This has been mostly my experience as well. Only the rug switch is a tad inconsistent and I know its solvable. I did some of the usual fine tuning that I always expect with a NIB and this machine rocks. Wednesday night I had a Lewboski party and it was played non stop with "mark it zero" problems.
The craftsmanship on my machine is stellar and everybody really enjoyed it.

I'm playing with whats existing for now, otherwise its Titan rings for all of my machines.

Thanks to Dutch Pinball for mentioning their interview in the upcoming 4th issue of Pinball Magazine. The aim is to have the magazine available at Pinball Expo, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Either way the article should be a fun read and share some interesting behind the scenes stories.

Fixed the diverter to my satisfaction today by elongating the adjustment slots on the diverter, needed about 2mm more travel to be able to have the flap testing within the slot. Also added felt dot underneath the arm on the center lane plastic just for safety.

Also completely disassembled my bowling alley ball release today due to some stuttering on advice from Barry. Was just documenting what I have for Barry right now, but if people want to see some gory photos I can post

For those needing to collect some metric tools, today I just needed a 2.5mm ball hex and 7mm socket for the nuts for both projects.

Yeah Tom,
What were the symptoms and solution to your bowling alley issues?

Mine occasionally will run into one of the sides and bounce off of it (stutter). Video:

https://goo.gl/photos/J5hbsKfeL1spDsp9A

What it looks like to me (I haven't cracked the code) is that the two switches are carefully correographed to get 3 position states (left, right, center). And there seems to be very little margin between far left, and far right, and the plastic guide running into the ball release from the opposite arm, causing step loss (the stutter). I am guessing I will need to go back in there (after waiting on Barry to confirm) and adjust one of the switches / it sets too late.

To remove the plastic guide, there's a set screw (2.5mm). This photo is the angle for which the set screw hole is accessible.

20160827_130737 (resized).jpg

This is what the switches look like (4x 7mm nuts holding mech on)
20160827_130903 (resized).jpg

This is the TWO cam plates attached to mech. Apparently on the prototypes / engineering samples there was just one.
20160827_131113 (resized).jpg

This is a video of cam action and switches. Since I have no idea what "good" looks like I just sent this to Barry and will wait and see

https://goo.gl/photos/kGCHQ9RFotff4KFo8

And here it is reassembled. It worked better for a few games then it came back.

https://goo.gl/photos/q9HkfeiX2m2n2hgE8

Diverter (actually fixed). Permanent unapproved unreversible. Not responsible if you screw something up trying to repeat this. And def open a support ticket up so they have an idea how many people effected regardless of what you do or don't do about it!

Screw slot before:

20160827_122110 (resized).jpg

Added 2mm of travel to both slots with hand file (slot is 4.5mm wide)
20160827_123727 (resized).jpg

Video Checking out that it now is within the slot vs above:
https://goo.gl/photos/hAn4YwRkvvJzttK8A

Victory lap in the test menu(before felt dot)
https://goo.gl/photos/npSKAsHDX8Pghayb7

I'm not having any of these issues but my compliments to you, Tom.

I know what a pain in the ass it is to pull out tools, evaluate a repair, test and re-test theory and then document everything with photographs. Even writing up an explanation and posting pictures is time consuming.

I see others helping as well and its a tribute to our community.

Well done, Sd_tom

Wanted to add/reiterate that both these are tickets with support and Barry himself is working through them with me. So bowling alley was collecting and diverter fix, he says they are looking at solution ; I went rogue with my filing down of slots / not anything remotely official

You are out of your element

Hopefully I didn't f*ck it up ! Its life was in my hands.

I do have that stabilizer.

Unfortunately, felt on top of the lane guide isn't totally working. Downgraded to mostly working. It's still occasionally getting stuck down.

Next on the list:
After a tilt, I lose music and most lights for the next ball. Callouts are still functioning. Anyone else experience this?

Looking to trade my Tron LE for a Big Lebowski....just in case someone doesn't like it.

Plus cash if delivered

I am trying (as hard as I can) to move to Nashville, so you are welcome to come play mine when we find a house.

Dude, Melissa has like 13 games left that are all expected to be built and shipped before the end of the year. Keep or sell Tron and buy TBL before they are sold out.

Let's hope preordérs are finished by end of year.

Man I'm having trouble getting my rug switch to register consistently. That little switch just doesn't seem like a great setup for that thing. I can get it to register intermittently but then eventually it stops registering altogether and back in the machine tweaking it. Anyone else have good solution. I know I saw some posts about loosening the screws(mine were actually already really loose when I first got to them) that hold the switch or something of the sort but that just doesn't seem to work for me. Other than the known left diverter issues that seems to be getting worked out with solutions this is my one big issue that has prevented me from enjoying the game as much as I want.

that's an issue I haven't had, sorry I cant help.

I would think the screws people are talking about though are the two spring loaded ones as that sets the tension. I'm not sure theres any good circumstance where having the switch itself loose would be good (although, maybe im the one not understanding).

My rug worked perfect out of the box. Only problem I have are some resets after installing 0.45.

