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Episode 278 - Interview with Adam Godfrey 12-06-15

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·59m 22s·analyzed·Dec 14, 2015
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Adam Godfrey details restoring a 1976 Williams Grand Prix EM, covering mechanics and repair lessons.

Summary

Adam Godfrey discusses his first EM restoration project: a 1976 Williams Grand Prix that he acquired from a family member's basement. The conversation covers gameplay mechanics, restoration challenges (relay issues, solenoid repairs, switch adjustments), and practical EM repair techniques. Godfrey shares his experience documenting the project on Pinside and offers insights on EM repair accessibility to solid-state technicians.

Key Claims

  • Grand Prix is one of the more complicated EMs due to the late-model design with many steppers and relays

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge and Adam Godfrey discussing Grand Prix complexity relative to other EMs

  • Grand Prix had 10,554 confirmed units produced, making it a high-production EM

    high confidence · Adam Godfrey citing production numbers, stating this is why the machine has been worked on frequently

  • The bonus counters (steppers) on Grand Prix are positioned dangerously close to the front playfield, making them easy to damage during playfield removal

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge's experience working on multiple Grand Prix machines

  • EM repair fundamentals boil down to cleaning switch contacts and adjusting switches

    high confidence · Adam Godfrey's takeaway after completing Grand Prix restoration

  • Adam's Grand Prix has a one-way orbit gate that will cause a tilt if the plunged ball hits the left-hand spinner first

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge cautioning Adam about playfield modifications

  • Adam is on a one-year buying freeze (through August 2025) and plans to acquire Teacher's Pet next

    high confidence · Adam Godfrey discussing his acquisition roadmap with wife's approval

Notable Quotes

  • “I will talk pinball every day, all day long if I could. I'm still trying to figure out a way to make money off of it instead of lose money.”

    Adam Godfrey @ early segment — Captures the hobbyist's passion and financial trade-off inherent in pinball collecting

  • “Once you look at a schematic, and even then you don't necessarily have to learn how to read a schematic, but it's great because all it is is just switches. It's just a ton of switches and relays, which are just stacks of switches, controlled by the solenoid.”

    Adam Godfrey @ mid segment — Demystifies EM repair for solid-state technicians; emphasizes fundamentals over complexity

  • “Be careful how you lift the playfield, because aside from the steppers that are right at face level, there's also all those relays which are easy to clip if you lift at an odd angle or do something funny.”

    Nick Baldridge @ late segment — Critical maintenance warning about Grand Prix-specific hazards during service

  • “I love it because I feel like I'm doing much better than I probably am because the scoring on that game is like ridiculous. It's so easy to roll it over.”

    Adam Godfrey @ mid segment — Highlights Grand Prix's forgiving scoring system and appeal for casual/new players

  • “It's the only thing I have yet to figure out, and it's just going to take time for me to sit down... there was something funky going on with the 500 point relay.”

    Adam Godfrey @ mid-late segment — Documents remaining troubleshooting work and use of community resources (Grand Prix Owners Club thread)

Entities

Adam GodfreypersonNick BaldridgepersonGrand PrixgameTeacher's PetgameDing DonggameWilliamscompanyPinsideorganization

Signals

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Adam discusses polishing stepper unit contacts using Scotch-Brite pads and applying Super Lube; Nick validates this as Zen-like and effective; emphasizes importance of careful playfield handling to avoid damaging bonus counter steppers

    high · Detailed discussion of stepper disassembly, polishing, and reassembly process; Nick's warning about stepper proximity to playfield edge

  • ?

    product_concern: Grand Prix has a structural design flaw: bonus counter steppers positioned dangerously close to front playfield edge, making them easy to damage during service; also has hard-to-reach relay stack in back of playfield

    high · Nick Baldridge: 'the bonus counters, which are steppers underneath the playfield... it's really pretty trivially easy to damage those... they're pretty close to the front' and 'you have to lift, like, straight up for a good foot or 10 inches'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Adam experimented with isopropyl alcohol (91%) and magic erasers to clean playfield, removing clear coat in process; followed Ryan Claytor's advice to wax heavily instead of re-coating; no wear observed after months of play

    high · Adam: 'I experimented with the isopropyl alcohol, 91% isopropyl alcohol... It worked. It's magic. Now, I do know that I have removed the clear coat from my playfield'

  • ?

    product_concern: Grand Prix's 500-point relay (on right/left kick-out holes) is malfunctioning; relay actuates but doesn't release; Adam has disconnected feature temporarily; root cause unclear but likely electrical or magnetization issue requiring further diagnosis

    high · Adam: 'there was something funky going on with the 500 point relay that I have not... been able to identify' and 'For some reason it actuates, but then it doesn't release'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.178

