I installed the pinsound board on my LOTR and downloaded Wool's mix, I have to say the sound quality is much much better and Wool's mix has a lot of potential (and it's an improvement as is over original sounds). Money well spent, and the installation was not that hard either (although I had other issues after the installation, but not related to the board)

Pinsound gets two thumbs up from me!

where did you get those speaker covers and Lights?

If I buy the Color DMD, do I have to buy a an eprom burner to make the rom software work correctly? Is there a place for me to buy an eprom already programmed?

colordmd is all software updated/changed via usb
http://www.colordmd.com/faq.html

It is really really simple. Download the file from the website, put it on a USB drive, turn on game, press 1 button on the colordmd, wait about 1 minute, play game in color!

excellent, thank you!

By the looks I would say they are from www.speakerlightkits.com

I sell Speaker Light Kits for most Data East, Sega and modern Stern games (SPIKE 2 Speaker Light Kits coming soon). I also sell the various acrylic designs for them (like the LOTR design pictured).

...If you buy them I would recommend mounting them with the ring acrylic design in the front, followed by the light frame, speaker grill and then the speaker.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

As others have stated....updating the ColorDMD to use it's LOTR software is easy (via the USB on the ColorDMD), BUT I also believe each ColorDMD software has a specific GAME software version that it is programed to color (usually the newest revision). So you may need to check your game and see what software rom revision it is running. If you are running a rom version that is older you may need to update your game's roms. I'm not sure what the latest, most widely used or what LOTR software version the ColorDMD is programed to color, but I'm sure many of this thread will know. So you should be able to make sure your game is updated to the correct ROM revision for the ColorDMD to work properly. I believe in many cases the ColorDMD software will still work if you are using outdated game code, but I also think that may lead to some uncolored or wrongly colored things (depending on what has been changed from one game revision to another).

If your game isn't on the correct ROM revision there are usually places to get updated ROMs burnt. I have had to update nearly every game I have bought in the past as it seems that updating the game ROMs didn't use to be big on owners priority lists. It's also not as easy to update older games (pre SAM) as current games are so I'm sure many just didn't want to deal with it.

Doug

Either way, with or without a ColorDMD, you want the latest version of the ROMs in order to get all the intended features, modes, and bug fixes. When I got my LOTR it was on V6.0 and ran into several bugs. Upgrade to V10.0 and the improvement was noticeable and the new features were great!

Marco has the game ROM for $10 (http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/EPROM1871) and the display ROM for $10 (http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/EPROM1873). More than likely the sound ROMs on your machine are fine, but you can compare the version numbers of them to the Marco listings.

I just picked up an absolutely gorgeous HUO or VERY lightly used LOTR. The only problem I'm noticing is that with a few hits of the flipper button, ball in the shooter lane, the ring mode starts. In switch test mode, the ring opto seems to work perfectly. However, there doesn't seem to be a way to test switches with coils activated?? I'm curious if it's a vibration thing or what (although the flippers are an entire playfield length away from this switch).

I ordered a few IR LEDs to replace the opto LED pair if necessary, but has anyone else ever heard of this and is this the solution?

I had a similar problem on my LOTR when I first got it, but I can't remember off hand what all I did to fix it.

I did replace the ring optos on mine which I believed fixed my problem, but just in case the ring optos plug into a PCB board behind the playfield backboard.

I had an EOS wire on one of the flippers that was broken off, resoldered it.

I also had 3 wires broken on the main wiring harness on the back left under the playfield. They looked like they got caught on the slide rail when the playfield was lifted and slid forward/back.

The Balrog wiring harness on mine was broken, had to fix it (that one shouldn't be your issue).

Thanks, I'll just replace the opto LEDs when they come in. It'll take me 5 minutes and 50 cents. I'll check the flipper EOSs, but this game looks like it's had REALLY limited play prior (zero PF or cabinet wear). May just be a bad component from the factory and the original owner didn't know the game play none the wiser. Game play appears to be otherwise perfect (I put up a 312M game and was literally 2 shots from Valinor LOL -- but I feel like I cheated the mode starts, and probably had points awarded as well). All switches checked out individually in switch test mode. I was hoping there was a way to activate coils in switch test mode like I can on a B/W game to see what the cause was. I've seen both flippers trip that switch, and now I'm wondering if the pops would do it too.

if you think you want to put in a shaker motor get the 10.02 cpu and 10.0 rom , i have these as well as the special pal chip needed to run the shaker.

I think that is a symptom of the Balrog switch failing/noisy. Others have reported that, and replacing the Balrog switch fixed that issue for me.

Before fixing it, I was not registering some Balrog hits, and when testing the switch I could see it was blipping on/off/on/off... when I tested it in switch mode.

Ok, I guess my love for this game is getting a bit crazy. I just bought a NOS playfield for my LOTR. Purely because I got excited for the fact that I saw one available. Complete impulse purchase. First NOS playfield I ever bought. It wasn't cheap, and I'm not a millionaire. And the playfield in my LOTR isn't even in very bad shape or anything.

I think I might need help...

You’re definitely gonna need help once you realize how much work a PF swap is!

The first step towards healing is destroying the F’ing ring!

