Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

[Sid]

Now that sounds really Cool.....

[Angry_Radish]

That would be great!
And I just passed up on a couple parted out pachis on ebay in my area too :-(

[luckydog]

check out this deal in Tampa area
http://tampa.craigslist.org/ele/151838086.html

[Angry_Radish]

Well, here I go!
Just picked up an ipac off ebay for cheap, as well as a happ 3" trackball.
Roms on the way, as well as some joysticks
I'm keeping track of all my costs, curious to see how much damage to the pocketbook this project will do:-)

[Angry_Radish]

Thought I'd post an update, finished construction on the base yesterday, now to fill all the screw holes and sand...

I'm sure they will, they have pretty much everything when they come through here. Thats where I got my first Pachi

I went to the superauction here in Milwaukee, slim pickings!
about 10 pinball machines, 10 dart machines, some bartop touch games, and maybe 30-40 arcade boxes. There weren't any really great deals for me, so I ended up leaving empty handed. I'm hoping next time they will have more stock, I'd still love to grab one of those candy cabs :-)

[Sid]

Cood deal AR!!

looking forward to seeing the finished project..

[Angry_Radish]

Thanks!
I'm glad I went with the 2 piece design now, just seeing how heavy the base is, there is no way I'd get it out of my basement when it's done:-)

[Sid]

not to worry if you ever decide to sell your house.. you can just bump up the house price by a few thousand.. to cover the inhome arcade

if your renting...



Bad luck thanks for playing

[ssdcinc]

Thanks!
I'm glad I went with the 2 piece design now, just seeing how heavy the base is, there is no way I'd get it out of my basement when it's done:-)

MDF is very heavy, lucked out when I built my MAME machine,
my friend had an old Poker machine cab that was gutted, a little
smaller and lighter then a normal unit although I wish it was a bit
larger since I only had enough room on the control panel for
a simple 2 player setup with a joystick and 6 buttons for each player.
(but this didnt make it any easier to get out of a basement storage
area, definitaly a heavy sucker)

Would have liked to add a spinner and a trackball, but i'll live with
it for now, it was cheap!!!, just a side not make sure to have
proper ventilation in the computer area they tend to overheat
quickly and will cause problems along the line.

good luck, MAME Rules!!!

[Angry_Radish]

Another milestone, top meets bottom..



I have it apart now primed, paint goes on tonight!

[jweaver]

I am a bit late joining this thread, but I just thought you might be interested to see my finished cabinet?

I bought it and thought that it would be 'finished' but it was a mess and after a few days, I knew I had to renovate it.. So, I stripped of the paint, resprayed the control panel, fixed a few buttons and generally gave it a good 'fix up'.

I then couldn't stop and added a number of cool features, such as:

1. 12V Flourecent tube, linked to the PC PSU, which comes on when the PC wakes up.

2. Custom Marquee (logo) infront of afore mentioned back light

3. Wireless Link so that I can access my 'main' PC, allowing me to transfer files back and forth. It also to access the internet and to use a 'remote desktop' tool (VNC) to allow me to access my PC downstairs fom my MAME cabinet.

4. Wireless Keyboard/Mouse so that I can use the PC in the cabinet, surf the net and better still, play analogue based games (i.e Missile Command, Marble Madness, Star Wars etc)

5. Nice big power button, linked to the standby/shutdown button on the PC. So, I never have to switch it off.. I just press the button, the light comes on and the PC boots.. Sweet


Its got 5800+ games installed on it, but because its only a P3, I can't play a number (most) of the recent ones.. But too be honest, that doens't really bother me, as I wanted it for the 'classic games' rather than the new stuff. If I want to play something 'new' I would use my Xbox.. All I ever wanted was my own 'Defender' and now that I can play an Arcade perfect version it brings a tear to my eye.. Its just as good as I remember, but its actually better as having the ability to play from a choice of 1000s of games, just blows me away!

I hope that this is of interest.

All the best

Jon

[jweaver]

Hmmmm.. No picture.. let me try again:

[Sid]

Nice looking Machine Jon....
thanks for Sharing..

[Angry_Radish]

Getting there... got the screen and coin door in!
Picking up the tinted bezel to cover the screen today after work...

[Sid]

Looking really good!!!!

[Angry_Radish]

What kind of cabinet was that originally?

Hmmmm.. No picture.. let me try again:

[luckydog]

I think he made it from scratch

[Angry_Radish]

No, I don't think so, in his post he says

bought it and thought that it would be 'finished' but it was a mess and after a few days, I knew I had to renovate it.. So, I stripped of the paint, resprayed the control panel, fixed a few buttons and generally gave it a good 'fix up'.

It looks kinda like an old driving cab with the base like that, not sure.. cool looking though!

[jweaver]

My cabinet is a standard JAMMA cabinet made by B.A.S..

I am not sure if they are found in the US, but in the UK they are very common.

When I bought it, it had already been 'converted' to MAME, but it was done badly.. The control panel had been painted in standard 'gloss' (the type you would use on woodwork) paint and it was just a little shabby, with a lot of shortcuts taken.

I pretty much stripped it down, replaced everything which wasn't upto spec and put everything back in a better way.

It took me a few weeks, but I am really happy with the results.. I always wanted my own Defender machine, and whilst this isn't that, its a close 2nd. Defender plays EXACTLY like the real thing and I am exstatic about that!!

Jon

[Angry_Radish]

If you like defender, keep your eyes open for one of these: http://www.andysarcade.net/personal/defproto/

So the wiring was already hacked on your jamma?, or did they use a jpac to interface it?

Just got home and put mu bezel glass in, looks great!
Now I need to build the control panel and wire it up (already have one built up, but that was my prototype for button placement, and I have some changes to make), then I have to get my artwork figured out for the cp and marquee