night (whenever we weren't either binge-drinking and/or chasing women).

We used to call the original 1981 edition of EBD "The Bad Guy Machine" because of ghoulish-looking character on the sides of the backbox.

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We called the 1985 "Classic Edition" from Bally/Midway "The Nice Guy Machine" because of the nicer-looking guy on the sides of the backbox with a wedding band on his hand.

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We really didn't have a name for the Limited Edition version. It was always looked at as kind of an oddball but it's still just as good of a player.

No it won't harm the playfield one bit. It's good stuff. I always have a bottle of it laying around.

Both PBR and Marco carry replacement #555 lamp sockets. They are the later style but can be used in older pins too. The exception are the sockets in the early 80s pop bumpers. All that I've found out there are the lay-down style and the illumination looks funny under an EBD pop cap and the fit sucks. Also the flush-mounts style don't fit in the factory #555 lamp holes in the playfield without some massaging.

Here are the PBR sockets: http://www.pbresource.com/sockets.html#555

Here are the Marco #555 sockets: http://www.marcospec.com/control/keywordsearch;jsessionid=4E21804B9062E11EDFFADBC1DB13DD36.jvm1?SEARCH_STRING=555+lamp+socket

The 44/47 lamp sockets are called "bayonet" sockets because you insert the lamp and twist to secure. The #555 lamp sockets simply press-in.

The reason Bally went to the #555 lamp in the early 80s was two-fold. One reason was that the #555 lamp runs as bright as a #44 but lasts longer and generates a lot less heat which saves backglasses and playfield plastics. Another reason was the bayonet style sockets corrode and lose connectivity long before the #555 style sockets do.

You have to remember that the sockets in an EBD are going to be 35 years old, but remarkably they usually still work and most can be salvaged with a little cleaning. Instead of the plated metal housing with insulators and other conductors attached in an assembly, the #555 sockets only have two strips of brass/copper contacts inside a plastic housing that just touch two wires on the lamp. With a little cleaning you can usually bring life back to them unless they are totally trashed from sitting outside exposed to the elements or stored in a damp area and ruined by moisture over time or some other environmental abuse. Of course if the pin had bayonet style lamp sockets that were exposed to the same environment, they would definitely be unsalvageable trash.

These #555 style sockets were also widely used in the auto industry in instrument panels and other interior illumination. They too switched from the less-reliable bayonet style sockets. Once a bayonet style socket goes bad you might as-well throw it away because it is never going to be the same again.

I wish someone would manufacture exact duplicates of the style #555 sockets used in EBD but after a few years Bally/Williams and others went to the newer #555 style (like the ones PBR & Marco have on their websites) because in reality they are a little better design than the older #555 sockets but don't fit as well in some cases and don't look the same for a hard-core restoration.

Now if you are planning on going to LEDs or are simply replacing the original #555 sockets because you like the bayonet style better, they will last several years before they start giving you problems again but eventually they will start to corrode and fail just like they did back in the days. Just like the incandescent lamps available nowadays, the bayonet style sockets are cheaply-made in China and don't last forever. The bulbs made today definitely don't hold up nearly as long as they used to.

If your #555 sockets are no good, switching to the bayonet style is the easiest fix since they will fit perfectly in the playfield. The pop bumper lamp sockets are another matter though. The older bayonet pop bumper lamp sockets are pretty-crappy and tend to fail - not to mention they must be unsoldered (or cut) to disassemble the pop bumper. The #555 pop bumper lamp sockets have connectors on them which makes them easier to remove but sometimes they are broken-off which tends to render them useless. They also have a rubber shock absorber to help the filaments in the bulbs survive the constant shock from the pop bumpers firing.

