I just got my project Tommy completed and I have a question about the blinders / arch: When are they supposed to activate during game play?

I can play an entire game and they almost never activate. They covered during one multiball during one game. They work. They activate during the test. And if I start the game with Extra Ball pressed, the blinders stay activated for the entire game. But I have only seen them cover that once during game play.

I played a Tommy in PAPA this summer and those blinders activated frequently during gameplay. Mine - not.

I see nothing under adjustments other than to turn it on - and it is on (I think Adj 44). Occasionally people tell me to clear the RAM to fix things like this, but I have NVRAM installed.

Excellent. Thanks for the answer. I will need to upgrade my EPROM. Mine is 1.02. LOL!

I have a 3b DE and the sound is great - except for the lamp buzz. I minimized that by isolating the board / ground screws to remove the ground loop. I also found that the lamp buzz does not increase with the volume control - meaning it is after the volume control. So I put a resistor pad on the backbox speakers and upped the main volume.

The sound on my project Tommy sounds terrible. There is intermittent hiss in addition to the lamp buzz. But the voices and music sound muted, too. Sound board is a slightly different design than my DE 3b.

I am upgrading the speakers. Is there anything else I should do?

I am amazed how many 10 uF Caps are used to couple the sound between the TDA8199 and U31 / 33. Each channel has TWO! Should I replace those? I am not certain what the other electrolytic caps to ground do (C53, 54, 61, 62, 68, 69). Will replacing those help?

It looks like the cabinet flipper buttons are connected to the switch matrix. There is a second switch on the flipper switch. I believe it is the switch that is furthest away from the buttons that goes to the switch matrix. Check to see if those close. If they do, use your DVM (power off on pin and DVM set to resistance) to see that it closes electrically. Clean with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol (not rubbing alcohol) or drag a business card through the contacts when they are closed.

If the switches are working, then you have likely a wiring problem. Post back and I will trace where it is connected to the CPU.

Thanks. My Maverick sounds quite good. But that is a DE 3B and the sound board is a little different design. Tommy is a 3. Plus, on some games (like LOTR), in order to get all the sounds on the EPROMs, they had to compress the sound quite a lot. It could be that the sounds recorded were too complex, compressed, and will just sound like crap anyway.

I am upgrading the cabinet speaker. That should at least give me better bass. I am a little afraid to upgrade the backbox speakers. Better speakers have real tweeters in them. That just makes the hash, hiss and noise more noticeable in some cases.

Interesting you found TZ to be an improvement. I think all pre-DCS WPC pins have mediocre sounds. I did find a noticeable improvement with LOTR, but not TAF or Hurricane (backbox speakers). The cabinet speaker helps a lot in all pins. In theory, the sound board in DE/Sega/Stern 3, 3b and Whitestar is a better board than WPC (pre-DCS). With DE/Sega, it is a 3 channel stereo amp (2.1 I guess). Stern took a step backwards and went mono with Whitestar.

I just get a woofer (6" for WPC, 8" for DE/Sega/Stern) from Parts Express and find that it helps a lot.

I may just replace all the electrolytic caps in the output section and see how that helps. Then hold my breath and put car speakers with a tweeter in the backbox and hope for the best. I guess I could remove the tweeter if all I get is noise.

Thanks. I will check it out. I also plan on putting a pad on the backbox speakers so I can increase the volume to the cabinet speaker vs. the backbox. Would also like to install a low pass filter for the cabinet and high pass for the backbox.

Oh crap, you are right. Double on left - I stopped looking there. One on the right. Sorry.

It looks like the connection from the SS Flipper control board at CN1 connects to the CPU. 3 is Switch return 8, 4 is switch drive 8 and 5 is switch return 7. Switch drive 8 corresponds to column 8. Return 7 and 8 correspond to rows 7 & 8. The flipper switches are in column 8, rows 7 & 8.

Since both flipper switches are not registering, I would check the column / drive 8 first CN1 - 4 on the Solid State Flipper board. See page 81 of your manual.

Also check on the CPU. The connection for Drive 8 is CN8 pin 9 on the CPU board.

I would suspect first that it is either the connector header pin on the CPU or the Flipper Control board, the plug, or the wire between them. With the power off, you can check resistance with the DVM between those two boards.

It is possible that the returns are the issue, but it is unlikely since both flippers are affected. That would mean that both returns would have to be bad.

