Lit Pushbuttons

[dislecksea]

I am a bit of an old timer.  Bought my buttons for my first cab over a decade ago and have moved them into my current cab.  Just plain old Happ buttons - http://na.suzohapp.com/pushbuttons/539200xx.htm.

Now my son has seen the led push buttons and thinks we should consider upgrading.  As to a control board I cannot say I see a big difference between the bunch.  I plan on using them with Led Blinky and Hyperspin.

So I am hoping someone can give me a quick education as to the current state of the art.  As to buttons there seems to be lots of different options, but not much in the way of comparisons between them.  I am curious about the feel and the look of them.

Thanks

Miles

[yotsuya]

If you like the old style buttons, stick to the IL Illuminated buttons from Paradise Arcade Shop or look at the Electric Ice buttons that GroovyGameGear sells.

[Nephasth]

If you like the old style buttons, stick to the IL Illuminated buttons from Paradise Arcade Shop.

+1. How many buttons will be lit? Do you want single color LEDs or RGB LEDs?

[dislecksea]

Well, unless someone can tell me an advantage to sticking with single color, why not go for RGB?  I mean, more options is a good thing.

I currently have 16 buttons - P1 = 6, P2 = 6, 2 coin, P1 Start, and P2 Start.  I am going to put in two of these down where I would have a coin door (http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=295) and am going to convert the 2 coin doors to Pause and Exit buttons.  So, in the end, I will be having 18 buttons total lit.

[yotsuya]

Look at how Nephasth did his button mod for the clear IL translucents in his Two-Headed Beast thread. I've done it with clear as well as single colored buttons and prefer it for the ease in wiring.

[Nephasth]

I mean, more options is a good thing.

I like how you think!

Since you'll have 18 RGB LED buttons, I would recommend going with the PACLED64. It can control up to 21 RGB LEDs independently, whereas the LED-Wiz can only control 10 RGBs independently.

[Trip]

Well, unless someone can tell me an advantage to sticking with single color, why not go for RGB?  I mean, more options is a good thing.

Reason I just chose EI2 buttons, RGB, why not.  LOL

[Mysterioii]

As others have pointed out, RGB naturally eats up three times as many controller channels than if you went with one color.  Someone on another thread mentioned that IL has stopped manufacturing the translucent buttons as sold on LizardLick and Paradise.  I have no idea if that's true but I also have no reason to doubt it.  *IF* you want RGB then you would either want something  frosted/translucent white like GroovyGameGear's Electric Ice buttons, or you'd go with clear translucent buttons....

Now, looking at both LizardLick and Paradise, they still have the colored translucent buttons available but both show the clear ones as out of stock.  If IL is no longer manufacturing them, that might mean trouble.  LizardLick is also closed to new orders at the moment, while they catch up on backorders according to their site.

GroovyGameGear sells NovaGem translucent buttons with the LEDs integrated into them but there's a tradeoff, they're about $6 (vs. about $3 for the other ones) but they do save you the time and hassle of adding your own LEDs.  Also, they're showing out of stock right now too.

Ultimarc sells some illuminated buttons, but while I love Ultimarc for lots of other products, I'm not a fan of how those buttons look.  Are they flat topped?  I like the concave ones I'm accustomed to.

I am hoping to still get my hands on some clear IL buttons if anyplace has any in stock (or restocks), but not at an inflated price if they are indeed discontinued.

Funny, I'm saying all this and I haven't actually illuminated my panel yet.  I've bought a bunch of stuff but ended up deciding to rebuild the panel completely, so adding illumination is on hold while i select parts and lay out a whole new panel.  Since I personally love the blue on black motif I associate with MAME, my buttons will NOT be all RGB.  I have nothing against RGB, but for now all my player buttons will be illuminated blue.  The trackball will be RGB, as will the start buttons, and possibly some illuminated trim.  For the administrative buttons, I've got some thoughts I won't give away just yet.   

Does anyone know if GroovyGameGear has electric ice buttons available with the player 1 and 2 start icons?  I messaged Randy but haven't gotten a reply yet, and it's not showing in my sent messages box so maybe it just got lost.

[Nephasth]

As Mysterioii touched on, if your cab is going to be color themed, single color LEDs may be the way to go. I went with RGB LEDs to light up the buttons close to what their original colors were in dedicated cabs for each game.

[Trip]

Does anyone know if GroovyGameGear has electric ice buttons available with the player 1 and 2 start icons?  I messaged Randy but haven't gotten a reply yet, and it's not showing in my sent messages box so maybe it just got lost.

If he doesn't, vinyl stickers could be one way to go, there is that vendor that does vinyl in the BST forum.  That's what I plan on doing with mine, but I will use my own vinyl cutter and designs for each of the admin and player buttons.

[Mysterioii]

Yeah I saw those vinyl sticker  sheets, but I'm not sure how durable they'd be or how they'd feel.  And they're not pre-cut rounds, you have to cut them yourself?  No way could I hand-cut a decent circle...     Might have someone laser cut them for me but that seems like a lot of trouble.

Plus if you used a white vinyl sticker on an electric ice button it might look odd because the top then wouldn't let as much light through as the rest of the button.

My original intent was just to put the RGB led inside a regular white start button... I *presume* that some light would show through, but I honestly haven't tried it yet.  It might be so opaque that it wouldn't work at all.  I should probably just buy a spare one and try it, don't really want to disassemble my current panel and yoink out a button just to test that out...   

