Gaku Pachinko With Case Picture Is Up.

[Lddrizzt]

I'm just hoping that Gaku will sell regular pachinkos at the same level of quality and service that he does for the pachislos.

[birdbrain]

o.k. Gaku has posted links for the technical side of these beasts: it consists of a nice case a fully cyclic machine, the counters, power switch and vol controls. no ball lift as they are full cyclic.
http://www.gaktradinginc.com/03pachi...icounter01.htm

[luckydog]

It looks like the back will still be open.

except for the counters and case its about like what Arby does already

[Lddrizzt]

Hmmm now is it only counting the start pocket for points? Or is it counting all the pockets for the same amount of points?
Either way it's not really gonna be an accurate way to count payouts now, is it?
I will have to open up my spidey and see where that sensor is.

[compirate]

He installs the sensors. It's counting every winning ball (no matter which pocket) as they travel down the track back to the shooter tray. The counter counts all wins the same (a settable amount I believe).

[Tulsa]

I must admit, this appears to be the perfect modification.

[daverob]

I must admit, this appears to be the perfect modification.

It's close, but not quite there for me. I'd prefer to have the excitement of thousands of balls coming out of the machine during a fever round, but I could live without it for such a nicely integrated machine as this.

But I'd need to have the wins counter showing me something meaningful ie the number of prize balls actually awarded by the machine for each pocket. To me having them all worth the same amount kind of misses the point of having more than one win pocket on the machine.

It probably wouldn't be hard to modify the counter to do this, ie just connect it to the battle counter prize ball output (if it has not been removed from the machine during the modifications), but it seems like a big oversight to me that this is not offered as a 'factory' option.

[Tulsa]

Well if you need speed and action, then see how quickly you can flip the payout switches from 1 to 5 to 15 and so on while you're playing..

That should keep you busy and get the blood pumping...

[compirate]

It's close, but not quite there for me. I'd prefer to have the excitement of thousands of balls coming out of the machine during a fever round, but I could live without it for such a nicely integrated machine as this.

But I'd need to have the wins counter showing me something meaningful ie the number of prize balls actually awarded by the machine for each pocket. To me having them all worth the same amount kind of misses the point of having more than one win pocket on the machine.

It probably wouldn't be hard to modify the counter to do this, ie just connect it to the battle counter prize ball output (if it has not been removed from the machine during the modifications), but it seems like a big oversight to me that this is not offered as a 'factory' option.

Other than making the machine cyclic and adding the sensors, the rest of the machine is left alone. His system is the simplest to set up on many different machines. The count sensors have no electrical connection to the machine. One thing I would suggest is to make this with a Lumina and put plugs on the sensors. That way, you could set up different cels with sensors and would only have to connect 2 more plugs when doing the switch.

Also,
If the 'ball won' count was attached to the frame connection for balls won, and the counter was set for 10, or whatever that connection pulses at, you'd only be off by up to 9 on the counter.
.

[musky]

Things to think about:
1) The cabinets are top notch professionally done. What's the going rate for them on the net?
2) What is the going rate on average for popular pachinkos like Spiderman, Star Wars, etc with frame.
3) A battle counter that does at least half of what Gaku's does.
4) Also on top of the cabinet along with the LED's are volumn control, reset, and power on/off
5) The machines are converted to being totally cyclic. The only ball handling is placing about 50 balls in the shooter tray.

Add that all together, both hardware and labor on each machine and I think you'll find the price is not out of line. Don't forget the year or more of research and development.
I believe his battle counters will become available as a seperate item and I for one will be first in line getting one.
These units are not meant for the collector, they are made for the average joe who wants a great game for the gameroom and not have to worry about
small children choking on the balls and grandma breaking a hip tripping on the rest that were spilled on the floor.

One other point before I put my soapbox away. This forum is full of posts where people have bought bargain basement items that when/if they arrive are damaged, don't work, come with defective components, no after sales service, no instructions, and on and on and on........that's why we are here, that is why most of us found pachitalk in the first place. You get what you pay for and sometimes cheap ain't worth it. Don't knock Gaku because you feel the price is "too high", let's support him for thinking outside the box on some of the features he has developed in his new line, buy some balls from him, face it, he doesn't need that many for his pachinkos

[DaStooge]

Things to think about:
1) The cabinets are top notch professionally done. What's the going rate for them on the net?
2) What is the going rate on average for popular pachinkos like Spiderman, Star Wars, etc with frame.
3) A battle counter that does at least half of what Gaku's does.
4) Also on top of the cabinet along with the LED's are volumn control, reset, and power on/off
5) The machines are converted to being totally cyclic. The only ball handling is placing about 50 balls in the shooter tray.

