Ideas to make the old new again.

[pat]

OK, guys here we go. I am from a small center that has AMF 8270B machines, you know the old relay chassis. We have Quibica scoring and balloon bumpers. I was asked by my boss to look at some improvements we can make this summer.

The ideas we are looking at are new bumpers that will work with our scoring, (no more trying to find a pin hole in a 60 foot balloon YEA!!!!!1) and maybe a chassis and other machine upgrades upgrade. We have been a fairly low lineage house and our number of bowlers is growing rapidly. Any ideas for a guy who is born again to the game. I was on top of things when the 5 board chassis was the rage and a 300 game was a big deal!

This is a great place for a part time job and I want to help our owner get the most for his money. He goes the extra mile for his employees so I want to do the same. One thing he really likes is bumpers that light up? He saw them somewhere. The chassis are working great except for the ever popular respot cell wire breaking.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Mr. 800-R]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Most of the new bumper systems integrate with "Q" scoring.

Good luck.

[pat]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Oh yea we also want new seating for our concourse area. We currently have the really old bench seating that wraps around like 1/2 a horseshoe on each lane. Thanks

Pat [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

[deadwood_dup1]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Pat: Well when your talking about "Bowlers area" upgrades i think you have to go with "Frameworx" Personally i do not like their table seating because I always fall off the seats. But its the most colorfull and im sure there very well priced. They have everything from seating to tables to trash cans. Swear, went to a BRC center and the damn trash cans said "Brunswick" on it. HAH! [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif[/img] For bumpers, thats easy. Im sure you could buy them from some company, but when I explained this idea to my former "A" he came back with "If we were gonna do that lets just buy the lights and string em ourselves. PLUG em into an underground powersupply and wham, little blinking lights in our bumpers. In the end, it came down to a total waste of time. Too much involved for a 32 lane center. If you wanted to go full out, brunswick makes capping that lights up. Thats cool too. As for the backend, just new and improved parts that have come out onto the market. Although ive never seen an 82/70 B so...

Deadwood

[John_Galt]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

I tell ya, if you have AMF double-rails for your seating, the VanTech Minuteman seats are a great improvement at minimal cost and labor. They are very comfortable and attractive (I think). If you call Roger Keehn at 800 255 7401, he can tell you all about them.

Masking units are also a big image-maker at minimal cost. There are a lot out there but I'd have to say Horizon Concepts has the best stuff. Panels are available from even more companies, and if you have a few different ones, changing them up every few months makes a lot of difference.

Also, B machines can be upgraded to PBL's, humpbacks, or Tuffy Air Exits if you have BR dilemmas.

Well, that's about all I gots.
[img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] Chad

[TheGMan143]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

In terms of the machines, obviously you have an interface to the chassis for the scoring system, but what is running your machines? If you have MP's or Omega-Teks, you're pretty much OK... If not, I'd suggest the Omega-Tek MK70 control board with the MK70EX board for scoring interface. Rock solid, worth thier weight in gold, and guaranteed for life (and they completely remove the need for respot cell wiring). If you want to get into more machine stuff, as was said, you may want to look into things like PBL or Humpback lifts if you're still running kickers, solid-state contactors in place of the old Allen-Brads, or mebbe some Brunswick-style ball returns (S-Lifts)... Check with Vantage & Stahls, and Murrey... they have a lot of machine 'improvements' available. If you still have the old-style AMF foul lights that are a pain to fix and still have problems, you can upgrade to newer electronic retrofits for around $100-$150 per pair.

Qubica has released information about the bumpers they will sell... they kind of remind me of the AMF or Brunswick 'Ball Wall' bumpers, but are air-driven, and they interface to your scoring... you can have them pop up when a kid comes up to bowl, then drop when thier parents or older kids are up... pretty neat.

Frameworx has some neat stuff for front-end hardware, but so do a lot of other companies... shop around a bit before you make a decision.

If your lane machine is showing it's age, another good improvement would be to look into a newer one... Doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, either... even a reconditioned machine that's a few years newer and working properly is better than an old machine that lays out a pattern like a Pennsylvania highway (and only after screwing around with it for a while to get it working). A more consistent / better scoring shot can liven up business considerably.

