Defender was one of those games I didn't have the skill to play when I was younger. When it was released, I was 8. Combine the weird controls and my limited funds and it's easy to see how getting good at a game like Defender could be difficult, but the sounds and the exciting action really drew me to the game. I always wanted to be able to play Defender.
When I first started building cabinets, I built a multi-williams cabinet to start playing Defender, as well as other games. in 2006, I built this:
It used a Happ Super joystick and a multi-williams layout. I used this cabinet for a couple years before selling it in 2009. The joystick was more of a compromise than I thought it would be.
In 2012, I missed it and decided to build another bartop. This time, I used a NOS Defender joystick and dedicated the cabinet to Defender. I added the inviso button for Stargate, but I don't ever play it. The cabinet was a fixture in my game room until two years ago the PC died. It was corrupt from improper shut downs.