This is the EM Journeys Pinball Podcast. Hello and welcome to the EM Pinball Journeys Podcast. My name is David Morgan. This podcast focuses on pinball from the electromechanical era. In case you're curious about what EM refers to, electromechanical pinball machines contain mechanical components which are controlled by electricity, thus electromechanical or EM for short. Perhaps you're a complete beginner, an advanced enthusiast and collector or somewhere in between. At first, this podcast is going to be more aligned with beginner listeners. I plan to cover more advanced topics over time and interviews will often delve into more advanced topics. This EM Pinball Resources episode is a longer episode than what you'll find to be typical and will be in some ways a springboard for the rest of the podcast. Future episodes will focus on one topic and will be more easily digestible. No matter where you are in your journey, resources are important. Today I'm going to list EM-related pinball resources that helped me along the way as I wanted to learn about all things EM, including the history, repair, and restoration. Even if you're not a beginner, I hope that some of these resources will be helpful to you. Questions you may be asking yourself are, where can I learn more about how pinball machines work? Where do I find EM pinball machines that I can go play? Are there any nearby? Where can I find an EM? How do I know if I'm getting a good deal? Where can I go for help with the repairs? Where can I find the parts to fix my pinball machine? Here is an incomplete list, but still lengthy list of resources including I'm hopeful these resources and the people behind them will inspire you and help point the way on your journey as much as they have for mine. You'll hear me reference many of these resources in the future. I'll try to put as many links in the show notes as I can. Here are some great YouTube channels and a website where you can see EMs being played and perhaps get some tips to make you a better player. Number one is London Pinball YouTube channel. Corey Cook from London, Ontario features EM gameplay videos throughout this great channel. He starts off the video title with the year that each game was manufactured. If it is 1975 or earlier, it is most likely an EM. If it is 1976, 77, or 78, it could be an EM or it could be a solid state as these were the transition years that both types were made. Number two is Papa Pinball YouTube channel. Papa Pinball videos are very educational. Most of the gameplay videos are solid state games, but there are several great EM gameplay videos to be found there. The only downside is that you need to be a little bit familiar with EM titles to spot that it is in EM because they don't name the videos with year like London Pinball does. Number three is pinballvideos.com. This website has great examples of skilled tournament players playing EM pinball machines. You can not only watch how the game is played, you can watch how skilled players win tournaments. Go to pinballvideos.com, click machines, and scroll down to the bottom. The games are in chronological order and the EMs are way down the page. Lots of 60s and 70s games are represented here. Next on the list, finding pinball machines to play on location. Number one is pinballmap.com and the Pinball Map app. This is a website and a free app. The app is simply called Pinball Map. Both the app and pinballmap.com show you where pinball machines are on location in places such as an arcade or a bar. Users help keep the map up to date and you can add or remove pinball machines from the listing as games are added, removed, or swapped out. Number two is Pinside Pinball Map. Go to Pinside.com and click Pin Map. It is similar to PinballMap.com. I found it a bit easier to search here for where my favorite pinball machines are available to play on location. If you search for a favorite EM, chances are you will uncover places that have other EMs. Number three is pinball shows. Find a pinball show in your area. You may even find that you want to travel to some that are out of your area. I enjoy going to Pintastic New England. It's an annual event, as most pinball shows are. In the United States to find pinball shows, go to pinwiki.com, click pinball show schedule. Another list is on Pinside.com. Click Events. This page lists shows and tournaments in the U.S. and Canada. If you're outside the U.S., please let me know where some great pinball shows are that you've been to. Next on the list, learning more about how EM pinball machines work. Number one is funwithpinball.com. This website is run by Mark Gibson, who teaches one-day and two-day in-person EM pinball repair classes around the U.S. I had the opportunity to attend the two-day class in early 2024. I'll talk more about that in future episodes. Every three or four weeks, Mark also hosts a free EM pinball online repair clinic where people can get some live assistance with troubleshooting EM pinball