Mame Cabinet Supreme??

[Billy_Goatfeet]

  I was have been surfing around the net for months now, trying to come up with my perfect Mame cabinet combinations.  I found a place that sells cabinets assembled with parts or disassembled with no parts.  

http://www.arcadeshopper.com/
http://www.arcadeshopper.com/images/front.jpg
http://www.arcadeshopper.com/images/mame/fullleft.jpg

  I know to build your own is the best, I wish I had the time and space....maybe in the future.  Anyhow, to the point......Does anyone out there know anything about these cabinets??  Anyone bought one??  Own one??  etc...  I am thinking of checking out the disassembled 4-player cabinet and doing the rest.....

   Looking at the one pic of the cabinet assembled, how hard would it be to add a Tron style controller to that control panel?  (Other than finding a place to drill a hole).  Is there a limit to the number of controllers/buttons you can have on a control panel??

Billy Goatfeet.

[Nailz]

Sounds like a great idea, but YOW!!!  Expensive!!!  You could buy the wood and a couple of power tools for the prices they are asking, even on a control panel kit.....

If you don't have the space, I know Home Depot and other places will cut wood for you for a price, it would probably still be cheaper that way.

As for limit on what you can add to a panel, the only limit is the size of the frame underneath and how crowded you want it.  

[SNAAAKE]

well the cabinet is one of the best looking once out there.Also cut using one of those huge routers but the dude is selling for way too much just for wood.You can easyly built one if you go to lumberyard and ask them to cut the pieces for you.They will cut but there might be a little extra then home depot but worth it.

buy that kit if you dont have any other choice .

[hyiu]

well.... if you're willing to pay that much.... and can afford it... of course... go ahead... nothing beats a NEW and NICE cab.... heee hee....

but if you can't really afford.... another choice is buy a cab and convert it.....

if you're not too good with wood cutting.... and all that... buy a cab which is in decent shape.... sanding and painting it should be do-able.... (but still.... you might have to re-do the control panel... but that is on a smaller scale....

assuming you check ebay... or local arcade places... you might be able to get a decent shape cab for several hundred $$.... should still come out cheaper than buying the thing and put it together.... (put it together takes some work too !!!...)

just a thought....

[Dink]

In addition, arcadeshopper wants $75 for the box the disassembled kit comes in and $150 shipping.

Don't forget to visit this thread where several cabinet manufacturer links are listed: http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=2859;start=0

[Dave_K.]

OMG...what a ripoff...$650 + $215 for pack and ship and you don't even get a monitor or anything else with it??  His cab design is basically a copy of the standard 25" 4-player jamma.  I bought a used 4-player "NBA Jam" cab (looks exatly the same) for $300 from a local arcade (and it came with everything fully working).

[Superdude]

I got my 4 playa for 150 with a 33".   Yes it is expensive but it also saves you time and you get a BRAND NEW cab.  If I had unlimted money and wanted a 4 player cab I'd probably go this route.

OMG...what a ripoff...$650 + $215 for pack and ship and you don't even get a monitor or anything else with it??  His cab design is basically a copy of the standard 25" 4-player jamma.  I bought a used 4-player "NBA Jam" cab (looks exatly the same) for $300 from a local arcade (and it came with everything fully working).

[Billy_Goatfeet]

  Agreed, it is expensive, especially considering it's just the damn, cabinet....forget about montor and parts.  Convert that price to Canadian $$ and it hurts even more, I imagine shipping across the border would add even more $$....ugh....Good idea Nailz, Home Depot does cut wood for you, thats not a bad route....oh and thanks for the link.....'Dink'    

  I like Dave K's suggestion of a four player cab conversion, that would be a bit easier.   I know some purists may consider it butchery to 'mame' an arcade cabinet, as long as it isn't a classic or rare cabinet....who cares.  

  What about running a mame cabinet that can also play pcb's??  How difficult is that to set up?  Or is it better to have two separate cabinets, one for Mame, and one for PCB's?  I know that depending on what pcb you play may have different requirements on the monitor, but all I really own are horizontal games.  Since I am going to use a Wells Gardner 27" in my Mame cabinet it should facilitate any arcade pcb's I use.

BILLY GOATFEET

[Superdude]

 What about running a mame cabinet that can also play pcb's??  How difficult is that to set up?  Or is it better to have two separate cabinets, one for Mame, and one for PCB's?  I know that depending on what pcb you play may have different requirements on the monitor, but all I really own are horizontal games.  Since I am going to use a Wells Gardner 27" in my Mame cabinet it should facilitate any arcade pcb's I use.

Not hard at all.  That's why there's a product called a JPAC.

[Nailz]

No problem, I just hate to see people get ripped off, those are ridiculous prices.  I have to tell you, before I did my MAME cabinet, I had never built a thing in my life.  

I got Lusid's plans, bought some wood, a table saw and I was in business.  I took it slow and did it over several months and turned out a really nice cabinet, my wife was amazed.  

If you have to space to put a cabinet together, you have the space to build one on your own.  Save yourself some money and impress your friends...  

[eightbit]

Save a cabinet, convert an old one. I know to many this isn't saving the cabinet but the more arcade vendors I talk to the more I find that these guys are scrapping or burning them every week. They can't get rid of them and they have ones that aren't econimically worth fixing. Even if you have to give a guy a few hundred to get one in nice condition its far cheaper than the kit your talking about.

Does the kit come with monitor glass? A monitor Bezel? Marquee glass? Marquee holder? A coin door? Wheels under the back? Many used arcade cabinets will come with all this stuff for a fraction of what your going to pay for the kit.

Take the money you save and buy a pre-built control panel like the hot rod or x arcade. In a week or so you'll be playing. Build multiple control panels that you can swap.

[SNAAAKE]

exactly..dude's got a point here.with used games..you get tons of thing and you wouldn't have to worry about anything else besides a spankin new CP if you are too picky.building your own cabinet isnt funny at all man...gotta wait for this part and that part and make unlimited trip to home depot is just crezy.and your family get pi$$ed at you left and right because you are makin too much noise cutting the wood and stuff.

[electricd]

I personally think this guys cabs look bad.  The control panel is way tooo long for the cabinet.  The only 4-player custom cab I have found that looks right is the one at www.mameroom.com.

[Billy_Goatfeet]

    Good call ElectricD7, those are nice cabinets, and they have the plans for sale, $20 seems fair to me, it has interchangeable control panels as well.   Looks like I'm going to go that route.


Billy Goatfeet.