Quoted from gcr3579:

I just opened my NIB bond Le and played a few games on it and notice that the pop bumpers are not responding when the ball hits them. They work when the game goes through the check to dislodge a stuck ball, and function properly then. Is there some setting that I'm missing, or is there something not right with the machine?

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

I’m confused as to why Stern thought it was acceptable to synchronize the two pop bumpers.
I realize they do this on their discount line of Home Pins, but why on a $13K cornerstone?
Does this somehow save money? If so, how? Each of the two pops is complete. Coil, switch, plunger, yoke, skirt - it’s all there. The only thing missing is code and an additional driver transistor.
Are the pops synchronized for their pop-action benefit? I just don’t see it.
Firing together makes them especially thumpy.
The bizarre-o sound effect used for the pops doesn’t help.
Did Gomez ever offer a reasonable explanation for this decision?
I believe LZ has just two pops. Something tells me Steve Ritchie insisted they fire independently.

Quoted from bsizzle:

Hey everyone,
Trying to replace one of my plastics, and seems like one of the nuts is stripped and can’t be removed. I can’t pinpoint the part numbers in the manual - can anyone help me identify these part numbers? Looks like I need the nut for the top of the plastic, a tiny washer, the nut underneath the plastic, and the long threaded bolt piece (I posted a pic of the other completed piece, still in place).
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

Weird that Gomez imagines people will buy that explanation. I mean, is Bond so loaded with mechs that it exhausts the capacities of a standard number of node boards?
I don’t mean to disparage the game. It’s impressive in various ways, but a cornerstone should have independent pops.
It seems more likely that Gomez hoped to use the Home-Pin style pops on his game from the start to cut costs.
Thanks for the lowdown though.

Quoted from JFresh389:

Have you tried using two of the correct size wrenches to remove? I don’t think it is stripped. The nylon locking nut can cause the post to spin before breaking loose.

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

Hi.
Thanks for the suggestion.
How is yours holding up?

Quoted from GoneFishinLvMsg:

I believe the pro has both pops fire independently, so it’s not a “too lazy to code it” issue. They ran out of space on the node boards for the premium/LE.
I don’t even really notice.

Quoted from bsizzle:

Unfortunately, I was between wrench sizes. Tried a few other tools, but to your point, it just kept spinning, spinning, spinning. I ordered some of the proper wrench sizes, and I’ll give that a go

Quoted from CrazyLevi:

It’s a scandal on par with “they moved the power switch!!!” And “they took our ridiculous spring loaded lockdown bar mech!!!”

Quoted from GoneFishinLvMsg:

I can see where operators might get annoyed with the excessive wear, but for a HUO machine who gives a shit?
The most annoying thing about Bond for me is all the stop and go. I recently picked up a Led Zeppelin and for all the hate it gets, it's kinda refreshing to have it in the lineup after Jaws and Bond. LZ is wide the fuck open with very little stop and go. Classic Ritchie.

Quoted from CrazyLevi:

There's no such thing as "excessive wear" caused by simultanous firing pop bumpers. It does not exist on a modern pinball machine.
And yeah Zep rules. Great game.

Quoted from CoolCatPinball:

Could be the leaf switches need adjusting below the playfield. That being said, it's extremely unusual for all 3 to be out of adjustment right out of the box

Quoted from Fatsquatch:

All I know, is that my Bond LE is a classy machine for the discerning gentleman, and as such, has no need for garish lighted speakers.

Quoted from matt68061:

On the pops discussion…. Having had a Premium since release, and witnessing the classic Pinside meltdown when it was discovered the fired simultaneously…
My personal opinion is that it is the biggest nothingburger to come along in a long while.
Maybe it is just me focussing on game play and progression but it is completely unnoticeable while in a game.
Kinda feel like it is folks going out of their way to stir up controversy. (Shocking around these parts)
Enjoy the machine for what it is. An awesome pinball experience.

Quoted from matt68061:

My personal opinion is that it is the biggest nothingburger to come along in a long while.
Maybe it is just me focussing on game play and progression but it is completely unnoticeable while in a game.
Kinda feel like it is folks going out of their way to stir up controversy. (Shocking around these parts)
Enjoy the machine for what it is. An awesome pinball experience.

Quoted from redxshirt:

Wow, just now learning this from the forum, and I was keeping up with the code drop info. Super excited to try HMSS mode for the first time since it's the only part of the game I've never gotten to. Watching on the Stern 1.00 stream it's like seven modes in one. And it is pretty strange they didn't publicize it considering it's a nice addition.

Quoted from Mancave:

Just use a pair of pliers on the shaft (above the threaded section) and a wrench for the lock nut above the plastic, it won't be on that tight. If you're worried about knurling the shaft then just wrap a bit of cloth around it where you hold it with the pliers. This happens with older machines too, there's enough resistance on the lock nut that it just winds the threaded shaft up/out of it's position.

Quoted from bsizzle:

That’s exactly the problem. I ended up just putting it back in the machine and securing everything again, it wasn’t worth the hassle. I did hear back from stern tech-support on the part numbers though (they are phenomenal). Per Stern:

“The post part number is 530-5012-02 and the nut located on the underside of the plastic is part of this post and is not a removable nut. I have also provided part numbers for the Nylon nut and the #6 Washers.
Nylon Stop Nut / 240-5005-00 / 6-32 nut
#6 Washer / 242-5001-00”

Quoted from Mancave:

Maybe i'm mistaking what your issue is but i doubt that the nut would be stripped, this is normal behaviour for a Nyloc nut. On quite a few machines i've had there's been occasions where i've had to hold the shaft of the post to undo the Nyloc nut, otherwise it does exactly what's happened to you, it unscrews the whole shaft out of the thread in the playfield. The top of these posts do have a molded nut on them yes (some don't) That is there for the exact reason i'm describing, so you can prevent the post from spinning whilst removing the nut that secures the plastic.

