Soft plunge on this seems a little trickier than most. Not quite JJPGNR tricky, but still a delicate touch.
I honestly can't recall wanting to play a machine as much as this one. Even in the honeymoon phase.

Hasn't it just been a plug in the cabinet for quite a while now?

I may do an extra set of legs first to see how it looks. I use Rice Rocket Powder Coating in Etobicoke. Do a great job!

Love that there's now the DJ mode with the latest .91 software update...

Big ask, low priority...

What do you think the odds are on Stern adding the actual expression light show for the songs in the DJ mode ? (right now it's just the attract mode lighting).

Or even adding a mode within DJ mode where we can watch the sync concert footage with the songs, but no scoring overlays ?

I already own all the albums and concert videos...it's just a really unique playback device !

That would be awesome. Starting a game and having a ball in the shooter lane, then listening to the music and watching the expression lighting is phenomenal. I'm so glad they didn't ruin it with a "hey player 1, shoot the friggin' ball, you hoser!"

Not a huge Rush fan so what is the washing machine significance to the band?

Had them on stage when they toured. You could see them working.

Just an odd sense of humor thing. I don't have knowledge of the inside joke, who knows, but im sure they would have wanted them during the earlier days when they were apparently on the road for upwards of 50 weeks per year.

Goddamn that H is hard to hit

Alex has a wall of speakers…Geddy doesn’t so he fills it with washing machines and chicken roasters.

Speaking of Alex’ wall of speakers…I’m working on a little something to go on top of my backbox…a topper, if you will. Hopefully I’ll have the protos painted and the lighting tied in by next weekend.

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Premium is in da house. My first NIB. So far I'm loving it. 2nd gen scoop forks which I mylared prior to first ball. .89 code installed from factory. March 1st build date. Played half dozen games and just updated to .91. Smooth flow, fast, and the music.........well it's RUSH!!!!!

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Was there zero mylar there before? Or did you put mylar on more mylar? I am trying to figure out what to do once mine comes home.
Thanks

Is that 3d printed?

It is, indeed, a Phenom L. That resin is amazing stuff. It’s pure sorcery! I finally have it dialed in, and it spit out three of these 12” tall beauties over last week. But da real MVP on this one is my Graphic artist. The detail in the speaker grill alone is something else.

Thank you kind sir, I really appreciate the walkthrough and pictures. Will be doing attempting later this evening.

This question was once asked by a small terrier. Geddy explaines

It's worth it just to make sure the switch is firing as expected, but based on the experiments I did while I was adjusting, the opto seems to be the biggest trigger (only trigger?) for the extra ball, and only by interrupting it for WAY LONGER than a passing ball in the subway would it go off, so I think it's a software issue.

Stern is sending me a new pop ring that has a flat side so it won't get stuck on the scoop.

Yeh, looks so smooth and detailed - I cant see any lines like usual. Really nice detailed sculpt. Those cogs are so intricate.

Mine had zero mylar on that scoop.

Congrats! And congrats on seemlessly updating your code to the latest rev!
Mine bombed out twice via USB stick and now won't boot up all the way due to it wanting the USB stick via message on the LCD display.
Reading previous Spike2 threads, looks like I need to obtain a gen 3 USB stick to do the update versus the 6 year old one I was trying to update the game with.
There is somehting to be said about the old school pinball machine simplicity of game play and tweaking game play vs the minefield of today's pinball machines.

Well, I wanted to play one game just in case it magically would start working before I started working on it and not only did it not register an extra ball, it doesn't register anything now. No Skill Shot, no Far Cry Ball Lock.....when it goes into the top scoop, it simply does nothing and will award the mystery value when lit then eject out of the bottom scoop, seemingly every time. Not sure what to do now.......

In that case, you definitely want to pull that subway section and make sure the opto pair is working and the switch is triggering. Nothing to lose now.

Trying to update the code tonight and ran into problems.
Bombed out twice via USB stick and now won't boot up all the way due to it wanting the USB stick via message on the LCD display.
Thinking of taking the SD card out of the game, formatting it and then flashing the 91 code directly onto it via my laptop and the etcher software talked about here:
https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/How-to-Create-a-SD-Card-for-a-SPIKE-System-Pinball-Machine.pdf

Also have a sandisk 16GB class 10 sd card on order for future code updates.

Use the sandisk for this update, and save the crappy stern SD card for another day. But what you're describing will work fine.

The games that Zach from Flip n Out took to Louisville had the blue rubber fix, yet we are seeing games that are being delivered a few weeks AFTER Zach would have received the games he took to Louisville have the older fix.

I guess I assumed Stern would be shoving these things out the door as soon as they were packaged, but this to me implies that they have a Premium stock that they're trickling out - some have the 3rd revision, some have the 2nd revision.

Or is it more likely that Stern shipped out all of their Premiums - some with 2nd rev and the tail end of the line with the 3rd rev - and distros have been then taking weeks to get them shipped out?

