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Episode 417 - Sing Along playfield tear down, Robo-Frenzy build progress, Bally Shoot-a-Line and Dixieland, Williams Skylab, 1946 Bally Double Barrel

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·44m 57s·analyzed·Mar 14, 2018
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

EM restoration expert details playfield swaps, custom wiring, bingo game repairs, and historic machine analysis.

Summary

Nick Baldrige discusses restoration and custom build projects on his EM/bingo pinball podcast, including a Sing Along playfield replacement, RoboFrenzy wiring progress, service calls on Shoot-a-Line and Dixieland games, Williams Skylab rebuild, and a deep dive into Bally's 1946 Double Barrel. He emphasizes the technical challenges of electromechanical repair work and custom machine construction, noting upcoming attendance at Texas Pinball Festival.

Key Claims

  • Texas Pinball Festival this weekend will feature over 20 games in the History of Pinball exhibit

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige, citing confirmation from Jeff Frick who appeared on podcast couple episodes ago

  • Shoot-a-Line had all four scoring coils burned out; replacement and clutch oiling should fully restore functionality

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige describing recent service call work

  • Dixieland had failing 1N4001 diodes in Double or Nothing circuitry that were replaced with beefier diodes per Bingo Butch's son Mike

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige detailing troubleshooting and collaboration with Mike (Bingo Butch's son)

  • RoboFrenzy will use incandescent lighting to maintain authenticity and features independently fused reset solenoids

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige explaining design philosophy and electrical safety decisions

  • Sing Along playfield was stripped for parts by previous owner; new used playfield found but requires extensive transplanting

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige describing acquisition and restoration status

  • Multi-horse race game playfield is larger than standard bingo playfield, requiring custom solutions

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige explaining technical constraint discovered upon playfield arrival

  • Williams Skylab (1974) took couple hours to bring back to full working order with stepper/reel rebuilds

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige describing repair work and owner satisfaction

  • Dixieland wiper arm on search disc had unusual plating degradation/flaking that required cleaning and tension readjustment

    high confidence · Nick Baldrige detailing specific troubleshooting discovery

Notable Quotes

  • “it's been more than two weeks. This is the first time I've actually missed a show unintentionally during the tenure of this podcast.”

    Nick Baldrige @ early episode — Rare acknowledgment of missing episode; sets context for content compilation

  • “I really didn't want to take parts that could be used to fix a game...I didn't want to have to chop up working games.”

    Nick Baldrige @ multi-horse race project discussion — Reveals ethical stance on parts sourcing and machine restoration values

  • “It's quite a feeling when you have a big winner on one of those games. You feel very accomplished.”

    Nick Baldrige @ horse race game description — Articulates gameplay satisfaction and emotional appeal of horse race games

  • “I would fix one problem and another problem would come up. And it was just whack-a-mole.”

    Nick Baldrige @ Dixieland repair narrative — Captures the cascading troubleshooting challenges in EM game repair

  • “nothing really changed in the game physically that would have caused that to happen but it did.”

    Nick Baldrige @ Dixieland double 100% scoring issue — Illustrates mysterious EM behavior and the importance of thorough testing

  • “20 replays for one ball is pretty cool. and that thing sounds like a machine gun as it keeps counting up and up and up.”

    Nick Baldrige @ Double Barrel description — Captures the auditory and visual appeal of EM game design

  • “It's always very satisfying to get some games going...It's great to see people's faces light up.”

    Nick Baldrige @ Williams Skylab repair conclusion — Reveals personal motivation behind restoration work beyond technical challenge

Entities

Nick BaldrigepersonRoboFrenzyproductSing AlonggameMulti-horse race gameproductTexas Pinball FestivaleventJeff FrickpersonBingo ButchpersonMikeperson

Signals

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Nick sourced used replacement playfield for Sing Along due to worn artwork; original playfield being stripped; planned extensive parts transplanting with soldering work

    high · Detailed description of playfield condition, sourcing strategy, and remaining work scope

  • ?

    design_innovation: RoboFrenzy design utilizes Jones plugs for modular connectivity, enabling back door removal and potential cabinet transfer without full wiring reharness

    high · Nick explicitly describes using Jones plugs for flexibility and detailing benefits for future cabinet modifications

  • ?

