Play better .. nothing better than a bouncy, clean fast playfield on a brand new game....and yes it will slow down in time...but they do play WAYYYY different than a route game or dirtier game for sure...usually much harder, and alot more fun and crazy!

But really just sounds like you need more practice..

I got to play a NIB ACDC at our local arcade the day he opened it, I LOVED it, also played a NIB Tron LE the day it was open, so good

Yep, no one plays there ACDC machines. Everybody hates them

I had to play it quite a few times before I got the feel for how to control the ball in ACDC. It made me a better player overall though.

Yes, but it should still be fun. Brief, but fun. I would suggest lowering the pitch slightly. That will slow it down. Don't trust the factory bubble. They're not always accurate. Just take a few turns out of the back levelers. When it slows down later, you can always make the game steeper again.

You forgot one symptom they all seem to suffer from when new. Weak shots to the ramps that don't make it to the top often roll back down and go STDM. Especially the right ramp. Almost guaranteed. This too mellows as you put more games on it.

Flailing & uncontrolled shots will be punished early and often on ac/dc..
When I first got mine I kept getting taunted "play better" and I was thinking screw you pal I am playing better (at least I thought I was) turns out I wasn't once you learn to keep the ball under control everything changes (at least it did for me)
I will admit I still need to "play better", but I don't suck as bad as used too.

If it's really dogging you set it to 6.5 and close the outlanes. Set on 5 or 10 ball. But yeah it's just you and a NIB . It will get better. Mine is at 7 and feels right about there. Could be steeper I think and still fine. Give it time

You need to take it out of the box first. It's much more playable after that. :^)

Ron...

this ^^

Go to settings and under adjustments there is an option to turn down the coil pulse. I always have mine set to HARD / full power 12.5% stronger than default. But you can adjust the coil to soft 12.5% weaker. That may mellow out the slings a bit. Try that and see if you notice more controlled play.

All I know is since I updated the code I suck. I was a rock star on the old code

Huh, right out of the box mine has played beautifully outside of the canon not always knocking down the drops (they bounce off). As others have said, just keep giving it a more of a breaking in period.

Of course a NIB AC/DC is impossible to play.....

You have to take it out of the box first.

It can actually make a game easier to control (not slower) if the pitch is higher. It becomes easier to bounce pass and trap on an inlane due to the game not being as 'floaty'.

This was what I was going to write

My tip - change the flipper rubbers, the red ones from Stern on ACDC are ULTRA bouncy, try black it should make a huge difference to your control

ACDC pro is a beast to play just New out of box, but fun.

I was going to say try using black flipper rubbers instead of red, mufcmufc beat me to it.

It does make a lot of difference.

The operative word there being 'can'. I'm sure there are a few games where that is the case, but the vast majority of games play easier when they're floaty. Saying a game is floaty is the same as saying it's easy. They have the same meaning. Floaty = Easy.

If you go to PAPA, you'll see that the games in C division won't be as steep as the games in B. And the games in B won't be as steep as A division. If most games were easier with more pitch, it would be the opposite. Increasing the pitch on AC/DC (pro, premium or LE) will NOT make it easier.

Sounds like this is the pro... Not sure what the exact reason is however it appears that either the wrong coils or the dialed settings of the coils was too high. Either way yes is it unplayable imo and should not be that fast. The premiums and LEs are fine tho...

Why are people saying the game will slow down over time? It shouldn't / won't if you properly maintain it and keep it cleaned and waxed.

I believe there is a sweet spot sometime after a game has been waxed and played a fair amount. Freshly waxed games play like crap in my opinion. I prefer playing a game 30 or more games after waxing. It takes time to get used to any game that is new to you, waxed or not.

Tron is pretty out of control right after I wax it. It's a tough game at that point, but it's pretty thrilling at the same time.

I work at PAPA so yes, I have been there a few times

In general, yes , we set games steeper in A division at PAPA.

But, speed does not always = harder. For example at PAPA 14 our setup on LOTR in A bank was open outlanes, tight slings, and low pitch. Why? Because it causes more side to side when a game is floaty and the outlanes come into play more.

There is a thread on here somewhere where Mark talks about it, I'm sure if you do a search you can find it.

Yeah, basic physics. A steeper tilt will lead to more vertical play. Bounces also have to be harder to leave a flipper on a trap attempt than they do on a lower pitched game. Games with rough outlanes, like TZ, are BRUTAL if they aren't steep enough to take some of the side to side play and temper it a bit.

Did somebody really say "Take it out of the box first " ?

Practice your hand eye coordination on solitaire first, then come back to ac/dc. Its a twitch gamers dream! Noobs do not apply!

As far as wax making the game wild & uncontrollable, why do you think Stern says to use Novus, not wax? That's why time is spent writing procedures. Now, for EM's waxing sure speeds them up. And by wax, I mean good car type wax.

oof

As do brand new games without wax. Which is why we have this thread.

I typically don't wax any game under 20 years old. Clean regularly with Novus 2. That's it. My location games play very consistent. I appreciate that in a location game as I'm sure my customers do on my games.

