Solo cups, a sharpie, and a video camera. Work in logical sections.. like a sling shot, a corner of the playfield, a ramp assembly, etc.

1. Take video of the area before you take anything apart, point out things to yourself, talk to yourself, look all around.. get the close up and overall view of the area (there is always something you don't call out you'll need later)
2. Take apart the assembly noting any hardware that is unique (IE the longer screws go here, the shorter ones there, the orientation of a guide, where the wires were routed, etc...)
3. Take a short video of the area after you are done telling yourself the notes you will need to reassemble it.. Example: the stacking order of pieces on a common post.. which screws went where.. what order you had to take things off in, etc
4. Put all the pieces for that assembly into a solo cup, and write on the side of the cup with the sharpie what area its from

Repeat for next area.

People talk about pictures... but I find with pictures you either spend too much time trying to convey ideas by laying things out, etc.. or you lack the detail or tidbit you can't remember. With video, simply TELL YOURSELF what you saw and what you know will be tricky later. You get the best of both worlds, all the images AND someone telling you what you are looking at.

With digital video now, its so easy to just hop back and forth over a segment, jump to next, etc. I just use a digital camcorder.. and I watch the playback right on the device. Because I tell myself what I'm looking at, I've never had to worry about zooming in to see something, etc.

Usually the times I hunt, is when I forget to video something and I play the other segments trying to pick stuff out in the background, etc

Just work slowly, keep your parts into reasonable sized groups, and have your own notes (videos or pictures, or written notes) and you'll be fine.

Don't be shy on labeling harnesses or wires! Most modern games have harnesses that are hard to screw up, but not always.. and if you have to desolder stuff to get something out, the labels or notes will be a god send.

Negative in what way? That they are serviceable instead of beauty queens?

Removing the very labels that help you maintain the game seems asinine and more about showing the game off vs actually playing and owning them.

IMO - its just not needed and takes up too much space. With digital video and photos you can recreate any view on-demand.

I've done it when I had lots of very similar parts that I wanted to ensure I got them on the same exact location (a bunch of rollover switches from an EM) so I just mocked them up in the correct orientation to each other on a small 16"x16" kind of piece of cardboard. But with more experience now, it just seems like extra anal for no gain. Plus you have this big thing you can knock over, things fall off, etc.

Lots of cups. I can work my games using just a small 3x3 card table and some shelf space. If it doesn't fit in a cup, its usually pretty clear on what it is vs anything else.. with the exception of ball guides. There, usually only one fits anyways

I can't stress enough the value of simply telling yourself what to do.. record it and you'll never go back to straining over photos or notepads. I can tell myself something in seconds which can take a minute or two to try to document on paper with descriptive terms, etc. On video I simply say "In this assembly there were two lengths of machine screws.. the long ones went here".

Where it gets more difficult is when you need to do stuff like clean hardware in bulk.. there you'd not want to clean things in small groups so you need to better document the hardware. I just clean stuff by hand.. so its easy to go cup by cup.