The good news on the board is that the two switch controls are two different transistors, Q7 and Q5. So I doubt it is a board problem. Hopefully. A pretty simple circuit. For flipper switch 'A', it comes in CN1-7, through Q6, which activates Q5 and that tells the CPU that the switch is closed.

LMK if you need more info. I can try to trace the wiring between the two boards.

Congrats on finding and fixing the problem.

I do most of my work on WPC and early Bally SS pins. Each manual has its good points and bad ones. My favorite is perhaps the Stern Whitestar manuals. Williams WPC manuals are great for finding the connections - each connector and what it goes to.

On this DE, it does not appear to have an equivalent. For example, looking at page 82, CN1-4 just says "Switch Drive" which is not a lot of help. The only place I found helpful information for this board was page 81, where it identifies where the connectors from the flipper boards go. That saved me tons of time.

For the other boards, there are pages 62 - 65 which are helpful. I like how the info is set out in WPC manuals better and this DE manual takes some getting used to.

I have upgraded my EPROM to the newest - unofficial version. There are some nice changes. But I still do not see the kind of action that I saw in Pittsburgh at PAPA. At PAPA, during game play, there were times when the blinders would quickly open then close. I do not remember a lot of the specifics, but it almost seemed like there was a sensor that the blinders knew when the pinball was approaching the flippers. Frequently, they did not open all the way. The opening was brief, not like what I see on mine during a specific multiball.

With my game now, when they open, they stay open completely through an multiball like "Tommy can you see me". Last night, for the first time, they opened during the middle of a multiball - almost like if I kept multiball going longer than a certain period of time, they opened. But they opened all the way and stayed open until multiball was over.

This is a great game. And the blinders are one of the best features ever. But to use them so rarely during a game seems a shame.

I do not see a selection in the software other than to disable them. Am I missing something?

I am getting dramatic airballs off the pinball target. I have disassembled it and bent the bracket forward, but that did not seem to fix it. I am wondering, considering it is a 3D round target, if its height is insufficient? And the pinball is hitting above the center of the target and flying up? It is so bad, than under occasion, the ball flies all the way over the flippers and down the drain.

Also, the left scoop solenoid shoots the ball just to the end of the right flipper - sometimes down the drain. I have cleaned the solenoid and checked the wiring. It seems to be firing OK, but might be a little weak? Angle of the game is set properly - I think the manual specifies 6.5 deg. Back feet are almost all the way up while front are down - level reads the specified value.

Thanks, I will check the foam. I have never had air balls like this before in any game. Except, ironically, Stern Star Trek drop target below Vengeance.

I see Pinball Life has the foam, too.

Of course I just received a big order from Pinball Life. Figures......
Not sure about that Stern add on for targets. I think all three of those switches have the back plate. What does that Stern anti-loft hardware replace / do?

Good to know about the left scoop hitting the left flipper. I stripped that entire assembly down and cleaned it. Maybe the screw holes are off. I thought if the coil was stronger (poor connection at the board?) that it would throw it further to the right? That was my plan. Now I will try for the left flipper.

Another question: Getting the ball to the right VUK results in a lot of bounce outs. Is there supposed to be a rubber pad or something in there? I put a blue end of ramp pad towards he back and it helped a little bit.

I have rebuilt a Tommy, including adding a Cliffy protector to the VUK area.

Now I find that a large portion of my shots that enter into the VUK area bounce back.

I carefully re-centered the protector. I have also added some old foam on the left and back sides to absorb the bounce back. That seems to work for a few shots, then this foam does not seem to compress any more.

I have tried the typical blue pads without help.
https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-blue-padsbumpersball-guides.html

Any suggestions?

Pic is a long shot of the area with the cliffy protector installed.

Also, it took me a while to work on the left scoop so that the ball did not drain. It aims to the left flipper now. The scoop also pushes up the playfield plastic a bit. Hitting that scoop from the right flipper is a tough shot. If I do hit it, it does not usually go down the scoop, but bounces back.

Suggestions for that too?

2017-09-02 11.41.59 (resized).jpg

Thanks for the suggestion. We might have those around the house.

I cannot say that the cliffy protector made it worse as I rebuilt the game without it being played (it would not boot). I did find that I had not quite centered the protector over the hole (or it shifted) and centering helped.

On TAF, I found it much harder to get the ball under the chair.