I try to save the #555 pop bumper sockets if I can because the bayonet style don't fit in the later style pop bumper bodies. The replacement #555 sockets designed for pop bumpers that are available now don't fit worth a crap either. You are good to go either way on the rest of them though. Whatever works best. If the #555 sockets aren't too corroded or physically broken, I try to clean them up and save them. I also buy used assembled playfields if I see one with decent-looking #555 lamp sockets. I haven't seen any NOS ones in a long time now. You always have the option to switch to the older bayonet style if you have to though. If I only need a couple of the original #555 sockets to complete a playfield, I have removed the ones in the coin door to use on the playfield and replaced them with bayonets in the coin door.

When I restore a machine that originally came with bayonet sockets I almost always bite the bullet and replace them all with new ones. They are a lot like the pins in old connectors. If you don't just go ahead and replace them all, you'll usually end-up fighting the old ones. I usually have a big bag of each style. The flush-mount, surface-mount, and the right angle.

Here's a Midway version of EBD I pimped-out a few years ago. Chrome everything and custom repainted cabinet with a clear-coated NOS playfield.

Check out the custom score cards I made for it. I prefer the factory look (with some liberties taken).

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Actually, the 2nd and 3rd release of Eight Ball Deluxe both had the same "Limited Edition" score cards even though the 3rd release didn't say it anywhere else.

The 3rd Bally/Midway release is commonly referred to as the "Classic" but it doesn't say that anywhere either. I don't know why they call it the Classic since the real classic is the original 1981 release.

The model popularity tends to be:

#1 The original 1981 release
#2 The final 1984/85 Bally Midway "Classic"
#3 The 1983 "limited Edition"

The 1981 original is by-far the most-popular version. Better artwork and cabinet although the 1985 has the better under playfield lamp twist-socket circuit boards. The 1981 has painted graphics and the 1985 has decals.

But the good news is that they all play the same so you really can't go wrong there.

The 1981 models are the most sought-after and sell for the most money with all things being equal as far as condition.

The other two are kind of red-headed stepchildren. The 1983 Limited Edition was Bally's last hurrah before selling to Midway and were built using left-over cabinets. The 1985 version was Midway's attempt to capitalize on Bally's most-popular machine from the era one last time.

A Limited Edition is still an Eight Ball Deluxe. It plays just as good as any of the others. Back in the days when these machines were new, we didn't care what version it was. Just so it was an EBD. Nowadays people tend to place more value on the original strictly as a "collectable" rather than anything else because as a player they are all equal.

This kind of goes with another topic I saw on here a couple days ago about "rarity". Both the Limited Edition and the Classic are more rare than the original but rarity doesn't automatically equal higher value on the market.

1981 was the last year for the traditional Bally cabinet . None of them had a white backbox (or backbox front edge).

There were eight machines released in 1981:
1: Medusa
2: Eight Ball Deluxe
3: Elektra
4: Embryon
5: Fireball II
6: Centaur
7: Fathom
8: Flash Gordon

Probably the last Bally pinball machine to have a white backbox front edge per say was Silverball Mania released in 1980.

It was the best year as far as I'm concerned. There's never been a better one. All the 1981 releases were great.

It's just a shame it also signaled the end for Bally largely due to the rise of video games. Not too long afterwards we started to see the decline of the arcades. But for a couple years it was pure heaven if you were into pinball. Every mall had at least one major arcade (sometimes more than one). Every bowling alley also had a generous selection of pins. The east coast boardwalks all had tons of pinball machines and arcades as well as all the amusement parks. Not a whole lot of people I knew back then had them in their houses though.

I used to blow every cent I had on pinball and hang out in the arcades all the time.

It looks good Blitzburgh99!

There are a lot of people looking for them right now. Be prepared to pay big bucks if you are lucky enough to find one. Even then, check it out good because there are a lot of "seconds" out there.

That pin in the playfield is factory.

They all had it when new. Nothing else went there.

One thing to notice that you can tell from the picture is it is the 1985 Bally/Midway "Classic" version. That particular version used the blue star plastic posts while the two earlier editions of EBD used the traditional Bally blue "ringed" posts.

