El Dorado
Gottlieb, 1975Hi Guys,
I just wanted to check and see if there was a Gottlieb El Dorado Club on Pinside? I've searched some, but didn't see one. I admit it was not an exhaustive search. If there is no club for this wonderful machine, we should start one up.
Thank you,
Tom
I’m in, owned mine since 1980, just bought a Wade Krause playfield last weekend, an will be putting it in soon.
Sweet! I am a member. I bought a non-working El Dorado on Labor Day weekend and got it up and running. I really enjoy the machine. I love drop targets and the layout and four flippers makes the game relatively fast. The rules are interesting. I like having to think before I decide what to shoot for and going after the lit drop targets to get 5,000 points is fun. I also enjoy earning free games based on score or getting the lit drop target after having the banks reset. This one will likely become a long-term keeper for me.
Quoted from Jamesays:I dont have one yet but after playing this game I want one.
Were you playing my machine at PAGG?
Quoted from jbovenzi:Were you playing my machine at PAGG?
No Cris Sullivan let me play his when I bought another machine from him.
How about a Target Elpha Dorado Solar City of Gold Strike club? (Yes, I know that I didn't get all 7 names in there.)
.................David Marston
Quoted from DanMarino:[quoted image]
Our glass is in similar condition. I used red LED strips from comet in the alcove behind the name to do indirect lighting and mask some of the flaking. I also did a couple of red frosted LEDs behind the sun and the cowboy.
D567C07A-7115-49B5-84E8-11A9B4FDF7E0 (resized).jpegQuoted from dgAmpGuy:Our glass is in similar condition. I used red LED strips from comet in the alcove behind the name to do indirect lighting and mask some of the flaking. I also did a couple of red frosted LEDs behind the sun and the cowboy.[quoted image]
I should give that colored LED bulbs a try. My back glass is pretty messed up.
I just wanted to add that I'm really happy having this EM machine. It makes me want to play it every day, multiple times. I'm not getting tired of it. It is challenging and the roving lights offer options for what to shoot for. I also like the challenge of trying to get the knocker to go off to win free credits. I may never get rid of this one.
I’ve got a couple of lights on the top drop target bank that never light up. Should I check out the stepper unit that controls the lights first, or mess around with light bulbs and sockets? I’m guessing I’ll end up moving the stepper to check the bulbs?
Quoted from DanMarino:I’ve got a couple of lights on the top drop target bank that never light up. Should I check out the stepper unit that controls the lights first, or mess around with light bulbs and sockets? I’m guessing I’ll end up moving the stepper to check the bulbs?
I resolved my problem with the first and 4th drop target lights on the top bank. Ended up being burned out bulbs. Easy fix.
I'm surprised there isn't a Target Alpha club. I'll let the group decide. I think El Dorado is different enough that it deserves it's own club, but maybe it's just because I own one. haha. I have never played Target Alpha, but I've watched the game play videos. Do you Target Alpha owners really love your machines, or do you all secretly wish you had an El Dorado's instead? haha. The bonus count down at the end of each ball on Target Alpha makes the machine seem very different to me.
This club thread isn't all that busy yet. It's not like there are a ton of El Dorado owners posting here. It's a start, but nothing like the High Speed thread. haha.
DanMarino asked how I 'fixed' the red title "El Dorado" on the backglass. This is pretty amateurish but it looks presentable in person.
I started with clear plastic colored films. The red roll was a leftover from present wrapping. The other colored squares I bought from Ebay.
ElDorado_Film (resized).JPG
I experimented with one and more red colored layers. Found that two layers were about right color-wise. But they were too clear and you could see the bright light bulb filaments. I added one layer of white tissue paper, which fixed seeing the filaments.
ElDorado_Repair (resized).JPG
Here is the unlit result. Would probably look better with the tissue between the 2 red layers. Then the film where the missing red is would look lighter.
ElDorado_Title_unlit (resized).JPG
This is the back lit result. In real life all the letters look more like the 'E'. You don't see any white like in the picture. No matter what I tried I could not get the camera picture to record what my eyes see in person. It also doesn't look so splotchy.
ElDorado_Title (resized).JPG
Quoted from mike-k:I have a broken drop target on mine and was wondering if anyone has replaced there's with new ones and might still have a used one they could sell me. Thanks, Mike K.
[quoted image]
No matter what you do you need to double up the rings behind those drop targets. That’s why this one broke and more will break without the double rings.
Quoted from DanMarino:Good catch MikeO!
The other thing the double rings protect is the playfield plastic above the upper drop targets.
Quoted from MikeO:The other thing the double rings protect is the playfield plastic above the upper drop targets.
That plastic above the 10 drops is cracked on mine. Getting a new set of plastics from the Pinball Resource is on my list of things to do.
Quoted from DanMarino:That plastic above the 10 drops is cracked on mine. Getting a new set of plastics from the Pinball Resource is on my list of things to do.
No surprise there. That is one of the most common broken playfield plastics. Makes a repro set an easy choice.
I started doing a cleanup on my El Dorado. Behind the left pop bumper, there was what looked like a blob of solder stuck in the playfield. I had to use a pair of flush cut pliers to get it out. Turns out to be a tack nail? It didn't go through the playfield. Its behind a post, so I cant see a need for any nails. Any ideas?
strange nail (resized).jpgQuoted from BubbaK:I started doing a cleanup on my El Dorado. Behind the left pop bumper, there was what looked like a blob of solder stuck in the playfield. I had to use a pair of flush cut pliers to get it out. Turns out to be a tack nail? It didn't go through the playfield. Its behind a post, so I cant see a need for any nails. Any ideas?[quoted image]
Keep a ball from getting stuck behind the post is my guess.
Quoted from pinhead52:Keep a ball from getting stuck behind the post is my guess.
Is it supposed to be just a small round head on the playfield or is it supposed to be a full nail? This didn't seem like it would do anything.
DanMarino - Thanks... I have Target Alpha as well, although that one resides at my parents house for the grandkids to play. I'm looking forward to getting this one running.
I did notice that TA does have the same nail, flush with the PF.. Guess I'll put it back in..
Quoted from DanMarino:Got some Blitz wax for Christmas! Man this stuff works great.
[quoted image]
Yes it does. I've been using it on playfields for years.
I recommended it just as highly for your car as well.
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Clarksville, MD
Newmarket, ON
