Your post was what got me looking at this issue on my POTC. When I made the ramp fix, I basically had to lower the right side to balance it.

Thank you for the original post. The net result is a huge improvement on flow through the BP. I hope everyone else can find the tweak that makes it all work.

Are you still working on the final version?

Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know about a little audio experiment I just embarked on with my friend Dan @pinwoofer

We added an amplifier to the backbox speakers and a separate amp and 8” sub to replace the existing sub. It made a huge difference. I always thought the sound was pretty decent on jjpotc but this is amazing. Definitely hearing a lot more range and sounds I didn’t know were in there. With two amps it really allows you to balance out the sounds to your liking. The bass is shaking the room. Dan was kind enough to come help me install as it was my first jjp to try one of his kits. Can’t say enough good things about his products and service.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-amplified-subwoofer-kits-by-pinwoofer

Ahoy there landlubbers, me Pirates LE #682 has made port (well the Pinball Shed), and she's a beaut!

I do have a question though and that is regarding sound, as I have 4 JJP machines now the Pirates is the weakest when it comes to bass, am I missing something or is this fair to say?
I did check the cabinet speaker/woofer and sound is coming out of it so its connected, I also checked connectors in the back-box all look fine.

Now the sound is not awful but is lacking in bass and all mid/top end sounding.

Can I just drop in a better 8" sub in the cabinet? Not that one should have to do this on a £10k machine!

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Harrys finishing it up and doing testing on his own machine.

Hey all, I've got a friend who's working on an academic project to integrate an AR experience with pinball. He's using a Raspberry Pi and will try to capture audio events by analyzing the pin's call-outs and other audio (music, sound effects, etc). If he can get this to work, we realized we could use the tech to trigger video clips. I recall someone else had been working on a small screen to replace the missing (or mostly useless) starfield on the back of POTC. There was a demo of a clip showing "Extra Ball" but without any event integration it was just a random video sample. But if my friend can get his project working we could actually add video content that syncs with the game play. Would be very cool!

Clearly.

Favorite game in my current lineup!

That would be #Drfrightner in post 8307. He has crazy talent making animation from his day job. Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck.

The JJP cabinet speaker is actually superior to other manufacturers, but there are deficiencies with it and with the system itself. Unfortunately, simply changing the speaker will make little or no difference to what you are experiencing.

First, the stock cabinet driver is single voice coil so only one amplified channel can drive it. The second, and most important, is that the system lacks adequate headroom to drive deep, sustained bass tones and the ability to fully reproduce low frequency effect hits during game play. Not addressing these factors leaves this amazing title severely lacking in audible presence.

Next, the backbox speakers in POTC (all JJP's) are not bad (4" mid / 2" tweeter) and we recommend keeping them in play. However, the power and dynamic range of the stock backbox amplifier leaves a lot to be desired.

PinWoofer has a turnkey solution which adds a dual voice coil subwoofer driver and two amplifiers; one amplifier for the subwoofer and one for the backbox:

https://pinwoofer.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fpinwoofer-powered-super-kit

For Pirates, select "Late JJP - Jersey Jack Pinball" under "PLATFORM AND DUAL AMP POWER HARNESS".

The improvement you'll get is dramatic. You'll not only hear the warm bass tones, but you'll feel them in your hands and feet. The mid-ranges and highs in the backbox will come alive and will be clear and crisp, unlocking the title's full potential.

Our install base is large and growing, and our reliability is excellent. You'll also get engineering technical support should you need it along with detailed instructions and an array of fasteners and connectors to make the install go quickly and smoothly. This is easy - we have streamlined the process for your delight and your outcome will be epic!

This is the single, best thing you can do for your pin.

Thanks for your time!

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Is there a plastic cover for that board? Having an open powered board directly below the playfield where parts are known to fall over time seems like a really bad idea.

We evaluated this early on, and you can always mount the amplifier board on the wall of the cabinet with no more risk than that posed by a coin door interface board / node board, which has been a common practice with all of the manufacturers for decades. Like anything, one needs to use caution when accessing the cabinet or backbox. Thanks for asking!

You absolutely can mount it vertically, but showing it mounted in the cabinet bottom with no shield or case/cover over the top is not really responsible, IMO. Many people are new to pinball and wouldn't have enough experience to understand that mounting it on the bottom of the cabinet with nothing over the board puts it at risk of being shorted out if something (screw, spring, etc) falls from the playfield onto it. A square piece of PET-G and a bracket would cost you, what? $1 more to include? If you don't include it, you should at least make that a recommended part of the install for those that choose to imitate your pictured installation.