The 1985 Bally/Midway version also used nylon nuts on the top threaded posts while the earlier versions originally used the push-on rubbers although the Limited Edition may have switched late in the run to the nylon.

Your connectors have exceeded their life expectancy. The one in the picture is garbage.

Your best move would be to replace them all. Then you shouldn't have any more wiring issues.

It's not that hard to do.

You can buy new connectors and pins from several places.

Here's a good one:

http://www.bigdaddy-enterprises.com/

Yeah I don't think they are supposed to be that way.

Hard to tell what exactly is going on there?

Here's a warped CPR playfield for sale:

ebay.com link: CPR Bally Eight Ball Deluxe Reproduction Pinball Playfield

That's the correct apron for both the Limited Edition and the Bally/Midway "Classic" editions.

The 1981 original version had the custard colored apron.

Also:

The 1981 score cards read "Eight Ball Deluxe" and the Limited Edition & the Bally/Midway "Classic" score cards both read "Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition".

The words "Eight" and "Ball" were always separate on the real Bally score cards though just like they are on the backglass. This would lead one to believe that the cards used in Robert's picture are reproductions. Actually I've seen the incorrect reproductions with Eightball" as one word for sale from parts vendors like Marco and on eBay before. Only a hard-core EBD fan would notice the discrepancy but it's one of those little things that I tend to be a little "anal" about. If someone is going to go to all the trouble of making reproduction score cards they should at least get the spelling right.

I know I can be dick at times but that's just me.

lol

Yeah "stop talking and start chalking" for cryin' out loud!

Here's a genuine Bally Eight Ball Deluxe score card:

EBD_(resized).jpg

Not necessarily true. Most pinball machines that I used to play in 1981 were still set to 5 balls including Eight Ball Deluxe. I remember when the Midway "Classic" version came out too it was still a 5-ball game where I lived in PA but by that time you started seeing more games starting to be set to three balls. I remember when I was in college in the later 80s we had an EBD LE on campus and it was set to three balls but this was several years after it's release.

Basically the operator had the option of either way but up to the early to mid 80s the majority still used 5-balls.

I prefer 5-balls on all my Bally SS because that was they way they were set when I used to play them as a kid.

We tended to avoid the games set to 3-balls if we ever did run across one.

The big difference between the older EMs and the newer SS pins was that the EMs accepted dimes and quarters where the SS pins only accepted quarters and SBA dollars. Most older EMs were set to one game for a dime or three for a quarter while the newer SS pins were one game for a quarter (sometimes 3 for 50 cents) and usually 5 or 6 games for a SBA dollar.

All SS pins were still 5-ball games in the early 80s in the arcades I spent my time in.

In the 70s you rarely ever saw one set to 3-balls. When you did, it was an anomaly.

I just sent you a PM Ron.

In PA 99% of all the early SS pins I used to play were set to 5-balls. Back then there was at least one big arcade at every mall (sometimes two big ones). Every bowling alley also had a generous selection of pins. We used to drive out of our way just to play EBD and all of them were set to 5-balls.

I don't think I played a 3-ball game of EBD until around 1985-86 (and that was at a college student union). But I had seen a few at other places and just passed them by. All of the SS pins are better set to 5 balls.

There was no "default" ball setting for SS pins. It's like anything else that is designed to make a profit. The operators were either cheapskates and had them set to 3-balls or they were cool and had them set to 5-balls.

I think EBD is a far-better player at 5 balls than at 3 balls although 3-balls are better than none.

You know what I meant. I'm not doubting that some operators set them to three balls. Just the statement that the manuals says 3-balls are the default setting. I think you are mistaken there.

99% of the pins I played back then were set to 5-balls for a quarter - including the machines in the arcade I worked in. Especially in the 1970s.

The places I used to see early SS pins set to three balls the most often were settings like airports or other locations like the boardwalk at the Jersey shore where the players weren't regulars. People just stopping in for a game or two or tourists in places where everything was basically a rip-off too and they could get away with it. I usually avoided those machines.

