Hey Tommy fans! I've wanted this pinball machine since it first came out and I was a little kid in the 90's I found one in a local place near my house and played it every chance I got. I never forgot about it and anytime I saw a pinball arcade as an adult I always looked for Tommy as quick as I could. It's just such a fun box to play and with the easy multiballs and the awesome soundtrack I couldn't keep away.

I finally found a 2 owner Machine and it's happily in my house. The original owner worked at the plant in Chicago so I'm told and only sold it about 4 years ago. Now it's mine

Pinball (resized).jpg

I really like those blocks to save the board, where did you find those? That seems like something I could actually do lol

I guess I don't know the words. the metal plates protecting the holes the balls run into. mine has a tiny bit of damage I'd like to protect.

It's completely stock as it was "so I've been told" owned by someone who worked at Data East for about 20 years, and then was passed to the 2nd owner and now to me. I've slowly collected some info about mods but haven't found any "how to" install videos or instructions yet or which ones are really worth it. Any advice or links would be appreciated

I was wondering what these decals are called and where I could find them. I don't need these flag ones but I'd like to look at some Tommy Related ones and I can't seem to find ANYWHERE that sells just those. Mine sides are black and showing some ware and I'd like to protect them and make it look a little bit nicer.

Tommy Side (resized).png

That's exactly what I was looking for and man. I don't blame you those mirrors look amazing. Now I have to decide which one!

Now I gotta figure out how to "update the game" and maybe do the sound mods. hehe. how hard is updating the game? How expensive?

So, when I picked up my machine the old owner said it was giving him a "1 ball missing" error when it was turned on. Although clearly there were 6 balls in the game. He told me this up front as it's not exactly easy to hide. It kicked all the parts it could attempting to "unstick" the missing ball and this happened 3 times when you pressed start. Then the game fired up normally and worked.

Other than some normal maintenance and replacing the very worn balls, that was all that was wrong with mine when I picked it up.

Well Friday with a buddy we tracked down and fixed the error and I made a short video if anyone is interested in what was wrong, and how it was fixed.

Enjoy.

No worries Yeah it took a few hours and I was lucky to have ONE final Diode to attempt the fix with (Pretty sure soldering over and over fried the original one ) But it's working fine now. Every single light bulb and every switch

Now I have some high scores to break.

Thanks man, it's the only pinball machine I've ever wanted to own since I was a little kid. I thought as a young kid it was the coolest thing in the world that it sang a song about pinball, WHILE YOU PLAYED PINBALL!!! I had no idea who "The Who" were at all. I also REALLY enjoyed the "encore" function and how fair it felt.
There's nothing worse as a kid then getting that 50 cents from your parents to play and getting 3 very fast gutter balls and you end up playing for less than 60 seconds.

And then there's the easy multi-ball! Ahhh I love this box.

Yeah, I think changing that along with the speakers, changing the game code to play better (still not entirely sure about this?), or the pinlights might be my first "mod" I just don't know which to choose.

damn... Items total $ 369.95

Domestic shipping $ 39.95

out of principal... screw 40 dollar shipping on a 400 dollar pinsound wtf lol.

oo which website does? I'm stateside.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1083-matt-s-basement-arcade/02780-the-who-s-tommy-pinball-data-east-rom-upgrade-chip-set

Is this the game upgrade or music? Seems cheap?

Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I hear I need your code!

I think I might have to do some LED's they look so good.

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLOYYYYYYY...

Meloyelo51 I need a ROM, Where do I pay you ?

hehe, Thanks for everyone being patient with me here. First pinball and although I've torn apart some wires and fixed a few issues I am completely ignorant when it comes to modding it.

I'm still on page 4 re-reading this whole thread.

Are the LED's as easy as replacing the bulbs plug and play? Or do they need to be rewired etc.

Frosted or clear bulbs? and which did you use 2SMD or 1SMD Non-Ghosting Bulbs? Think I might start by just replacing 25 and see what happens.

Is there a link to the broadway musical I can watch? A live recording or something? Hell I don't mind buying the DVD I've just never found anything.

https://broadwaystore.com/tommy-dvd/

Is this the movie? I want to buy the musical not the movie and I can't seem to find it anywhere.

https://nypost.com/2019/10/21/the-whos-tommy-rock-opera-musical-is-returning-to-broadway/

On a side note, I wonder if this is still going to happen in 2021

Dude, you rock. Thank you.

Guess I'm going to keep an eye out for a Black Friday sale for a PinSound card.

I refinanced my house and I just got my Escrow check back and it's almost double what I thought it would be. Which means I might buy another machine lol.. But for now I want to get the music right on this Tommy and that involves a Black Friday Special!

I've got another newbie question!

So the side skirts that go inside the box... how on earth.... I have maybe 1mm of clearance.. MAYBE 2? I don't see how you couldn't scratch a vinyl or Mirror there.. is my box somehow different?

Am I missing something?

I want to put something in there but.. man, lol I'm SURE I'd scratch it instantly.

20201119_225716 (resized).jpg

20201119_225724 (resized).jpg

20201120_160247 (resized).jpg

Let me know if you find a good deal this BF.

Tight is an understatement. holy cow lol

lol Even better.

Now for the real question..

How TF do you lift a Data East pinball field all the way up? I know I'm doing it wrong because the bottom doesnt' come out far enough to actually come out. without the sliders I'm clueless... I feel like I'm going to break it...