    product_concern: Dixieland experienced multiple diode failures in Double or Nothing circuitry due to weak 1N4001 components; replacement with beefier diodes required per expert technician recommendation

    high · Detailed troubleshooting narrative with electrical component analysis and Mike's technical guidance

  • ?

    operational_signal: Single Dixieland repair required cascading troubleshooting of switch adjustments, wiper arm plating degradation, relay adjustments, and solder connections across ~85 circuit inspections

    high · Extensive narrative describing whack-a-mole repair sequence and discovery of barely-hanging solder joint on relay back

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Williams 1974 Skylab features cramped relay placement under playfield requiring careful angle-based access; similar issue noted in Grand Prix design

    medium · Nick's commentary on relay bank standoff near playfield center and wire tearing risk with cramped space

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.135

0:00
What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to For Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldrige.
0:13
Well, it's been a while since I talked to you, and in fact, it's been more than two weeks. This is the first time I've actually missed a show unintentionally during the tenure of this podcast. but unfortunately, life happens, things happen, and this podcast didn't happen last week. So, let me catch you up on what's been going on. I believe I mentioned last episode that I started working on this project, Singalong, that I picked up.
0:45
It's a wonderful game. I really love it. I'm very excited to have added that to the stable over here, but unfortunately, the playfield is really rough. Um, the Playfield artwork had, uh, been worn away through play, uh, not a big deal. Uh, somebody had replaced it with their own approximation of the artwork, and, uh, from very far away, they did an okay job. When you're right up on it, though, boy, it's rough. Uh, key lines are in the wrong spot, uh, everything's wavy, uh, that kind of stuff. So it's a sight to behold.
1:28
But luckily, I've located a spare playfield. It's not perfect. It's not one of the repros that Wade Krause has done. It's an old used one that somebody had already replaced. But it will certainly look a lot nicer than this one. Now unfortunately it had been stripped for parts, so I'm going to have to do a lot of transplanting. Basically, I'll have to do a playfield swap in order to make this function and do a lot of soldering. Besides that, because somebody cut out one of the relays, and it looks like some of the wires are cut back into the bundle anyway from that relay. So there's some work ahead of me, but again, I'm looking forward to having this game in my lineup.
Shoot-a-Linegame
Dixielandgame
Williams Skylabgame
Double Barrelgame
Ballycompany
Williamscompany
Penny Pitchergame
Ringergame
Grand Prixgame
Wade Krauseperson
For Amusement Onlyorganization
Genkocompany
  • ?

    restoration_signal: Nick has 17+ projects in queue before multi-horse race game; managing multiple concurrent restoration efforts including RoboFrenzy, Sing Along, and service calls

    high · Direct statement: 'I haven't even finished the other 17 projects that I've got in front of it'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: RoboFrenzy design emphasizes incandescent lighting to maintain authenticity of original EM aesthetic despite being a new custom build

    high · Nick's stated approach: 'trying to keep it authentic-ish even though this is an original game'

  • ?

    event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival this weekend features History of Pinball exhibit with 20+ machines curated by Jeff Frick; major community gathering event

    high · Confirmed by Jeff Frick per Nick; Nick noting he wishes he could attend

  • ?

    community_signal: Nick consulted with Bingo Butch's son Mike on Dixieland diode issue; demonstrates informal peer knowledge-sharing in EM technician community

    high · Narrative of problem diagnosis and expert recommendation on component upgrading

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Dixieland exhibited unusual wiper arm plating degradation/flaking on search disk—described as stainless steel scaly buildup that could be fingernail-peeled; first instance Nick has observed

    high · Detailed physical description of anomalous wear pattern and cleaning/readjustment resolution

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Double Barrel (1946) features innovative super field with captive ball advancing through numbered holes, symmetric dual-color hunting sequences, and escalating replay payouts (6/6/20)

    high · Comprehensive gameplay description with specific mechanics, scoring, and thematic layout analysis

  • ?

    content_signal: For Amusement Only missed episode for first time unintentionally; episode compiled retrospectively from multiple project updates; Nick addressing guilt and catch-up content

    high · Nick's opening statement: 'first time I've actually missed a show unintentionally' and 'I was feeling guilty'

