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Episode 83 - Score Reel Differences

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·13m 37s·analyzed·Jun 2, 2015
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Deep technical dive into EM score reel design variations across manufacturers.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone provides a detailed technical breakdown of score reel construction differences across EM pinball manufacturers, focusing on Gottlieb/Alvin G.'s proprietary decagon design (with internal switches mounted in sealed rotating units), contrasting it with the simpler plastic/metal external designs used by competitors like Bally and Harry Williams, and discussing Midway's unique motorized reel system. He emphasizes trade-offs: Alvin G. reels are difficult to service but require less ongoing adjustment once properly maintained, while competitor designs are easier to access but accumulate more dirt on exposed switches.

Key Claims

  • Gottlieb was the first manufacturer to market with a score reel game, and other companies played catch-up with different designs rather than copying Alvin G.'s approach

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, episode 83 intro segment

  • Alvin G.'s decagon score reels used internal horizontal switch stacks mounted underneath the rotating reel, requiring complete disassembly to access and adjust switches

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, detailed technical explanation of decagon construction

  • Metal decagon score reels (early Alvin G.) have not held up as well to time and neglect as plastic ones due to pitting and corrosion that adheres crud

    medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone, personal experience-based assessment with caveat that others may disagree

  • Once properly serviced and adjusted, Alvin G. score reels require the least adjustment of any manufacturer's reels

    medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone, personal observation from hands-on experience

  • Midway motorized score reels from the 1960s used clutch mechanisms similar to bingo machines and could spin faster than solenoid-driven reels without requiring a separate score motor

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, technical description of Midway system

  • Midway motorized score reels attach to the motor via nylon couplings that are over 50 years old and prone to snapping under pressure from heavy metal parts

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, discussing durability and replacement challenges

  • Replacement nylon couplings for Midway motorized score reels are currently unavailable commercially; 3D printing may offer future solutions

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, discussing repair logistics

Notable Quotes

  • “Alvin G., aside from the plastic score reels that they used towards the end of the EM life cycle, in earlier times they used metal score reels and these metal score reels honestly I've found have not held up as well to the rigors of time and neglect as the plastic score reels”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~6:00 — Directly challenges conventional wisdom about metal vs plastic durability in vintage pinball

  • “The dreaded word for Alvin G. score reels is decagon”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~7:30 — Establishes the cultural/technical reputation of this design variant within the technician community

  • “While it is a pain and a half to have to disassemble these score reels in order to clean them or to correct their operation, once they are corrected, I will say that Alvin G. score reels require the least adjustment out of any of the manufacturers”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~16:00 — Core technical thesis: service burden vs long-term stability trade-off

  • “Alvin G.'s extra touch of quality extended to these score reels as well, they're mounted on these nice brass plates which can be removed and it's just a very attractive unit when you have it in hand compared to the plastic and metal nightmares which are clipped in they're made by every other manufacturer”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~18:30 — Illustrates design philosophy differences: Gottlieb prioritized craftsmanship/presentation over service accessibility

  • “The biggest thing to remember about the motorized score reels is that there are switches inside, which I'll get to in my next episode, which keep track of the position of each score reel”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~22:00 — Sets up follow-up episode content; hints at complexity of Midway system

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonGottliebcompanyAlvin G. and CompanycompanyBallycompanyHarry WilliamscompanyMidwaycompanyFor Amusement OnlyorganizationGame Showgame

Signals

  • ?

    technology_signal: 3D printing emergence as viable solution for reproducing obsolete EM coupling components like Midway's nylon score reel couplings

    medium · Nicholas Backbone: 'Now that we live in the fantastic era of 3D printing, it may be possible to replace this nylon coupling fairly simply, but at this point if you were looking for a new nylon coupling you'd be 100% out of luck'

Topics

Score reel construction and mechanical design across EM manufacturersprimaryGottlieb/Alvin G. decagon score reel system and internal switch architectureprimaryComparative durability of metal vs plastic score reel componentsprimaryService accessibility and maintenance burden of different score reel designsprimaryMidway motorized score reel system and clutch mechanismsprimaryParts availability and replacement solutions for vintage EM componentssecondaryTechnician expertise and specialized knowledge in EM pinball restorationsecondary3D printing as emerging solution for obsolete EM partssecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0)— Educational, technically detailed presentation with balanced assessment of trade-offs. Backbone acknowledges both strengths (Alvin G. long-term reliability, craftsmanship) and weaknesses (service difficulty, metal corrosion). No advocacy or criticism present; factual, informative tone throughout.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.041

