Reeling in the cabinet...

[knave]

I've been talking with a guy about buying a Primal Rage Cabinet with a non-working monitor.  He says the cab is in fair shape and that with a monitor it should work. It's Jamma and might be just what I'm looking for.

I'm waiting for some pictures but since the guy is within driving distance I'm curious what the board thinks it's worth.

Some things I don't know:

What is wrong with the monitor
What "fair" shape really means.
What style the cab really is. (I've found two shapes so far and I only like one)

Let me know what you think. What concerns you might have and what you would look for. I'm looking to do this without spending alot.

Thanks

(new guy)

[leapinlew]

I'm looking to do this without spending alot.

I've heard these words before! As for the cabinet.... you never really told us what you wanted to do with it. You wanting to restore it to Primal Rage? You looking to mame it?

The thing I remembered about the only Primal Rage I ever saw in the wild was it had a big CP and huge monitor. (seemed huge at the time).

Fair shape:
If you plan on mameing it - it needs to be solid with no water damage. Anything else is a bonus: coin door, marquee retainer, cp latches, controls, marquee, etc.

If you plan on restoring it -
You'll be looking for as much artwork as possible in good shape, good controls, original cabinet (if it came in a dedicated cabinet).

Price can be all over the place. I wouldn't pay too much for a non-popular game that your not sure if it even works. Does it play blind? Without knowing where you live, or if the game works and what controls it comes with. I'd say $100ish sounds good if it's nice and solid.

[knave]

I want a Mame cab but I think I'd keep the original art if it's ok and stick a jpac in there with a PC and start playing.  That is once I fix or replace the monitor.  I do think it's a 25" monitor. From what I found online Primal Rage had a CP with 2 8 way sticks and 4 buttons each with a player one and player two start button.

I'm hoping once/if I get some pictures I can at least have a better idea of the condition of the art, coindoor, and CP. If the game ended up not working I'd have even more reason to turn to mame.

Are the Arcade police going to come after me if I mame this cabinet?

I really would like to find something in the $50 range...I just missed a free cab that was on craigslist in my area...I guess I have to keep my feelers out. 

I'm in Nor Cal f it matters. (hey perhaps you all know someone selling a cab that would meet my needs.)

I appreciate any and all feed back, thanks.

[leapinlew]

Is that auction near you?

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63455.msg632689#msg632689

Otherwise.... keep your feelers out. If it's a jamma cab - you could get moving with that pretty quick. That might be worth some money to you.

[madgammer]

If your not in a hurry keep an eye out on ebay too.  I picked up 2 great looking cabs 1 was a working tekken for $150 and the other was a huge dedicated fighting cab for $100.  Both need work, but mainly just cosmetic and stuff anyone could do in a few weekends.  The main thing is they both had all the jamma wiring and working control panels.  I think I could have gotten something for $50 less, but would have just had to go out and buy the jamma harness or fixing the CP so it all balances out in the long run.

[Crowquill]

I'm actually using a Primal Rage cabinet to run JAMMA games. Mine was converted to Tekken 3 when I got it.  The Tekken 3 board was burned out so I bought it not knowing if the monitor worked. I paid $100 with a (mostly) working 25" monitor. I thought that was a pretty good deal actually. I don't think it's a bad cabinet for either JAMMA or MAME.

The dedicated cabinet itself is a bit funkier than your average JAMMA cab, but I've grown fond of it for that reason. The control panel flips forward so that you can get to everything inside pretty easily (much like the Dynamo cabs). Primal Rage was also available as a conversion kit, so it could be in pretty much any cabinet. Everything else I'm posting is assuming it's the dedicated.

My monitor needs a cap kit and if you're looking to fix this one that's the first step. The scary part (for me at least) is that there are somewhere around 30 caps to replace on a Neotec 2515. The big "pro" though are that you have a 25" monitor. This is IF it has the factory monitor. If the monitor's completely shot, then you could always replace it with a TV for a MAME cabinet.

I'm actually considering whether I should pick up a 19" monitor and JAMMA harness for my MAME cab and move the computer over to the PR cab. If so, I was considering building a control panel very much like Pit Fighter/Rampart had as otherwise the cabs are pretty much identical. If you're wiring a MAME cab or using Primal Rage, there is a sub-woofer built into the front of the cab that you could use.

Attached is a pic of my cab. Here's a link to Pit Fighter's flyer to show what I plan to do with it:
http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=videodb&name=pit+fighter&year=&manu=&source=&submit=Search+the+Archive

I guess all-in-all it depends on whether you want to use an arcade monitor and the shape of the cabinet. It also depends on what you can find in your area.