I'm sure this is nothing groundbreaking or new to some of you, but here goes.

Yesterday a cool thing happened. I was having a discussion about the Gottlieb Golden Arrow I have been deep clean shopping and the question came up about what the guys think of the game itself as a player/keeper. The consensus was that the game looks and plays great but is too easy. There are different rule sets for 3-ball and 5-ball play, but either setting just seems too easy. I suggested that it would be cool to get the 5-ball rules but only get 3 balls to play. After about an hour or so, Dirtflipper had the solution and I applied it to my game. It works and is very unobtrusive and completely reversible. I imagine some games will be easier than others to accomplish this mod. In my case, just a single jumper gets it done.

I think there are a lot of games that could benefit from this and I would like to use this thread to record/show how it is done on as many games as possible. If you do this mod to your game, please post pics and instructions so others can see!

Here is the first version of this mod in my game. I am going to make it more permanent by adding a wire and jones plug tip to make it look more "factory". I will also print a card to attach to the underside of the playfield so it is clear what to do with the jumper. It could be labeled "PRO" or maybe even something cooler like "The Pafasa Mod"

Thanks to Dirtflipper for his help figuring this out. He really deserves the credit. I just can't get him to sign off on my proposed name "The Dirty Pafasa Mod"

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Also Dirtflipper's idea....

If you make these mods, post pics and instructions here!

Thanks for the hugs, but I'd love some pics of your mod too!

This change ability will be set up differently from game to game. In the case of Golden Arrow, there is a large connector that needs to be moved from one socket to another to affect the change. Some games have only one pin to move from one socket to another. What we did was move the entire circuit from 3 ball to five ball play and then identify which pin was responsible to trigger game over and jumped that back to the 3 ball setting.

Yours will be different most likely. A schematic will definitely help figure it out. Maybe we can use this thread to help others make the conversion too! Tech support and results all in one thread.

Post a couple pics of the 3-5 ball jumpers. Lets see! Do you have the schematics?

OK, Dirt, please correct me if I'm wrong.

With the jumper wire we made a change in this circuit path only. We put the 3-5 ball Adjust connector in the 5 ball position and then changed just this one path back to the 3 ball setting. The change happened at the connector/jumper shown in the purple circle. What would have been an open path in the 5 ball connector was jumped back to the 3 ball path and completed the circuit that will end the game after ball three.

GoldenArrowPafasaMod.jpg

I have been playing the Golden Arrow with the Pafasa Mod all weekend. What a difference! I switch it to 5 ball for the kids because they enjoy the extra play time and then a quick hookup of the jumper for me. Very fun. I now struggle to break 100k and usually get "almost there" on the special!

Hey Chrisbee, If you end up modding your games this way, will you post the details?

You gonna give it a shot on your Surf Champ?

The PAFASA Mod version 1.2

I used a rigid stranded wire so the pin would hold itself away from everything when not in use.

3-ball
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5-ball
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3-ball with 5-ball rules
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What what!!!??

Thanks a bunch to dirt flipper for the help figuring this out. Thanks also a bunch to alexF for the jones pin!

Thanks Ken, I took dirtflippers idea and ran with it! Now I claim it as my own.

Point one: Yup if I had made the jumper long enough! If the large connector is plugged into the 3-ball jack, you are right, I can just loop the jones pin right into the 5-ball jack so it is not hanging loose. This will be standard 3-ball mode. If the large connector is in the 5-ball jack, the pin can either be connected to the proper spot on the 3-ball jack or in an unused slot on the jack. This is all fine as long as the owner is careful and aware of the correct connections

Point two: my numbering convention allows for further revisions. Should I call it version 1.3 or 1.2.1? Decisions decisions.