0:00
What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldridge, and we have a special treat tonight. My friend Adam Godfrey joins us to talk about his first EM renovation. Adam, how are you? hello hello it's nice to be on the show i am wonderful i am wonderful i just before we started recording i was telling nick how for the first time and in quite some time i was able to get a little bit of sleep i have a newborn and so i am i am refreshed i am on the most continuous sleep that i've had in months so i'm great well i appreciate you taking that time just for the show that's very nice of you yes i'm happy well you know no i'm happy to do it i'm happy to do it I could, you know, as all of us obsessed people can be, you know, I will talk pinball every day, all day long if I could. I'm still trying to figure out a way to make money off of it instead of lose money. But, you know, hey, you can't win them all. Well, that's true. That's why it's a hobby and not a job, right? That's true. You know, and then if it became a job, then I would probably hate it. So, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So Grand Prix was your first EM, correct? Yep. Yep. The Grand Prix was my first game. I definitely had a couple near misses there. Right when I was buying my first pinball machine, I looked at a teacher's pet and a ding dong, which are which are still on my radar. I there I still know the barn where they live protected, very safe and dry. So, yeah, it's the first one that came to my possession. Grand Prix was at 1976, I think. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so. And Teacher's Pet is an excellent game, by the way. Oh, I am super excited. So I'm on a buying freeze, which some people may or may not know, but my wife and I put me on a buying freeze for a year. So come August 2016, Teacher's Pet is mine. Excellent.
2:22
And I'm so, I mean, I'm excited, too, that I got to try out my EM skills on the Grand Prix because it's definitely going to, Teacher's Pet is definitely going to need a little bit of love. I didn't get an opportunity to really dig into it, but I know that the score reels were, like, all whopper-jawed. Yeah. So at least that much, you know, I know. So anyway, so. Well, I think you'll find that Teacher's Pet is quite a bit easier to work on than Grand Prix. Yeah, yeah. Well, it's like when I got it, the first thing that you said when I contacted you about it, you're like, well, it might have been you or somebody else. I don't know, but it was just saying that Grand Prix is probably the worst one to work on because it's so late in the game, so late in the EM game that there are so many steppers. There's so much going on. It's like the most complicated, maybe not the most complicated, definitely not as complicated as a bingo. That's for darn sure. but it's one of the more complicated EMs from what I understand I'm by no means an expert yeah the late model EMs did have a lot more stuff I mean they used every inch of the cabinet and playfield it is full everything it is full yeah yeah the bottom of the cabinet is definitely full with oh gosh I don't even know countless countless relays my contention is always that you know the same basic idea is the same You might not be playing the game 100% as quickly as you would with an earlier game, but part of it's the journey and part of it's the destination, right? Sure, yeah, absolutely. And the other thing I was going to say, not to derail it, because this conversation is about Grand Prix, not to derail it, but I am excited about Teacher's Pet and Ding Dong for that matter because they are single player, and I hear that single-player machines tend to be more complex than the multiplayer games. That's what I've heard. Well, it depends on the game, of course. Right, right. So Ding Dong is fairly simple.
Ryan Claytor
person
Jamesperson
Grand Prix Owners Cluborganization
For Amusement Onlyorganization
Gulfstreamgame
IPDBorganization
?

design_philosophy: Nick and Adam challenge the perception that EM repair is intimidating; core skills are switch contact polishing and adjustment; fundamentals apply across all EM types (ball bowlers, puck bowlers, bingos); encourages solid-state technicians to engage with EMs

high · Adam: 'all it is is just switches... if you get really good at like... polishing switch contacts and adjusting switches... you can fix an EM'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Grand Prix features high-scoring potential via easy bonus rollover and collector, two spinners with one-way orbit gates, drop targets, pop bumpers, and kick-out holes; bonus select feature randomizes which side pays at drain; open-ended in-lanes create ball-dump risk when trapping

    high · Detailed playfield descriptions: 'two spinners one on each side, orbit, one-way orbit... bonus collect... kick out hole' with 'four drop targets, three pop bumpers, two spinners'

  • ?

    community_signal: Adam documenting full restoration on Pinside forum thread 'Start Your Engines: Williams Grand Prix Project'; community provides troubleshooting support via Grand Prix Owners Club thread; demonstrates active knowledge-sharing culture

    high · Adam: 'I have a thread on Pinside that documented my trials and tribulations' and 'I posted this problem to the Grand Prix Owners Club thread'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Adam implementing 12-month buying freeze (through August 2025) agreed with spouse; planned acquisition sequence: Teacher's Pet (priority) and Ding Dong (secondary); seeks both machines but plans to keep only Teacher's Pet long-term

    high · Adam: 'my wife and I put me on a buying freeze for a year. So come August 2025, Teacher's Pet is mine' and 'I'm going to get both of them, fix both of them up, and then find a home for Ding Dong'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Grand Prix appeals strongly to casual/family players due to forgiving scoring (easy rollover potential), loud chime box, slower playfield (low incline), and spinner feedback; kids attracted by sound and mechanical action; good entry point for younger players

    high · Adam: 'kids have loved it because of the bells... super loud... even as fast as it is, it's still a lot slower than the other games' and 'there's so far the children like it'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Grand Prix was a high-volume production EM with 10,554 confirmed units; this volume explains why Nick has worked on more Grand Prix machines than any other single title

    high · Adam: 'There was 10,554 confirmed units... That's a good number. They sold a lot.'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Adam refurbished vintage chime box from Gulfstream machine: replaced coil sleeves, added new rubber gaskets, tuned system for crisp ping; installed in Grand Prix as upgrade from basement-stored unit's original components

    high · Adam: 'I refurbished a chime box off of a Gulfstream and got everything tuned up, put new sleeves on the coils, and I put new rubber gaskets... so it was very, very crisp ping on the chimes'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Ryan Claytor identified as trusted EM restoration authority; provided playfield maintenance guidance (waxing over clear-coating) that Adam adopted successfully

    medium · Adam: 'This came from... Ryan Claytor. He says, and this is a man I trust, mind you. He said, don't worry about it. Just wax the heck out of it'

