I wouldn't be able to take them out fast enough. I can't stand those things and I actually would value a machine retrofit with them to be worth less money than if it had regular bulbs because of the time and expense it would take me to replace them with regular bulbs.

This is pretty much exactly the same as what I do. Sometimes I vary it a bit; I'll use the 2-LED (under GI on cointaker's site) in place of retros as they cost about half as much.

Depends...if its clown puke and it looks awful, over time, yes I would probably replace and color match. Otherwise, why would you? Less power, less heat, longer life.

Yank em! Out they go. I just picked up a game that was fully LED in the inserts, and I found it blinding. I went through boxes and boxes of bulbs converting it back. The only place I want them are in spots that are really hard to change bulbs, like under the coffin in BSD. But if that isn't the case, it will be a real bulb.

I never thought I would have a game with leds because of the brightness and strobing. I have a year old post in this thread about taking them out of my FT. I recently got an IM that had very nice leds installed in it. It is my only Stern and the only machine I have that has leds. I am going to keep them because it also has the http://ledocd.comuv.com/ board in it which decreases the brightness and makes them pulse on and off like incandescent bulbs.

I think they need to be done well, which to me means an LED OCD board and a kit from pinballbulbs. With that combination, they look like they belong next to the new Stern games. Now we just need a GI control board to complete the transition. I still have 3 pins to convert, and they look terrible next to the LEDed games.

I think it depends on the game. On EM machines no leds! I personally hate leds on any horror pins. I can tolerate them on the new pins though. Just personal preference.

I took out all the LEDs in the WWFRR I bought. Looked horrible. Spent half a day doing it. (The mini-pf was a bear.) For WOZ, I think I'll leave them in.

I like a blend. I took out all the LED's above the play fields on two machines I just picked up. I like LED's for in certs and things like that. But prefer incandescent for any thing that lights the ball, or play field. Unless its an EM then all incandescent.

For me, it completely depends on the year the game was released, and the theme of the game. The older the game, the harder it will be for me to have interest in using LEDs, except for insert fade (typically blue or green) and perhaps 1-2-3 lane plastics (red), and perhaps a few select spots.

I try to not use color if it will wash out the artwork.
RARELY a color LED behind a backglass. That's absurd. A total insult to the artist who made the art to use white light. (I tried LEDs for the TAXI stoplight top right, and it doesn't quite work, but a paper mod will fix that, to shield the color bleed)

A few examples from my collection:

1) Grand Lizard
outdoor jungle theme
1986 pin

LEDs belong in two few choice spots (the lizard eyes for brightness and contrast), but I want this to look and feel like the jungle. There ARE NO LEDS in the jungle, unless you are at a frickin' modern zoo. I put a cold white behind the sword in the backglass to create contrast from the warm glow of the 47's in the backglass. ALL 47s and 44s.

2) Space Station
outer space theme
1987 pin

In my opinion, when I think of a Space Station, I think of CLEAR COLD WHITE light. Is that accurate to outer space? I have no idea, never been there. I just think back to 2001 A Space Odyssey, and how I thought the space scenes were "cold" in feeling to me. The idea of CLEAR COLD WHITE light to me, means things should be VERY bright when possible, with hard shadows. So yes, I went with CT cold white frosted for the GI. To contrast the GI against the inserts (I think contrasts are important) I went with 44's in the inserts.

Backglass? I went cold white LEDs, BUT NOT in the ring. I went 47's in the ring. WHY? Because you can see through the plastic and I wanted the player to think he's looking up into all incandescents. I left the "Space Station" bulbs in 47's to contrast that warmth against the cold white station.

3) Diner
Indoor 1950's greasy fun restaurant theme
1990 pin

ALL incandescents. Nothing to think about here. LEDs have nothing to do with this theme. DINERS are shady, greasy, dirty, poorly lit places.

LIGHTING SHOULD MATCH THE THEME. There are no hard rules here. How the theme feels to you is subjective...

More to come later...

thanks.
-mof

I take out most of the LEDs, and then use them in other games where they look better. Here's an example: I pulled most of the LEDs out of my Avatar because that game was way too blue already. I used all of the blue frosted LEDs in Embryon and Space Station (blue inserts), and used the white frosted in Iron Man's lower GI. So, I used to get annoyed about pulling LEDs out of a game, but I just think of it as adding to my LED stash now.

BTW, I thought LED flashers were pointless until I saw the ones in Metallica. Those are way bright!

Video of my IM to show Herg's board in action. This is the only LED machine I have. The on off cycling of the LED OCD board make the machine fit in with the others because the leds cycle on and off like incandescents.