    • 2:13
    Singalong is one of my favorite wench heads, and I love the art package. I love everything about it. I spent a lot of time playing it, and now I can play one of my own, maybe, assuming that I have a chance to get this all back together.
    2:29
    At any rate, I've got the original playfield pretty much stripped on the top side, and I will be working on stripping the bottom side here when the other playfield arrives, which should be any day now. So, that said, there's plenty going on in the meantime, and lots of other things to occupy my time. Let's talk about robo-frenzy. So I just got back into working on that after a brief hiatus.
    3:00
    I've started running wiring for the switched side of all the coils, as well as many of the switches, which are located on the relays or on the various components on the back door. and running this wiring is really quite interesting. It's a different kind of challenge from many other things because you have to keep straight how these wires will interplay with each other once you start tying them down. And I'm not tying as I go because I generally don't like the look of wires which are laced and then laced again later. so I'm really having to keep everything straight basically in my head as I go. Thankfully, the way I designed it, and hopefully it works this way, there's not going to be a ridiculous amount of wire, but there's still going to be quite a bit. If you've seen the photos on Instagram or Facebook, you know there are a ton of relays, there's a motor, and a couple steppers, and there's going to be lots of lamps as well. So there's quite a bit that's running through this game, tilts and coin door and all that kind of stuff.
    4:17
    There's quite a bit that's running through it, and I've got to make sure that nothing really steps on anything's toes. For example, I have the hot side of the 120-volt coils, which will power the reset solenoids for both of the trip banks. I have a Player 1 and Player 2 trip bank in the head.
    4:42
    And those are both 120 volts. Great. I have a little fuse block for each one, so they're independently fused, and if the solenoid goes or it can't reset for some reason, then it'll blow the fuse instead of burning up and making an awful smell and maybe catching on fire.
    5:03
    So I figure that's a good compromise. now in order to have this wire I have to run wire from the transformer which is located on the back door to a Jones plug the Jones plug has to go to one of the reset solenoids and then from there has to jump across to the other reset solenoid now in order to do this it's got to pull this kind of anti-gravity feet where it's got to run up on the top of the head of this thing and And, yeah, so I've basically got these coils of loose wire, which are hanging down. They're soldered on both ends, and they're waiting for a plastic clip. So I'm thinking of going ahead and installing the plastic clips at a minimum. That's going to make lacing harder later.
    5:55
    Or, alternatively, I could loosely lace everything. I think that was the direction I was leaning last night, but tonight I'm thinking clips. because I'll need clips anyway. If you look at any game that has a significant amount of wiring, especially where it's trunked together for larger sections, they typically run through these plastic clips, and I'll be doing the same. It just helps keep things arranged in that tree, and then I can keep adding wire to that tree without things getting too messy, if you see what I'm saying.
    6:35
    So, that's next on the agenda, and then there's much more wiring to be done. This is a fairly big job. It's a lot bigger than the multi, for example. The multi is huge because of the number of playfields. So each playfield is like its own wiring challenge. But those are fairly portable, and I can take them and lay them upside down on a table or something and work on it there. for RoboFrenzy I have to basically work on the entire game as it sits with the back door attached I don't have to do that but it sure makes life easier because of how things are plugged together so I'm using Jones plugs again for connectivity and in order to determine the length of the wire that's needed sometimes measurements don't tell the whole story because when you start laying out the wire you realize oh it's got to make a bend here and it's going to take an additional X number of inches in order to make that bend and retain the shape that I actually want it to have. So things are pretty interesting doing that. It requires an awful lot of focus, a lot of attention, and an awful lot of time. It takes me a good 30 minutes, basically, to get acclimated any night that I start working on it. So I'm going to try to keep it up, set a minimum goal of maybe 45 minutes and that way I get 15 minutes of additional wiring in a night and then at some point the wiring will be done for the components that I have and it'll be time to start looking for to manufacture the whiteboard is going to carry all the lamps in the back box and the way I'm going to do that is with two pieces of plywood Each one will be painted white, hence whiteboard. They'll be glued together. They're thin pieces of plywood, glued and clamped together, and then routed in such a way so that, first of all, the socket can go through, and secondly, there will be a little light shield so that the lamp will shine on the back glass and only in a specific area. Now, I'm using incandescence, of course. you all who've listened for a long time know me and that's what I'm going to be using for this project trying to keep it authentic-ish even though this is an original game it's still the type of game that I want to enjoy so that's the plan and once those are routed one of the final things I'm going to do and this might be stupid
