Looking for other mame/cabinet builders in S.E. UK.

[coldrain]

I have been locked away building my first cabinet for a while and its almost finished, I was wondering if there are any other cabinet builders/ Mame users in Kent, U.K. I can swap ideas with etc.

[coldrain]

Surely I cant be the only person round here who has an interest in MAME/cabinets..?

[Minwah]

I am near Oxford, kindof near-ish.  There are not many UK-ers on these boards, even fewer from your area...if any

[Silver]

I'm London-based, but if you've been locked away building your probably way ahead of me. I've got all the bits, apart from wood+cutting tools+any carpentry ability to speak of....

There was a thread a few months back where someone got any UK people to post - do a search?

S

[teef two]

I'm in Hampshire and am desperately trying to get hold of a second-hand cab on ebay to convert. I think if I fail once more then it's going to be down to Travis Perkins to load up with half-inch plywood.

What I'm aiming for is swappable control panels as I don't want to have a monster panel to cater for all tastes.

I have a second hand Sidewinder 3d-pro which I'm thinking of hacking to make a tron joystick but not sure I have the ability to do this.

Anyway, good luck with the project.

[coldrain]

I have to be honest and say I cheated a little SILVER, I found an old cocktail cabinet at a boot fair and have been converting it to a MAME machine.

I have been looking at obtaining an upright cabinet as well and have the same problem TEEF TWO, after reading through some of the posts on this site I have come to the conclusion that if you live in the USA it's possible to just walk to your nearest auction and pick one up for $100 /

[Minwah]

It is difficult to find a MAME-able cab in the UK.  My definition of 'MAME-able' being a non-dedicated machine in reasonable shape.  For the most part all you'll find is generic jamma cabs, of which the *vast* majority are either hideous, or horrible.  These cabs have a particular trend of having very shallow control panels at quite a steep angle - wrist ache in seconds  

So I decided to build my machine, based on the design of a 'real' machine I really like (Atari System 1).  While I have been working on it (on & off) for nearly 1 year, the main construction was done in a few months of part-time work (I have a fulltime job and like to drink at weekends ).  So if you can find somewhere to do it, and have some tools then I say build one!

Have fun either way :

[arcaic]

I'm in Milton Keynes.

On the JAMMA cabinet issue I will soon have a cabinet I gave to my father inlaw for all the grandchildren to play on coming back as he is moving away to the IoW.

Its just about the most mameable cab I have seen. Its an Apollo JAMMA cabinet in reasonable shape and isn't the prettiest cab I've seen but it has all access from the front, rotatable monitor (and I mean properly rotatable - you dont have to unbolt it or anything you just open the front and turn the monitor), scan coil switches at the front, video controls at the front (I think) , fairly flat control panel and I think its fairly deep so reasonable space for a two player setup. It also seperates into a top and bottom half so can be much easier to transport or get upstairs.

If you can live with the looks then it would be great for mame. If anyone wants to email me contact details I'll let you know when I have it back at my place and up on ebay.

If your in a rush then probably the best place to look for JAMMA cabs could be here.. If anyone has/knows of cheap ones then we in there do  

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ukvac/

I think that part of the problem is that anyone that has a supply of decent JAMMA cabs is maming them themselves and siting/selling them

Cheers

Andy

[markb]

I'm from Newcastle and I know of nobody around here who has even heard of Mame let alone got their own cabinet.

Cabinets up here are like hen's teeth and almost impossible to get your hands on. I phoned every arcade in the North East trying to get just a case, however all I found out was that arcade owners SCRAPPED HUNDREDS OF THEM.
Seriously I got talking to an arcade owner on the phone and when Playstations first came around the owners just binned all of their machines and filled the space with slots. ARRRRGGGHH.

In the end I built my own and could take enough orders from friends to build one for them to keep me going until next year.

I still get sleepless nights after what that arcade owner told me when i see an original space invaders going for almost a grand!

[Minwah]

Cabinets up here are like hen's teeth and almost impossible to get your hands on. I phoned every arcade in the North East trying to get just a case, however all I found out was that arcade owners SCRAPPED HUNDREDS OF THEM.
Seriously I got talking to an arcade owner on the phone and when Playstations first came around the owners just binned all of their machines and filled the space with slots. ARRRRGGGHH.