I just would have thought that, if we were seeing Premiums with the 3rd rev a couple weeks ago, any subsequent deliveries would have that 3rd rev fix rather than second.

I guess too maybe people aren't unboxing immediately, or not posting about them immediately - perish the thought, there's no way I could wait to unbox

I assume they used the Louisville show as a “test” environment for the fix to get a few hundred plays on each one. They might be reviewing the results and tweaking the fix. Curious to see if the “blue blinders” fix is on the machines at TPF. I’ll report back on that this evening.

I agree. I wish people reporting would include the actual date of manufacture that's shown on the back of the machine lower down near the bottom. Otherwise everything is complete hearsay.

My Premium built 3/4/22 had rev 2 scoop.

I agree. I wish people reporting would include the actual date of manufacture that's shown on the back of the machine lower down near the bottom. Otherwise everything is complete hearsay.

My Premium built 3/4/22 had rev 2 scoop.

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Blue blinders are on the Premium they unboxed for the TPF Wizards tournament. John Borg is here as well, already have talked RUSh to him and congratulated him on a brilliant game!

Which revision, 2 or 3, is the blue thing(s)?

revision 3 is the blue “things”, I believe.

Good question!
My understanding:

Rev 0 - no protection
Rev 1 - thin tin protector with ears down into hole
Rev 2 - stronger metal, no ears, forks to screws
Rev 3 - blue erasers, updated ears under playfield.

Thank you for the beautiful photos of your new Premium. I see you put down appx three mylar strips near the scoop. It looks like the mylar goes over the wood and the metal fork in one strip? I guess my question is why to put mylar over the metal fork? Is that the normal way to lay this stuff down? Sorry, if my question is beyond basic, but I am trying to figure all this stuff out. Thx.

Success!!
Just formatted the original Stern SD card with the new .91 code. All up and running now! =)

Got rid of all that El-cheapo factory black rubber and installed Silicone clear all around.
Installed the Pinwoofer too. Man o Man what a fantastic upgrade. Added a Polk sub well...just because.
Fine tuned al sound parameters and this thing sounds as good as the average person's home theater now.
Tip: Turn the Stern 10 band EQ setting to NONE. With it set to on, I noticed it introduces a noticeable hiss into the sound at low levels.
It sounds better flat when using Pinwoofer's system and then you can use Pinwoofer's dials to dial it in properly. The settings I am using pictured below.
Oh and loving the DJ mixer in this latest code. =)

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What rubber is this? Is this another upgrade that I need to get, when my game finally arrives?

Pinbal Life Perfect Play silicone rubber. Available in all kinds of colors. Much much better than standard rubber. No shedding, stays cleaner, lasts longer and same elastic bounce as regular rubber.
Tip: Go with 2 1/2" for the slingshot rubber instead of the 2" Stern installed. I've found the 2" too tight and could cause unnessary strain on the posts and rubber could break/fray more easily.

https://www.pinballlife.com/perfectplay-colored-silicone-rubber-rings.html

yes i like to know as well

Thanks for the clarification. I already have my flipper rubbers ready-to-go. I picked blue, but I don't remember why.

My Premium built on March 2 had the blue rubber guard, but I’m pretty sure a Stern rep installed them in the games at the show (LAX), not at the factory.

What I’d like to know is whether any Premiums are getting wear at the upper scoop protector. Mine still looks brand new after about 500 plays, and my theory is that they switched to a better metal around the time they started making Premiums.

Probably the better solution is to remove the protector and mylar under it into the scoop opening. I wanted to play my game upon setup and didn't exactly want to do a partial topside teardown to mylar. I chose to mylar over the metal protector into the scoop opening.

My scoop has gen 2 fork protectors. Game built March 1st.

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Waiting on my Ninja dual scoop protector to arrive, then will install playfield protector.
Still need to order a real knocker for this game from Pinbal life then will install that to get that real *Thwack* when getting a high score. =)

Mine is slightly tweaked at around 250 plays...
I do have mylar. Maybe will do what epeabs did... Thoughts?

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Last night I had a crazy long game - maybe 30 min+. I was so excited, I finished all the songs except Big Money! I thought for sure I’d be able to do it and see a wizard mode! Blew it!!! This is Valinor all over again lol. FYI, this is with Multiball settings set harder than stock, but I got LOTS of extra balls. Maybe 5 or 6.

OMG, my hands and wrists hurt SO MUCH.

I know some people don’t like long games - but all these modern games with their deep rulesets kind of need a long game if a player is going to see everything in it. For me, Rush might be the best long game, because I’ll never tire of the music or Expression Light show.

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Who did you contact to get it?

Help - Lockbar button

Start game - it immediately selects song and auto plunges the ball
Only on the initial ball.

However
On subsequent balls 2,3 etc it does not auto plunge. Flashes white 5 times then back to flashing red. If I press button it then autoplunges.

Not sure which part of the lockbar button switch needs to be adjusted.