There are actually four options for number of balls (2,3,4,5). I don't see anything in the manuals saying the default setting is 3-balls. The score cards each have their own recommended settings and the manual shows cards for both 3-ball and 5-ball. It was all just a matter of preference including how much you wanted to charge for a game. That's why various pricing inserts for the coin mechs were also included with the manuals.

No I never have seen that and there aren't any score cards for it that I've ever seen either but the machine does have the capability of being set to those options.

Gosh two balls would really suck.

lol

One thing that's interesting about EBD that I never tried or noticed is when you have it set to 5-balls in attract mode it will say "Eight Ball Deluxe.... Five Ball" and in 3-ball mode it will say "Eight Ball Deluxe... Three ball".

I wonder if it is set to two or four balls if it says the same for them?

Most likely but I just never tried it.

The wiring varies slightly between the models but the actual wooden playfields are all the same dimensionally.

Not necessarily. It's going to be at least several months before we see the CPR playfields and this guy may have needed one for a project now. Also, he got an IPB version which are getting more rare every day. They were very nice as long as he can apply the side rails and get most of the warpage out of it.

One thing I regret was selling my last NOS Harlem Globetrotters playfield. I was on the CPR pre-order list for both the Globetrotters playfields and plastics so I decided to sell it to a guy on Pinside along with my last NOS plastics set. I wish I would have kept them because I later found out after waiting several months that the Globetrotters playfields and plastics were cancelled because of some licensing agreement or something.

So even though this new release of EBD playfields looks to be for real, nothing beats having the sure thing right now if you can afford it. I have my last IPB EBD playfield sitting here and wouldn't sell it for $1400. It can't be easily replaced.

I bought 8 of the EBD playfields from Gene when they were still available. The one I have left was the best of the lot.

I also bought 6 Kiss playfields at the same time. I still have one IPB Kiss playfield and backglass left too.

But I'm glad CPR is making more and am in the cue for both. They are definitely the two most sought-after Bally SS playfields. That's why there is still a huge demand for both even after IPB made a ton of them.

When this next batch of playfields are made by CPR it would be interesting to see which one is their all-time biggest seller. I bet EBD will right up there.

I don't think I've ever seen a preorder fill up and be closed after only one week.

No other playfield is in such high demand. The reason they had any extras last run was because the IPB playfields were still out there. Now that they have all been snatched up as well as the 1st CPR playfields, this next run will be gobbled right up.

I kind of wish I would have ordered more now.

You have the correct wires going to that pin (pin #13). Two wires (white with black stripe).

What is missing is a jumper wire from that pin to the burnt one on the end (pin #15).

You can get connectors from several places. One I use a lot is Big Daddy http://www.bigdaddy-enterprises.com/

Here's a picture of an EBD auxiliary lamp driver board I replaced the connectors on:

IMG_8404_(resized).JPG

On this application I decided to put them in there exactly why you suspected. For greater retention.

The original Bally connectors have inserts in every pin location whether they are being used or not. When I installed these connectors the retention was less than the originals had, even with the trifurcon inserts, so I added inserts to the unused positions too.

This is a 1st gen EBD and the auxiliary lamp driver board is mounted on the hinged backbox lamp board. I felt it was better to add the extra inserts. Now they are nice and tight like the originals were.

You can easily see which ones are not used. They are not crimped. I normally don't add them but in this case decided it wouldn't hurt.

That's a nice-looking 1981 Eight Ball Deluxe machine .

You'll find quite a few have the full Mylar installed. It slows the ball play down some but reminds me of how most of them I used to play back in the day were. I think the majority of operators used them although I've had quite a few without the full Mylar too.

I just sold a real nice one with a day one full Mylar a couple months ago to a Pinside member.

I've done that before too. You can remove the Mylar and it will still be pretty-nice underneath.

Here was one I removed from a EBD "Classic":

MVC-015S_(resized).JPG

I sent it to Rick Stefonek and had it touched-up, all the inserts re-leveled and after 6 layers of automotive clearcoat it was a showpiece. It cost me $400 and was definitely worth it.