    • 4:19
    You know, you're trying to make words. I think it's a lot of fun, but it's a lot different than Grand Prix. Grand Prix has, you know, bonus to worry about, and you've got the multiplayer aspect and of course things reset, but it just depends on the title. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So it seems like Teacher's Pet is the better investment, is what you're saying. If I had to pick between the two, that's the one I'd pick. Well, good, because I'm going to get both of them, fix both of them up, and then find a home for Ding Dong and Teacher's Pet is the one I'm going to keep. Well, definitely play Ding Dong a bit and see what you like. because that's just my preference. Sure. But I trust your preference. That's the thing. Yeah. Well, thank you. So tell me a bit, how did you come into possession of this Grand Prix? Sure. So as the word got out that I was a pinball fiend, And my cousin-in-law, his mom had this Grand Prix in the basement. And so I think it was like once he found out, no, no, it was once she found out that I really, my father-in-law was talking to her about this. And she was like, oh, yeah, that thing's been in the basement for 10 years or 15 years or whatever. And it needs some work or whatever. It's like, yeah, he can just have it. So, you know, I remember hearing that and then I was like, okay, but then I got really busy. And then before I knew it, my cousin picked it up and it was at his house. And I was like, oh, okay, well, that's fine. You know, I mean, technically, technically it was your mom. So you have more say over it than me. I said, well, you know, if you need help fixing it up, you know, just give me a call. And then one day out of the blue, I get this call and he says, hey, I'm going to bring that Grand Prix over so you can fix it up. and then just let me know what I owe you. And then I started, as I started fixing it up and I was like talking to him more and more and I don't know if he wants it back, but I'm not necessarily in any sort of hurry to give it back to him. And I have emailed him and called him and said, hey, it's ready, but you know, there's no rush. And like, and if you ever looking for a home for it, I would love to, I'd love to keep it around. um so yeah yeah so i so it it is it is mine as long as uh it was minus until he takes it over my cold dead body uh according to my what yeah well according to my wife because this this came hot on the heels of this buying freeze and so um you know according to my wife it's like well no he wants it he wants it it's like no no he doesn't want it if he wanted it he would have called me back so i don't know we'll see we'll see so it may be it may be part of my permanent collection it may not but i i have a feeling that even you know even if he does you know take it back it'll it'll find its way back here because uh i i have definitely fallen in love with that game it is so much fun and i mean it's well i i like it because i you know i feel like i'm doing much better than than i probably am um because the scoring on that game is like ridiculous it's so easy to it's so easy to roll it over uh at least mine the way i've set it up it's it's pretty easy to roll it over and so i just feel like man i'm doing really well so those games with bonus collector uh pretty great right yeah yeah absolutely yeah you run it up you collect it run it up collect it yeah yeah it's great but um well uh let's talk about gameplay for a minute so what what do you enjoy about it sure um i love the spinners the two spinners are great it's it's great because it's got um it's got two spinners one on it's two it's got an orbit um but it's only like a one-way orbit uh where it you got a spin on the left spin on the right and you hit it up the orbit and then it ends up getting blocked by a one-way gate uh and then if and then it's got a center uh kick out hole and that you can drop it in for um i think like one or two it's like maybe two or three bonus levels it'll bump up the bonus levels so that's nice because it kind of has that orbit i've thought about i've you know that i i know it might be sacrilege but i've thought about taking those gates out just to see what would happen like what the gameplay would be like and if if like you could really get the spinners going because on but it's a mirror image on the left you have your spinner on the right you have your other spinner and if i take those gates out i might really be able to just build that bonus up however i do like um i do like having the bonus hole in the middle, so I may not do that. In fact, I won't. I will say that I think that machine will tilt if you take out the left ball gate and shoot from the plunge.
    9:34
    If it hits the spinner first, I believe that game will tilt. Interesting. So it has to hit at least the pops or something? It has to hit a particular set of switches, if I recall correctly, or maybe I'm thinking of a runway switch, which is up above the spinner. But regardless, if it hits something on that left-hand orbit first, it will tilt.
    10:05
    Well, way to rain on my parade. Thank you so much. My goodness, the parade has been called off. never mind. I'm out of here. You could remove the right-hand gate, though, and then every left-orbit shot would just feed back. Yeah. Well, then, see, but then I do like game purity, and I guess it would be more out of curiosity to see what it would be like, but in the end, I probably would just be like, I'm not even going to risk damaging it, uh so i'm just going to do i'll do it probably probably like a theater of the mind thing just like dream you know some night when i'm going to bed i'll just dream about what it would be like um so what's so yeah so i love the spinners i mean ripping a spinner is just so much fun um and then like i said at the top uh you got your kick out hole and then it comes down to a set of three it's like a pop bumper cluster three pop up cluster pretty traditional there and then just to the upper play field very near the pop bumpers you got your two drop targets up there and then down in the center if I remember correctly in the center below the drop targets you have two more below the pop bumpers you have two more drop targets so you have four drop targets three pop bumpers, two spinners partridge in a pear tree um and then yeah and then the best part the the best part is on the mid left and mid right you have your bonus collect um and your spinners run up the bonus um once you get it run up all the way i believe it lights the spinner for a thousand um and thousand spins so then you know you're you can run it all the way up and then you can drop it into one of the kickout holes and cash in the bonus um it will award you it'll tell you like on the play field there is a light that will tell you whether it's going to award you the left bonus or the right bonus there's two separate bonuses you can run both of them up depending you know with the left spinner the right spinner um so you know what i what i when i'm playing what i try to do is obviously cash in the one that is not going to be awarded to me at the end of my ball um but then you know i always end up cashing it in anyways and then i drain immediately and i you know so uh see what else i like yeah Yeah, I mean, it's a Steve Kordick game, but it might as well be a Steve Ritchie game. It's got a lot of flow to it. There's a lot of feeds back to the flipper. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, which is nice. I mean, for an EM to have that kind of flow, it's refreshing, because normally your ball is in such peril on many other EMs, And that's just nice where that's that's a pretty, you know, it's the most lucrative shot in the game.