machine issues from a team of expert coaches. Mark also has a traveling hands-on interactive exhibit demonstrating how EM pinball machines work. He was at Pintastic New England and was kind enough to help me troubleshoot the Gottlieb Pro Football pinball machine that I brought to the show. The lessons learned from this exhibit and more can be learned from visiting funwithpinball.com. Please be sure to navigate around this site as there is a lot to be discovered. Number two is Technology Connections YouTube channel. The Technology Connections channel has a three-part EM pinball video series that are gems. I highly recommend them. Host Alec Watson covers the history and mechanics of various technology on his channel, and with these three videos, he will give you more than a basic understanding of how an electromechanical pinball machine works using a Williams Aztec pinball machine from 1976. These videos inspired me to recently pick up an Aztec for myself. This channel has a huge following, and you will understand why when you watch this series. Episode 1 is titled, Old Pinball Machines Are Amazingly Complex. Episode 2 is titled The Step-by-Step Mechanical Logic of Old Pinball Machines. And Episode 3 is titled Tilting, Taking Turns, and Winning Free Games. These videos are so good that I've watched them several times. Number 3 is a thread called Otaku's Ultimate Electromechanical Guide and EM Theory of Operation. This is a very detailed thread that covers how the various parts work as well as moving right into how to maintain and fix common problems with your EM. This thread is the length of a small book and is worth a read. I recommend to Google Otaku's Ultimate Electromechanical Guide and EM Theory of Operation. The thread is found on forums.arcade-museum.com as well as pinside.com. Number four is havepinwiltravel Havepinwill Travel website has a great article and an accompanying link to a video called Intro to EM Pinball Machines and Their Schematics If you want just a brief article to read this one will be perfect for you He covers basic electrical circuits, mechanical components of an EM, and an introduction to schematics. Go to havepinwilltravel.wordpress.com, click the menu, and look for Intro to EM Pinball Machines and Their Schematics. Next on the list, finding an EM pinball machine to buy. Number one is Facebook Marketplace. When I talk with people about buying pinball machines, Facebook Marketplace seems to be the most common place where people buy and sell pinball machines. I've purchased about half of my collection using Facebook Marketplace. I find that there are often some very good deals, but there are also some overpriced options as well. I will get into how to know if you're getting a good deal in just a bit. I think that many people on Facebook don't know the value of things and are trying to get as much of a return of their investment as possible. The value of something varies from person to person and there are some pinball machines that I would pay extra for because it is high on my want list. Some sellers are firm on their price and others will take a lower offer. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Does the pinball machine work? Does it play as expected? What is the condition of the play field? What is the condition of the back glass? What is the condition of the cabinet? The condition of the playfield is the thing that I prioritize the most. Back glasses aren't cheap, but many of them can be replaced with a reproduction. A cabinet with worn paint can be repainted using a stencil kit. It's a time-consuming process, but it's much easier than replacing a damaged playfield. I will talk more about buying a pinball machine in future episodes. Number two is Pinside.com. Buying a pinball machine on Pinside is a great option. I've purchased a pinball machine on Pinside too. Many people have told me that buying on Pinside tends to work out well because the sellers tend to be into pinball and are more in the know of the value of the pinball machine. I find that the prices on Pinside are much closer to the typical price that collectors will pay. The range of prices are not as high and as low as on Facebook. In conclusion, you may not get a giveaway level deal, but you're also less likely to overpay on Pinside, at least in my opinion. Number three is other pinball enthusiasts and local pinball repair businesses. Other pinball players at local tournaments often will know of someone who's looking to sell a pinball machine. Often collectors have a game for sale and need to make room for their next purchase. Oftentimes that game is also in great condition. Pinball repair businesses sometimes buy and sell, including helping other customers buy and sell. Here's a quick rundown of other options. Go to Google and type Mr. Pinball Classifieds. This website has been around for a long time and has EMs listed. Local auctions are a good place to check as well. I've heard of some really good deals at auctions. New