    9:21
    In fact, it probably is stupid. And feel free to tell me it's stupid, but I haven't quite decided where the power switch is going to go on this game yet.
    9:32
    Common wisdom would say up on the top. That is traditionally where the power switch is for games like Penny Pitcher Ringer, which are in the same size cabinets. In fact, the dimensions for the cabinet are taken wholesale from Penny Pitcher Ringer. I did enlarge the back glass area, so the area for the back glass, there's a lot more going on on the back glass of this game than there is on Penny Pitch and Ringer, and I wanted to make sure that I generally had enough space in order to handle all the controlled lamps that are going to be in this game. That said, it still may not be big enough. I'm not completely wedded to this cabinet design, And the nice thing about the wiring is, with the harness trunked and laced in the way that I'm laying out, I should be able to transfer it to another cabinet should I need to. And even better, because I decided instead of trunking everything across the back door and into the cab, I'm using Jones plugs, I can actually just move the back door and it won't be a big deal.
    10:41
    The interior wiring, however, will need to move. and that's going to be a little trickier but not too bad, I don't think hopefully so that's RoboFrenzy in a nutshell work is still proceeding albeit very slowly other things have taken my attention for these past few weeks but getting back into it and feeling pretty good so I looking forward to my work tonight but I did want to get this podcast out again because I was feeling guilty but also so that folks headed to the Texas Pinball Festival this weekend will have a little extra treat to listen to in case they wanted to hear my dulcet tones on the way to Texas. Highly doubtful, but I know quite a few people who are going. I hope you all have a great time and definitely check out the History of Pinball exhibit, which is going to be there at the booth. Jeff Frick, who's been on the podcast a couple episodes ago, has confirmed that there's going to be over 20 games there this year. And I've just got to say, hats off to all of you. That's amazing.
    11:57
    That's a huge number of games. So I wish I could be there, but unfortunately, work life and such precludes me from doing so.
    12:09
    Now, on to another project, the multi-horse race game. I think I announced it last episode, but I meant to announce it with a little more fanfare.
    12:20
    So, the playfield arrived. I believe it was in my possession last episode. And unfortunately, it's a little bigger than a bingo playfield. So you know what this means. I've got to start all over again. I'm very excited about this.
    12:39
    These games are not very well documented. So the Ballybingos and the United Bingos that I love so very much are fortunately extremely well documented. That is to say that you can open up the manuals and see how the wires are connected for many of the steppers without having to be right in front of the game. That's not true for all the games, especially the very early games. And the earlier you go, you know, before bingos, there were these horse race games, and you have one ball, one shot, you build up your game, multi-coins,
    13:18
    you hit upon some good combination of horses, you know, selection, and features, and odds, and then you let fly and you try to steer that ball with everything you got because you've spent all this energy building up the game and you only have this one shot at greatness.
    13:39
    It's quite a feeling when you have a big winner on one of those games. You feel very accomplished. The thing I would liken it to, especially if you have a really big winner, like you go all the way down to the win section and you have your odds racked up pretty high, would be like getting a 5 and a line on a bingo. It's not quite the same.
    14:03
    So one of the things that I want to do with the multi-horse race project, and I've got to come up with a more clever name than that. Multi-horsey game? I don't know.
    14:15
    That doesn't quite have the ring to it either. One of the things that I want to do is to build out both the payout and non-payout versions of the games. So for the horse race games, many of them came in payout versions from the factory. And of course, this goes back to an even earlier time where there were payout games and they shot nickels into a drawer and you unfolded the drawer and picked up your winnings.
    14:44
    And some of those were right on the cusp there and had the payout drawers as well. But later on, they basically spit a ton of nickels into a trough. Kind of like later operator modified bingos that pushed a bunch of nickels into a trough if you had a hopper installed aftermarket. Similar kind of concept. So I'm thinking I would like to have both of those versions, have a way for the game to differentiate, perhaps have the payout system removable, you know, just a Jones plug, very simple, that would turn the payout system off, or maybe just a switch. I mean, why make it more difficult than it needs to be?
    15:26