Add that all together, both hardware and labor on each machine and I think you'll find the price is not out of line. Don't forget the year or more of research and development.
I believe his battle counters will become available as a seperate item and I for one will be first in line getting one.
These units are not meant for the collector, they are made for the average joe who wants a great game for the gameroom and not have to worry about
small children choking on the balls and grandma breaking a hip tripping on the rest that were spilled on the floor.

One other point before I put my soapbox away. This forum is full of posts where people have bought bargain basement items that when/if they arrive are damaged, don't work, come with defective components, no after sales service, no instructions, and on and on and on........that's why we are here, that is why most of us found pachitalk in the first place. You get what you pay for and sometimes cheap ain't worth it. Don't knock Gaku because you feel the price is "too high", let's support him for thinking outside the box on some of the features he has developed in his new line, buy some balls from him, face it, he doesn't need that many for his pachinkos

Custom built cabinet that isn't even close in comparison to the one Gaku is offering around $125

Top notch battle counter ordered off of YJA with shipping and commisions included around $200-$300

Spiderman Neo or other premium Pachinko, anywhere from $300-$600 shipped.

Finding a quality vendor that will stand behind his products, and offers unheard of quality and service for this day and age: Priceless

Musky pretty much summed it all up, when you add it all up the price really isn't that bad and on top of that you know you'll be taken care of if any problems arise. What more could you ask for?

[musky]

Thanks Stoog. I first saw what Gaku was up to about 7 months ago and I played my first pachinko, one of his proto types. I was hooked on pachinkos from that point. When I got my first pachinko, I had to research everything. I had to figure out how to make my machine cyclic ( didn't even know what cyclic was). Had to build my cabinet....it ain't much but works for what I wanted...and so forth and so forth....all that was time and money. Gaku takes all the work out of pachinko and leaves all the fun. Ain't that what it's all about? You have your do-it-yourselfers who are not going to be keen on Gaku's package and then you have those who just what it all done and good to go who will love it

[Tulsa]

You do realize you guys are beginning to look like serious homers. All of you are from Texas!

Not that I disagree with anything you brought up, just ironic.

[ocpachinko]

Compirate, you're great. I think I get it now.

Gaku's current plan has displays that 'convert' every machine to an "All 1/5/10/15 (depending on dip switch setting)" machine from 1978.

I think Compirate's suggestion of 'make this with a Lumina and put plugs on the sensors' makes sense...that would be accurate and match the machine's specifications...you could see if you were really winning or losing, which I think is the point. There's a big difference between the balls awarded per pocket on modern machines.

As I said, I think this is a slick package. I don't expect the price to come down tons, but only suggested it will decrease some with volume, like every other consumer electronic product ever made.

I have paid this type of money twice before for a pachinko: my Arby Fireworks, and an early Star Wars. Readers, laugh heartily--you know what the machines are worth now. But to me at the time, it was worth it to be an early adopter, and I still love those machines (also, SamuraiSlot has helped my average cost per pachinko--so what the heck). I would buy from Arby without hesitation at any time, and if Gaku reaches that level of product quality and service (no one else has) that is clearly critical.

So I may or may not be a target customer for this product. I can only say I'd not be happy about the winning ball counter being wrong when there's an output to provide the correct information.

Does anyone other than me reading this thread care about this? And if you do, are you buying one?

[musky]

You do realize you guys are beginning to look like serious homers. All of you are from Texas!

Not that I disagree with anything you brought up, just ironic.

[compirate]

I think Compirate's suggestion of 'make this with a Lumina and put plugs on the sensors' makes sense...that would be accurate and match the machine's specifications...you could see if you were really winning or losing, which I think is the point. There's a big difference between the balls awarded per pocket on modern machines.

I'm not sure if you understand what I was getting at. Since the frame is built into the cabinet, changing cels would give one the ability to change the game. There are only 2 sensors Gaku installs, one for balls shot, one for winning pocket balls. If plugs were put on the wires from these sensors, and other sensors were installed on other cells, it would be easy to change the game and use the same cabinet. Not sure if the frame connection for balls won would work, but would give a lot more acurate count. I don't know if other frames from other companies have this connector.

