Pinball must-have mods

[Azatotht]

What are you must-have mods whenever you buy a new machine?

Is there any that you don't like or do not value as much as others?

Personally, the mods I will consider to have an impact on the value of a game are:

• Shaker motor

• Art blades or mirror blades

• Insider Connect (mostly for early Spike 2 games since it is coming standard now I think)

I like toppers as well but I am not sure that I would pay extra for them at the moment.

Of all the available mods, shooter rods are the most useless IMO. I have yet to find a shooter rod that makes a game better, gimme a standard shooter rod and I will be fine.

What's yours?

Pinball must-have mods

[mrmikeman]

For me the mods that are non-negotiable:
- Shaker
- Art Blades
- Upgraded speakers (Stern or older DMD era)
- Subwoofer connection (Pinnovators)
- Non-reflective glass - don't care about brand
- Topper - I have the ceiling space and all my games have them so one without would look odd
- Pinsound (DMD era game)
- ColorDMD (DMD era game)

Not as important but I've done on most of my keepers:
- Lit flipper buttons
- Precision flippers (full kits including metal bushings)
- Real knocker

While I have previously added other mods on some games I'm no longer a fan of adding 3D printed crap unless it somehow brings joy to my life lol, like the KFC bucket I had substituted for the chum bucket on JAWS. Stern has gone so cheap now on BOM that their games do benefit from some cosmetic sprucing up. JJP, BOF, and Spooky don't benefit much from adding stuff as they are already packed.

[Azatotht]

I saw a few gameplay videos with Pinsounds but was not convinced?

It's like you have to do it all yourself or rely on someone that did it properly, unless I do not understand how it works?

Or are you mostly just enhancing the quality of the original stuff with it ?

[Guard]

Meh, can't hear the pin over the stereo so adding to the sound is a waste for me. I like some of the extra lighting for mods, but that's about it. Mostly because, unlike most folk, my mancave is a garage and not so easy to make dark like a basement.

[Azatotht]

Meh, can't hear the pin over the stereo so adding to the sound is a waste for me.

Sounds are at least 50% of the fun for me, loud music while playing pinball is a big no

[TwilightZone]

My buddy bought a Pinsound and was not impressed. Very difficult to configure and most of the available sound files are crap. Often sound volumes changed or didn't match well. We tried several for TZ and STTNG. Not worth the dollars in his opinion or mine after seeing and hearing it in action.

The only mod that I think is must have (and I don't have on all my machines) is ColorDMD or Pin2DMD for DMD era games. They really make the game look more modern. I'd also reluctantly admit that LEDs are a must, but I also haven't done all my games.

[mrmikeman]

I saw a few gameplay videos with Pinsounds but was not convinced?

It's like you have to do it all yourself or rely on someone that did it properly, unless I do not understand how it works?

Or are you mostly just enhancing the quality of the original stuff with it ?

For me, 80% of the enjoyment of pinball is via the sound/music.

When it comes to Pinsound, what you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put into it. At it's core, it's just a replacement sound board. They provide the original sound file for your game (if supported) and it's no better than the original. It's highly compressed mono crappy sounding shit. The magic comes from how the board plays sounds/music. They are .WAV files in specific folders on the memory card. Each folder represents a sound, sound effect, music, or loop. You can put multiple sounds in each folder to add variety instead of the same sound every time you hit that switch or event. And the sound is MP3 quality and in stereo. The biggest "wins" are for the music. For example my STTNG has original (from the show/movies) soundtracks in high quality/stereo. Actor callouts are a bit touchier. They're in crappy quality to start with and you can filter them to sound better and add some stereo effect but the gains are negligible.

Lots of users post their own mixes on the Pinsound forum. Most don't really put the effort in to make it sound very good and have volume jumps and unequalized sounds. If there are no packs already there that you like then you are in for a lot of time spent finding music/sounds you want to use and then processing and equalizing everything so it sounds good. Even if you do find a good one it may need equalizing and some work. I took a few different mixes for STTNG and made one that I liked. I also got some Patrick Stewart movies where he swears a lot, isolated the swearing, and then added that to the callouts. It's pretty seamless since it's the same voice. For example I took the callout "FANTASTIC" from STTNG. Then spliced in "fucking" from another Patrick Stewart movie so he now says FANFUCKINGTASTIC. Sounds authentic like he really said that. Yes it's childish but just an example of what you can do. Also I've left the original fantastic callout in the folder so it's random whether he'll swear or not. I did it because Capt Picard is cool and collected all the time. Makes him more emotional this way lol. He swears a LOT on my game I especially like when you start the Q mission. Picard sometimes says "Go f#$% yourself Q". hehe

The power of Pinsound comes in the customization you can achieve and the added randomness of the sounds/callouts. You are not spoon fed the good stuff however. Hence the weakness of Pinsound is if you just want plug and play then it's not for you or be prepared to be disappointed by the results (same crappy sounds as original or possibly shitty mixes). It's just not meant for lazy pinheads who don't want to put any effort into it. And the reason you can't obtain or buy better mixes is simple: it's all protected/copyrighted IP. It's not a failing of Pinsound. Oh and you need to upgrade the speakers(WPC) for it to make sense. IF you put the effort into making it your own then it blows original games right out of the water.

Also, you can have multiple mixes loaded on the memory card and switch between them on the fly. It had been so long since I'd played the OG sounds so I tried it over the holidays. Made me nauseous. WPC OG sound while revolutionary at the time is just so lame now when compared to high quality audio from modern games.

[Azatotht]

Thanks for your detailed explanations Mike, makes a lot of sense.

It is exactly what I was understanding it is, it's not an 'out of the box' product that you can just put in your game, you have to be ready to put the needed effort in order to make it good.