pinball machine sellers sometimes take trade-ins and refurbish them or sell them as is. The refurbished games will be pricey, but they will likely be in great condition. I bought my first pinball machine from an antique store and I know other people who bought one at an antique store as well. It is not a common place to get one because they are likely to be overpriced and broken, but you never know. I've heard that antique stores often know of someone looking to sell a pinball machine. eBay and Craigslist also have EMs listed. I rarely see good deals near me though. You might have better luck where you are. You can learn more about how to buy a pinball machine from HomePinballRepair.com. Go to HomePinballRepair.com and click How to Buy a Pinball Machine. Next on the list, pinball prices. Knowing if you're getting a good deal is a challenge at first. A pinball machine that doesn't work is not nearly as valuable as a pinball machine that has been restored. Pinside.com is one of the best places to look up prices. Current and archived ads are useful as a guide for buying and selling. When you search for a game, the details page shows the price history, an estimate, and there you'll see a link to current ads for this game as well as archived ads for this game. Also, PinballPrices.com tracks pinball sales and makes the data available to you. Go to PinballPrices.com, click search, and type in the game you're looking for, and a five-year summary of prices will appear. Next on the list, repairing EM pinball machines by watching YouTube videos. You can hire a local pinball repair technician, but there are many YouTube channels where you can learn to maintain and repair pinball machines yourself. Some of them have a massive amount of great content. Number one is Mark's Basement Arcade. The channel that I've learned from the most is definitely Mark's Basement Arcade. Mark shows you everything that he does and gives you great tips and tricks all along the way. He has live repair videos that he later puts up on YouTube. The channel also has a lot of tech tips videos with so many helpful and unique ideas. Number two is Goat Shed EM Pinball Repair. If you love EMs, the Goat Shed is also a gem of a YouTube channel because they are an EM-only pinball channel. Kim Oswald and Graham McGinnis live in Australia and between them have an amazing amount of experience with EM pinball repair. Their videos have helped me get through some tough repairs on several occasions. Even if you don't own a pinball machine, some of the videos are non-repair related, such as from visits to the U.S. and going around to pinball shows. Number three is Joe's Classic Video Games. Joe's Classic Video Games is a great channel to learn about EMs. They fix up all kinds of arcade games, from video games to solid-state pinball machines. Ronnie Lyons is the main person in these videos. He talks about the games and takes you through the repair process. He often breaks out schematics and talks about using them to help with repairs. I often go through the videos on Joe's Classic Video Games and watch the videos about EMs. There are so many pinball repair videos on YouTube. If you search for EM pinball repair, you'll find a long list of search results. The Basics of Electromechanical Pinball Repair by Nick Baldridge on the Richmond Pinball Collective YouTube channel is a really good lecture on EM Pinball Repair. Other channels you should check out are Pribs Pinball Repair, Have Pin Will Travel, Pinball Help, Seven's Pinball-Orama, Lebo's Pinball, and that's L-E-E-B-O apostrophe S, Pinball, Lebo's Pinball. Also, MRN Bricks. That's M-R-N Bricks. Troxel Repair. And last but not least, Clay Harrell's YouTube channel called cfhatprovide.net. So that's C-F-H-A-T-P-R-O-V-I-D-E-D-O-T-N-E-T. Clay also runs the pinball repair website, pinrepair.com. More on that in a bit. Clay also runs a pinball show called Ann Arbor Pinball Show. If you're interested in learning repair and maintenance, one last YouTube resource for now that I highly recommend is to watch a video made by Nick Schell, who runs the Roanoke Pinball Museum in Roanoke, Virginia. His channel is called Nick's Amazing Pinball Channel. Nick is spelled N-I-C. The video is specifically about relays and is called EM Pinball Relay Maintenance and Good Practice at Roanoke Pinball Museum Relays are used for just about everything in an EM If they don work the game doesn work correctly Rebuilding a relay can be intimidating at first as well as time consuming It is mostly cleaning and adjusting and Nick will show you how I watched this video many times and it has been so helpful to me In some ways this is advanced level stuff but that makes it that much more valuable Next on the list, pinball repair websites. Number one is pinwiki.com. This website is very helpful with pinball repair of all eras. If this website was published as a book, it would be quite large. There is an EM pinball repair page, and many other pages are also