All the games I am familiar with from the 60s, single and multiplayer, had drop targets that could reset before the ball was over so you could knock them down again. But it seems as the 70s arrived and more and more games used drop targets, the curse of many multiplayers was they would not reset until the ball was over making them very one dimensional and once you had knocked them all down there was not much else to do.

Bally was late to the game with drop targets, however the first one they made which I have-Air Aces in 1975 has a bank of nine drop targets that will reset when you knock them all down and makes for great gameplay. I also have Williams Grand Prix and although they are banks of one, they will also reset after you knock them down in pairs. I have also had a couple of games where they did not reset and they went down the road.

I think Bally kept going with the re-setable bank, but I was wondering if there are other multiplayer games that have this feature. A friend of mine tells me he has a Surf Champ he could bring me, but I haven't played one or researched it enough to know if they do indeed reset.

So the center target will reset? cool. Does it reset again after you knock it down?

Sounds like a great game! I have never played one. Any others?

You mentioned Joker Poker. That is one I had the other was Solar City. I believe all the multiplayer versions of El Dorado didn't reset.

Reason I am asking is it now seems the multiplayers are getting the most play around here. The single players not so much. We like to compete. So with that said I am now only really looking at bringing in multiplayers, but I want the better ones if possible. Surf Champ looks like a cool game, but it sounds like Quick Draw or Fast Draw may be the way to go.

Rat makes the most sense of all. Get both. But first things first. I need to free up some money and space. I'm guessing they do reset on Surf Champ?

Two inch flippers to boot. Now yer talkin'

Solar City was actually fine with the setup it had. Knocking down all 15 in one ball was a challenge in itself. Joker Poker is just fun to play. Hard to beat the layout and artwork on this one. A pinball masterpiece. Resets on the solid state version took it to another level.

I got the call last night that Surf Champ will be dropped off on Wednesday. It comes from my very good friend that brought me Rocket and Trade Winds. I have not seen it but he says it is very nice and I believe him. He is giving it to me at a good price and I agreed to fix his Williams Grand Prix because of that. I do like a challenge.

We're gettin' there. One game at a time. "Charlie don't surf!"

It's about as close as I get to surfing anymore. I'm waiting for the big one to hit to move the beach a little closer to my front door.

It looks like I didn't end up with a Surf Champ after all. That's OK, 8 less score reels to overhaul. My friend doesn't always know what he has, but he drives in from Arizona and drops them off so I'm not complaining.
I fixed a few issues on his Grand Prix in no time and he went on his way, but this one has been sitting for over 20 years so it might take some time. The cabinet is a little rough, but again, I'm not complaning.
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I had compared the two and I really wanted a Surfer anyway. The guy jumping off the surfboard is epic. There is some peeling on the backglass that was taped, but the colors are magnificent. The art package really appeals to me on this one. It's going to be fun to play I can tell, and those drop targets will reset when I am done with it.

Thanks guys! All this pinball stuff is making me hungry.

Man cannot live on the silver ball alone.
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You should see the new guest quarters.
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Well, SoCal is not as famous for BBQ as KC is I agree, but with my limited resources here, I tend to do OK. Sometimes I slather a bit of this stuff on after I flip them over for the last time and let it bake on.
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It's got a kick to it and I like that. We also have a Famous Daves in Long Beach that we ate at a couple of weeks ago. Very good!

I get all that and over the years have tried a few methods including several hours. I use coals and hickory and keep it covered. Since I am not running a restaurant, I get the results I am looking for in an hour and a half or two now and only sauce them (and sometimes don't) at the very end.

If we want to get the real deal around here there is Burrell's. Although I haven't been there in a while.

http://www.burrellsbbq.com/

I wouldn't recommend going there when the weather is bad or it looks like rain, because there is only outdoor seating. It is almost like somebody's front lawn. But last time I went there it was very good.

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It usually doesn't. But today it looks like the skies may just open up and give us a little.

Ever since they replaced that length of cable down the street with "temporary", my phone made it thru the three days of rain we had this winter just fine. I forgot to have hoov look at it while he was here and ask him what this "temporary" meant.

Then you would have really tripped out the time a tornado rolled down my street and left several of the trees along the parking area in the middle of the street including mine.

Yes, along with all the earthquakes we do get an occasional tornado. Nothing like the ones in the midwest though I'm sure.

I usually get a lot more bark on my two hour ribs than I did last night. The beef had plenty, but the baby backs not so much. That's OK because they were very tender and tasty, and I've got some leftovers for when I get home from work.

As far as 5 guys is concerned, I ate there once and that was enough. There are plenty of restaurant/ bars in the downtown district that go out of their way to make burgers supreme.

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Last time I ate there the food was so hot I got blisters on my fingers.

I've been going thru this Surfer over the last couple of weeks and I finally got it to the point where I could play it last night. Unfortunately it did not come with schematics or instructions and I am going to wait until I get my other machines in before I place my next order so I have basically been going by instinct.

It is a fun layout to shoot with a lot of variety and once you get where you are not banging the posts around it, that spinner is really a great shot. The drop targets are set up in a way so they are challenging too.

I've been thru all the score reels, the ball count unit, credit unit, bonus unit, and cleaned and adjusted a few switches that were not registering. All of that seems to work flawlessly now, but I am left with a couple of things where the schematic might be of some help. I finished up what I could last night, but thought I might try to get some insight before I get back to it. The first thing is I'm not sure what is required to light the upper and side rollovers for added bonus and I am no sure they are working.

The second issue is when I start a game with the ball in the trough, it will reset and the when it kicks the ball into the shooter lane it will advance to ball two. If I push start while it is in the shooter lane it will start a game on ball one. At no time will pushing the start button add a second player, it only goes thru the reset cycle again, but if I manually trip the second player relay, it will. I'm guessing these may have something to do with the first ball relay, but not sure how the circuit is supposed to work until I dig into it some more. Any insight before I do will be welcome.

Thanks! That should make it a lot easier to figure out.

Anybody have any ideas on the not adding a second player issue or the starting a game on the second ball? I'm guessing they are one in the same problem.

OK. I fixed that little bugger. Now it works perfect. I'm almost there..

Now can anyone tell my why when I start a game, everything resets just fine, it shows ball one in play, but as soon as it kicks the ball over that switch on the way out to the shooter lane it advances to ball two?

That had occurred to me. I put it back the exact way it came apart, but I don't know if it was correct before because most of the machine was not working. I haven't done enough of these to know the correct position. I am down to this and not being able to ad a second player. Everything else seems to now be working.

Ok, I just did. If it was off, it was always off because the screw marks line up in the old position. I can now start a game and it will go to ball one once it kicks out, but pressing the start button again while the ball is in the shooter lane does not add player two. The game resets again but shows no ball in play until it is plunged, scores some points, drains and kicks out again. Now it says ball one.

Thanks Dirt. I will check that out

Edit- I may have been looking at the wrong wires on the first ball relay.

OK, So what is happening is the first ball relay (U) is staying energized after the reset before any points are scored. Thus keeping the switch to the second player relay open.

And that is because the two solder lugs on the switch on top of the U relay are touching.

Thanks Dirt! I'll see if everything else is in order tomorrow. It's getting late!

It was very hard to see because of where it was. I had to bend my neck.

OK, I just played a few two player games with the player unit wiper disc back in it's original position and now it is a fully functioning machine. Thanks for your help guys! Not a bad player at all. Watch out for those balls rolling back from the spinner though.

Thanks to my friends at the EM hangout, I can always get the answers I need right here.