    13:02
    And it and it's it's probably one of the safest. That said, the thing that gets me all the time on Grand Prix is the open ended the open ended lanes in lane on the left and the right. It's got, what is it called, like a bally, what do you call it, where there's like a hole in the in-lane rail where you can juke it back in. Oh, yeah. Is that called a bally something? They use it frequently. I don't know what it's called. Yeah, I love it. See, but on ballys, it's nice because they'll put a post there with a rubber so you can bounce it off the rubber into the hole. but then on this I've really only been able to do it once and that was before when I had the tilt out the tilt bob out because I was replacing it and I was able to get it in there and then right when I put the tilt bob back in it was like, there's no way to get back in so more frequently I will trap up and the ball will roll up the flipper up and just dump out the end of it. It just dumps right out. That's probably my least my most frustrating thing about the game is that your ball will pretty frequently dump out. Basically, it doesn't reward you stopping the ball and trapping up and aiming for a shot. You very much just have to shoot on the fly because if you try to trap up, it's going to bite you. It's going to bite you hard.
    14:38
    Now, do you have your game set to give extra balls for a certain number of stars, or have you disabled extra balls? No I have Yeah so I have extra balls turned on right now I want to I been thinking about entering or using it for League and so I going to turn extra balls off But I – well, it's not even turn extra balls off. It's like unplug the extra balls. Right. Yeah, which I love. I love it. So in the back box, for anybody who hasn't had the pleasure of setting an adjustment in an EM, there's just – It's like an old-time phone board.
    15:17
    You can set your ball number. You can set where your scoring thresholds are for extra balls. And you can also set it for either credit or extra ball.
    15:30
    And you pop it in a little hole, and then it does its thing. So I still have it set like crazy easy. It's got like five scoring thresholds. and not that you, that's the thing, not that you need it, I mean. Right. On what you, you know, but, because I, I don't know, I was, I had it set that way for, I had a pinball party a couple months ago and so, for all the kids, so that way they could, they could play a little bit longer. Five balls wasn't enough for them. They wanted more, which I think, I don't know. That's good. I didn't see, I didn't see an option for ten balls on there.
    16:06
    I think there was only a three ball and a five ball slot. So I just gave them as many balls as they wanted. Well, there you go. Yeah. So how has the reception been with kids?
    16:20
    They love it. They love it because it's cool. I mean, yeah, so far they've loved it because of the bells. I mean, I think that's really what attracts them the most is it's like super loud. Because most of my games turn down, which is a remnant of when before I moved in, we built this room. We have a little game room that we built out. It was in the middle of our family room, and so I have all my games on the lowest setting possible, and I just haven't turned them back up yet. So all the games are pretty low, and then I refurbished a chime box off of a Gulfstream and got everything tuned up, put new sleeves on the coils, and I put new rubber gaskets. and new, I don't know, I did all the new pieces parts, so it was very, very crisp ping on the chimes. So yeah, they like it because it's, you know, even as fast as it is, it's still a lot slower than the other games. You know, you have a little bit more time to think about it because it's set to like, you know, four degrees or something like that. But so it's the inclines a little less, so it's a little slower. And part of that's the wide open play field too. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true. Yeah, there's so far the children like it. Excellent, excellent. And so let's talk a bit about what you had to do to get it going. Yeah, okay, so when I got it, it, let me think.
    18:08
    Thinking back, I'm using the Wayback Machine. When I got it, it was having a weird starting problem.
    18:17
    I'm actually going to pull up the thread that I have on Pinside. I have a thread on Pinside that documented my trials and tribulations called Start Your Engines, Williams Grand Prix Project.
    18:29
    It was something to do with the Coinmech. Oh, gosh, what was it? I think that he had – my cousin had like messed around with it and was trying – thought through somehow the credit – okay, here's what it was.
    18:53
    The game wasn't starting because it wouldn't credit up. And then I think it was having – and I think the other issue was the interlock relay or the game over relay or something wasn't actuating. So it was like two things because he was having trouble putting credits on it, and so he started messing around. And there's the credit stepper that got turned too far, so it wasn't going back to – it wasn't resetting or it wasn't actuating. In addition to that, there was something funky going on with the coin switch in the door, and then also the game over relay wasn't actuating. So there was like three different things that I had to track down.
    19:42
    And in learning all this, it's funny because I was – no, I just listened to your podcast, but I was listening to some – oh, I was listening to the most recent EM Dungeon on Spooky Pimple. Yes. And James was saying that it was funny how so many people who, you know, who will dive into the solid state repair just get so freaked out by EM repair. And it's just like they just don't want anything to do with it. And I'm here to say, all you solid state repair men out there and women, um ems are significant i found ems once you once you look at a schematic once you learn how to read a schematic and even then you don't necessarily have to learn how to read a schematic but it's great because all it is just switches it's just a ton of switches and relays which are just stacks of switches um controlled by the solenoid so you know if if you get really good at like Like polishing switch contacts and adjusting switches.
    20:51
    And what else do you have to do? Yeah, basically it's mostly just about cleaning switch contacts and adjusting switches. That's like the biggest. That was my takeaway, that if you're good at that, you can fix an EM. That's exactly right. And you can parlay that into any kind of EM as well. I mean, ball bowlers, puck bowlers, bingos, everything. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, that was the basic thing that I had to get going. I know that one of the pop bumper coils had burned out, so I had to replace that. One of the score reel solenoids were, I think that was, one was missing and one was burned out. One was missing, and then the other one was just, like, locking on. It would just, like, when it came to, it was on player two, and it was on player two, it would just keep going. Or, no, it would pulse, but it wouldn't release. Right. Yeah, so that took a little bit of switch adjusting and a little, like, tracing back and trying to figure out where that was happening.
    22:01