    But what I've found, because of the difference in the size of the playfield, is either I need to cut my own playfield, which I'm not thrilled about. I have this beautiful original playfield, and I would love to use the artwork on it because it's in fantastic shape.
    15:45
    But that's one option, cut a new playfield. using new measurements that I take from this new old stock playfield and then fit it within a bingo cabinet's constraints. Alternatively, if I were to get a trashed, a completely trashed one-ball game,
    16:07
    then I could take it and do some interesting things with it. And here's an idea that I'm floating around, and the reason why I would want an entire game as opposed to, say, just an empty cabinet or building my own cabinet, which is another option. All right. And I'm one of those people, when I started the multi-project, I really didn't want to take parts that could be used to fix a game. For example, I didn't want to have to chop up working games or chop up games that could be easily restored in order to get these parts. So with a clear conscience, I don't know how the parts arrived to me, but I do know that I was not instrumental in anybody parting a game out or doing anything that caused a game to be destroyed. In this case, I would have to take a slightly different stance, but here's the thought. And if you have thoughts on this matter, I'd love to hear it. You know, this project hasn't even started. Heck, I haven't even finished the other 17 projects that I've got in front of it, but I am interested in getting it started, so I'm starting to rattle these things around in my head. But if I had a game that didn't work, then I could use the circuitry in the solid state portion to actually drive the original motor to inherently make the authentic noises for the game without the need for speakers or additional programming for the sound instead I would just drive coils or motors that would make the snaps, the pops, the crackles all those things that you would be used to hearing with the horse race games. I think that would be pretty neat. And if done correctly, I think that I could reuse the bottom board in order to house all the electronics.
    18:14
    So for the computer, as well as the board set, I could actually just screw them directly to the panel below. that panel is mostly taken up by this giant motor which I would leave in place but I'd remove some of the individual relays and a few of the other bits and pieces that are stored there so that's my thought again, if you have any insider input I'd love to hear it if you happen to have a trash game an old one ball that's rattling around in a warehouse somewhere or you know of one or you know of anybody who's looking to get rid of one that is, in fact, not working or trashed, has a missing back glass, there you go. That's a perfect example of something that would be useful to me. Let me know. Give me an email or a phone call or whatever and let me know. so aside from the one ball I've been working on several other projects some of which you'll hear about all in due time but I thought I would talk about a recent service call I went out to take a look at a Shoe the Line and a Dixieland and these are the same ones that I've been out to see relatively recently. The shoot line had all four of the scoring coils burned out, and I went and replaced all four of those. The game sprang to life partially. Unfortunately, the control unit needed the clutches oiled in order to be fully operational. So it was scoring replays by the time that I left, but not quickly. So once those clutches are oiled, I think the game will be pretty much finished. But there's more on the cosmetic side to do, and the owner's taking care of that. And I'm going to see if I can walk him through lubricating those clutches. It's really not a huge job to do that, but it will make all the difference in the world. So let's move on to Dixieland. Dixieland, I thought, was actually going to be the easier of the two. When you replace the scoring coils in any of the games, it is a bit of a challenge. They are situated in a way that you can get them, but pulling them out and accessing the coil itself, especially one that's burned, is a little tricky.
    21:05
    For those of you who haven't fooled around with a burned coil, it starts to kind of crumble in your hand as you're touching it. And that carbon dust tries to get everywhere. It's really kind of obnoxious to take a burned coil out. But not to mention the fact that they've swollen and have really strained the confines of their situation. So pulling those out, no big deal. The new coils, however, are shaped differently than the originals.
    21:39
    And because of this, the fit was quite a bit tighter when I went to screw the actual bracket back in. And the bracket itself, I found, wouldn't engage. The new coil was just a hair taller.
    21:55
    So with that extra height, the bracket couldn't actually stop. The bracket is like an L shape, and the bottom of the L comes out and hits a gear. and freezes it. And that gear, while it's being held in place, is actually providing power to the scoring circuit. So the gear couldn stop So I ended up having to very very slightly bend that bracket on two out of four of the brackets in order to make it so that the gear could stop And then lots of vertical adjustments, making sure that that worked.
    22:42