I did the exact same thing. Now I have an LOTR NOS playfield I don't know what to do with as well as a complete set LOTR miniatures. To paraphrase Bob on DI, "Crazy!"

I am guilty of this as well.

I’m in the market for a LOTR pf if y’all want to reverse course. And I’m doing the swap, for sure.

So good to hear I'm not the only one with this illness... We could start our own subgroup. LOTR Anonymous. I'm Jasper. (Hi Jasper) This is my story. I started out as *just* a pinball nerd... At some point, I bought my own Lord of the Rings pinball machine. That's where things started to go downhill, and fast. Before I knew it, I became medieval weaponry collecting nerd and a miniature toy collecting nerd as well. The only difference is that I do take the stuff out of the box.

To be fair though, that LOTR playfield just seems empty without the full Fellowship on it. It's just common sense to add Legolas, Gimli and Boromir. But then, to compete with all these good guys, you need bad guys, right? So, I added extra Ringwraiths. Of course you need the Army of the Dead to sit on the Path of the Dead, but that's a work in progress on my machine. To finish things off, I thought I needed Narsil, the Sword of the King to hang next to my machine. Why? I don't have the slightest idea. To be able to protect the pin from other nerds, I guess.

And... so yeah, now a NOS playfield as well. And I'm thinking about new cabinet decals. Where does this end?

Legolas shooting the Balrog
Gimli and Boromir sneaking up to the Ringwraiths
Narsil...
...protecting the pinball machine

It hasn't ended yet. You just must get pinsound and color dmd

D´OH!

You´re right though. I will definitely get a ColorDMD for the game at some point. Not completely sold on Pinsound yet.

Interesting!! I noticed the Balrog hits were not consistent either in game play and had to really bash it to register. If the opto replacement doesn't work (easy and cheap enough), I'll take a look at this. Thanks for the tip! Hopefully we can get her going quickly. ColorDMD is necessary at some point. I also think this game really needs a sound upgrade. The stock speakers just sound really tinny and lack full depth of the call outs.

Hi Jasper. I'm Rez and I also have an addiction problem. After seeing those Ringwraiths, I must add them. Damn you.
Fair is fair though... have you heard "Wool's" pinsound mix? You should. Pinsound is quite expensive for what it does, but it's probably the best mod I've added.

For those getting new playfields, is the printing quality essentially the same? The original playfield is a bit muddy. IMHO, the playfield artwork should be 'improved' if they make a 'vault edition'. Please tell me the artwork and inks are the same... (so I can avoid the time and expense) PLEASE!

You haven’t heard one in person, then. That’s the only explanation

I have this spotlight (which I assume is from the factory) under the plastic/flasher by the right in-lane/out-lane....what is it meant to be pointed at exactly? I never understood why it's even there to begin with. When I bought the game it was pointed towards the drain so I just left it like that.

It should be pointed at the figures on your slings

Ah thanks, that makes more sense.

I took mine out of LOTR and ST. I did not like the look. Much cleaner now.

I was considering that as well. It just seems a bit unnecessary.

hobbitses in the dark.png

Finally! I was surprised at the time...it felt a lot longer than that.

21C0EB63-22AC-4CB0-91FA-3D3FDB62DA4F (resized).jpeg

Nice!

I joined the club just before Expo with LOTR as my first pin. While I'm having an issue with the Shire switch, I wanted to ask something before I order the parts to replace that. I've been having an a nuisance issue where when the ball ejects into the shooter lane, the selected skill shot has been registering without my shooting the ball out of the lane, basically lanes, tower, frozen on flipper. It used to be every once in awhile but its pretty much every time now. Any help would be appreciated.

1) It could be the shooter lane switch is registering incorrectly. In that case it either needs adjustment or replacement.

2) It could also be the small shooter rod spring on the outside of the cabinet. Mine was broken when I got my LOTR, and it caused the shooter tip to stick out into the lane to far, causing false operation of the shooter lane switch.

Thank you, I think this is it.

Unconscious the other night on DTR...

79E0225D-CDE9-4AA6-B000-6AEF68654209 (resized).jpeg

Dayum......

How much does a shaker motor add to the playing experience with this title ? I am contemplating buying a HUO and trying to figure out what I will need to add to the total cost. Is this a “ must mod”?

It barely comes on in my game. If you destroy the ring or hit balrog it will activate. Doesn't come on near as much as say in my JP for example. Although in my opinion it's a good value compared to some other mods out there

I installed a longer screw and put a couple (2) of post rubbers on it. This gives me no knock and the cabinet isn't getting damaged anymore.

Pics please...

I have my LOTR set up on (2 ball) 'Destroy the Ring ' It is harder but so cool. May be changed in the features adjustment . What did you gents set your DTR to on your LOTR ? 1 or 2 pinball ?

LOTR Destroy Ring 2ball (resized).JPG

Nice time Rob!

IMO, 2 ball is the only way it should be played. There shouldn't even be an option for that.

2 ball.

Used 2 ball for a while but often the magnet would grab both and I got frustrated with it, so went back to 1 ball DTR.

1 for me for now.

I love the 2 ball, but if it doesn’t work right, I like the fact that the software can compensate.

LOTR is my favorite pin and I love the shaker I added. Some pins do not benefit from it but I think LOTR is one to have it. My Stern ST and LAH have shakers also.