    The chime box was just a mess because one of the coils had locked on. I don't, that's the thing, I can see, this was, you know, this was my cousin's basement, it was all boys, and I could just see them, like, a coil, like, the pop bumper locking on and being like, cool, it's smoking, or, like, the chime box, you know, the, or, you know, the chime, one of the chime solenoids locking on and being like, and now it's smoking from the door, and it's like, whoa, who cares? Smoke everywhere. Yeah, so what happened is one of the chime solenoids had locked on and, like, broken off the chime. There was a big chunk of the box that was missing.
    22:40
    And let's see here. So I did the chime box, the solenoid for the pop bumper, a lot of switch adjusting, and then I think there was, like, maybe one or two scoring things. It's the only thing I have yet to figure out, and it's just going to take time for me to sit down. I posted this problem to the Grand Prix Owners Club thread, but the right and left kick-out holes, not only do they enable you to collect your bonus, but they also score 500 points. so there's something there was something funky going on with the 500 point relay that I have not I've not been able to identify which relay it is actually no I take that back I do know which relay it is but it didn't appear that it was sticking on so I needed to trace it further back I just haven't had time so just for the time being I have disconnected that feature so now all it does is collect your bonus um and um yeah it'll just collect you just collect your bonus and it doesn't award you 500 points so that's the only the only thing that i need to fix still and figure out but it is but a glance at the schematic away and luckily the game had the manual and the schematic and everything like that so i don't i so i have a nice crisp vintage set that i can look at and so that's the basic. Makes a huge difference. Oh my gosh, yeah. So one thing that I will tell you is that that game, I don't think has a dedicated 500-point relay, if I recall correctly. It's just got a 100-point relay and then it pulses through the score mode. And then it does it five times. Right. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Well, there's some relay that is involved with that process that is on the underside of the play field. when you flip it up it's over on the right side so I can see it actuate but for some reason it actuates but then it doesn't release and so there's something is not telling it to release so I don't know if that would be on the scoring motor or if that's in the back box are you certain it's electrical?
    25:03
    no ok here's a test if you take your finger or a wooden dowel or whatever and try to pull the armature plate back on that relay. Uh-huh. See if it's really hard to do and starts to buzz as you move it. Uh-huh. And if that's the case, it's probably electrical. Okay. If not, then it's magnetized.
    25:29
    Oh, okay. I do know that it's really hard to move because I've tried to manually pull it back. All right. While it's locked on, you mean? Yeah. Okay. Well, yeah, listen for the buzzing, and if it buzzes, then it's probably electrical. Okay. All right. But if it is magnetized, then that can be hard to diagnose because it looks electrical. Right, right. You have to take the armature plate out and then hit it with a hammer. Oh, that's right. Give it a good wallop. Yep. And that rearranges the atoms enough that it stops magnetizing.
    26:08
    And there are other tricks, too. I guess we'll see. Yeah, I'll check it out. I'll definitely check it out. I'm just looking through my thread now so that way we have more content to talk about.
    26:21
    I experimented. Some people would gasp at what I'm about to say, but I experimented with the isopropyl alcohol, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and what are those things called? The little sponges. Magic eraser. Magic eraser, yes. I experimented with that technique. It worked. It's magic. Now, I do know that I have removed the clear coat from my play field. I did proceed.
    26:53
    At this point, and this came from, I think it was Ryan Claytor. He says, and this is a man I trust, mind you. He said, don't worry about it. Just wax the heck out of it, which is what I did instead of clear coating it. And so far I have not noticed any wear. And then again, I'm only playing a couple games on it. Right. I mean, you'll want to bump it up your whack schedule over normal probably. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, it should hold up pretty well. And the other thing is that the artwork on that game is not super complex. Right, and I could always touch it up or something. If you need to. Yeah.
    27:37
    So that's good. And what do you think about the inserts on that game? As to, like, well, I'll ask you a follow-up question with that. I do know that the bonus select, the left and right bonus select, the inserts were raising. So I used your hairdryer technique to get them out and then re-glue them. So as far as inserts go, that's how I dealt with them. Explain more. What do you mean by what do I have inserts? Well, the lit bonus, at the start of each ball, it's going to select either the left or right that you collect when you drain. Yeah. And there's a huge arrow, and it's all insert, and it's pretty unusual to have an insert that large. Oh, yeah. And that's the one that those are the two that were raised out that I had to take out. Yeah, they're huge. It's like a giant – like it's just for visual effect. Number one, just go to IPDB and you can look at it. But it looks like a giant size – it looks like something that probably came from Hercules.
    28:50
    It's that big. Well, and as far – because now I'm looking at a picture of the machine and it only has two pop bumpers, so I was wrong about that.
    29:00
    But it has a significant amount – now that I'm looking at it. It's got a lot of inserts because you have on the left and right side, you have your 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 insert. Then you have your 1, 2, 3, and 4 star inserts. So that's mirrored on the left and right. Then I think it's got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 or 10 in the spinner lane. and then you have your 1000 win lit for that and then you got your other select insert for the bonus at the top which that the other neat thing At the top when the ball is bouncing back and forth it picking which bonus it going to count up when it goes into the kick hole at the top Then you have your extra ball insert, and you've got your special one lit insert, and then your shoot again insert. Yeah, so in answer to your question, there are a lot of inserts, and I'm impressed.
    30:08
    Did you have significant cupping on any of your inserts? Significant? Not really. There's definite cupping on some of the bonus inserts on one side.
    30:28
    Not enough that the ball... Sometimes the ball will pause in admiring them, It never gets stuck there, but it might pause to admire the beauty of the gentle curve of the insert.
    30:42
    So not too bad. I mean, for being in a house full of rough-again boys, I'm very surprised at the condition. Once I got all the dirt off and there was definitely the traditional ball swirl and things like that, once that got all cleaned up it was in pretty good shape and I think that's what you get for a game being in a house at least a good portion of its life or not a good portion but the last 20 years yeah it makes a difference and if it was running a portion of that also makes a difference yeah yeah and I think with the inserts if it was being operated it would be on more so there would be more heat and more opportunity for the inserts to absorb that heat and then do their magic on it. Yep.