My Tommy is missing the silverball. I got from a garden shop one of the outdoor silver balls. I have not figured out how to mount it on the head, so it does not accidentally fall off.

Any suggestions?

I am not sure I can picture what you did, but it does sound interesting.

If I understand what you did, you tapped into the 'ball' and it is thick enough to put threads into?

I have not studied the ball I purchased enough to know what it is made of, much less how thick it is. I was concerned that if I managed to drill into a round ball (I keep imagining the bit sliding around), that it might crack into pieces. And if I was successful, I might have to use a toggle bolt to get a secure hold of it.

That looks like a nice fix. Far more sophisticated than what I was thinking of.

I was toying with the thought of doing a cheap experiment and hooking up a low power bridge, followed by an electrolytic cap or some sort of R/C filter. I figured converting the square wave output of that relay into something more of a DC sine wave might help? Not sure how the LEDs would respond.

I will have to look into your suggestion.

I used to get airballs from the other targets. I purchased the DE target anti-loft fix from Pinball Life and it fixed up those. But the silverball, being hollow, that did not work. I made sure that the bracket is not bent.

It is hard to tell, but I think that the pinball hits just above the middle of the silverball target and it, being round, is what is causing the airball. At least that is my latest theory.

https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-anti-loft-switch-back-plate.html

I restored a Tommy from non-working with 7 blown fuses. It appears that it got a bit wet. I still have to replace the bottom board of the cabinet, but other than that, it is working great.

There are a few issues that I am not happy about. If anyone can give me pointers, I would appreciate it.

* The shot to the VUK is tough. Just getting through the posts is hard and much of the time it bounces out. I installed a Cliffy protector. Am thinking of taking that out and widening the hole just a tad and putting on thinner rubber on the posts.

* Shooting into the scoop on the left is darned near impossible. A normal shot off the right flipper goes up the left loop. I have to let the ball fall off the edge of the flipper to have a chance. Getting the left or right targets is a challenge. I know that the scoop had been bent. It seemed to push the plastic way up. I lowered it a little and twisted it a bit to keep the shot out of the VUK from draining.

* And getting up the right ramp from the upper left flipper is extremely tough.

Comments, suggestions? Adjust the flippers down a bit?

IMG_9961 (resized).jpg

IMG_9962 (resized).jpg

IMG_9964 (resized).jpg

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I took a look at the Cliffy. Of course I should know better. It is spot on the original hole. I think the ball tends to 'slide' over the metal and not go down the hole as easily? But enlarging it would accomplish nothing.

I have thinner post sleeves in my cart from Pinball Life.
https://www.pinballlife.com/perfectplay-1-116-thin-stern-compatible-rubber-post-sleeve.html

But in the meantime, I took out the right post and wore down and flattened the thicker sleeve by sanding with a Dremel. It made it easier to get a shot in the VUK, but not too easy.

"The VUK, put an inch of window seal foam in the back." I tried that. Maybe the window seal I used was different from yours. Mine had fairly open cells and compressed easier. I tried putting it on all three sides, then two and finally the back. It did not seem to help - I felt like it made it worse? But thanks for the suggestion. I will find some other material and try again.

I dropped the flippers a little. On closer examination, the alignment pins look a bit high to be in line with the lane guides, so I don't feel like I am cheating. It made a big difference. Still hard to get into the scoop, but now I have a bit of a chance to hit the left and right targets, while I can still make the other shots.

My scores have about doubled. I think I have to change the settings.

I am looking at getting a PinSound board for Tommy. Anyone know if I can install it for Tommy, then if I decide to sell it, remove it and put the board in a WPC pin?

Also, I have spare 32GB USB sticks around. I cannot find what the max size that it can accept. I figure why buy a 16GB when I have unused 32GB sitting around.

I see you have lights, and perhaps flashers behind the plastic, all the way in the back, attached to the cabinet. Being new to this club, where can I find out what all you hooked up? Doing GI's would be easy. Switched or flashers would be cool, but depend on what they are hooked up to.

I just got my Pinsound and shaker delivered today. Looking forward to doing that mod. This is my first dealing with Pinsound. Sure not cheap and shipping is high.

I am doing my own speaker mods. I have to put in the new ones in the backbox. Cabinet upgrade was already done by me before - I think the original was rotted out.

Thanks for this. I have never looked seriously at PIN2DMD. Now that I have all this extra time on my hands, it will be something for me to look into.

