Is this a new run? I haven't been keeping up reruns on this but I'm considering buying a Metallica Premium. I'd like an NIB, but I would be kind of worried by build dates and playfield clearcoat issues. I realize the problems were mostly concentrated to GB, but a recent run or older run would still be reassuring. Congrats by the way! Metallica is an all-time great game.

Your Metallica has the metal head? There website picture shows the old wooden head but I would prefer the newer run with the metal head.

You need to be really really careful with that. Because of the way it's mushroomed that might not fit downward through the playfield without doing damage. The ideal way to get it out would be to unscrew the nut below and then screw the magnetic post upward and out through the playfield from above. The problem is that Stern puts tons of Locktite on that nut from the factory and it is sometimes a bitch to get lose without a huge wrench and a torch to loosen things up.

I'm a member of this great club now! Just bought a Premium from a great seller ASOA. The game only had ten games on it.

Anyway, I will get right into it. Does anyone know where to get an apron decal without the seizure warning on it? I see people asking throughout this thread, but seems to be crickets still?

I did install the LED Color DMD and it's taking some time to get used to. With is my first experience with the LED version. I love the small size of the overall unit, but I am having trouble getting used to the display. I have tried all combinations of brightness and contrast and I am still a little skeptical. What settings are people using on this game? I might move this over to another game and get an LCD version for Metallica... Someone said the LCD version of ColorDMD is smaller now and doesn't stick up above the speaker panel?

One other note, was that my game came with the neon green plastic protectors on it. The edges looked cool the way they lit up, but I just could not get used to the way they changed the color of all the plastics to green. I went ahead and removed a couple and it looked so much better I bought a clear set of protectors from Marco and installed them. I realize this is personal taste, but I think the game looks a thousand times better now with them gone. This is especially true of the Sparky plastics. Not sure why someone would be in the electric chair long enough to get spider webs? Haha. If anyone wants these protectors, they can have the set for $25 shipped to the USA. Not sure where they came from but they are NOT the Pinbits ones with the flipper lane joined to the slings.

Thanks. I went ahead and scored those up. Next task is to look into lighting the apron plastics a little more evenly. Here is a picture of the factory decal.

20180123_074904 (resized).jpg

OK so I put the metal up post in on the upper orbit and it seems to have made zero difference in bounce backs to the left orbit. If anything it seems to bounce back more! What am I missing here? I did notice the metal post is thinner at the top than the plastic one, but the pictures on pinside seem to show the same.

Oh well I might just have to disable it, because the bounce back is aggravating.

The new metal head is preferred for a number of reasons, but not worth selling and getting a new one. On the other hand, swapping out a game with thousands of plays for an NIB with the metal head might be worth the upgrade.

Its not what it is made of that is an advantage. In the new design the DMD/speaker panel is tilted back a little to aim directly at the player. Makes the screen look better and reflect a lot less off the playfield glass, plus the sound is aimed better. This should have been done decades ago! Also, the panel gets artwork attached instead of just being black. Being thinner the DMD is closer to the front, so is not blocked from side angles. I much prefer the two bolts to hold the head in place instead of the old coffin lock that I constantly have my allen wrench stolen or misplaced. I always have a 5/8" wrench when I am moving games. The sides of the head are still wood, so the decals attach the same. The top and back of the head are powder coated metal which is nice and sturdy.

It is - I double checked.

After setting up my new Star Wars Premium tonight and playing GOTG last night, I realized that the ultimate fix for this problem is to install controlled gates. The only reason I can think that Stern/Borg went to the up post was to save money. One simple mechanism to replace two more expensive mechanisms. I'm looking at the back of Metallica and it seems like there should be room to install gates on either side of the in-lanes. The big problem with this idea is that you can't just disconnect the up/down post and connect the two gates in their place because the gates work opposite of the post. Gates let the ball pass when energized and the post stops the ball when energized. So the gate mechanisms would have to operate backwards - or the software would have to be changed... Oh well. Some day I might play with this idea a little more. At least they went back with gates on the newer games.

Thanks. I'll have to watch it closely while someone is playing. Maybe a slight tweak on the rail might make it hit the post differently?

I had a game the other day where everything clicked and I ended up with 250M. I wish I had more time to play and try to better that. I'm no great player, so have confidence.

Yeah I might have to pick one of them up on my next comet order. I'm not happy with the LED look vs the LCD.

