What kind of cabinet am I looking for?

[LunarLoveLust]

Thanks for all the help before everyone But I have a new question

I've realized that I may have alot of trouble building a cabinet, just because I suck at woodwork and such. So I was considering gutting an old cab.

I found a website in my state that has a "Junkyard" of old arcade games, and I was going to call them and ask if they had any cabinets to sell... but I cant think of what "kind" I need.

Something like a Street Fighter cabinet, one that has alot of room for controlls (unlike a Mario Bros. cabinet that the controll panel is right up against the screen)

Sorry for the long post, thanks for any help.

[paigeoliver]

There is largely no such thing as a "Street Fighter" cabinet. They were basically all conversions except for a few dedicated "Champion Edition" machines.  They could be in anything, including a "Mario Borthers" cabinet.

If you want a large panel, then ask for a 4-player cabinet. Those are pretty much the only ones with the big panels. (Note, a lot of modern 2 player cabinets are the same size as the older 4-player ones).

BUT, due to the extreme popularity of Mame lately, four player (and other deluxe cabinets) are pretty hard to find, and most vendors realize that they can sell even the empty ones easily.

Read this board a lot, and you will see that the majority of the people coming in here want to build a 4-player cabinet. I never really understood that, since I have never once seen a 4-player machine on location that actually had 4 people on it.

If you are only interested in getting the standard 2 player streetfighter button layout, then you are in luck. That will fit on anything short of a mini, and will fit on some minis as well.

Personally, I would not specify what exactly you want when you call. Don't even mention Mame.  Specifying what you want will jack the price up. If anything, just tell them that you dropped your Final Fight while moving it down the steps, and were looking for a replacment cabinet to transplant the parts into.

Also be willing to walk away. No empty cabinet short of a Pac/Ms Pac, Vectorbeam, or painted William's one with sideart is worth $100. I would make $75 your top price, and for that price it better be complete with the exception of the monitor, boards, and power supply.

[paigeoliver]

Now, once you are actually there. Here are some things to look for. I mention several multi-monitor type machines, you would need 2 screens, but you can use a VGA splitter to make them show the same thing.

Cinematronics cocktails. These take 19" monitors either way, and have a full sized control panel on each side.

Nintendo "Red Tent" cocktails. These run two monitors, and have a long control panel on each side.

Nintendo Vs. Dualsystem. Looks like two Donkey Kong cabs butted up against each other. Runs two monitors, and suppports 4 players better than standard 4 player cabinets.


Bally Sente SAC-1 - Indestructible, decent sized control panel. The actual cabinet is made out of METAL.

Gauntlet cabinets - Duh!

Atari Football (and soccer, and basketball) cocktails. Takes a big monitor, and has a lot of control panel real estate.

Things to avoid.

Water damaged cabinets. Particle board cabinets (cough, Atari, cough), are easily water damaged, and this is not really easy to repair.

Dedicated driving cabinets. They are usually shaped in a manner that makes any control panel attached to them look terribly out of place.

Japanese style 13" "School Desk" cocktails. Nothing wrong with them, but your computer probably won't fit inside, and the panels don't hold much.

Mini cabinets that use frameless monitors. As far as I know this only applies to ATW/Artic chinese import cabinets from the early 80s. They came with 19" monitors that did not have frames. The tubes bolted directly into the wood, and the monitor boards went on the side of the cabinet. A monitor in the frame (or casing), WILL NOT FIT in one of these cabinets without cutting a huge hole in the back. I have one of these, and that is what I had to do with it.

[crsdawg]

i will also add that finding a 2 player jamma cab would greatly ease your mame build. add a j-pac and a computer and you would be good to go(as long as the cab still had it's cp and harness).
good luck
-chris-

[Vol]

I see you are in Maryland, I'm in VA and was hoping you could post the link to the website you mentioned.

[LunarLoveLust]

Wow Thanks for all the tips.

I called the place and they don't have any regular cabinets at the moment, but here is the addy

http://www.weinerd.com/junkyard.htm