Check out this mod I made to jazz up the sneeze guard a little bit.

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There's all kinds of VU audio meters out there that would work for this - I just happened to have this one in a parts bin. Trying to think of something to put on the lower clear plastic area that would compliment the meter?

Nah, I'm too lazy. Beside, it's easy enough for anyone to do for themselves.

I think any of the ones above would work. I don't have a P/N for you - it was a loose one I pulled out of a junk bin. The feature you are referring to is called a "peak hold" - some meters have it and some don't - look at the details when you order. It's just 4 wires - low and hi audio inputs (which you can use alligator clips to the cab speaker but don't tell Black Knight about the roach clips or he will preach to you at length - glad he's gone), power and ground. Mine was 5vdc, but I'm sure they come in 12vdc too.

Forget about the mm, somebody make a giant VU meter backbox topper, and let's really rock!
(not responsible for any photosensitive epileptic seizures

Here's the finishing touch to this mod. A miniature old school sound system (gotta have record player and tape deck!) mounted on the clear plastic piece directly in front of the VU meter.

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For all those who have PM'd asking me to build a kit for you, I appreciate the compliments and the interest. Honestly, there would not be much to the kit beside the VU meter, which is readily available for about $30. Some wire and mounting screws that everyone has laying around the house and you're done. It's about as DIY as it gets! But if you don't feel comfortable with it, it looks like some folks are ready to jump in and sell ready-made kits. Like I said in an earlier post, I don't intend to make kits - I'm more of an idea man (and I really am lazy, you can ask my wife!)

I can't find this - can you provide a link?
BTW, Florida APE show rocks! The hotel WIFI in this particular Miami hotel - not so much.

I think all us guys just got meter envy! (ladies continue insisting size doesn't matter - thank you).

Nice find, MustangPaul. They even have them in about 18" x 4" size which might suit a pinball backbox better, and setup for 12v for just over 10 bucks. Ordered & out!

I'm a little shocked I haven't seen these big equalizers on at least a few music pins.

Nobody is going to get rich on these pinball mods. As long as credit is given where due, who cares? IMO, if you know how to operate a coffeemaker, you know enough to do these yourself - why pay anybody?

After conferring with counsel, her recommendation is to proceed under stipulation that you provide a quantity of 2 (two) units gratis to this household: 1 for my MET, 1 for her AC/DC. If you find these terms amenable (and feel free to run this by your counsel), your acknowledgement will hereby set forth the venture under the terms and conditions of the agreement described herein.

Sidebar discussion: Do you plan to build a case that is generic to all machines? I think it would be cool (and probably easy with your 3D printer) if you also made game-specific case options (maybe with band name or symbols, something like that in bold relief).

Maybe you don't plan on printing your case, but if you do, I would suggest putting something on it - maybe a treble clef or some musical notes? It won't cost anymore than just printing a box - that's the beauty of 3D printing. You might have a better plan, but PM me if you want to pursue the 3D printing route - all you need is an STL file. I can have a file made for you (no charge for something this easy).

OK, sounds like you guys already have the latest technology and the wherewithal to use it. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I had my talented & enterprising nephew (engineering student at UF) put together a case for me. And he did a spectacular job! It's in the mail to me - and I should have it Monday - will post a pic of it installed. If anyone wants to help a poor college kid with beer (I mean book!) money, PM me and I'll set you up. Cost will be $40 shipped (USA). This fits the 20 segment meter only.

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I'm not sure what "dual extruded" is, but this one has both high relief and engraved lettering (maybe that is what you mean). It's all white and high quality - paint to your liking.

Cool, I didn't know of that capability, but I don't think he has that type of machine available or he would have mentioned it. I think people will want to customize with their own color scheme anyway though. I'm not even sure what colors I'm going to use on mine yet, but I did paint my hammer silver with purple shadowing kind of like you described in your post above (the putty/grey and black was just too drab for me). Maybe I'll color coordinate this to match. Thanks for the idea, Keith.

I'm now going to make one of these for my AC/DC, so this time I had to actually order one, and thought I would pass some info on that may help those of you building your own. Many people have PM'd asking me to provide more detailed information on how I did this, so here it is.

After a few messages back and forth with Barmeter Electronics on Ebay, I determined the exact P/N that I used for my MET. I wanted the same 20 segment meter with the peak hold feature and a simple terminal block hook-up, but I wanted it to work on 12v. The P/N to order is "vu120P-5712S BH12CB7041". It costs $27 and it's free shipping, believe it or not!

The other parts you will need are (all readily available):
Female-Female (6-32 thread) Hex standoffs approx 3/4" long - 2 ea.
6-32 machine screws approx 3/8" long - 4 ea.
#6 washers - 4 ea.
Alligator clips (preferably hooded) - 2 ea.
22 or 24 awg wire - approx 5 ft length - 4 ea
Small Tywraps - As required

Instructions:
1. Terminate 2 of the wires with alligator clips. The clips connect to (+) and (-) terminals of the cab speaker. Route the free ends up thru the playfield by the right spin target. Connect to terminals 2 (-) and 3 (+) on the terminal block of the barmeter.

2. You now need to bring 12v to the bargraph. More than one way to do this, but the easiest is the 12v/5v connector that Stern has provided near the right side of the coindoor. You can buy a ready made harness for about $10 to do this, or if you are familiar with Molex connectors, connect a 3 position plug (use only the outboard positions - black is neg and gray/red stripe is 12V) to 2 wires. Route the free ends of these 2 wires up to thru the playfield and connect to terminals 1 (-) and 4 (+) of the barmeter.

3. Mount the barmeter on the sneeze guard using the standoffs, screws, and washers listed above. Needless to say, you will have to take the sneeze guard off the machine in order to drill the 2 mounting holes in it.

4. Secure the wires together neatly about every 12 inches or so and make sure you have provided enough slack to raise and lower the playfield without pulling or snagging on anything.

That is it. Total cost should be about $30 (maybe $40 if you buy a ready-made power harness). If you have any questions, PM me - I'll be glad to help.

Probably not the final version, but looking pretty good. I couldn't resist adding the groupie. Not sure if she's saying "check out the cool VU meter", or "shoot the right orbit, man!".

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I probably would have used that but didn't know about it. Heck, I just searched the site and still don't know what you're talking about. Oh well, the boss is suggesting something more pertinent to the theme anyway, like a skull or skeleton. Now, if I can only find a skeleton with big boobs...

AC/DC style case...

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They are both for sale here:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/pinballbarmetercases

FYI, the Met case design was also improved a bit:

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Met case as painted and installed on my machine.
ACDC case shown here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/acdc-mods-which-are-the-best#post-3086151

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ACDC case shown here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/acdc-mods-which-are-the-best#post-3086151

If I understand correctly, you have a blue wire going to the the low input, which is terminal 2 on the barmeter, and your other wire is yellow high input, which goes to terminal 3 on the barmeter. If that is true, then just clip the yellow wire to the pos (+) speaker wire and the blue wire to the neg (-) speaker wire.

I never sold them - it's fairly easy to put one together yourself which is what I have encouraged. However, it seems like quite a few folks would still rather pay for a plug-n-play kit. I think Modfather would do a great job and probably vastly improve the appearance with his artistic skill. Let's hope he does it.

It works on either 5v or 12v - just buy the appropriate barmeter with the voltage you want. Also, there is a "plain" case available now at Shapeways that you can install your own custom faceplate to personalize it as you like with any photo/print. It's nice to be able to modify a mod whenever you like. The first picture just shows some custom faceplates I made - possibilities are endless. Maybe this will get MF's artistic juices flowing?

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