I am installing the PinSound board. Pretty straightforward. But I admit that I am old school. I dislike these cryptic picture only instructions books.

There is nothing about hooking up speakers. I like to install my own. Already put in a new woofer.
It looks like for the cabinet woofer, I just connect that to the 'C' +&-. The left and right are pretty obvious. Is this correct?

Is the 'C' a low pass output? Or full / all frequencies?

Do L & R also contain the 'C' audio?

Too bad this does not have a 2.1 RCA output.

Since I am not planning on headphones, not sure what to do with the 'Auto-Mute' switch. Is 'Off' headphones off? Or is 'Off' turning off the auto mute.

EXT1, etc. are for what?

There are controls for a 'Sub'. Where does that get connected? Does not look like any connection for a sub, nor any crossover for it.

Companies really short the documentation anymore. These are basic questions any kind of audiophile type person would want to know the answer to.

I watched the video on installation. Pretty basic. It does not answer the questions that I listed in my post.

No speaker harness was shipped with mine. The one that they have that is an extra cost is 'Stereo 2.1 wiring for Bally/Williams STERN/SEGA pinball machines'. I think not needed for DE Sys 3 as the DE Speaker plug fits right in.

It is a pretty amazing card to work with all the different pins.

But they really should have a sub output. And explain what the controls do. There are two sub pots. For?

Right now, I am dealing with an issue with my USB drive. This is the type of information that should be in the instructions. Mine if formatted ExFAT. I installed the firmware upgrade on it, but it is not upgrading.

There are two USB plugs on the board. Two?

Thanks. This is something that should be readily available in the PinSound website.

Thanks for the info. I found buried on the website that the USB has to be formatted to FAT32. As I have a Mac, it appears that I have the option of formatting as ExFAT and MS-DOS (FAT).

It appears that FAT-32 is the same thing as MS-DOS(FAT). So that maybe my problem. My USB is 3.0, but PinSound says that USB 3.0 and 3.1 will work.

Thanks for the photos of your speaker setup. I assume you have three speakers: left, right in the backbox, larger speaker in the cabinet. No separate subwoofer?

BTW, I also purchased the 'power booster'. After pouring through the photos, it appears that it hooks up the sound card to the +18V DC power supply. The original sound card was connected to the +12V DC power supply.

Aw crap, no luck. Reformatted to MS-DOS which should be ExFAT. I downloaded and put the firmware file in the USB drive. There was no conformation that the card did anything. So I downloaded and unzipped the Tommy sound files, booted and all I got was:

"There are no sound files on the USB drive."

Am dead in the water and do not know what to do next.

This is what they say is necessary:

"You can use any USB 3.0 or 3.1 flash drive with your PinSound sound board.

The required format is FAT32 (make sure to format your flash drive accordingly).

Any flash drive sizes are correct, with a minimum of 8GB."

I have 32GB.

Can anyone let me know the file structure? I have named my USB 'pinsound' which I expect is OK.

I read that the audio files need to be in an 'audio' folder.

I have tried:

audio/TOMMY_PinballJAH/[all the unzipped files]
and
audio/[all the unzipped files]

No luck.

[ignore the invisible files in this photo - they should not interfere with the reading.]

Screen Shot 2020-10-20 at 5.06.15 PM (resized).png

Am I reading correctly that I have to convert the downloaded .oog files to .wav files?

That will be tedious as bleep. Have to see if I have a converter that will do that all at once.

That is fine, but this is not rocket science. I worked on computers for a living. All that is needed is a little guidance from PinSound.

I filed a request for info. I got this nice response. I cannot expect help in my time since they appear to be operating 100% in France.
_______________________________________
I'm sorry you're having this issue I will help you.

First, could you make extra sure your flash drive is in FAT32 format?

If the sound board is able to apply the firmware, the
"pinsound-update-20062.psrom2" file will be automatically deleted (if
the update has been possible and applied).

Once done, to load a sound pack, simply copy the zip file at the root of
the flash drive, everything will be handled automatically during the
next boot (and you'll hear the status progress).
_______________________________________

I find that interesting. I was reading through the help postings on PinSound's website. One responder said that the music files had to be in a folder 'audio'.
At no point did I see anything suggesting that the files should be retained in the zip format.

Lack of documentation......

As one person suggested, I will also post this on the 'Mr_Tantrums Pinsound thread'.