    And then everything appeared to be good. as I say, it's adding the replays extremely slowly and a very alarming cadence, I would say so, that's Shrewdeline that's a lot of work summed up into just a couple minute statement there, but let me tell you, that was a lot of work so, Dixieland I figured, hey, it's a later six card I'm very familiar with the later six cards. I've worked on a few Dixielands, actually, and none of them have given me a whole heck of a lot of trouble. Most of them have dirty search disks, typical type stuff that you'll see on games that were really played hard.
    23:30
    This game, however, was a bit of a challenge. So in a previous service call, I noticed that Double or Nothing was never scoring. I managed to get the game running, but you could not play for Double or Nothing. You could only get regular replays.
    23:50
    And I tested the diodes on the Double or Nothing circuitry, and there are a lot of diodes on the Double or Nothing circuitry. There's two on each of the Double or Nothing trip relays, as well as several independent relays which have their own diodes, and this one extra circuit called the double delay circuit that also has a diode. So each of those had to be inspected because a failure in the diodes at any point could cause feedback through that circuit and make it so that the game didn't score appropriately.
    24:24
    I tested the diodes, and, well, that's exactly the conclusion that I came to. So I talked to Bingo Butch's son, Mike, who you've heard mentioned on this podcast before. He's a very good technician, and he knows quite a bit about the six-card games, especially Dixieland.
    24:43
    So I gave him a shout and told him what was going on, and I said, you know, these diodes are bad. I'm going to replace them. And he said, well, before you do that, take a look at the diodes that they used, that Bally used. And you'll notice that they are pretty wimpy.
    25:03
    1N4001s, basically they are very small diodes. They can't really handle any kind of overvoltage condition. And we're talking about electromechanical here, and we're also talking about something that isn't grounded. and essentially any spike that comes along would knock out one or more of those diodes, be it from the outside of the game or the inside of the game.
    25:34
    So what he suggested was getting much beefier diodes, and that's exactly what I did. I got some very large diodes and put them in place.
    25:47
    Double or nothing, problem solved. So I figure, hey, crisis averted, game is fully working, everything's great. And then I started noticing problems. And I would fix one problem, it was like whack-a-mole. I would fix one problem and another problem would come up. And it was just on and on and on. And it was surprising to me how many problems kept occurring. so at one point it was always scoring double 100% of the time on cards 1 and 2 and that was caused by two switches which were adjusted too closely on the double win relays for cards 1 and 2 and I can't make this stuff up nothing really changed in the game physically that would have caused that to happen but it did.
    26:45
    Other things started happening too, like for example, the coin switch went dead. The red button went dead. And being able to actually hit those is pretty fundamental to your enjoyment of the game. At one point, it continuously racked up credits every time you hit the red button. So you'd go to play off a credit and it would keep racking them on. But the fix for that was actually adjusting the multi-play relay as well as several of the control unit switches.
    27:19
    And then replays would never come off of the register when you played them with the red button. They would come off with a replay reset, but they would never come off when you played them individually. So the fix for that was complicated. It was more complicated than it needed to be, because it was actually pretty straightforward when you got into it. But on the back of one of the relays, on the back door, and I don't recall now if it's anti-cheat or if it's the start relay itself, or if it's even the replay-reset relay. Anyway, there was one wire which was just barely hanging on, and it looked totally fine. But I gave a little tug on each of the wires, and that one popped right off and re-soldered that sucker right back on there, and all of a sudden it's stepping down the replays again. I've been up and down that circuit about 85 times.
    28:25
    Oh, and here's another interesting thing. So I got it so that the game was totally fine again, and then went through and tested all the functionality, scoring on corners and super lines and so forth, and I noticed on cards 1 and 2, all of a sudden,
    28:47
    it would never flash Double or Nothing. And it wasn't giving an award like Double or Nothing. It was just giving regular replays. However, that button wasn't pressed, the switch wasn't stuck.
    29:02
    Nothing should have caused that. And I looked at that schematic and I said, well, I know it's not here, here, or here because of X, Y, and Z.
    29:16
    And eventually, I decided to look at the wiper arms. So, not the wipers that are actually on the search disc, but these slip ring wipers that sit mounted vertically to the side of the search disc. And one of them had just this weird buildup of crud on it. It was like it was shedding the plating or something on it. I've never seen anything like that. And it wasn't dirt. it was like if you had I don't know stainless steel and the outside of it was scaly like it was flaking and you could take a fingernail and peel it away and you would see the rough interior of that that's exactly what it was so odd but I cleaned that off laid it back in the groove readjusted the tension and all of a sudden sprang back to life.