what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast i'm back to for amusement only this is Nicholas Baldridge the next part in our multi-part discussion of score reels is the difference in construction between various manufacturers and eras. Though the score reel was a mainstay in pin games and EM arcades, the various manufacturers did it differently, and they would also change the way that they did it over the years. now the main culprit of changing the design was the forefather of score reels which was Godly as I mentioned in the history segment Godly was the first to market with a score reel game and the other companies at the time played catch up Well, they didn't copy Gottlieb's design exactly. Instead, they came up with this kind of plastic construction, which pretty much carried through to the end. However, Gottlieb did experiment. They tried all kinds of different stuff, and some of them are the most reviled score reels that techs work on. Now, I've worked on a wide variety of Gottlieb score reels, and I've got to say that while I understand the criticisms, I have not had such long-standing issues as other folks have. And that probably comes from experience. I mean, I haven't shopped 800 million games or anything, but what I can say is that Gottlieb, aside from the plastic score reels that they used towards the end of the EM life cycle, in earlier times they used metal score reels and these metal score reels honestly I've found have not held up as well to the rigors of time and neglect as the plastic score reels I'm sure there are some who would disagree with me vehemently on that topic but the metal ones seem to get pitted and covered in crud, and the crud just kind of sticks there. The plastic ones can be cleaned, as with any other manufacturer. But the dreaded word for Gottlieb score reels is decagon The decagon score reels were kind of an all construction that was created by Gottlieb And the idea was that you have this unit that is constantly moving. You want to protect the switches, which are so critical to the function of this machine, as much as you can. So what Gottlieb did was to put them inside of the rotating portion. And the way that they did this, and the way that it prevented the real and the solenoid and all the associated parts from meeting and destroying each other was fairly simple. They mounted the switches on the inside, underneath of the metal reel, as I mentioned, and they mounted them in a different orientation. So instead of having a stack, as with a normal switch stack on the outside of the reel, they had a horizontal stack on the inside that was actuated by a little metal plate. and this little metal finger or plate will move based on the position of the reel. It provides exactly the same functionality as the little nylon spacer does in any other manufacturer's reels, but it is difficult. to adjust the switches. Because they are self-contained, if you have a problem with the carryover switch, for example, you have to completely disassemble the unit in order to gain access to the switch, make your adjustment, and hopefully do it correctly so that when you reassemble, it actually turns. Now, just recently I worked on a Snow Derby. and Snow Derby has this particular style of Decagon reel and Snow Derby is a two player godly so there are eight different score reels and in the process of cleaning and chopping these score reels a problem developed with turning the thousands score reel on the first player just wouldn't do it. The issue is, or was, a fouled switch. And though I had cleaned all the switches when I disassembled because I knew I didn't want to have to do that again, I ended up doing it three different times in order to correct the issue. But the issue, again, was fouled switch on the carryover for the hundreds position So that one type of decagon Now this is the classic decagon with the faceted reel And this reel, let's see, the faceted ones were plastic. Those were the later decagons. Prior to that, they were metal, as I mentioned, and perfectly circular. There were no facets, no flat spots that the numbers were printed on. They were just round. My GG is an example of this type. And while there's a difference in the way that they're constructed, again, there's no difference in the operation. and all the switches are contained inside of the unit. And here's the thing about Gottlieb and their score reel design. While it is a pain and a half to have to disassemble these score reels in order to clean them or to correct their operation, once they are corrected, I will say that Gottlieb score reels require the least adjustment out of any of the manufacturers. So while the other manufacturers had their utilitarian design, and they're easy to work on, the unfortunate side effect of this is that the exposed switches do collect more dirt than the switches which are contained within the Decagon units. also you know Gottlieb's extra touch of quality extended to these score reels as well, they're mounted on these nice brass plates which can be removed and it's just a very attractive unit when you have it in hand compared to the plastic and metal nightmares which are clipped in they're made by every other manufacturer. So, that is Gottlieb's method and everybody else. But there is another exception, at least that I've worked on, and there may exist other exceptions, but this is all that I know. Midway, in the 1960s, used a motorized score reel unit. These motorized score reels acted differently than the solenoid-driven score reels in most other manufacturers' games. They were able to spin much, much faster and provide rotation without the necessity for a score motor, because the motor is mounted on the score reels. So the way that these motorized score rails would work is that they were clutch much like in a bingo how there are many different sets of switches which are clutch so when the clutch engages it allows more than one reel to turn. The motor which drives it can spin in either direction, and they are not fantastically easy to work on. The biggest thing to remember about the motorized score reels is that there are switches inside, which I'll get to in my next episode, which keep track of the position of each score reel. You do have to disassemble the reels in order to gain access to this set of switches in order to clean them. They're not exactly switches in the traditional sense. It's more of a PCB, but we'll get there next time. Just hang tight. Hang tight for now. But the way the score reels are attached to the motor is via a nylon coupling. This nylon coupling is fairly easy to break. Remember, it's, let's see, over 50 years old at this point for most of their games. and it does not take a lot of pressure from these heavy-duty metal parts to snap this nylon coupling. Now that we live in the fantastic era of 3D printing, it may be possible to replace this nylon coupling fairly simply, but at this point if you were looking for a new nylon coupling you'd be 100% out of luck so without making your own you would be left with looking for a parts game that could provide it those midway score reels are really interesting to see in operation. They use them in gun games, in racing games, in pitch and bat games, in auto race, which is really fun, cool, pinball-style arcade game that had a mechanical backbox animation of a car moving around a track, or two cars, if you played two-player. But they are more difficult to work on than the standard industrial style, as I say, score reels that Williams and Bally and every also ran, also ran. So, that's all for tonight. Thank you again for listening. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com and you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook and on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thanks again for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.
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