I later sold the game for $4,500 on eBay (and that was ten years ago).

.

From every example I've seen over the years, the 1984-85 Midway "Classic" edition used the translucent blue star posts with nylon acorn nuts while the earlier versions used the traditional Bally ringed posts with the rubber post caps.

I won't say that's absolute but it's the way it's been from my experience.

Marco Specialties as well as most other suppliers should have the blue star posts.

It looks good!

When I get a totally-trashed 35 year old switch like that I just replace it with a brand-new one. Then it is good for the rest of my life at least. Anything else is a short-lived Band-Aid that you will be sure to be revisiting unless your plan is to just get it working and sell it.

I have a couple rebuilt and fully-tested EBD Squawk & Talk boards for sale.

Since it has a lift channel it is obviously a 1981.

It's not used.

I posted a pictorial on it a few years ago.

Here is a condensed version:

IMG_7320.JPG
Just a couple waves of the lighter is all that is needed. You don't want to get the post too hot or the plastic gets gooey.

IMG_7313.JPG
A drill bit works great for this but you can do it with just about anything.

IMG_7321.JPG

IMG_7326.JPG

IMG_7327.JPG
Work your way around the post by turning it as you squeeze progressively until the flange is straight. You don't want to squeeze it too hard though or the screw won't fit in the hole when you are done.

IMG_7330.JPG

After the flange has been straightened the post can then be easily inserted into the new plastics piece.

Then install the plastic to the playfield and as you tighten the screws they will mushroom the post slightly again to the plastic. If the piece is a lower plastic (like this EBD lane guide is), you can use a shorter screw to mushroom the post and then remove it or leave the post as-is because there is another one that goes on top and after the screw is tightened it won't be going anywhere. There really is no need to mushroom them at all if you don't want to.

Yeah it doesn't take much heat to easily remove them.

I usually squeeze the flanges straight and then throw them in my vibratory polisher to clean them up nice.

Wow I'm flattered. I do like the EBD though guys and it is probably the main reason I became so interested in getting into these machines after the fact. EBD was a significant part of my youth back in the early 80s as thousands of hours were spent feeding them quarters. Then when I went to college they even had one in the Student Union.

We were kind of snobbish back then and looked down on some of the other titles. It was different when you actually had to pay to play. Like most kids I had a limited supply of quarters to spend at the arcades so I didn't just throw them in any old machine. Sometimes it takes several plays before you really start to appreciate how good a game really is.

Now years later after I have played the crap out of most of the Bally SS titles from the era I have a greater appreciation for the others but EBD still reigns as #1 all time in my book.

It's funny because whenever I bring an EBD to a pinball show I always have three things happen.
1) Tons of people ask me if it is for sale.
2) Several hard-core pin fans in my age group come over and tell me stories of how they think EBD is the greatest pin ever made and how much it influenced them back in the days too and how much they love it, etc.
3) Even after I tell people the machine isn't for sale they still bug the crap out of me to sell it. lol

I think anyone who restores Bally SS pins will tell you even if they had a warehouse full of restored EBD pins they could sell them all faster than any other title. Herb Silvers at Fabulous Fantasies has probably restored and sold hundreds of them out there in California. I always have one in my personal collection at all times. The one I have now is definitely a keeper that I doubt I will ever sell.

Just look at these three indicating factors as to the popularity of EBD:
1) Of all the titles to choose from, Eight Ball Deluxe was the machine AMTEX chose to make their landmark pinball simulation PC based game. They could have chosen any title but went with EBD. Later they released Gottlieb "Royal Flush" which was arguably the most-iconic EM from the 70s.
2) Of all the Bally titles, Eight Ball Deluxe & Kiss were the two IPB chose to make the lion's share of reproduction playfields & plastics for.
3) CPR is now planning their second production run of the EBD playfields & plastics and the pre-order list was filled faster than any other title I think they've ever had. And this comes after they made a large batch just a couple years ago. After CPR sells all of them there will still be people on here nagging them to make more.