Also, I'm not trying to be one of those 'he shoulda done this' guys. As is, this counter is exactly what we've all been asking for, an easy way to tell how well your doing. Machine doesn't have to be cyclic, on some frames you don't have to cut hardly anything to install the sensors, the sensors are optical - no mechanical parts to wear out. I will be definately buying at least one of the counters. Of course, not being able to leave anything the way it is, I figure on making the numbers larger!

My hat's off to you Gaku!

[gaku]

Hi all

Thank you very much talking about my pachinko machines! I thank Musky for putting good words on the board!

Everything started from my question, "how come there is no ball counter for pachinko?" After doing research for months, I came to a conclusion, "okay, I'm going to make it myself, damn it!" That was November 2004. I never intended to produce a cabinet and a cyclic system at that point.

Now I've made a whole pachinko package, as you see on my website. To make a long story short, it was because of quite complicated reasons...

Anyway, here are my comments on points made by Musky.

1) The cabinets are top notch professionally done. What's the going rate for them on the net?

My cabinet is built by a professional kitchen cabinet maker who has all the necessary skills and equipment. I give him a pachinko frame, and he produces a beautiful hand-made cabinet. Now you can guess how much it costs... By the way, he's made white cabinets for white machines!

2) What is the going rate on average for popular pachinkos like Spiderman, Star Wars, etc with frame.

Well, this is a great question to ask. I would say, popular titles range from $1,200 to $2,000. Non-popular titles would be about $5-600. Here, let me digress a little. Personally, I like non-digital pachinko machines very much, most of which are categorized as non-popular titles. They are the ones that don't have numbers scrolling on an LCD in the middle of the machine. They are the so-called "Hanemono (the "Wing stuff" in English)" that have wing-like gates in the middle of the machine that open when you get a ball in the winning pocket. It is quite thrilling seeing balls falling in the pocket and rolling in the opening gate. Then, you have an adrenalin rush when the ball drops in the "V-hole" inside the gates!! I just modified "The Construction Guy," and it is so much fun to play with! It is totally a different kind of excitement from waiting for the numbers to line up on the LCD. I hope my non-digital pachinkos do good in the market.

3) A battle counter that does at least half of what Gaku's does.

This is exactly right! Probably I start selling this counter unit in March 2007 -- I still have a little problem with the casing. You can use my pachi-counter for your regular pachinko machines, putting one optic sensor at the shooting hummer, the other at the ball dispenser (right under the dispensing motor). In this case you need to set the winning value "1" so that you count actual payout balls. I believe my pachi-counter enhances the enjoyment of pachinko game drastically! By the way, some people have noticed that my counter is called "Pachi-counter," not "pachinko-counter." Yes, you can use it for your pachislo machines, too!

4) Also on top of the cabinet along with the LED's are volumn control, reset, and power on/off

Volume controllers are definitely necessary. The power switch is placed before the transformer (between the transformer and the plug), so, no worry about unexpected electrical accidents. Also, I use a three-way power cable to secure the ground circuit.

5) The machines are converted to being totally cyclic. The only ball handling is placing about 50 balls in the shooter tray.

50 balls are good enough. In fact, you can play with only 30 balls. By the way, please don't try to modify your machine because there are many tricky procedures needed to make the cyclic system. I ruined a number of machines to find them out...

A Happy New Year!
Gaku

[Tulsa]

Very informative and Happy New Year to you too!

Oh and thanks for a top notch modification to enhance our enjoyment of our favorite Japanese toys!

[ocpachinko]

You're right, Compirate, I was confused...you clarified your intent. Given Gaku's informative post, I meant simply to state a preference for the balls won sensor

at the ball dispenser (right under the dispensing motor)

over

one for winning pocket balls

Clearly, this provides the accurate count.

And thanks for the answer re the cell swapping:

please don't try to modify your machine

Gaku, my thanks for your efforts to improve the pachinko experience! Please realize I have nothing but best wishes for the success of this project! Have a wonderful new year!

[fronzdan]

I think we're seeing the birth of a whole new animal...a Gakuchinko. That's a great complete system - pretty much all the mods and enhancements I'd like to do with my machines if I had the time, money and expertise.

Best of luck with this new side of the business!