The speaker grills with the Union Jack on them are crucial to the look of the game. But after upgrading my speakers, along with the PinSound card, I am a bit disappointed in the high end. Those metal grills are fine for the original terrible speakers with no high end. But I would like to replace them with something more sonically transparent.

Has anyone developed an aftermarket Tommy improved speaker grill? Or even a new DMD / speaker holder, better than the original plastic, that might allow something bigger than 4" speakers?

Thanks. I 'rolled my own' speaker upgrades. I believe, and I should test this, that the original Tommy speaker grills cause problems with the high end. Reasonably good speakers never have pinholes in them - if I remember my physics correctly, they would cause all sorts of sound irregularities through interference patterns. Yet car speakers do this all the time.

The heavy duty metal mesh of this is likely to cause worse effects.

When I have a chance, I will remove the Tommy metal grill and see if I can hear anything different. I have used these speakers in other applications and they can sound better than this.

I downloaded the standard mix from PinSound. Maybe the sample rate in the audio is too low? I need to listen to the files through good speakers.

After installing the PinSound upgrade, I find that it is a nice improvement. But am not satisfied with the sound quality. I installed upgraded speakers - from Parts Express.

My next move is to mod the cabinet bottom and put in a bigger woofer. My upgrade is the same diameter as the original - 6" I think. Later Whitestar have 8" - not sure of the sizes, but that makes a big difference. I would like to mod it to put a 10" in there.

But before that, I need to replace the bottom wood piece. It got wet at some point it the pin's history (before me).

I am disappointed in the clarity of the high end. My now ancient ears are not great, but I can hear that this is not good. I guess I was expecting too much and thinking it would sound as good as my expensive sound system. I am hoping to master the controls to smooth things out. But I think some of the problem are the speaker grills. Also, 4" triaxial speakers are never going to sound as good as separate mid-range and tweeters.

Has anyone ever come up with an elegant way to hang small external speakers on the backbox? Either on the top or the sides? I don't like the idea of drilling into the sides of the backbox, so they would have to attach either via the back, hidden at the top, or hang from the bottom of the backbox.

I am trying to avoid using an external sub. Not a big fan of having those under the pin, but I understand why others like that. It is an easier solution.

I do have to reinforce this cabinet since the bottom was damaged. I want to try a larger speaker. Since I know that 8" works well in LOTR, how about 10". Maybe not, but testing will tell.

BTW, I end up in rants with the misuse of the term 'subwoofer'. Subwoofers were developed to reproduce sub-sonics. Usually this meant below ~50Hz, the stuff we feel not hear. Typically that is down to 20 Hz or even lower. The lower priced 'subs' don't reproduce those frequencies. They are woofers and work much better than the speaker in the pin cabinet and do dramatically improve the sound. But you are not going to get a true sub for a low price. - Rant over......

Out of curiosity, what are you finding at Goodwill stores? I got my computer speaker setup from a Goodwill store about 8 years ago. It is a reasonably good Altec Lansing. Although I would never confuse it with a good sound system, it was quite an improvement of the system I had before.

Thanks for that!

It looks like maybe a 1+ on the Sub Booster, 2 on the Sub Base 12+ on the Eq Bass, 2+ on the Medium and Treble? A little hard to tell with the photo being off from straight on a little bit.

This is what I have set for mine. I am fairly happy with the sound (I am a picky but frustrated audiophile). One think I noticed is that the high end is much better heard while bending over. I need to see if I can tilt the tweeters.

I would like to crank up the bass / woofer or whatever settings a bit more. But during a sound effect (explosion or something) the speaker or amp clips. I played with the backbox open and noticed that the green light on the card flickers. Not sure what color it goes to, but it could be detecting clipping. And yes, I have the 'power booster' hooked up and confirmed that the +12 V is running ~+19 V DC.

So, eventually, I will go into the extremely well done sound mix and play with the amplitude of whatever that sound effect is. When I dial it back, I can then crank up the overall bass.

Sub Booster - 11:30
EQ Sub Bass - 2
EQ Bass - 12
EQ Medium - 11
EQ Treble - 4

IMG_0077 (resized).jpg

CN14.

You say the switch is good. Did you try jumpering the switch?

Both switches use the same wire, white, from CN14-2.
Step uses CN14-3 - Green.
Forward/Reverse uses CN14-4 - Blue.

There are a few connectors in between.

I got this off of page 62 in the manual.