Keep in mind that appearances mean a lot... your boss / owner may want to consider using part of the budget to spruce up the building or grounds... old ratty carpeting, stained or worn flooring and countertops, scummy or ancient bathroom hardware, malfunctioning lights, counter systems, phone systems and things like that that the bowler can see have as much to do with their opinion of the center as machine operation does.

[ March 03, 2002: Message edited by: TheGMan143 ]

[Bobby Bee]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

If you are on a limited budget (who isn't) the seat covers from murray and other companies do a lot to spruse up the look at minimul costs. I really like AMF's seating, solid, comfortable, durable, but spendy - although they priced out cheaper than Framworx for us. Bumbers are HUGE, Qubica and AMF have the lead here. The way they both interface with scoring is the new age in bowling and families love being able to all bowl on the same lane together. The way we worked it (over 4 - 5 years) Make sure your machines are in tip top shape (bowlers won't see this UNESS their machine stops 2-3 times a game) Get your building looking sharp with new carpet and wall covering. New seating, or updated stuff in both the concourse and seatee are important. New masks are very obvious and can really brighten up the look of a whole place. Do you have any type of Glow Bowling? That was a key for us. The added business from that allowed us to really jump in the ring from a well kept 16 lanes of telescore and AMF mod IV masks and seating to completely remodeled (and I mean EVERYTHING) concourse, BOSS scoring, auto bumpers, masks, seating, glow carpet, wall coverings, and added 8 lanes to 24. This was in the span of 3 years of adding glow bowl. With all that we are now looking at 8 more! This after 15 years of just keeping everything we did have clean, in good repair with minor upgrades each year. Our plan was to do at least ONE upgrade each year that the bowlers could see. We just kept on scrapping until we found our ticket. Just don't try to do it all at once. If you get in too deep, you may not be around in 5 years to really start making the difference. Take pride in what you have and making it better, cleaner. I prided myself on bargin hunting for used products and equipment to stretch the little money available each year as far as we could. Challenge yourself to do the most with the least. I kinda miss not being able to look for those "steals" out there anymore because all our stuff is new now and we can't mix n match anymore. Makes me think about starting over again in a new place, seeing that end result gives you a great sense of accomplishment. Hardest part is fighting that urge to want to do it all at once. Patience my dear friend, patience! [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img]

BB

[pat]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Oh yea this guy does it right! He has another business thay makes him a great income and this is kind of part time for him also. But boy does this guy understand business!

He wanted to get the machines working first now we have about two calls a night right now. For 10 lanes I thinks this is OK. I am a little concerned about the pinsetters if we increase lineage like we are hoping. I would like to be able to put out more oil on the lanes. We do have kickers now so humpbacks or PBL would be nice.

When we got the scoring we not only got new masking units, a "Dart" lane maching. BAM we have had some honor scores! They have never had one before.

So far the plan is getting the parking lot redone, I think new carpeting is in the works also. He would like a new idea for the, concourse this one was designed in the 70's so it is made to get shifts in and out fast. He would like a more open and relaxed concourse.

Boy guys these ideas are great. Thanks for the phone numbers and such. Now we use one supplier, they are great but having optons makes any decision better.

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

With all the cleanup, Don't forget the bathrooms. My ladies do an inspection every league day. Also the most cost effective way to spruce up the place is paint. Lights for the kids is very popular here. Just my thoughts

[vinson]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Orphan paint from Sears,2.99-4.99- a gallon.
SMILE

[Mike Stalker]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Hi Pat, just a comment on the bumpers; definately go with durabowl. (Quibica/AMF) The pheumatic bumpers are great nad very impressive.
Customers love them. and definately durable. I've had to fix one leak and fasten one ram in one year.

With a small center I would it would really pay for you to shop the used market for most everything else. Lane Machine/exotic lighting/etc.

Good Luck

[CommunityBowl]

Re: Ideas to make the old new again.

Keep an eye out in newspapers and such for used lighting. I just picked some up from a dj that quit for about 1/4 the price of new. Also check ebay for lighting there is a supplier there that sells remanufactured stuff very reasonable.