When I had my unveiling party for Metallica Premium, one of the first things my friends and I noticed was the blinding flasher with eight surface mount LEDs that can be seen directly behind the cross in the graveyard. I don't like being able to directly see any bulb let alone that thing! I immediately started scheming on how to put a something there to block the direct line of sight to the flasher but still look good. I went ahead and cut and bent a piece of ABS plastic to fit the area perfectly. I had some extra cross stickers for drop targets so I applied them just to blend in better than plain black. The flasher still lights the plastic above it perfectly and now my retinas are no longer burned out every game. Looks like it should have been there from the factory...

20180317_221445 (resized).jpg

Going back to the ColorDMD question, I wanted to throw in my two cents. I've only had experience with the LCD in the past, so I decided to try the LED on Metallica. The LED is the same size basically as the original DMD, so the fit is amazingly clean and it is not offset back into the head at all. When I first started using it, it looked like total shit. Some of the shades in the animations were not even visible. It took me a ton of time to get the contrast, RGB and brightness correct. Once that was done it still didn't look very good because there was reflection from the playfield lights onto the display itself, the black was not very black and the colors were *too* sharp for my taste. Not to mention there was reflection on the playfield glass which I know doesn't happen with the LCD version. I read that the Comet glare guard helped these problems, so I put one it and bam! It looks a whole lot better now. The blacks are blacker and there is no reflection either way. Also the colors are toned down just a bit.

In the end, the LCD might look a little better still but the clean installation of the LED is sure nice. A week ago I was thinking about trying to trade the LED for an LCD, but now I am going to just stick with what I've got. It is not big enough difference at this point to warrant the trouble and I don't like the hi-res mode on most games.

Some quotes from the LED vs LCD thread straight from ColorDMD:

Right now I am set at Contrast of 8 and Brightness of 9. Before the glare guard I had the brightness a little lower.

Definitely a full Cliffy set except the magnets. For magnets I do as said above. Keep vigilant on having the magnet height adjusted and replace them or file them down before they become mushroomed and can't come out.

When I get a game with magnet, first thing I do is remove the magnet and loosen the pole to break any factory locktite. Sometimes this requires a torch to loosen the locktite! Then, while the pole is out, I put a piece of mylar over the entire magnet area about 2 inches in diameter. Next I use a sharp Xacto blade to cut out the mylar from the magnet hole itself. That way the mylar comes literally right up to the edge if the magnet to protect the playfield. Then I put the magnet back in with a tiny bit of locktite. If the magnet has any mushrooming, I first file that off and leave a little inward taper all the way around. If the pole was abused on a route machine, I will replace it completely.

Decals

Iron MaiDeN

Actually if anything it made my game worse. There is also history on that! I have seen others post the same. One thing for sure is that the ball is supposed to stop and drop into the bumpers and not bounce back down to the left. Fortunately Stern has since gone back to controlled gates for the orbits. This requires a lot more mechanics (two gates and two coils vs one coil with a plunger) but it works a lot better. Star Wars and GOTG both have gates instead of the post.

This is literally a matter of millimeters with one game varying slightly from the next. Last night I decided to look into this a lot more closely. I realized a fast traveling ball on my game must be hitting perfectly on center of the post as it is coming around the orbit in order to bounce back 90% of the time even with the metal post installed. I decided that I could move the post slightly by bending the up post coil bracket a little. With the playfield vertical, I bent the bracket downward a few degrees. This had the effect of moving the post a little bit toward the front of the playfield (without any sort of rubbing because the metal plunger is significantly thinner than the hole in the playfield). Now the ball hits a little off center towards the back side of the post and doesn't seem to bounce directly back as much. I played a few quick games and 5 out of 6 fast left orbits didn't bounce back. Time will tell but it looks like the little change helped.

So here is my working theory. The metal plunger helps because it is not quite as bouncy and more importantly it is a little thinner diameter. Being thinner makes it less likely to get a dead-on hit that bounces straight back. Some games (like mine) come from the factory with a combination of the back rail geometry and the coil bracket position that puts the post in the exact center of the ball path. Anything that can be done to change the path of the ball can possibly help give an off-center hit on the post. Maybe even playfield incline?

The Coin Taker shakers are way too violent for my taste - even the standard version. I put a motor controller like the one linked above on my Metallica and it totally fixed the problem and let me adjust it to my own taste. This is a better method than padding or messing with the weights and is really simple to install. Now the game actually shakes instead of vibrating and rattling the backglass.

I at first tried to rotate the weights a little but found that the shaft has a huge flat spot for the set screw to hit that keeps the weight in place. Moving the weight would mean moving it a lot to avoid falling back into the same position because of the flat spot. At that point the set screw would be on the round part of the shaft and could possibly shift. Not sure how others are set up but it appears the Coin Taker was not designed to be adjust like that.