Those pics are my pin and I LOVE the sound. I haven’t worried about shorts on the board mounted where it is. The board is isolated from the rest of the system (correct me if I’m wrong, Dan) and if it killed the board it would be easily resolved. It has standoffs so other than a direct hit from above, it would be fine.

But back to the topic, the sound is incredible. I was shocked that without replacing the stock speakers, just adding the amp, the range on the high end was so much better. And clearer. It’s made my favorite pin even better. Highly recommend. And the bass, of course, is incredible. Comparable to an external sub (I have a polk 10” sitting unused now).

I hooked mine up to an external woofer and really don't hear a difference. It booms when I hook up ACNC.

There are no exposed power routes on the PCB (they are completely covered by solder mask). Also, all kits ship with a fused power cable. We've got scores of these in the field and any risk is minimal if non-existent. The mounting location is not particularly relevant, just personal preference. Thanks for your concern

I'll bite -- ordered one

That’s cool. I have number 683. Wild, I wonder how many US models were sold then after mine?

There is always a possibility of a electrical failure in any component. A screw falling on your board and shorting 2 components out is a fire risk does not matter if it is fused. What if it has a bad fuse? Houses burn down all the time due to a bad plug or breaker. All for trying to save 50 cents on a cover. No thank you

Edit* Didnt see Vireland said same thing.

Yeah, it just seemed a weird corner to cut. And there ARE exposed connections. The positive and negative lead for the power adapter are plainly exposed in the picture. I'm sure there are other points not immediately obvious.

But I'm very cautious about things like that. I'll admit that.

Mount it on the side of the cabinet, fears are gone. Anything can happen with any electrical component on any pinball machine ... shall we talk connectors? I’ve replaced hundreds of burned Molex connectors .. no screw, no nut. Just a burned connector.

To each their own. Just dont want to hear about people burning their houses down because they were to ignorant to know electrical components go into boxes for a reason. I hear that if you take the shroud off of your power supply your pinball machine will run 10 degrees cooler, might catch on fire though

Agree; the astronomical odds of such a calamity are far less than being struck by lightning in Texas - so watch out!

does adding this to any machine void the Warranty?

The sound is good on the machine already, but not awesome.

Adding an LED light strip, external sub or any other “mod” that interfaces with the game electronics would technically void the warranty. Can’t imagine JJP making PinWoofer an issue though unless it is somehow directly linked to the failure (and you highlighted). If you’re concerned about the exposed connections, you can easily add a plastic cover or put it in a cheap electronics box. I haven’t used on a JJP pin, but it made a huge improvement on one of my Sterns.

Below is the JJP warranty link and "modification" is called out as being "not covered", so I read this as a broadly sweeping disclaimer about any modification. The word "void" does not appear in the document whatsoever and it's pretty clear that the warranty is for 30 days, for parts only excluding any shipping and labor, for the original purchaser:

http://marketing.jerseyjackpinball.com/general/jjp_warranty-updated.pdf

Our kit will make your title sound awesome and judging from the bump we had yesterday you are not alone in your sentiment about the audio. We have scores of these out there and there is nothing to worry about. I'm an EE with 25 years of experience and we definitely know what we're doing - there is no guesswork here. Cool running, fused amplifiers and safe wiring.

When we put a kit in your machine, we treat it like we're putting it in my machine. I hope you get my meaning there.

I can vouch for Dan's awesome kits - I agree that POTC is missing a bit in the audio department (specifically bass, like most pins). Adding PinWoofer to my (original) Monster Bash, Twilight Zone and STTNG have increased the audio quality CONSIDERABLY in all 3 games. Monster Bash now sounds like I have an external sub on it - so much so that I had to add foam to the glass surrounds because it was rattling so much! That game should sound like a rock concert - and now it does!

STTNG sounds much more full and immersive now, instead of the tinny sounds I was hearing before. And TZ (in which I have a PinSound) sounds incredible in stereo, and the music track is pulsing like it should.

I've added just the PinWoofer amp on STTNG and the full kit on other games, and having the dual-voice woofer is really important, but even the amp by itself is an order of magnitude improvement.

In the past, I've built my own solutions using an L-PAD and bigger 10" woofer, installed the Flipper Fidelity kits. Those are really good, and great ideas to enhance the game audio. But this is better.

