wayout440...... thank you soooooooo much for clearing that up for me. it has been lingering in my mind ever since i got the machine. Really, thank you for the confirmation.

Bobnatlanta, are you referring to the ribbon cable from the CPU to the sound board? the only other ribbon cable in the machine that i see runs from the CPU to the display board... how would i go about jumping the pins to each other? Do i use multiple wires with special connectors ? i really wouldn't want to use alligator clips (would i ? ) due to the potential for possibly shorting one out to another. Once again, i am new to this and am limited in my technical terminology for now. I may even be calling the MPU the CPU and not even realizing it. but i am referring to the largest of the boards in the machine. It has a ribbon cable that goes to the sound board. It is rather short, about 5-6 inches long in total. Is that the cable you are speaking of? If so, how would you recommend i try jumping CPU pins to Sound board pins, safely.

Thank you , you guys. I was really about to lose faith in this site and really didn't know where to turn besides sending it out for service, which i really didn't want to do. I am willing to do the work and i am not looking to be spoon fed info. Just pointing me in the right direction with some tips and i will do the rest.

thanks again. seriously.

It's referred to as any of those: MPU, CPU, System board, mainbord. Or, just as the big ass board.

Yes, that's the connection I'm talking about - MPU/CPU (I use the terms interchangeably) to sound board just above. I cannot recall if this was a bundle of wires or a ribbon connector, but I think it was just 3 wires. I picked up some alligator jumpers that have plastic 'hoods' on them at Radio Shack. Once clipped, you can slide the hood over the clip to prevent any shorting between clips. Just make sure you are connecting the correct pins.

I went through everything you've done, even to the point of sending my sound board out for professional repair. The sound board was returned with no faults. Turned out to be the 'easiest' thing. Good Luck!

ok, bobnatlanta. I think i know the 3 wires you are talking about... they are red, white and black... i am going to get some small, shielded, alligator clips and make some jumpers. I just started up the game and i manipulated the wires a bit more aggressively than i did before and for a split second, (and i mean a SPLIT second) something happened with the sound then it went back to squeeling. The split second was not enough to tell if it made the sound better... but, it reacted to the stimulus. So, you just may have pointed me in the right direction. I will be sure to return with my findings.

Thank you very much.

_{Post edited by Metalman247: including more info}

I know this is a very old post, but it's very close to my problem, I think.

This was a very specific recommendation and I'm not clear if applies to my problem. specifically please check my post https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-high-speed-sound-effects-1-3-amp-5-produce-nothing and tell me if you think the U4 or U3 chips may be my problem. Thanks