[mrmikeman]

Thanks for your detailed explanations Mike, makes a lot of sense.

It is exactly what I was understanding it is, it's not an 'out of the box' product that you can just put in your game, you have to be ready to put the needed effort in order to make it good.

Yep exactly. It's a product that let's people do the "I wish I could change the sounds".

I guess it's like Pin2DMD. You rely on others for the colorizations and hope they don't suck.

[Mrhide]

My buddy bought a Pinsound and was not impressed. Very difficult to configure and most of the available sound files are crap. Often sound volumes changed or didn't match well. We tried several for TZ and STTNG. Not worth the dollars in his opinion or mine after seeing and hearing it in action.

pinsound: I have one in TZ and on top of having a bunch of already made mixes, I made one with my son (including farts of course) and it's great: the sound doesn't clip, it's super loud and you can equalize all the sounds before sending them in. Still laughing to this day every time I play.

comme Mike dit, garbage in garbage out! diamond in, diamond out!

C'est tu un must ? pentoute.
Color dmd? non. La nostalgie c'est pour l'original.
idem pour les DEL. non. incadescentes originales!

Subwoofer: j'avoue que ca par contre c'est pas mal cool. c'est tu un must? presque!

[Sparky]

Well, my pin tastes are more old-school, but here goes:

MUST HAVES:
LED's... BUT... tastefully done. I use frosted white or natural white for GI. Colors under the pf. That's it. Lowers the stress on power supply and connectors.
Pinsound, but as stated, well done. Custom sound boards for classics such as Geeteoh's stuff is also very cool.
Any classic pin with the Arduino mod, addnig new rules, dimension and sounds to a game. Such as Galaxy 2023.
LED displays on classic pins. I am SOOO done trying to save old-ass burned-out originals.

APPRECIATED:
Toppers. Useless? Yes. Cool looking? Yup!
Custom translites, if nice.
Added speakers. Subwoofer is nice on a classic pin.
Lit plastic posts. Quite nice.
Color LCD or DMD. I am not so nostalgic about original DMDs.
Upgraded boards such as Allteks. Works for me. I try to keep original boards running, but at some point, it is a 45+ year old computer.

INDIFFERENT:
Mirror blades.
Shooter rods.
Figurines on playfields.

NO F-ING WAY:
Shaker motor. I can't stand them. Everything breaks quicker on pins with shakers. Especially newer pins with very thin gauge wiring. And you can't play discretely in your basement gameroom.
Overboard color LED's all over the playfield. I have a not very politically correct term I use to describe an unplayable pin due to color LEDs all over, rendering visibility to crap. I won't type it. But everytime I see a pin like this for sale, I HARD pass immediately.
Color-painted siderails, coindoors, lockdown bars... not my thing. Damaged or rusted? Replace them.

[frosken]

Depending on the generation of machine, but some "Captain Obvious" ones:

- LEDs (no mulitcolor )
- Color DMD (for DMD machines...it makes a difference)
- Replacement LCD's (if required)
- Proper power plug (if it was changed/modified)

For my Spike machines, I also usually add:
- Shaker Motor
- Insider Connect (if missing...a "DIY" works great BTW....if you already own a IC machine)
- Not necessary but I like it (although I think they are way too expensive): Cabinet Expression lighting (if available). I haven't gone the speaker EL route yet, but for the cabinet, I like it!
- Art Blades (if EL isn't available but must be of good taste)
- Headphone adapter (I don't have them on all, but it sure beats the nagging throughout the household that the machine is too loud)

- Toppers are cool, but not $1000+ (and some $2000++) cool...
- Pinsound: meh... Cool, but I would prefer other things over this.
- Illuminated flipper buttons: been there done that... it's ok... but not a must IMHO
- Various 3D mods: I am VERY picky. Some I think are great additions, others are a waste of $$$. On my GZ, I did add godzilla and King Ghidorah...bought used... and it does fill the space nice, but I didn't go overboard. Same for Wick, I added the Continental 3D and Ruska Roma. TBH, I think that Ruska Roma is a must.

Depending on the lighting at home: non-reflective glass. Haven'T done it yet, but seriously considering it...

yeah...that's a decent list...

[Fifty]

Coming from a guy that was pretty heavy into tasteful mods, I think I have a take.

On my original F-14, I added the 2 flashers back in that Williams removed.
Added tasteful art to the many, many clear plastics in the game.
LEDs. Colour matched to inserts. Pink for Orange. Same as Sparky for GI, cool or warm white depending on the game, but always frosted domes.
I use flex head LEDs under the playfield to get 'the most' out of the LEDs and to aim them properly.

For my current pins...

CFTBL - Swinks Snackbar is an absolute must have. Pin2DMD also really makes this game pop, especially the latest version by Slippifish. Stumblor's Snackbar sign is also great. It adds another level to the already great Snackbar mod. I also have Swink's Open signage and Stumblor's Chase Board, but these are not as necessary although they do look pretty cool. The reed switch upgrade on the whirlpool is another must have. Again, LEDs just like F-14. For the Flashers, I kept them original to keep the old time movie feeling.

GOTG - Insider Connect and Coloured Plastic protectors are must haves for me. I would really like an alternate translite but I haven't found one to my liking. The biggest thing about GOTG that bothers me is all the hexagons laced throughout the artwork. Hexagons are not always the bestagons. Oh, and the Pin Monk fan mod on the Power Supply is a huge win. I don't know what the hell Stern was thinking.

[Mrhide]

Swinks Snackbar is an absolute must have.

never heard about it. had to google it.
it looks good. 350$ good? not a chance.