I've had a good experience with Minwax Ultimate (so far), at least on bare wood. I did a Mata Hari hardtop a few months ago - the first picture is after tear down and before doing anything to the playfield. The second picture is after sanding, 3 coats of Minwax Ultimate on the shooter lane, apron area, and arch area, and the hardtop applied (something weird with the lighting in the second picture makes it appear like the wood tone is not uniform....it really is). Time will tell if it yellows, but so far so good after 3 months.

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After all this safety talk when clearing a playfield, I'm now cringing at this part of a hardtop installation video I watched earlier this year (starts at 3:04 mark):

Early Bally SS are stapled....pain the ass to remove, but totally worth it. And the three that I have done to date all had holes pre-drilled in the rails for screws which made screwing it in upon re-assembly a breeze. Likely a cost-saving move Bally made in manufacturing at the last minute....switch to staples and save a few $$.

If you don't want to shell out $900 for a CPR repro, you could use your existing playfield (sand off all the artwork) and put down a hardtop for about $300. Best part is only a topside teardown is needed.

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Small world - I also have a hardtop on my Mata Hari. And I have a playfield protector on my Black Jack and also (until I put a hardtop on) my Black Knight.

I very much like the play and feel of a hardtop. The ball does roll faster and smoother which I prefer...kind of like breathing new life into an old game. My Mata Hari, especially, is a lot "livelier" now with the hardtop and I think that's good. The ball is a bit quieter on a hardtop vs. a playfield, but that's moot to me as I usually have music blaring in the background anyway so you wouldn't notice.

The hardtop (and playfield protector, for that matter) also do a nice job of neutralizing sunken inserts without the hassle of leveling with clear or replacing altogether. Both my MH and EBD have several sunken inserts that change the ball trajectory when hit, but not anymore. Ball travel is smooth and true.

Wow....that's gorgeous.

My Lowes and Home Depot in Colorado stopped carrying it a few months ago. Picked some up from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Klean-Strip-Surfaces-resistant-Centaurus-AZ/dp/B09LHWZ45V