    30:25
    So some very strange things and strange behavior that were happening with that game. But I'm excited that that's all back together. There are some lamps that are out. The owner's going to take care of those. And then that'll be 100%. But it certainly plays 100% now. It's just some of the bulbs are out, need to be changed. So instead of flashing double or nothing on card one, for example, it'll flash double.
    30:54
    But it'll sure tell you when you have nothing, though, because nothing will happen. So those were those repairs, and they were certainly challenging, but they were very fun. You know, it's always very satisfying to get some games going. Another repair I had around town was a Williams Skylab, and this game had sat for many years. It was in great shape, actually, but it needed kind of a shop, just a basic overhaul. went through and rebuilt all the steppers,
    31:36
    rebuilt the reels, and went through the various mechanisms and made sure they were free, springs weren't broken, coil sleeves were okay, all that kind of stuff.
    31:51
    Everything was basically clean. So within a couple hours, brought that one back from the dead as well, and I will say that that was extremely satisfying. The folks that I was doing that work for were very grateful and that's always nice. It's great to see people's faces light up. That was their first game and boy, they were thrilled.
    32:19
    It had been sitting for a couple of months in their home, I think, and they were ready for it to be working and they both loved pinball quite a bit. So that was a treat.
    32:33
    As far as oddities with that repair, really, there were some finicky switches. For those unfamiliar with that game, you're trying to light the word Space Lab, even though this game is called Sky Lab, on the playfield. And the game was set for add-a-ball mode. so you got an extra ball after you accomplished certain feats and the trip relays for Space Lab all needed some kind of adjustment the orientation of those on those later Williams games and this is a 1974 the layout of those later Williams games They really crammed relays under the playfield in odd ways. I've mentioned before kind of my lack of trust when it comes to Grand Prix because of how they placed the relays so close to the back of the playfield It so very easy for wires to tear when they shouldn Well this is kind of the same way They got kind of a relay bank standoff right near the center of the playfield. It's kind of interesting, but kind of a pain too. And they're using the big William strip relays, which are very large and difficult to see. and with them mounted to this kind of board that's offset from the playfield, it's a little tricky to get in there and do what needs to be done. Big space, you know, but things have to be adjusted properly, and getting to the right angle to do that can be challenging, especially when the machine's up against a wall. So those are my repair stories that I've been holding on to here.
    34:35
    Hopefully I'll have some more here soon. I've got a couple more lined up, and I'll see if I can take some notes on those for a later show. But for now, let's get into the year of flipperlets.
    34:51
    Today's game is an interesting game from 1946, Bally's Double Barrel. Double Barrel is a hunting-themed game, and it has a very interesting play field and very attractive artwork. The theme doesn't do a whole lot for me, but I will say that the artwork is very attractive. So this game is a duck hunting game, and what you're trying to do is hit ducks in different colors. Basically, you're helping out either team on what we'll call the red side or the green or the yellow side, depending on how you look at it. And we'll get into that in a minute.
    35:40
    There are multiple bumpers, which are arrayed on either side, and it's a symmetrical layout. The bumpers are all passive. and this game makes use of these bumpers that I haven't seen anybody else use aside from Bally. However, if I were to guess that somebody else used them, I'd say Genko.
    36:07
    So what makes this game really interesting is not the passive bumper arrangement, although it's pretty interesting, and the fact that there are two different sequences to accomplish. What makes it interesting is this center area near the top that's called the super field. and in between these two kind of flipper, bumper-shaped things, there is this area with a captive ball, and it is kicked between numbered holes 1 through 6.
    36:37
    When that ball is kicked, it will jump up and randomly land in one of the other holes, and if it lands in a hole that matches a number that you've already knocked out for that color, Remember, there's a hunter on the left that's red and one on the right that's green or yellow. And when you have the number match in the super field, with one that's been knocked out, it will light the lane for special. Now, there's a lane right in the center of the play field on the left and right-hand side. But only one will be lit, and it will depend on which color matches that number. So, careful aim, careful shot choice as far as where you're going to steer the ball is really important. There are various bumpers that direct the ball based on how you're going down the play field.
    37:33
    If you manage to knock out all the bumpers on red, there's a kick-out hole that will award you six replays and 10,000 points. It's called the double barrel.
    37:48