helpful with EMs. Number two is PinRepair.com. Clay Harrell, who was mentioned earlier, runs this resourceful site. He has so many tips and great information about EM Pinball. Check out the page called Repairing Electromechanical EM Pinball and Coin Operated Games to 1978. Make sure to click page 2 and page 3 for more. His EM guide includes great photos and links to appropriate YouTube videos. Also check out the Restoring Arcade and Pinball Games page. Scroll down to the bottom and click page 1 to start. Number 3 is Pinside.com's EM Forum. Pinside.com's forum has a dedicated section that is for EM pinball. From the homepage, click Forum and Electromechanical. You can search this forum for topics related to something you need help with. There are a lot of very knowledgeable EM techs that help other users here if you have a question. Number 4 is HomePinballRepair.com. I first referenced this in the Finding an EM Pinball Machine to Buy section. There is a lot of general pinball repair information here. I like the EM Electromechanical Pinball Troubleshooting page as well. Next on the list, Facebook EM Pinball Groups. If you have some questions or want help with your EM Pinball Machine, there are many Facebook groups that you can join. Number one is the Goat Shed EM Pinball Repair Specialist. Number two is Gottlieb EM, and then in parentheses, Electromechanical Pinball Repair Group. This is for Gottlieb specific questions and help. Number three is Williams EM, and in parentheses, Electromechanical Pinball Repair Group. And this is for Williams specific questions and help. Number four is Mark's Basement Arcade. This is a great place to ask questions and get help with EM Pinball as well. Next on the list, Pinball Repair Books. There are two noteworthy books that I'll talk about. Also, please know that many pinball machines have an accompanying service manual that will provide some very helpful information about maintaining your machine. They are nowhere near comprehensive, though. Sometimes the owner doesn't have one, but you might find a link to it on the Internet Pinball Database at IPDB.org. From the game page, you can often download the manual in PDF format. Sometimes there is a schematic as well. Gottlieb pinball machine schematics and manuals are only available in print for purchase through vendors. The pinball resource is the best place to buy them if you need a hard copy for your Gottlieb pinball machine. They have the license to reproduce Gottlieb manuals and schematics. Parts catalogs are also great to get your hands on as well. Manufacturers often made a new parts manual every few years. You'll learn a lot from the diagrams and from the names of parts in the parts catalog. Pinball Resource is the best place to get a Gottlieb's parts catalog as well. I found late E.M. era Williams and Bally parts catalogs on a website called planetarypinball.com. From there, click Reference Material and then click Online Parts Books. Book number one is Your Pinball Machine. I like books and picked up a book called Your Pinball Machine by B.B. Komaroff, if I'm pronouncing that right, from Schiffler Publishing. The cover says how to purchase, adjust, maintain, and repair your own pinball machine. It came out in 2020. I'll put the ISBN number in the show notes. The author has repaired hundreds of pinball machines, and this is a revised and updated book. I've read this book cover to cover twice, and I'm on my third round. From talking with other people who are into pinball, this book does not seem to be well known. Much of the knowledge applies to EMs, as well as solid-state machines. There is a chapter that covers EM repairs. This book has served me well as a reference on many occasions, especially when trying to adjust the switches on score reels, which differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. There are some photos and diagrams throughout. This book is worth picking up, especially for someone who wants to buy a pinball machine or is somewhat new to owning one. Book number two is Pinball Machine Maintenance by Hank DeJager. I think it's pronounced DeJager. This book covers the repair and maintenance of electromechanical multiplayer pinball machines from 1960 to 1977. It's not applicable to single-player games. It comes highly recommended. I found it online in PDF format, but I also bought a printed copy from the Pinball Resource. It came staple-bound. It has been recommended to me by many, many pinball experts. Next on the list, sourcing pinball parts. Number one is the pinball resource. The EM pinball experts that I know buy most of their parts from the pinball resource as they specialize in EM parts. The web address is pbresource.com. The website takes a bit of getting used to, but they have most of what you will need for replacement and repairs. You can call them or email them with questions. They have so many parts that they are not all listed on their website. If you need something unusual, they may have it.