I've turned my wife into an expert burnt-bulb spotter. We've kind of turned the replacement process into a learning experience for her. She used to have absolutely no interest in fixing the games (her job was to play them, mine was to fix them) but now she's starting to take an interest in how they work and how to fix minor things. I agree that the new bulbs are crap but what else can you do except try to make lemonade out of lemons.

I've recently started switching over to LED's in the older games and Nic's stealth recipe is pretty good. If you haven't seen it, check it out.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stealth-led-a-recommended-recipe-for-ems