    31:35
    So I've worked on a significant number of Grand Prixs for some reason, and it's probably the machine I've worked on the most different number of the same title.
    31:49
    And what's interesting to me about it is the way that they laid out the mechanisms underneath the plate field. Oh, yeah, and there are a lot. There are a lot. There are a lot, but one thing which is a criticism that I have of this particular game is that the bonus counters, which are steppers underneath the playfield, it's really pretty trivially easy to damage those. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Where they're positioned, I believe they're pretty close to the front of... Yeah, I'm looking at it now. It's inches away from the front of the playfield. Right. And so you have to be, like, when you're pulling that out, it's really hard. You have to lift, like, straight up for a good foot or, like, 10 inches before you can pull the play field forward to kind of prop it up. Yeah, absolutely. It's so easy. And I'm looking at them now, and I'll tell you, there's something zen-like about polishing with the Scotch-Brite pad all the contacts on a stepper unit. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You get into a rhythm, and you can kind of zone out.
    33:06
    Absolutely. It's always very satisfying when you get to reassemble them, and you see how crisp and smooth it is.
    33:14
    What did you think about that? Because I know you did a lot of steppers. I did, yeah. There's a lot of stuff. Yeah, so I followed your process where I disassemble them, polish them up, and then put a light finger coat of super lube on it, I think, and then put it all back together. And they are so shiny and bright, it's blinding under there.
    33:39
    Got to be careful where you shine a flashlight now. That's absolutely, yeah. So the other issue that I have with this particular game is that underneath in the back of the play field, they have this stack of relays that they didn't have room for elsewhere.
    33:57
    And some of those are super critical to the operation of the game, like the delay relay, which is involved with the spinner.
    34:09
    And they're very hard to get at because they're so far back there. to work on, and they're easy to mess up and not even know it. Oh, man. So the one word of advice that I have for you going forward is just, which I'm sure you know if you've been in this game a significant amount of time, is just be careful how you lift the play field, because aside from the steppers that are right at face level,
    34:37
    there's also all those relays which are easy to clip if you lift at an odd angle or do something funny. Well, it would be just my luck that after... Let's see here. I've had this game for like three or four months. So it would just be my luck after three or four months and like hundreds of lifting and setting the play field down that I would... Tonight I'm like, you know, I'm going to go look under that hood and then crack everything. So thank you for the word of warning because you could have very well saved me a restless night.
    35:15
    And my night's already restless as it is. And I just looked up the numbers, and probably the reason why you have worked on it more than anyone, or more than some, I should say, is... More than any other machine, anyway. More than any machine. Yeah. There was 10,554 confirmed units. So that's... I don't know for EMs, but it just seems like a pretty decent amount to me. That's a good number. They sold a lot.
    35:43
    There's a reason that Williams was positioned pretty well in the solid state era when they first went in.
    35:54
    As far as EMs, you've got Teacher's Pet and Ding Dong on the horizon, both of which are Williams titles.
    36:02
    Do you have any wandering eye for Bally's? Oh, yeah, absolutely. And let's not forget the Gottlieb. I mean, everybody's got a wandering eye for Gottlieb EMs. You have to. But as far as a Bally goes, not too long ago, a Mata Hari EM slipped through my fingers. um so it's it's definitely it's i would say the matahari is is on my is on my radar i really like that game um and but i i feel like uh i feel like i want the em i don't know what it is um because i was i was you know thinking i'm kind of shopping around seeing seeing who has a matahari uh solid state around here and there there is a uh there's a matahari em that or sorry there's a matahari solid state that needs um a decent amount of electric work on it that i could probably get for a pretty good price however there's some something magical about a matahari em that makes me want to get that instead so um let's see here let me think about some of the other I played, flip-flop was fun. Gosh, I'm trying to remember which one I played. It might have been flip-flop that I had. Oh, you know, I think probably the most popular one, fireball.
    37:33
    Fireball would be on my radar. This is tough. This is like picking your favorite child. So, bally's. I would probably, yeah, let's do fireball. I would do fireball. I played a fireball at the Cleveland Pinball Show a couple months ago, and that is one crazy EM. It's amazing that they did all that. It's multi-ball. It's got a spinning disc. It's got this ramp kind of weird thing going on. It's a great game. There's no wonder that was – anytime I talk to some of the old-timers, when they find out I'm into pinball and this and that, They always say, let me know if you come across a fireball. I would love to have that game. And I know that even Ricky Schroeder and Silver Spoons had him a fireball. And I think there was a fireball in Mr. Belvedere. There was a fireball featured in Mr. Belvedere. It's a popular game. Popular game. Yep. And for a good reason. And I will also say there's no wrong answer. Well, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, so that would probably... The Mata Hari EM would probably be a difficult thing. And that said, I think for as popular as the fireballs would be, it would be difficult to get. But those would be my valley choices off the top of my head. I'm sure if I was given an hour, I could find about 100 more.
    39:04
    Technically, the only correct answer is all of them. I would like to have all of them. Yeah, that would be nice. I would, yeah. As far as Gottliebs go, I've got my eye on a Target Alpha. That is a lot of fun. Maybe an Old Chicago.
    39:27
    That's a Bally. Oh, that is a Bally. There you go. That's the answer to my Bally. You're absolutely right. That is a Bally. Let me think. Let me think.
    39:38
    Did they make an EM version of, what was that, Eye of the Tiger? Sinbad? Yes, Sinbad. Sinbad, which was, I think the EM version was, or the single player version was Eye of the Tiger, maybe? I don't remember.
    39:56
    They made Sinbad in both EM and Solid State. Okay, okay, well then that's, yeah, then that's, what is, hold on, Eye of the Tiger, I'm cheating.
    40:05
    I think Eye of the Tiger was, wasn't that a Bally too? no eye of the tiger was a gotlieb uh 730 units so it's really small production run and it hold on i'm looking at back glass it's like it's like a uh i mean it looks it looks like there's it looks kind of like a sinbad there's like a it's not the sinbad back glass but it's like you know that that style and he's like battling a genie it's here i'm gonna go to the notes because I feel like it's based off another game.
    40:40