My Tommy pin has had a hard life and was cobbled together prior to my picking it up. The manual calls these coin door switches. Are your's mounted on the coin door? Mine are mounted on the cabinet just inside the coin door.

I decided to dive into setting up my own shaker setup on Tommy. On the surface, it is easy, but there is a learning curve. My first attempt ended up with the shaker so mild, that I could not tell most of the time when it was running.

I have the shaker setting on the board on the lowest setting, which was too strong on the 'factory' setting, so I will play with that.

One of my goals is to have the shaker running when the props on the plane are running - which was the original DE plan. Since this shaker is set off by sounds, I guess I have to associate a sound with every time the props turn on.

If anyone has a hint to have the shaker run continuously on a low rumble every time the props are turning, please let me know.

I saw, a while back, someone posting a video of a Tommy with flashers and GIs behind the airplane plastic hanging from the top. Does anyone have any info on wiring and hardware (types of bulb sockets, locations, etc.?).

I apologize if this is old news, but I did a search and came up empty.

Did you attach the LED strips directly to the plastic? Or to the bottom of the upper/back of the cabinet where the plastic is mounted?

I like getting my LEDs from Pinball Life. It seems that they do not have any strips, darn it. Where did you get them?

I must be blind. I do not see any flickering from the GI's in Tommy. The only thing I did was remove the relay plug. That stopped the brain cell killing strobe when the mirror drops. Other than that, it is fine to my eyes.

I had thought about doing a little home made mod, where I could convert the GIs to DC by putting a rectifier in the circuit. Then experimenting with different electrolytic caps so that the flashing of the relay would be more subtle.

But with the relay unplugged, I have moved that down the list.

My Tommy cabinet is nearly trashed. The bottom got wet and the back. I could replace those sections, but the one side has some damage, too.

I might get a friend who is great at woodworking, to help me build a cabinet. Are there cabinet building plans around?

I was also thinking of ordering one of those virtual pinball cabinet kits. I am not sure how compatible that would be for a DE game.

Are the kits compatible with a real pinball machine? I think the DMD part of the backbox is a different size for DE vs. WPC. WPC has 5&1/2" speakers while Tommy has 4". Should I care? I would like to retain the Union Jack decals around the speaker, but dislike those metal speaker grills.

Where did you get the 4 SMD spots from?

I am redoing my Tommy cabinet with the custom art from Retro Refurbs. This is my first cabinet artwork application.

What color should I paint the cabinet prior to applying the side art? The original cabinet was yellow, which I could match and redo. But this custom artwork only has a little of the original yellow in it. Since the cabinet paint will show on the edge of the wood, as well as where the artwork ends, I want everything to blend in.

https://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/the-whos-tommy-hand-drawn-pinball-translite/#single/0

Great (sarcasm). I just got my shipment of translite and cabinet art from Retrorefurbs. Am in the process of fixing the cabinet now to get ready to apply the new cabinet art. I hope it looks good.

It turns out that their 2SMD bulbs are slightly brighter than the 4SMD bulbs, because the SMDs used in the 2SMD bulbs are bigger. Always the fine print....

But they don't have the 2SMD's in non-ghosting.

I have significant cabinet repair to do, so more than sanding.

Did you sand off the original artwork? Or heatgun and scrape?

A little confused as to the background color. You suggested matching the blue in the Retrorefurbs new side art? Or the yellow of the original? I have not had the side art out of the round container long enough to study it.

I am guessing from their photo that the blue does make sense. Thanks.

https://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/the-whos-tommy-hand-drawn-pinball-cabinet-decals/#iLightbox[product-gallery]/1

Mine is the original which appears to be paint. Any idea if there is lead in it? I know that home lead paint was banned in the '70's, but commercial use extended for many years after.

I have to repair the cabinet also, due to water damage. Then sand. What did you fill with? I know many people that use bondo.

Old question, I know.

The only time I ever hear the knock is when I get a new high score. That can be a rare event, unless you reset the high score at a very low level.

I assume that it works in the solenoid test.

I am getting ready to install the new vinyl artwork for Tommy. But this is the modified artwork with The Who on it.

I have questions about installing the coin door side.

The entire coin door artwork is shown in the first photo.

If I try to align the cross with the start button, the vinyl does not cover the top of the coin door (last photo).

If I center the artwork, the cross is partially cut out by the start button (middle photo).