[yotsuya]

  Are they flat topped?  I like the concave ones I'm accustomed to.

Having both the original-style concaves as well as the newer style convex, I can say that I will never buy anything but concaves. I don't care for the convex, especially the lighted ones out there. The concaves just feel more natural. The convexes feel too brittle and plastic-y.

[Trip]

Yeah I saw those vinyl sticker  sheets, but I'm not sure how durable they'd be or how they'd feel.  And they're not pre-cut rounds, you have to cut them yourself?  No way could I hand-cut a decent circle...     Might have someone laser cut them for me but that seems like a lot of trouble.

Plus if you used a white vinyl sticker on an electric ice button it might look odd because the top then wouldn't let as much light through as the rest of the button.

My original intent was just to put the RGB led inside a regular white start button... I *presume* that some light would show through, but I honestly haven't tried it yet.  It might be so opaque that it wouldn't work at all.  I should probably just buy a spare one and try it, don't really want to disassemble my current panel and yoink out a button just to test that out...   

No, they are die cut vinyl stickers.  You don't cut anything.  It's all done by machine and then a human comes in and weeds out the extra vinyl and then puts on application tape so you can apply the sticker.  The only thing left on the button is the black sticker itself after yo uremove the appication tape.

Depending on vinyl used, it can be real thin and not noticeable to touch and be very tacky so it isn't effected by pressing it a bunch.  If bad vinyl is used, the opposite can happen though.

[Mysterioii]

  Are they flat topped?  I like the concave ones I'm accustomed to.

Having both the original-style concaves as well as the newer style convex, I can say that I will never buy anything but concaves. I don't care for the convex, especially the lighted ones out there. The concaves just feel more natural. The convexes feel too brittle and plastic-y.

Yeah see that's how they looked to me, like the hard brittle style of plastic.  And I like concave too, I find the dent helps my fingers find their placement (the same reason I'm using an old Logitech wireless keyboard instead of the mac keyboard with the flat keys... hate that thing).

It's sad if IL really stopped production, unless it's temporary or someone else picks up where they left off.  If I could find the clear ones at a good price I'd stock up on enough for another 2 cabs.  I might go ahead and get some more blue ones, just in case.

[yotsuya]

I have 4 clear ones with RGBs on one cab, 6 red and 6 blue with corresponding LEDs on the other. I may have to stock up.

Anyone want to buy some conveex buttons really cheap??? 

[arzoo]

Does anyone know if GroovyGameGear has electric ice buttons available with the player 1 and 2 start icons?  I messaged Randy but haven't gotten a reply yet, and it's not showing in my sent messages box so maybe it just got lost.

If he doesn't, vinyl stickers could be one way to go, there is that vendor that does vinyl in the BST forum.  That's what I plan on doing with mine, but I will use my own vinyl cutter and designs for each of the admin and player buttons.

As another option, you can go with convex buttons (IL or EE) for all the player buttons and use the Ultimarc buttons with the logo inserts for the start and coin buttons. The two buttons types don’t really match, but since the coin and start (and admin) buttons are usually along the top row of the cp, it should look fine.

[Mysterioii]

Randy confirmed that he does not have any of the Electric Ice buttons with the start logos on there.  I guess another option would be to see if someone with a laser engraver could (cheaply) etch the logos onto the buttons then they could  be filled in with some durable paint...  Probably not worth the trouble.  When I get around to it I'll stick an RGB led into one of my regular white start buttons and see if any light shows through.  If they look ok then it's a moot point.

[Trip]

Randy confirmed that he does not have any of the Electric Ice buttons with the start logos on there.  I guess another option would be to see if someone with a laser engraver could (cheaply) etch the logos onto the buttons then they could  be filled in with some durable paint...  Probably not worth the trouble.  When I get around to it I'll stick an RGB led into one of my regular white start buttons and see if any light shows through.  If they look ok then it's a moot point.

You could take your white logo inserts and put them into the EI2 sleeves and maybe get something similar to what Nephasth did on his two headed beast project.  That could look decent.

[Donkbaca]

Nephasth has, hands down, the BEST CP I have ever seen.  If I had to do it over again, I would do mine like his, and I am half tempted to just do mine over to look like his

[Nephasth]

Nephasth has, hands down, the BEST CP I have ever seen.  If I had to do it over again, I would do mine like his, and I am half tempted to just do mine over to look like his

Aw, shucks. Flattered I am. Maybe I should get around to posting a pic of it in the CP thread...

[yotsuya]

Nephasth has, hands down, the BEST CP I have ever seen.  If I had to do it over again, I would do mine like his, and I am half tempted to just do mine over to look like his

+100. I've been modeling the one I'm working on on his sheet metal and wiring.

[Nephasth]

Nephasth has, hands down, the BEST CP I have ever seen.  If I had to do it over again, I would do mine like his, and I am half tempted to just do mine over to look like his

+100. I've been modeling the one I'm working on on his sheet metal and wiring.

Too bad they're on the shittiest cab...

[Trip]

Too bad they're on the shittiest cab...

Hey, at least you built your own, I went down to Chattanooga Pin Ball and bought a refurbed empty NBA Jam cab.  LOL

[Nephasth]

I didn't build it. It's a Cyberball cab. When I bought it, it was a working Run N Gun. It has had a rough life and is in need of a lot of body work.