Quoted from NicoVolta:A very good question indeed. I've seen what can happen when a perfection-minded person gets overworked. Tim Arnold comes to mind. He is still pulling 80+ hours a week after many years at the PHOF. I have no idea how he does it. Tons of games and not many people to help him... yet somehow he keeps on slogging it out, year after year. I don't think most people realize the extremes to which he has gone. It's not healthy.
Arcade Expo has even more games and more volunteers than PHOF. Yet it will take many more years for the EM's to be fully functional if that is a priority... there are just so many!
Roanoke Pinball Museum is about 30% of the PHOF in terms of size (if you factor out the crane games, drink machines, ball bowler, etc). However, our facility is in a very nice venue at the epicenter of the downtown main square. Walkable, pretty, and surrounded by restaurants and bars. Which positions it a little differently from a stand-alone arcade in a strip mall or remote location.
As such, my goal is quality and experience, not quantity. We're not competing with Dave & Buster's. This is a curated, museum-y experience. My goal is to rebuild and bulletproof everything... 100% lamps and functions working and playing as well as possible, for as long as possible. All of the games need to be excellent.
For now, I'm extinguishing the major issues. A lot of work remains. But the size of the museum is manageable and that's the main thing. Gut feeling tells me I'll be able to fulfill my ambitions... and that gets me up early and staying late every day.
Also, it's cool when peeps from the tour/Pinside/community stop by to say hello, like this fella today (James Hudson)!
I also gotta add that the approach you advocate, the tear down-clean-polish-rebuild, of all components on an EM will help the overall long-term playability and reliability of the games you've restored. I watched you teach this approach to many eager EM enthusiasts across North America, and my opinion on this approach for noobs has evolved over the years. I used to say on RGP in the early days of my involvement in the hobby what alot of folks say - only fix the things that are broke, because you could cause more problems going through everything. It's funny to me that I advocated this, since I never did that myself - every EM I've ever done I've torn it all apart, and rebuilt it. So why did I think other noobs should do it differently? Good question...probably human fallibility...but no matter!! I was always a bit skeptical of that conventional wisdom, like alot of conventional "wisdom", and Nick has helped me fully dismiss it.
So I no longer believe this advice...it seems like it makes sense, and maybe it does in some cases, but overall I think it's better to go Nico's route. If you break some things adjusting others...so be it! Your hobby is fixing old pinball machines, isn't it?? So go fix what you just broke! It only adds more experience...
And in Nick's case, or really anyone maintaining a large number of games, if you've done your due diligence in the shop when you had that game all torn apart, the nagging problem are smaller projects than they would be if you hadn't. I generally have 8-12 EMs in my working lineup(with 4-6 on "location"(friend's houses)), and the things I need to do to all those games at any given time is minor. Bulb sockets are what I spend most of my time on actually...so I really understand Nick's desire to create a 100% operational fleet...even the bulbs. IMO he's got the right approach, and a good foundation to actually achieve that...or as close as anyone can get. )
Sean