Did you see burningman's write up on DP forums?
http://www.dutchpinball.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=139

I got to play one over the weekend I was very impressed with the build quality. It felt and looked like the good ole WPC days. Is there a family mode on this and is there a site that explains the rules? My first thought was I could definitely see buying one

Shut the f&*% up Patrick

Translates to "No I don't think there is a family mode and should never be on Big Lebowski"! Just like my opinon tho, man

There's a family mode

Hey I'm all for the f bomb and such. Not sure my kids need to ad it to their vocabulary yet.

I don't get on Pinside much recently due to a new and improved firewall on my PC which the kind people where I work gave me... so I'm a bit behind on most things TBL... apart from what gets sent through the NSNs... I was just wondering if there is a thread (maybe this one) where there is a running total of people who have actually got their game and unboxed it... Mainly curious to know how many people on Pinside have their machines...

A container was shipped and delivered with serialnumbers up to 30.

http://www.omroepgelderland.nl/nieuws/2115747/Amerikanen-worden-wild-van-Big-Lebowski-flipperkast-uit-Aalten

Local Dutch tv station did a small report on TBL. Time to brush up your Dutch

Thanks! Wish the info was in English, but hearing the game discussed in Dutch is still cool.

Interesting to see TBL's being individually hand crafted. The difference in pace between DP's and Stern's (mass) production is remarkable.

Let me translate the title: Americans are getting crazy from the big Lebowski from Aalten ......

So, are you really getting crazy is the question or is it the usual reporter nonsense

Also Jaap is stating that the typical buyer is a male person age 40-45 eating hamburgers and drinking beer, can you find yourself in this description

If not, guess you have to cancel

I wouldn't say we're getting crazy... I think we went crazy a long time ago without the Big Lebowski's help.

And we're only eating hamburgers because we can't get paper cones of frites with mayonnaise here. But we're not all fat if that's what Jaap is implying.

39, vegan, and don't drink! Jaap doesn't know me at all!!!'

Poor thing

I have new pity for you Rarehero.

So when are we getting some new gameplay videos from the early achievers?

Don't! I just stuffed myself at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Gonna take a nap now.

image (resized).jpeg

image (resized).jpeg

image (resized).jpeg

image (resized).jpeg

TVP for the win!

Gotta consume like the Dude man!

In-N-Out burger (resized).jpgWhite Russian (resized).jpg

Do we ever actually see the Dude eating at In-and-Out? Maybe they were just picking up a sack of burgers for Walter. I kind of imagine the Dude being veggie/vegan.

Booze on the other hand ...

We never actually see the Dude bowl either ...

I don't know. Milk products definitely rule out vegan. And using coffee creamer as a substitute milk product in a Caucasian would indicate the Dude isn't very picky about what he eats. In-and-Out burgers shouldn't be a problem if that's what's available.

Pretty sure The Dude lives off White Russians and weed.

images (resized).jpg

Did these guys get it wrong?

https://jamesvsburger.com/2012/06/09/the-lebowski-burger-lebowskis-glasgow/

Hey, any of you play a lot of TBL and then revisit a DMD game after a few days or a week? I played some TWD last night for the first time since getting my TBL and the DMD suddenly looked ancient. I don't think DMD games are going age well after a few years of all color displays from all of the manufacturers, so ColorDMD is probably going to sell even faster in the future. Another thing, TWD crushed me. It seemed so much faster and more brutal than TBL. Also, the moving skill shot lights seemed much, faster than when I first got the game. So, my conclusion is that playing TBL is just too relaxing getting into the Dude zone, and is degrading my pinball skills.

Hey all just got back from the actual Burning Man and played some more games with a friend on my TBL - no issues aside from connectors that got loose during transit so I feel fortunate. Sometimes the pins in the bowling alley register weird like it gives you a stike when it might not should have, but not that big a deal

I wanted to get it online but wasn't able to see how to do that - is that enabled yet or am I missing something?

Not enabled yet

Replaced the Super Bands for Titans on the main flippers. Shots feel better. Not nearly as much crazy ball spin.

Bought the wrong size apparently though for the top flipper. I bought the rubber labeled, 'mini' and it's too small. The other options on Titan's site for flippers are 'thin' and '3/8'. I'm guessing I need the 3/8. Can anyone confirm? Not as a big a deal though, the super on the top flipper doesn't really bother me all that much.

Also bought some blue rubber for the slings, but am going to wait to tackle that until I secure some metric nut drivers.

Not sure if it was this thread or the other but some one mentioned the fact that in TBL when the timers stop, it actually means the mode is over. Unlike in modern sterns where there is usually a 3-5 second grace period where you can make another shot.

I'm conflicted over this.

How do you feel about it?

It really is a different mindset playing the game. I play my ST/TWD all the time knowing that I can still make some magic happen even when the clock runs out. I have to mentally prepare myself now before playing TBL that 0 means 0.

TBL seems correct on the surface, but I've just been trained to play the other way.

I think I prefer having the grace period.

Where's the next boat????

There is a "grace period" setting in the menu. Not sure what it is for, but mine is set at 3 seconds. I didn'tchange anything so that must be the default