    Oh, yeah. Hold on. The four player EM version of this game is Gottlieb Sinbad. So I was right. You're welcome. Well, that's interesting because they also had an EM version of Sinbad itself. Yeah, I know. See, this is a two player. Eye of the Tiger. Oh, Eye of the Tiger's two player. Yeah. This is a two player version. yeah okay so that see that that's why in my head i the tiger sinbad em and then the sinbad solid state they're all one um i i uh let me think i i at league a while ago i've been out of the league loop um i did really well on the sinbad and then and i think that's that's probably why um it's My heart sings when I see it, as well as the Target Alpha.
    41:37
    And, oh, gosh, you're making me choose again. Let me think. I'm going to pick one more because did Gottlieb make Yukon? No, that was a Williams. Correct. um this is great podcasting because I can't seem to find what I'm looking for ah that's okay um oh that's why because I'm looking at the wrong company because Gottlieb had changed it in 77 Gottlieb Columbia Pictures Yeah, so again, all of them. But yeah, I would say if there's a target alpha out there, and there's more. The minute that we end this podcast, I will think of 10 more. You'll think of 15 more, right, exactly.
    42:37
    Well, one more topic I wanted to talk with you about. You've been over here and you've played a few bingos while I was frantically trying to fix some solid state problems. Oh, yes, that Mario Brothers was smoking. actually it wasn't smoking but yeah and uh and he's he's safely alive now but um good good good so i wanted to ask what your thoughts were about the bingos uh they are wonderful and as you know as somebody who can very easily fall and i'm i'm just glad that bingos are not alive today because I probably would easily fallen into the trap of the evil bingo machine universe and spend all my lunch money on them.
    43:22
    Because it's fun. I was thinking about them today as I was driving back from Cleveland, so I had a little bit of thought time.
    43:30
    And I like them because the games are not super long. They can be. But it's like you shoot and it either falls into a hole or it falls into the return hole and you shoot it again. So it's not – your average ball time is not that long. So I kind of like it because you know your results pretty quickly.
    43:54
    So yeah, I dug them. I thought that – I want to get more time in them. I know there was a lot of them up in Ohio recently.
    44:03
    There's a couple other ones that have been for sale. But they're on my radar. They're on my radar. Excellent. Excellent. A magic screen or mystic screen or mystic lines, all those, I love one of those. Excellent So did you enjoy the magic screen moving and all the moving numbers features and so forth I did I did but I feel like my brain has yet to really wrap around exactly. I guess I get it because you have a number of different ways you can make combinations.
    44:43
    I think it's cool because if you're aiming for five and you end up in six, you still have a hope of winning if you can switch the numbers around. um my i guess my na i will probably have to drop in again um sometime because i'm still very confused with all the buttons on the lockdown bar like which one you you were very gracious in like telling me which ones to push but it's like there i don't know why and it's it's that weird i'm sure it'll click because it's that weird like when you're going from solid state to an em where there's more buttons than what I'm used to. So I'm like, I don't really understand why I'm pushing the green button or the red button or the yellow button, but you said to, so I will.
    45:32
    Yeah, it didn't help that I was trying to fix stuff and wasn't really able to really coach you. Well, then I blame you. There you go. I'm happy to accept the blame. But yeah, next time you're in town, please let me know. I'd be happy to. Absolutely. to show you some bingos. Of course, I've got more now. Absolutely. It seems like they multiply. Yes, I've heard a rumor that you're getting rid of all your solid state except for Mario Brothers. That's the rumor that's floating around the Internet. Well, I will still have Circus. Oh, yeah, yeah, Circus, of course. You can't get rid of Circus. It's the best game ever, right? I stand by that statement.
    46:14
    Well, yeah, no, because I think in your childhood it was hyped up so much, right? It was, yeah. There's no game better than Circus. You've got, it's, you know, you might as well, yeah, might as well just had elephants coming out of it. Oh, yeah, there was, you would not believe how much this game was hyped up as far as the sound package. That was kind of the first and biggest disappointment. And I think about that, too, because, like, this, because the big sound doesn't even happen until you get a jackpot or something, right? It'll happen if you go in the return lane or if you finish your game. Right. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't really happen that often. Yeah.
    46:57
    But, yeah, I mean, you could have sworn clowns would come out of the back box and the fanfare would play, you know, peanuts. You smell them as you play, you know, all that kind of stuff. Right, yeah. But, no, of course that's not reality. You can smell the elephant manure. Well, yeah.
    47:14
    It's a real. It's a real circus. Kids are crying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's like cotton candy being spewed out from the coin chutes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, bingos are fantastic. As you know, I hold that position. Absolutely, yeah. I'm glad that you got to experience them. It's unusual to find somebody who is willing to give them a shot, And that's part of why I wanted to start the show, is to get people exposed to these. Right. Because unless you know somebody who's really way into them, you probably won't run across one that's working. And, of course, that colors your perception, too. There's a bunch of these hunks of junk out there. Yeah. But when you play one that's working and you see just how complex they are, I mean, it's really quite fascinating, I think. Oh, my gosh. I it's what and what's the most fascinating part for me is when you lift up the play field or like it. I mean, those things are there's or for that matter, the back for a visual aid to anybody who has not seen a big in person. The back box is like twice as deep because there's like billions of things going on there. In addition to that, in the cabinet, there's billions of other things going on because you've got all the – there's like stepper units galore. It's insane. It's amazing. It scares me how many things are in there, and they all have to work. They all have to work. In concert. But the nice thing is that the machines are engineered so that they don't die. I mean, that's – Right. No, that's good. Yeah. It's really pretty cool and amazing, I think, that these machines which have motors that are in constant rotation have survived from the 50s all the way to today. You know, it's pretty spectacular. But, you know, I won't bingo you to death tonight. No, no, no. I love it. Yeah, yeah. I, it's, so, so where, you know, this, this question, this question is, I'm sure that people are dying to know, where did, where does pinball, where does pinball sit in your life now? Like, like flipper pinball. Flipper pinball? Yeah. I'll be honest. I spend a lot less time playing flipper pinball than I do playing bingo pinball. Really? I would never guess.
    49:44
    I mean, you've probably heard the show and you know that, uh. I listen to them all. And I love listening to the bingo episodes, and there's an unending supply of bingos for you to talk about, so it's always very fascinating.