Yeah it's definitely the original 1981 version.

It looks like he has the Six Million Dollar Man set up higher than the EBD though. They should both be the same.

That's definitely a 1981 machine so if you have the twist-in lamp sockets with printed circuit boards underneath the playfield someone added them. Also, the artwork for the 1981 machine was not decals originally. They are painted with stencils.

If the seller gave you some Alltek info that means he swapped out some of the original boards for aftermarket Alltek board(s). Alltek makes replacement MPU, lamp driver, and solenoid driver boards for Bally SS.

It sounds like you need to just go through your machine and perform some maintenance to all the playfield components. The pop bumpers should be every bit as powerful as the earlier Six Million Dollar Man. I would rebuild the flippers too. Do it all up nice and you won't have to mess with it again.

That's interesting. I remember 1984 reproduction decals being available but don't remember them for the 1981 machines.

It hasn't been my experience. A 1984 version in equal condition to an original 1981 will never be worth more to the vast majority of buyers. The 1981 version is by far the most-desirable. The 1984 comes in second and the Limited Edition is third.

The plastic guides are better when they are in good shape. Plus they look correct. Keep the metal ones on top.

Bally designed the game that way for good reason.

You can easily make your own from Lexan or buy new. They are inexpensive.

I have a box full of EBD metal guides that are worn-out and ruined with big burrs on the edges from placing them in contact with the balls. Some are really shot. The edges of the stainless guides than scratch the balls which wear the playfield too.

I have some I can probably sell you when I get back home over the 4th of July. After I get moved out here to Allentown I plan to laser-cut another big batch of them.

The CPR lane guides were "weird" because the holes were in the wrong location. It wasn't CPR's fault though. They simply copied an NOS set (which also had the holes in the wrong location). Every reproduction set from various sources have continued to perpetuate this mistake over the years.

Send me a PM with your contact info and I'll hook you up with a set. I think I have some good ones left.

He's not the only one.

I always thought they were all the same playfield.

I have yet to find any paint or powdercoat that is exactly the same color as the factory Bally legs but you can get real close. If you can find a dark charcoal gray powdercoat it might look pretty-good.

Here's some paint I use for mine:

msegqg (resized).jpg

j09w13 (resized).jpg

You need to replace all of them.

The lower lane guides are on upside down. The clear plastic piece is supposed to be below the metal piece.

On EBD the ball is never supposed to touch the metal guide. The clear plastic is so it doesn't scratch the ball and metal guide isn't ruined (like a lot of them are from having them backwards like these). Plus the illumination is correct with the clear piece below the metal one.

EBD is my specialty pin having restored a ton of them and I have seen numerous metal lane guides ruined from the owner placing them where the plastic guide piece is supposed to go. The metal guides not only scratch the ball which accelerates playfield wear, the guide itself is also ruined. After a while the metal guide will develop a burr on the leading edge. I've seen some worn so bad they are no longer functional.

Not to mention the illumination looks like shit with the metal guides blocking the light when placed in the wrong location.

The correct set-up is to have the metal guide on top with the replaceable plastic guide below. The metal guides are simply "garnishes" and are cosmetic. They are not supposed to touch the ball.

It's only common sense. You want the plastic piece to wear - not the ball.

It is designed to be replaceable and is inexpensive. In the field though, operators would do whatever necessary. Switching the two guide pieces around was a "rig" they did to keep the game running if they didn't have the correct plastic replacement. Long-term wear and tear was not a consideration.

The metal spacers are not reproduced as far as I know although a few have asked if I was planning to reproduce them. You can find used ones on eBay occasionally. They were used on several Bally pins from the era.

The clear plastics are available from some of the parts vendors but the lower lane guides are also pretty-easy to make yourself if you have a bandsaw or a jigsaw and a sheet of the correct thickness Lexan or PETG. Once you replace the worn-out plastic guides with new ones, all the ball hop and other undesirable stuff from excessive wear goes away and the machine plays exactly as intended when new.