Edit: Here is a good thread that explains how to connect the controller:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-tame-cointakers-shaker-motor#post-3115019

This is a very interesting update. At this point I think the rejections can be helped by a combination of replacing the post with a metal one and bending the coil bracket if needed. My game was the same as yours - 95% rejection even with the metal post until I bent the bracket and changed the spot the ball hit on.

Yes, bending the bracket under the playfield. If you raise the playfield and bend the post coil bracket downward a little it will make the post move slightly towards the flippers. Bending it the other way will make it move up towards the orbit guide rail. The theory is that the ball is hitting dead center and bouncing back. If you can get it to hit off center it will not bounce back as much or at all. This is a tiny difference from game to game. As for coming up at an angle, who knows how it comes from the factory, it could already be at an angle and just needs to be straightened!

One other note is that after bending the bracket it will affect the height of the post when down. You will have to re-adjust it to make it flush again with the playfield again and not a ball trap. There is a screw and lock nut on the bottom of the post that make this easy.

Take the glass off and make sure there is a little up and down play in the flipper. If not it will rub down below the playfield and heat up the coil. It should be able to move up and down a few millimeters.

Funny there is no must have topper for this game yet? I would buy one but none I have found for sale really match up to the artwork on the machine and look like they belong.

Last night I had a ball stick to the captive ball rather than the magnet. First time I've seen that! It cost me a locked ball in the coffin. The balls were looking kind of old, so I swapped them out. The balls don't appear to be magnetized so I assume the captive ball gets a little magnetic when the playfield magnet is energized.

Just figured that I would mention that I've had Metallica Premium for 9 months now and I played it more last week than any other week since I got the game. This really is a fantastic machine!

Not unless you have aftermarket speakers with an adjustable crossover. SAM games are mono. The new SPIKE games have 2.1 sound which means there is a whole separate adjustable channel for the cabinet speaker in the menus.

I'm not buying it, but I would still like to know.

Someone needs to release a definitive topper for this game. Stern maybe?? Little late I know.

So this appears to have helped me. After going to the metal up/down post I saw zero improvement on the bounce back situation. A few months back I came up with a tweak that made things a lot better after looking closely at the ball wear pattern on the playfield as it approaches the post. I noticed based on the wear patter the ball generally hits on the high side of the post hole (away from the player), so I adjusted and bent the coil bracket so the post came up through the hole a little further to the low side (closer to the player) in order to get a more off center hit and deaden the blow rather than a perfect rebound. That definitely helped a lot, but it wasn't until last night that I saw the post above and swapped out the coil sleeve for a shorter one. I again tweaked the bracket now that the sleeve doesn't come all the way up to the playfield. Also, any time you bend or adjust the bracket you need to look from above and make sure it is not rubbing and more importantly you need to adjust the coil stop so the plunger is flush with the playfield when it is down.

Hopefully most people can fix this issue with just the metal post, but at least there are a couple more steps that can be taken. My game appears to be running with at least 95% staying in the pops now. I refuse to say 100% even though I have not seen a bounce back in ten games! As I mentioned previously in this thread, it does appear Stern has gone away from this design and back to the more expensive controlled gates. This is a much better solution...

Put a really loud knocker in my Metallica and I'm loving it. Nothing like a good solid crack especially on a hard rock pin! I set the extra game to 30M just to make sure I hear it a lot! FYI, setting it up to hit the back of the cabinet works best. I hit all over the cabinet with my knuckle to find a spot that really resonated well. Back of the cabinet is definitely great.

If you really want to make it loud, think about using a 23-700 coil or even a 22-600 coil if you want to risk knocking the back of the cabinet off.

The factory speakers are terrible. I always put in the upgraded speakers in the cabinet and backbox even if I'm connecting an external sub. Either way, yes on the backbox speakers. I get the Flipper Fidelity speakers.

Cool thanks! Its nice to have a pdf file all in one place!

Marcos sells them. When I first got my Premium it only had like ten games on it but the previous owner already put on a full set of the fluorescent green protectors. They looked TERRIBLE. It changes the colors in the whole game and not in a good way. I bought a clear set and now the game is back to being colorful as Dirty Donny drew it up! The green ones are in a drawer somewhere.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/CG2539

I also got one of these while I was at it:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/830-6921-51

If the switches open up some it allows the ball to push further back on the rubber before it kicks. This may cause the ball to lift off easier. Might want to check the switches.