Of course, 'Miracle Cure' is obliterated by the shooter, no matter how I align it.

Suggestions?

IMG_7806 (resized).jpg

IMG_7808 (resized).jpg

IMG_7810 (resized).jpg

https://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/the-whos-tommy-hand-drawn-pinball-cabinet-decals/

I am thinking that no location is going to make me happy with this mod on the coin door. I think that it just was not thought out as well as I would have liked. The example that they show (see photo) shows that they did not try to line up the start button with the 'cross'. I think that the designer should have worked something else in for the start button.

I think the side art is an improvement, especially with the music on my pin now being The Who and not the original inferior broadway play. But I expect better.

Screen Shot 2022-08-18 at 3.41.29 PM (resized).png

I have looked at mine, not in the glass yet, and it looks pretty good. You can see it in the photo above. Is that the same as yours?

I think the cabinet art is a mixed bag. At first, I did not like the way the artwork was transformed from the original photo. It also looks low rez. But after looking at it for a while, I think I am going to be satisfied with it. I have yet to install it.

I have painted the cabinet to match the background of the artwork, in case any seams show through. The problem I have right now is that I want to restore the artwork on the top of the backbox, so that the writing reflects off the 'silverball' properly. I can make a clear decal, but I cannot print white. Printing it as black lettering likely will not show up. I will experiment with yellow lettering. If not, I will have to have a clear decal made at a pro shop someplace with white lettering.

I think that is a good idea. Not sure there is enough room on the edges of the decal to do that. I cannot get the 'cross' centered on the start button without leaving a gap at the top.

Not sure how much of a gap I could leave and let the lockdown bar cover it, nor if that is a good idea since the decal might start lifting there with several removals and reinstalls of the lock down bar.

The only thing I can offer is the original blinder PCB and a new motor for it. I had trouble with the original, so I ordered replacements, then fixed the board.

This has been sitting around for a few years, but worked perfectly when I tested it. I cannot try it right now since my Tommy is in parts for new cabinet artwork.

Am trying to resurrect a Tommy. I know all pins cabinets have plugs that are not used, but I would like to check to see if I have missed anything:

IMG_8207 (resized).jpg

This one appears to come out of the power switch box, so I expect it has 120 V AC on it?

IMG_8208 (resized).jpg

This comes out of the wiring harness near the speaker connection.

IMG_8206 (resized).jpg

I have no clue as to what these would be for.

IMG_8205 (resized).jpg

I would expect this is used for the bill validator, so not used.

IMG_8204 (resized).jpg

These come out of the harness that goes to the coin door. There are two plugs here, but the picture is not great. The one pointing down with a black and white wire is one of the two in question. The other is the 6 pin IDC.

Thank you for all of that.

Only Taiwan reimports have the shaker board? It is listed in the manual (that did not come with this game). I saw nothing in the cabinet or game to indicate that it ever had any other language than English. There is nothing in the software to activate the shaker and from what I have read, DE never did the software for it.

I got this at an auction several years ago for $750. Cabinet got wet. Had 7 blown fuses. I found only one bad transistor. Replaced the fuses and everything worked. Playfield cleaned up very well, only had to do a few repairs.

I put in a PinSound board and shaker. It is now playing The Who now instead of the original Broadway cast music.

I have had a cabinet maker replace the damaged wood. Replaced the bottom, back and one side. Would have been easier to build a new cabinet from scratch, but he did not know that at the time. So I sanded, primed, then painted with a color to match the new side art.

Getting to the finish line.

IMG_8223 (resized).jpeg

There is really only one way to add a shaker to Tommy, that I know of - through PinSound.

I helped Pinshakers research adding theirs to Tommy. But with the AC relay that it uses, they could not get it to work. Strange thing is that Pinshakers claims to be able to install a shaker in Williams System 11 pins. The DE system 3 is a darned close copy of what Williams did.

Up and working now. Since the cabinet was so badly water damaged, I took a chance and used the alternative artwork that has The Who on it to go with the new soundboard. For the most part, I am pleased.
I still need to bead blast and repaint the lock down bar, create the reflection decal on the top of the cabinet for the 'silver ball'; and, since I needed to use longer leg bolts (surprise!) with the upgraded leg bolt brackets, I need to paint them.

Onto the next project - Funhouse playfield transfer - my second one.

IMG_8250 (resized).jpg

IMG_8253 (resized).jpg

IMG_8255 (resized).jpg