If your games always play like new, you're either waxing too much or not playing enough between waxings.

Okay then.

That's one game (title). The original poster is so frustrated he's about to sell his AC/DC. I don't think increasing the pitch is a good idea in this case. Wouldn't you agree?

Yes, I asked him about the use of wax at PAPA in that thread. I don't recall him mentioning specific games that play easier when they are steeper. Can you think of any others besides LOTR? I know I like some games steeper than factory (BSD), but that doesn't make them easier.

Just off of the top of my head, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, and No Fear are good examples as well.

For the record, all of my personal games are jacked waaaay up on the back legs. I like speed, whether it makes a game easier or not

What about AC/DC? The dude is about to sell his game! Bad advice in this case IMO. He'll get more STDM's from weak ramp shots.

So are mine. They're used in the tournaments at CAX and I leave them that way when they get home. Mark jacked up my Ripley's last summer (after politely asking first). I turn EB's back on at home (max 3), but that's it. I like the way they play, plus I can play a lot of games in a short period of time. Never late for anything. Still prefer to play on location, but home games are good for practice.

Acdc Pro is the fastest Stern ever! Blinding fast flow and super addictive. Last to leave in my house.

Recommend closing outlanes. Does little to stop drains but helps. Black flipper rubbers help. Finally HEMI bell mod and remove spring.

Takes a while to get used to. Will kick you in the balls if you don't trap. control is essential. Made me a better player.

Plays better steeper. Watch this video of my modded Pro to compare my setup.

What??? Wrong coils never heard that one lol, acdc is fast and that's the great thing about it I hope my Metallica's as fast

Definitely don't sell the game! AC/DC is awesome. I'm not sure with AC/DC, I haven't played much with it because I haven't found many reasons to make it harder in tournaments. Usually rubber off the outlanes does the trick

Any NIB game is impossible to play.

You should not need to take the ramps off to move the outlane posts. Why did you think that was necessary?

There should be no hang ups under cannon. Check for wires and zip tie them up. Close those outlanes all the way.

Where are most of your drains? Do not aim for TNT targets. Ever!

My Pro has strong coils too. I love it for back handing ramps.

I play the Pro version in the local arcade. That pin is perfectly maintained - I swear it is playable and enjoyable after a while (initial experience is brutal and that pin is fast as hell). Default coil strength must be reduced a bit - especially for the slingshots. The cannon had to be adjusted.

never had any problem with my pro, i did change the outlane post for chrome star post, removed the spring, thats it.
like everybody said, you have to get used to it.

I'm looking at mine and don't know any other way to do it. I would sure like to close up the outlanes a little bit.

do you do it from underneath?

I've played the pro on location a decent amount, and I find that I have fairly long ball times. It's an easy fan layout with ramps coming back to the flippers, so I really think once you get better you won't feel this way anymore...ramps are easily backhandable too...

Make your shots and you won't need to scramble

I've scored over 200million and I don't even know the rules fully and don't have a ton of time on it...practice makes perfect...

ACDC is a fast pin and it can be a real PITA but I like the challenge. Who wants an easy pin that goes on forever. You have to adjust and sharpen those flipper catch skills. If you can master the speed of ACDC you will be ready for anything.

If you think acdc is hard you should try avengers le. Avengers is 3x harder. Not as much side to side movement but ramps are a lot tighter and harder to save on the outlanes. I have noticed the sling shots on acdc are a lot more active than avengers or tspp or any of my other games cept maybe wcs94. However if you nudge the game up when it hits the slings it tends to hit the drop targets or stand ups instead of draining.

If you are use to playing used games that havnt been stripped cleaned and clearcoated then nib games are going to seem a lot faster/harder than a broken-in game.

I actually kind of like it when a game plays fast and hard. Yes game times will be shorter and may make it difficult to get to multiballs as much or even sniff a wizard mode but The challenge makes me want to play more and I think helps improve my overall pin skills. It's also fun to watch my non pin friends play and get their ass kicked.

The problem you mention with the ball getting stuck under the cannon doesn't happen at all to me, I'm guessing something is wrong with it or not properly assembled at the factory. I'm sure there is a simple fix to lift it up. Might help to look at pics of another one to see what exactly is out of place.

I was exaggerating to make a point. Glad to hear it.

Getting sucked in by a game is good!

A couple of things. First, play easier songs. Songs like War Machine, Whole lotta Rosie and You Shook Me are safer songs. If you haven't already, try backhanding shots up the left orbit from a cradled ball on the left flipper. Often those shots will end up in the pop bumpers, then dribble back out slowly to the right flipper. Those shots also are good for all three songs I listed. Also, don't go for the sucker shots. Don't shoot a song jackpot from the cannon unless it's worth at least 10M points. If it's less than 10M, shoot the spinner instead. Shoot combos on the ramps, but not from the orbits. Fast orbit shots can get out of control quick.

Not sure there's much you can do about that. I see you have a Ripley's too. Hell of a pair for noobs. If you have the means, I would suggest adding something slower. Like Spidey, TSPP or LOTR.