    And then it kicks down to the out. That same kick-out hole will award you six replays if you manage to unlight all six of the green bumpers. And then, finally, if you manage to unlight all 12 of the bumpers, then that same kick-out hole awards 20 replays. 20 replays for one ball is pretty cool. and that thing sounds like a machine gun as it keeps counting up and up and up. Must be a sight to see. Now, in order to move the ball in the super field, you may ask, how is that done?
    38:26
    And that is with a bumper that is square in the center of the play field and it's marked field score ball advance.
    38:34
    So, in order to advance the ball, and by the way, each of the numbered holes on the super field also has a point value that it awards you. and it is basically 1,000 times 2 times the value. So 6 times 2 is 12,000, which would be awarded for 6. 1 times 2,000, so you get 2,000 is for the number 1, and so forth.
    39:06
    There are bumpers which are placed strategically below and to the sides of this field score ball advance. And so your goal is going to be to unlight as many bumpers as you can on ball one, perhaps aiming it in such a way that it bounces over to one of the bumpers, one of the posts that surrounds this bumper for field score ball advance, and keep it there as long as you possibly can, bouncing back and forth, volleying back and forth, back and forth, until that super field is in a number that you actually want.
    39:44
    And at that point, you launch your second ball, see if you can get it to go down the lane, and at least get your first special.
    39:50
    The geometry of the bumpers is such, in the post, that you can angle these balls, and it looks very achievable, all except, I would say, the bottom bumper for each color. That looks very difficult. There's a very steep angle underneath. There is a rubber, but you have to be going down the alternate side, it looks like, in order to bounce up and hit that particular number. Looks very challenging. In order to get all 12, I would be astounded to see somebody do that, but I'm sure it's possible. It doesn't look impossible, so that's a good sign. So let's talk about the artwork. Again, hunting, not really my thing, but I do love the older artwork, and this is a good example of that.
    40:47
    Unfortunately, on the IPDB, the only image in back glass is one that's been touched up, and it's not extremely high resolution either. So I'm curious to see what this looks like in its original form. But up at the top left it says Bally's Double Barrel, and then scores are arrayed in kind of an arc going from 10,000 up to 90,000. And you have two hunters in, is that called a blind? You know, the area with reeds and so forth, and they're in waders shooting guns up at the air at, I guess, some ducks that are flying by, some which are seen and some which are probably unseen until you start scoring points.
    41:33
    To the sides of each of the hunters is the array of the sequence 1 through 6 and the words ducks hit. Now, the hunter on the right, which is green on the playfield, this back glass appears to be yellow, but it might be fading. It might just be the low resolution. so that's why I say it's either green or yellow, depending on how you look at it. And right in the center at the bottom, you have a bloodhound that's just walking along.
    42:01
    The playfield artwork is just gorgeous. You have ducks flying in the center. You have a hunter on the left side, and it's the same hunter on the left in the red. He's got a red cap on. On the right-hand side, you've got what appears to be two different hunters.
    42:26
    One almost looks like he's dressed in a suit. He's wearing a fedora. And the other one looks more hunterly, I guess.
    42:35
    And the guy in the fedora is wearing a shirt and tie. Very interesting. But the rest of the playfield is very bold coloration, very symmetrical, straight lines, red, yellow, purples, oranges, and very nicely arrayed. This is one of the games where Bally was using the beautiful lifter covers, which are red and say a Bally product. Just gorgeous. and the red shooter gauge as well, similar to the stainless ones that they used on the bingos.
    43:19
    The stencil on the side of the cabinet is Hunter and his dog, and he's taking aim at the ducks, which are flying on the background. The base color is yellow, which comprises the ground as well as the clouds up in the sky. and then there's a lot of green followed by a purple. The front of the game has two crossed guns and then a duck above them. Kind of reminiscent of the Skull and Crossbones looking thing. Pretty interesting.
    43:54
    Gorgeous looking game. Looks like from the geometry it would be extremely fun to play. Again, the theme doesn't do a whole lot for me but I will say that it looks like a ton of fun, and I'd be very interested to see one of these replay if I ever came across it. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for listening, and again, everybody headed to Texas, have a great time, and I look forward to hearing about your adventures there.
    44:21
    My name again is Nick Baldridge. 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. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Play Music.
    44:38
    You can follow me on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can also follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast. Visit us on our Facebook page or listen to us on our website, which is formusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.