I can't find a single video showing it on youtube I've searched here. I am lost! lol...

Awww but I'm scared!

I think it looks better with the stickers anyway

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JV7F4W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3

I kinda wanna replace the subwoofer and just want to do it myself, would this one work fine? Far as I can tell from the thread this should work unless I'm missing something.

Anyone seen the best black Friday sale for a Pinsound board yet?

I don't have any, I was just commenting that his stickers look great! I'm still looking at my sidewall vinyl sitting right next to my box afraid to install them!

That's all I needed to hear, I'll order it thanks.

And now I need to hope for a BF sale on side protectors, Pinsound, and maybe other goodies... Is there a BF thread somewhere on Pinside? That would be super helpful

*edit* found the BF post thread.

Which wall speakers did you get if you don't mind me asking? As long as they don't take any modifications or extra power I'd be willing to just solder them in or whatever needs to get done.

Anyone have PinStadium lights on their Tommy? Good? Bad? Distracting?

It looks awesome, and at the same time a little much. Their BF sale has me tempted though.

Should I get the Pinsound Plus or the Pinsound Neo? there really a big difference?

Cool, Ordered the Plus, got the free headset and free shipping. Good enough for me!

Excited to stick it in there.

Giggity.

So, I received my v5 2 chips in the mail and I can't find any instructions to install them. I found a generic DE one but I can't find anything Tommy related and I don't wanna blow my game up

Where do I put these two ROM chips to make the v5 work? Will it reset my scores? Just wondering, my settings?

Thanks!

Those side vinyl's are sweet where did you get them?

So... I'm installing the Pinsound card right now and it's doing its 10%... 20% update playing it's elevator music and WOW.. The sound coming out of it is BAD ASS. You guys were totally right.

So, I upgraded the game to 5.0 and now my Encore doesn't ever save my ball... like.. Ever.. hah.. If my flipper hits ONCE it's gone.. yet it's still there if I touch nothing it saves it but that's literally it.

I dug through the settings and couldn't really find anything that seemed to be what I'm looking for, how to I turn it on to be at least a little more generous? It used to be fantastic!

Save me! lol I'm getting WORSE at the game now because 1 of my 3 balls keeps being 1 or 2 flippers and then drains ! >.<

Thank you!

Weird.. Just checked my Adjustment goes from 1-12.. then skips to 99 factory reset....

I have no 13-98.

hhaha, I'm so dumb.

Thanks guys got it all sorted out.

Really would love one of these to hang on my wall.

Anyone have any directions or pictures on how to install the Cliffy's? I finally got mine in after the holidays!

This is an underrated post.

I like your Pinbot

Thank you for your pinsound <3

I'm not saying everyone in this thread should go vote tommy 10/10... but I'm not saying you shouldn't either

Do you have any pictures installing them? I started putting them on today and I just don't want to take off anything I don't have to to get them on. The only one I've installed so far is by the shooter rod.

Crap. Lol I just don't wanna take apart stuff that I don't need to... I've already lost a screw that fell into the playfield somewhere I really hope it fell through but I can't find it or hear it anywhere.

On a side note, I decided to cheap out and make my own blades for my Tommy.

I went with a Silver mirrored vinyl and cut them to the same size as my protectors. *Just used them as a template worked GREAT and the whole roll of vinyl was around 8 bucks.

What do you think?

Definitely WAY better than it was stock.

I used the soapy water spray bottle method... Worked easy and took only about half a minute each side!

20210113_181554 (resized).jpg

20210113_181612 (resized).jpg

20210113_182307 (resized).jpg

Damn that sucks.

Thanks, yeah I finally ended up just buying the plastic protectors to protect the mirrored vinyl I put on.

I've had my headphone jack sitting on a table for 6 months. Are there any directions to install these? Where the heck do I run the wire from the back board?

Well done

I bought mine with the same error.

I did a quick video here somewhere on how I fixed it, but basically you first figure out which ball switch isn't working, then follow it back to see if it's even getting power

"Don't just replace it like I did, it wasn't the problem"

Then I went up, and there's a gutter switch that is next, it didn't have power, so then I went up. Turns out one of the *Silver ball* ramp targets wire was broken off and it killed power all the way down the daisy chain to the ball.

Hope that helps.

I downloaded someone's live who tracks about a year ago and enjoy it enough, however I just wish it played Pinball wizard sometimes a little longer. It almost never gets through the intro guitars

I love this pin so much.

That's Smexy how much / where'd you get something like that? Depending on price I might snag one.

Or maybe I can just get a friend to print out something who related on a banner and drape it over it in the same kind of way hmmm.

Yeah man thank you it's fun.

The knocker is super cool when you make the top scores

Just saw the Who live in Houston Yesterday. Man Pete can SHRED the guitar still. They started at 830pm and played almost 3 HOURS!

Tommy is no longer on the top 100

Welcome!
Tommy is #1 in my heart

There's one for sale online right now.

https://www.greatamericanpinball.com/product-page/tommy-prototype-pinball-machine

Not going to lie, I thought about buying it and sitting it right next to my Tommy, but I'm the only one who enjoys my pinballs for the most part and I wouldn't want it to just sit there.

Same, Love the Pinsound but it's either Loud, or LOUDER lol

Adding these stickers really is a must for how cheap it is. They look so much better as targets and honestly seeing one the other way looks awful without them lol

I'm going to a show sometime in April or May!