Shame isn't it    I've been to quite a few arcades recently and all you see is gamblers and about 1 game - which is 9 times out of 10 knackered

[coldrain]

Its the same down here, I live on the kent coast and have heard the tales of scraped cabinets from the local arcade owners. When I was young we had a few "video arcades" and now there are just fruits....

I have been reading the post about opening a new arcade in the main forum, I think if it was done right and not a place for kids to bunk school it could be a winning idea, but you would have to combine it with a coffee bar/internet station... Just need a lotto win and a few more cabinets now

[arcaic]

Markb -  I've been collecting arcade machines for about 10 years now (although not so much recently). Although it was way easier 10 years ago and operators didnt value the games as they do now phoning them up rarely got a true picture of what they had available.

There is no alternative to just droping in and talking to the operator and especially the techs if you can find them. I know many operators who get many calls a day from 'losers' wanting to buy a Defender for 50 quid and they tend to lump them together as a waste of time and just get rid of you. If you show up in person with transport and cash then you'll be surprised what can turn up. Very few bargains like there used to be (Starwars upright + DoT + Gravitar all working) for 125 quid was maybe my best. Dead Robotron + 10 Defender board sets one of which turned out to be a working Robotron set for 25 quid was pretty good too.

You need to be open to what might be available. If you want one of the big control panel cabs with front access, rotatable monitor, diamond encrusted joysticks then its probably not going to be there. If you want a generic JAMMA cab that can house a 2 player mame setup then you really should be able to find one. You also need to be realistic about what to expect condition wise and not hassle them about the two inch scratch on the side or the ---Bad words, bad words, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when saint censors you?--- burns on the cp. Some operators are very clued up and will want silly money some will still almost give them away IF you have cash and take it there and then.

None of them are stupid and if they can get 20 quid for 2 minutes effort instead of having to spend 1 hour and paying 10 quid to scrap it they will.

Another thought is as to when you drop in on them. There is little point doing it in mid season as they will usually be too busy extracting pound coins from little old ladies on the pushers and kiddie on the dance games. If you drop in at the end or at the begining of the season then they are less busy and may well be clearing out or changing stock so may be more open to offers.

You could also try looking in local Cinemas and pubs ect (anywhere there are videos) and look for stickers that indicate who supplied the machines. As you know you dont see many JAMMA games nowadays but I bet these guys havent thrown them all away yet.

It is true that many cabs have been scrapped but its also true that it costs money to scrap them and many operators are inveterate horders and never throw anything away so dont give up. I still have mates who in the last year have found some pretty good dedicated machines from operators and havent had to pay silly money. If they are still there then JAMMA cabs must be!

Cheers

Andy

[NickS]

Its the same down here, I live on the kent coast and have heard the tales of scraped cabinets from the local arcade owners. When I was young we had a few "video arcades" and now there are just fruits....

I have been reading the post about opening a new arcade in the main forum, I think if it was done right and not a place for kids to bunk school it could be a winning idea, but you would have to combine it with a coffee bar/internet station... Just need a lotto win and a few more cabinets now

I am from Wiltshire. If you are after a cab to convert to mame try joining the yahoo newsgroup "UKVAC". A lot of the UK arcade game collectors belong to the list and it should make it much easier to find a cab. I think there are a few who live near you as well.

[rchadd]

i'm here in surrey making my cocktail cab

[coldrain]

Are you building a cocktail cabinet or updating an old one..?
I am updating an old one that i found at a bootfair but would like to build one next time, if you are building it I would love to see how far you are.

[markb]

Arcaic, Good bit of advice that, I've got a few days off work so I'm going to go out and about to see what I can come up with.
There's quite a few arcades nearby as I live close to the sea front, so I'm going to call in as I know they use jamma cabs which is all I'm really after.

It's becoming a serious hobby at the moment as I'm onto my 3rd custom built cab, however while my electronics and woodworking skills are good I have virtually zero talent when it comes to artwork and presentation so i'd love to get my hands on a case with good artwork,  but I'd settle for a Jamma.

BTW how many machines do you own?

[kujina]

Hi

I'm in essex, I've been building a cabinet based on the UAII plans. Kent is a good place to be when puting together a cab as happ controls europe is in kent.