Thanks Rdoyle1978 ! Note that Tekman has THE BEST playfield glass tape out there. He is fast, inexpensive and reliable. Our sub kits are perfectly balanced for a pin and the tape will nearly or completely mitigate it. If you are using something else, switch now. We also include tape with our 8" / 12" sub and super kits. But, hit him up for some if you're inclined - my guys do it all the time and he is a great dude.

i have a question for you guys. im looking to get another jjp machine. and a lot of people told me to get potc. i have woz and di and i dont want to get hobbit. so my question is what do you think about potc? from all of my collection i like woz! awesome game. but also i hear from a lot of people the potc have so many problems and also jjp stop support this game with parts. i can get LE NIB for 10k$ from jjp distributor. my woz and di comes with tons of problems and im still waiting for answers and parts from jjp but no luck (almost 2 months)

Where are you located? "tons" of problems? My POTC has played brilliantly since the day I purchased it save for a couple of small easy to fix issues. WOZ and POTC are equally incredible games - but for different reasons. Plundering alone in POTC is great fun. Shooting a cannon from a Pirate ship to sink another ship? Very fun. If you can get a NIB LE for $10K you better jump on it. That is like near MSRP - which is a deal.

What problems?! This thread is about little tweaks and future proofing, not major issues

my woz comes with broken crystal ball and lcd not workin. all right side of leds not working. cracked backbox in few areas. chipped wood on backbox. defective translite. lock bar scratch. cabinet decals with bubbles spot light with plastic weird bubbles on it. wizard led not working. defective cut topper. and more and more issues. i wish i dont have to many in the potc. i know jjp are very busy and i really appreciate them and i know only Steve doing support now but its to much time. i have only 4 plays on my woz you really cant play on it and its NIB so i want to make sure the potc dosent have so many issues because its will be to annoying to make this process again with the support. also if you guys know about parts that i need to order as backup i will be happy to know

thanks

Wait...is Frank gone?

Unfortunately as i know yes and as i know only steve there and he his swamped. Try to call to jjp support you will never get answer after frank not working there.... very sad. I know its will be better very soon! They are great company with great people!

I'm still there. I can't send parts. Butch hops in too.

Sadly, yes.

LTG : )

Wow, what a bummer. Frank was ALWAYS GREAT. Big loss for JJP. At least they still have LTG online, but that support isn't the same as what Frank did.

So quick game question. In liars dice I have twice bet “Your soul” and lost each time. The game then froze both times. Had to turn it off to get it to work again. Software glitch? Also what should happen if you win? I really like liars dice and have played it a lot. This is the only situation that seems to cause a glitch.

If you bet your soul and lose, that seems like behavior that would be in line with that loss.

But yeah, if you bet your soul and WIN, what's the prize? I need to find that out now!

I remembered this being mentioned a long time ago. Here are couple old posts about it. Maybe something like, oh, I don't know, a code update could fix the bug that causes it to freeze:

No. 313 in the house.....
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Molly helping me do pre game checks.

Demonstrating once more that pirates are pussy magnets.

Helpful thread here. See the first post for the list. Somethings may or may not be applicable to your specific machine.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjpirates-of-the-caribbean-troubleshooting-tips-issues

Even seeing all that and fixing quite a few of those things (and making my own fix for one) I still do not regret it.

Well I can definitely verify the game hangs if you lose your soul but would still like to know what happens if I win my soul. Never ending game? Win as many balls as are left on the game? Achieve nirvana? I win a golden fiddle?

Just needed to send out a HUGE thank you to this thread, community, and Butch from JJP. A few weeks ago a few switches on the BP were not working and I found that a few wires broke underneath. I believe this was due to the well documented tight zip ties that pulled on them as the BP rocked. I wanted to wait until my cliffys, new titan rubbers and washers, ship cannon protector and my Wizards Mist-N-Shine arrived so that I could do it all at once. Everything went so smooth and I'm quite proud of myself. Aside from the clear coat pooling, everything is working great and the game is playing phenomenal and super fast. I couldn't have done it without the great help from everyone. Thank you again.

Oh....and I actually made it to my first wizard mode last night. Loving this game more and more and it is never leaving.

Tuna's installing a bunch of Pirates mods tonight on Buffalo Pinball! http://www.twitch.tv/buffalopinball

Ha Ha. You forgot the sarcasm emoji

Is there another nut holding the chest in place other than this one? I want to remove it to check on the posts underneath. Thanks!
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Yes. There's one behind the chest that you have to have a long screw or nut driver to get to because you have to kind of angle it behind the mini-coil area to get to it where it connects the bracket to the playfield.

Thanks, I’ll check it out. Did you apply mylar to these posts? (Meaning removed the chest?) Is even worth the effort in that area?