    49:58
    But it's so funny because now it's very rare do you talk about pinball, and usually it's in passing now.
    50:08
    Well, I have become a bit obsessed here recently. Good for you. I am enjoying certain games, but I tend to limit my flipper time. Of course, I have limited time anyway to play games. Well, you've got to prioritize. Yeah, exactly. I joined a league, and we play flipper games in a league here. I get my fill at the moment. Good. Well, no, you're getting rid of all of it. And it's good that you're cleansing your palette of all your solid state games for the most part, other than Circus and Mario. But you've got to keep the Twinkie and – what other flipper games do you have? I've got Pop-A-Card and Twinkie.
    50:59
    That's all the flipper games. Yeah, I know. Oh, man. The rest are flipperless. Well, that's okay. Well, I mean you've got four flippers. That's fine. I, you know, I, the, the song that echoes in my head now for, for like the last week or two is that, is that bingo song that you played, you know, that, that like, get out that box out of here. Oh, yeah. I can't remember. What is that song called again? Thing. Yeah, that. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It's such a good song. I agree. I thought it was cool. And, um, the game, it's actually a flipper game. Oh, is it? Yeah, yeah. That was one of my brief forays into... We'll say it's a flipper game, but it's a flipper game, but the song is about a bingo. No, no, that song is not about a bingo. It's not? No, no. The disdain, that man was sent to hell. I thought it was at least a bingo. No, no.
    52:00
    It's unknown what was in the box. It could be anything. Really? Oh, man. I feel like you might be reading something into this song.
    52:12
    Wow. Yeah. Now, I did do another episode about a song that was relating to bingos. The guy who spent his whole paycheck. Yeah.
    52:26
    I'm going to listen to that song again because you know that I believe that bingos are evil. I still love them, but you've heard me talk countless times about the evils of bingos. Well, sure. And I'm going to listen to it again. Go for it. And I'm going to have a whole dissertation on it. Excellent. About why I think it's a bingo.
    52:50
    Because no flipper game would send a man to hell, that's for sure. Hey, except Chicago Coins thing, which is a beautiful game. Which is a flipper game, yeah. All right, all right. Agree to disagree. All right, okay. Now, if they had made a thing bingo, that would be great, too.
    53:09
    So one other bingo question for you. Hey, give me two. That's fine with me. Two bingo questions? All right. Sure. I'll hit you with a twofer. The first one, what do you think of the sounds that a bingo makes while you're playing? Well, I've definitely fallen in love with the big count.
    53:28
    Oh, gosh, what is it called? like the what's the sound where it's that you play at the beginning of your podcast where it's like that's the search yeah that's the search yeah yeah that's that's cool um i i like that um because because when it's searching you know that's that's like you're you're gonna win big right something's gonna happen yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um there's a lot of thumping and it's there's a lot of whirring um so that's i i like that uh i didn't you know i'm trying to think back because like when was that was like june so it was definitely a couple months ago um tell me more about the sounds that i can tell you if i liked it i don't i don't remember other than like i don't think that there were any there's no chimes right correct okay that's my thought yeah so just it's like it's a lot of mechanical it's it's very wizard of ozzy in a sense or like because there's a lot going on in that box and nobody knows what it is. And you can hear things happening. Right. Yeah. You can hear things happening, but you're not sure exactly what's going on. I think it adds to the mystery and the fun of the game. Yeah. That's my personal feeling. I don't mean to color your judgment. No, no, no, no. Believe me, I listen to all your podcasts. You're already coloring my judgment. I don't mean to color it too much. Okay.
    54:52
    Well, that's question one. Good. And question two, do you think next time you're over, you can wrap one of these meters up to 1,000 replays?
    55:05
    I sure hope so. I was just listening to one of your recent ones where you talked about one of the machines would go up to, like, 1,800 replays.
    55:17
    Gosh, I can't remember what it was. But I was trying to do the mental math, and I was like, that's a lot of nickels.
    55:25
    It is. So what does it take to get – so I have to get like a five in a row to get it up to 1,000? So it depends on the machine, and most of them don't actually pay out in the thousands off of one game. So you have to play several. Right. And you've basically got to be really good. it's not a feat that I can do. So what you're saying is I have to be really good, and it's something that you can't even do, and you spend a lot more time on bingos. Yeah, I'm up for that. Excellent. You know, it's good to have a goal, and I think that's quite a challenge. Good. Yeah, I've never even maxed out one of the three replay, or three-digit meters, and those end at 899. so I'm just not very good.
    56:19
    Well, see, I'm not good at pinball, like flipper pinball, so maybe the problem is I'm really good at bingos and I just don't play enough. You didn't know it. Right. If I find out that I'm really good at bingos, you know what I'm going to do? I am going to go back in time and make my fortune.
    56:38
    Yep. One nickel at a time. apparently you have to be careful about winning too much at any one location from what I've heard oh yeah they'll kick you out you know what I'll just say I'll just take the machine thanks sure you can pay me or you can give me the machine yep you're going to give me all the money in there and then some so how about you just give me the machine I mean hey alright well Adam thank you very much it's been a pleasure talking to you You are most welcome. It has been a pleasure for me as well. And is there anything you'd like to promote?
    57:19
    Well, I mean, do I want to promote anything? That is a loaded question. That's why I put it on you. Yeah, that's a loaded question. Well, there are a few secrets that I hold very close at hand. For the people who are as obsessed with pinball as I am, I'll leave it at that. As cryptic as it is, I'll leave it at that. If you look hard enough in the pinball world, there's something to discover.
    58:02
    Sounds great. Well, Adam, thanks for your time, and I know life is hectic at the moment. It sure is. I appreciate you coming on and talking bingos and Grand Prix. It was fun. I hope you really enjoy that game, and I hope your whole family does, and everybody really gets the EM bug. Oh, yeah. It is definitely a popular game around here. Excellent. All right, Adam. Well, I'll talk to you soon. All right. Thanks. Thank you. I want to thank my guest, Adam Godfrey, for coming on and talking about bingos and Grand Prix. And thank you very much for listening. My name, again, is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-BINGOS1. 724-246-4671.
    58:58
    You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast,
    59:07
    and you can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast, or you can listen to us on our website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.
    59:20
    Thank you.