Quoted from gcr3579:

I would respectfully disagree sir. Keeping it tasteful of course, the teal lighting effect with the bond gunswirl inserts, only adds to its overall classiness imho.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from CrazyLevi:

Yep first thing that comes to mind is "tasteful"

Quoted from gcr3579:

I would respectfully disagree sir. Keeping it tasteful of course, the teal lighting effect with the bond gunswirl inserts, only adds to its overall classiness imho.

Quoted from bsizzle:

I had been holding the shaft with pliers

Quoted from gcr3579:

Ahem, "imho". Glad you like flat black, you'll have plenty of options to choose from. I didn't get the LE to have a bland machine. Color matching the rest of the hardware that the factory stopped at, and matching the graphics and font just continues the theme that Stern started. Adding speaker lights and inserts brings it up to the level of current LEs.

Quoted from gandamack:

ouch

Quoted from CoolCatPinball:

I'm just gonna say it because I'm feeling a bit spicy tonight. ...

Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

"In my day, we didn't have speaker lights and we LIKED it!"
[quoted image]

Quoted from Fatsquatch:

Whatever the case, sometimes you just gotta know when to knock it off:[quoted image]

Quoted from Fatsquatch:

... Not all mods are bad of course, but there is a problem with guys seemingly more concerned with adding things to their machines than anything else. (Often makes me wonder if these folks even enjoy playing pinball, or are really more into bedazzling.)
Whatever the case, sometimes you just gotta know when to knock it off:
[quoted image]

Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

"In my day, we didn't have speaker lights and we LIKED it!"
[quoted image]

Quoted from GoneFishinLvMsg:

... All my Sterns have speaker lights btw. I'm excited to get the expression ones into Zeppelin. Bond just has the cheap PBL ones. I like to play in the dark, so they provide some illumination.

Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

Mine too. My Bond (Premium) currently has lights from Speaker Light Kits, but I just purchased a set of the Stern Expression Lights to try - I'm looking forward to see how they interact with the game. I'm assuming they'll match the Stern topper lighting colors during gameplay.
[quoted image]

Quoted from ChrisX1130:

Guys the stern speaker lights look amazing on Bond. Especially if you have the topper. I put them on jaws too, but was mostly red and blue. (Meh)
On Bond they change to whatever color the topper is doing (meaning Villain, Bond girl ect…)
Using my kenwoods too, just put them on top of the light kit and secured with 4 nylons instead of 8 nylons that you would use for the smaller stock speaker. One speaker is Bond kenwoods, other is stock Jaws.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from ChrisX1130:

Guys the stern speaker lights look amazing on Bond. Especially if you have the topper. I put them on jaws too, but was mostly red and blue. (Meh)
On Bond they change to whatever color the topper is doing (meaning Villain, Bond girl ect…)
Using my kenwoods too, just put them on top of the light kit and secured with 4 nylons instead of 8 nylons that you would use for the smaller stock speaker. One speaker is Bond kenwoods, other is stock Jaws.

Quoted from ChrisX1130:

Guys the stern speaker lights look amazing on Bond. Especially if you have the topper. I put them on jaws too, but was mostly red and blue. (Meh)
On Bond they change to whatever color the topper is doing (meaning Villain, Bond girl ect…)
Using my kenwoods too, just put them on top of the light kit and secured with 4 nylons instead of 8 nylons that you would use for the smaller stock speaker. One speaker is Bond kenwoods, other is stock Jaws.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from gcr3579:

I would respectfully disagree sir. Keeping it tasteful of course, the teal lighting effect with the bond gunswirl inserts, only adds to its overall classiness imho.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from lepstein:

Is that the current pro/premium stern speaker lights in an JB LE?
I have an LE and ordered the stern speaker light kit but haven’t opened bc now I’m not sure if they will fit the stock LE speakers/grill.
Can somebody confirm if the pro/prem stern speaker light set will fit the James Bond LE stock speakers/grill.
Lee

Quoted from rob3:

I got a Circus Voltaire recently and the glare was horrible. I decided to move my LE invisiglass over to it to see if it helped, of course it did. But in the process I also realized that the invisiglass on Bond LE doesn't do nearly as much to help as some other games, so I'm leaving the stock glass on Bond LE and not minding it at all. Just thought I'd share in case anyone else want's to take advantage of it.

Quoted from lepstein:

Is that the current pro/premium stern speaker lights in an JB LE?
I have an LE and ordered the stern speaker light kit but haven’t opened bc now I’m not sure if they will fit the stock LE speakers/grill.
Can somebody confirm if the pro/prem stern speaker light set will fit the James Bond LE stock speakers/grill.
Lee

Quoted from Rhart51:

I would like to know as well. I upgraded my pro to the Pinwoofer setup and I’m guessing i would need the premium light kit as well?
The inside of my speaker has this in front so I’m hoping the Stern light kit comes with a new open plate? Can anyone confirm?
[quoted image]

Quoted from SimplePin:

Stern is releasing a LE version at a later date.

Here are the contents of the pro/premium kit. Yes has new mounting plates.
[quoted image]
From top left. Template for mounting included node board on inner left side of back box. Speaker cables. Light ring diffusers. Hardware and ferrites. Node board cable. Speaker mounting plates. Light rings and mini node board.
I've already installed one in my GZ. This kit is going in my Bond tonight.

Quoted from BW1029:

Was thinking of upgrading my premium Bond and GZ to Voodoo Glass are you suggesting it might not be worth it on Bond? I'm surprised to hear this