Not that I know of. There is Bally Buck Rogers and a couple others with some type of metal blade as a lane guide but not Eight Ball Deluxe.

I think Bally realized that plastic would be a lot better than having the ball ride on a stainless steel blade and a lot less to replace once it wears. Plus it allows for better illumination.

I have posted these pics on here before but will do it again for those who haven't seen them.

I've developed a very easy technique to remove the metal posts and then re-form them to be re-used with the replacement plastics.

All you need is a lighter and something round that you can fit inside the metal post to pry it out of the plastic. Then you will need a wire stripper/crimper to re-form the top of the post.

I take the lighter and just wave it a few times underneath the metal post. About three seconds will do it. It comes out real easy. You don't want to overheat it or the plastics will be all gooey. You can still remove the post it's just messier to clean up if you overheat it. You'll get the hang of heating the post. Same goes if you use a soldering iron which works too. I've just found the lighter technique to be a little faster and easier.

rcvix2 (resized).jpgvg1ly0 (resized).jpgn5moee.jpge5s2dh.jpg2vi1ca9.jpg15347ep.jpg

I forget. It's like a 3/8" or about that size. Size isn't super-critical as long as it fits inside the post and can be used to pry it off. Once the post is heated with the lighter it can be pried right out of the plastic piece very easily. Like butter.

A piece of dowel rod or anything similar will also do the job. I just happened to have a drill bit handy.

All the playfields were the same. The 15 ball is supposed to have a red stripe on it (just like a real billiards 15 ball does).

You get good at crimping the top of the posts after doing a few. You just work your way around the diameter of the post until you get it looking good. When you install the posts in the new plastics you can re-crimp the tops of the posts or leave them as-is. I never re-crimp them though. When you tighten the screws you re-crimp them to some extent.

The 1984 Bally/Midway 3rd version (Classic) came from the factory with blue star posts rather than the traditional Bally ribbed posts the previous two versions came with. Like the ribbed posts, the star posts came in two heights too.

Another difference that the final version had was it used the Nylon acorn nuts to secure the playfield plastics where the previous versions used the white rubber caps.

The reproduction plastics sets are very-nice. Definitely worth the investment if you choose to spruce it up a bit (although yours look to be pretty-nice).

The CPR EBD plastics are the nicest I've ever seen with the IPB coming in a close second.

The CPR plastics sets include a really-nice topper too as well as a spare pair of slingshot plastics and two key fobs. Awesome!

CPR has another run of EBD playfields in the works right now and they say they are also going to re-release the plastics too. I'd jump on a set when they become available if you plan to keep the machine.

The original EBD was released in 1981. When Bally pins were sold, they came with a manila envelope that had all the owner's paperwork and a manual, parts manual, a flyer, various score cards and coin inserts.

It was up to the owner to decide which inserts (how much to charge) and score cards (balls per game & difficulty) to use. The owner usually also specified how many coin mechs were installed. That's why some pins have 3 and others have the metal block-off plate in positions not being used.

The SBA dollar coin was minted from 1979-81 so most pins from that era included dollar inserts. I don't think the 1981 EBD had the EBD coin door decal though. Every one I've ever seen had the regular Bally decal. You see the SBA coin door decal on most Bally pins from 1979.

The SBA dollar was a flop so after 1979 you don't see a lot in use but I remember several arcades kept them alive beyond 1981 as the coin of choice from their change machines.

They used to show them in the gallery but they don't seem to be there anymore.

Here are some pictures I copied from the CPR website back when they had them in their gallery. They still have the protective coating on them in the pic.

ebdplas01 (resized).jpg

ebdplas15 (resized).jpg

According to the website the playfields are ready for screen printing so I would imagine we will see them in a few months. In addition to the plastics, I hope they do another run of the backglasses too.