I think the green looks beyond terrible and removed them all. I have a whole Marco green protector set in my drawer if someone wants to buy them for cheap. I prefer the original awesome colors the way Dirty Donny intended them to be.

That was one of the first things I modified when I got the game. I made a little back wall behind the cross to block direct view of the flasher while still allowing it to fully light up the plastic as intended.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/metallica-owners-thread/page/259#post-4286746

I like the shape of the side rails better than the rounded ones. Very nice. Who sells them?

Do not use an impact driver. Good chance the nut and magnet pole will break free together and do serious damage as they get dragged down through the playfield. You want the pole to go out the top side and not move downward in the slightest amount.

I have a huge wrench and huge screwdriver for this job. Heating can also help loosen the locktite.

Good job! Something everyone should do when they pick up a game used. I'm due to remove mine and file it down a little.

Yes a hair dryer is better than a torch...

Metallica is one game that hasn't plummeted in price. Premiums are still going for $10-12K even for the original runs with the wooden backbox that are ten years old. I had a really nice premium from the very last run that was fixed up nice and I ended up stupidly selling it before the prices went up. I'm not going to spend $4000 more than I sold my game for to get it back.

On the other hand, I am already in for a new run Metallica Premium. The game play on Metallica is a masterpiece. I can combine that with a brand new game with that new car smell, SPIKE 3, better graphics, better sound quality and stereo too and all for less than the old SAM system machines are going for? To me this is a no brainer, despite the extra 40 seconds to boot up.

Anyway I hope to rejoin the club and strong rumor has it that the Metallica vault or whatever it will be called is next after Jaws. If the rumors are wrong and it's not the original playfield with Lyman rules, there is a good chance I'll pass because the original Metallica would be really hard to top.

Maybe not if I already had a nice original. Maybe. Coming from a position of not currently owning Metallica; if its done right I would take the $9500 SPIKE 3 version all day long. New in box game, better system and not just a display. SPIKE has uncompressed stereo sound, 10-band EQ and really easy speaker and amp upgrade vs mp3 mono on SAM. Maybe not a huge seller like Godzilla, but done right they could easily sell a couple thousand Premiums and a decent amount of Pros.

I know that is the common thought but not really true. Both SAM and SPIKE 2 are really good systems compared to older Whitestar, WPC and others. SPIKE is more reliable than SAM from my experience owning 12 SPIKE games and zero board problems. SAM had lots of stuff that was surface mount and only the main parts that frequently would blow like drive transistors were through hole. SPIKE is the same thing so you can swap parts without being able to work on surface mount. Blow a drive transistor and swap it out - just like SAM. In fact the driver node board has much fewer connectors so its easier to remove and reinstall after changing the transistor (I've never had one fail though so just sayin'). If something surface mount fails, most people have to get a replacement; same exact thing with SAM. Not that there aren't issues. SPIKE 1 was riddled with manufacturing problems and board issues. SPIKE 2 has some isolated issues like the Node 10 board clusterf*ck. Dial back the clock to when SAM first came out... EVERY MPU in the first game WPT was defective and gimped until Stern finally put out an updated board many months later. My WPT was a paper weight for a long time until I got an entire new MPU board in the mail. Even the last versions of Whitestar were loaded with surface mount chips. I had a LOTR with a main board that had gremlins that nobody could find or fix. Eventually after a years of effing around and tons of money spent, I had to buy a new main board for like $500 just to get the thing to work properly without reseting.

Also, rumor has it that Metallica will be the first SPIKE 3 game which could be interesting to see what it includes...

LOL

LOL! You must not read my posts because I already mentioned that and labeled it as a clusterf*ck. I am totally aware and understand that issue as an early Rush premium buyer. I spent the ten minutes to cut out the offending connector in my Rush and prevent the Node 10 issue from ever happening. Even if it did happen, Stern has sent out replacements outside of warranty to make almost everyone whole. There are still a few people with broken machines from this issue, hence the clusterf*ck label. I don't want to minimize or ignore their pain.

No system is perfectly designed or 100% reliable, but it is simply a fact that SAM and SPIKE 2 are both great systems and SPIKE 2 is more reliable and more foolproof. Not to mention the SPIKE 2 boards are more readily available for purchase these days. Try to find an MPU or driver board for SAM and then make sure it is the correct one for your machine of the five different types they made.

Back to Metallica. Whether or not you are on board, it will be interesting to see what Stern comes up with. Hopefully not a fail.