Must they be translucent buttons?

[lowmax]

I have started planning out my cp for my first upright cabinet (and technically my first DIY project), and now I'm stuck and don't know what type of buttons should I use.

I'm overwhelmed with the idea of lit buttons that show which buttons to use with each game, but I absolutely hate all the translucent buttons that I've seen till now, they seem to tacky for my taste.

Are there any non-translucent buttons (sorry don't know the proper name) that can be fitted with LEDs without any hacks? I'm not after the bling bling factor and don't mind if the light intensity turning out to be weaker, but the light should be obvious in room lit conditions.

So is it possible? Has anyone tried LEDs with non-translucent buttons? Do you have any pics?

Thanks

[DaOld Man]

I remember someone wrote up how they drill a hole in the bottom of a regular button, then glued an led in the hole.
(May have been a super bright led).
Sorry I cant find the link now, maybe someone else will know it..

[Tahnok]

If you don't mind them all being white when they aren't lit, you can try the GGG's electric ice buttons:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=238

Lighting regular buttons works OK with most colors, but they don't show up very well in a lit room.

[Jimbo]

You can get these.

They are translucent, but you can get them in various colours, not just clear, so they look better when unlit also.

 

[waveryder]

Sorry but I dont really see the point of lighting buttons that arent gonna glow. If you dont like the effect of translucent buttons why light your buttons at all?

[Jimbo]

Sorry but I dont really see the point of lighting buttons that arent gonna glow. If you dont like the effect of translucent buttons why light your buttons at all?

My cab is not going to be on all the time, and I want it looking nice when its switched off... hence my preference for red translucent buttons - which will fit much better with my cab's theme and artwork.

[waveryder]

That wasnt my point. Coloured translucent buttons are still translucent! I did the same with my cab I used completely clear buttons as I wanted to maintain a theme and have it look nice when the cabs off. Lowmax said in his original post that he didnt like translucent buttons! But wanted to illuminate standard buttons. I stand by my initial comment as it seems completely pointless to me 

[lowmax]

Sorry but I dont really see the point of lighting buttons that arent gonna glow. If you dont like the effect of translucent buttons why light your buttons at all?

Well... I don't know if by not glowing you mean that absolutely no light will be visible from standard buttons... Of course I don't want that... I will light up non-translucent buttons only if some significant light or glow will be visible, and by significant I mean that I will be able to distinguish between lit and unlit. And as I mentioned in my first post I want this done so the front end will light up the specific buttons that will be used for each game, so it's not completely pointless, it's far from that.

As for not wanting translucent buttons, it's because I personally don't like the way they look.

[waveryder]

If there is no translucency to the buttons how exaclty do you expect them to light up? Even the electric ice buttons must be semi opaque to light up. What I'm saying is pointless Lowmax is attempting to ligh up a standard pushbutton, except possible a white button although that does look crap as only the plunger recieves any light and you wont see much in the day time. Why dont you wire an led and shove it beneath the plunger and you'll see my point. Theres a reason people use translucent buttons when they intend to light em up.

[lowmax]

When I'm talking about translucent buttons, I'm referring to the buttons with that official name. As for the standard buttons, I doubt that they will block light 100%, something should go through, I think, especially with strong leds. Has anyone experimented with this?

Edit:

8 posts only and Now I'm being called pointless Lowmax... this must be some kind of record... 

Waveryder, It's quite juvenile to read the responding post and edit your post just to satisfy your ego.

Any ways... so basically I should rephrase my entire question(s)....

Are standard buttons semi-opaque, and are there semi-opaque buttons ready for led instalment. Or is my best bet the electric ice buttons?

Thanks people

[waveryder]

Tried it myself before I got my translucents, believe me it looks pants. Not all translucent buttons are the same diffusers help!

[2600]

Old Retroblast Review

For some reason, they didn't include pics of the non translucent buttons so here they are.  They light up enough to indicate what buttons to use.  The easiest way to light them is with the GGG RGB drive unit board.

[lowmax]

Old Retroblast Review

For some reason, they didn't include pics of the non translucent buttons so here they are.  They light up enough to indicate what buttons to use.  The easiest way to light them is with the GGG RGB drive unit board.

Beautiful, they look great! I think i'll go with the electric ice buttons + RGB drive. Will they work with the pacdrive, or should i go for the LED-Wiz+GP?

[arzoo]

Old Retroblast Review

For some reason, they didn't include pics of the non translucent buttons so here they are.  They light up enough to indicate what buttons to use.  The easiest way to light them is with the GGG RGB drive unit board.

Beautiful, they look great! I think i'll go with the electric ice buttons + RGB drive. Will they work with the pacdrive, or should i go for the LED-Wiz+GP?

The PACDrive does not have an intensity feature - the LEDs are on or off. So if you used it with the ice buttons you would effectively only get 7 color possibilities:
red
green
blue
red/green - yellow
red/blue - purple
green/blue - ?
red/green/blue - white

I've briefly discussed with Andy (Ultimarc) the possibility of adding intensity support to the pacdrive - it may happen in the future. For now, the LED-Wiz hardware is the way to go with the ice buttons. You can't go wrong with stuff from GGG!

[lowmax]

Old Retroblast Review

For some reason, they didn't include pics of the non translucent buttons so here they are.  They light up enough to indicate what buttons to use.  The easiest way to light them is with the GGG RGB drive unit board.

Beautiful, they look great! I think i'll go with the electric ice buttons + RGB drive. Will they work with the pacdrive, or should i go for the LED-Wiz+GP?

The PACDrive does not have an intensity feature - the LEDs are on or off. So if you used it with the ice buttons you would effectively only get 7 color possibilities:
red
green
blue
red/green - yellow
red/blue - purple
green/blue - ?
red/green/blue - white

I've briefly discussed with Andy (Ultimarc) the possibility of adding intensity support to the pacdrive - it may happen in the future. For now, the LED-Wiz hardware is the way to go with the ice buttons. You can't go wrong with stuff from GGG!

Thanks...

green/blue - cyan

[LeedsFan]

Is that blue button just a normal standard blue pushbutton? Because if it is I'm surprised at how much it has lit up. I wouldn't have though standard buttons would light up at all, but of course only the plunger is getting any light there. Those IceT buttons do look nice yeah. 

[TheManuel]

You can consider this alternative:
Illuminating Happs Pushbuttons.

[2600]

Is that blue button just a normal standard blue pushbutton? Because if it is I'm surprised at how much it has lit up. I wouldn't have though standard buttons would light up at all, but of course only the plunger is getting any light there. Those IceT buttons do look nice yeah. 

Yes, the bottom right one is a normal standard blue pushbutton.  The first picture and the second are the same except for 2nd photo has unlit buttons with the light on and a translucent yellow button instead of green translucent.  I did a crap load of pictures that compared the colors of the translucent buttons to the GGG Electric Ice buttons lit to the appropriate color.  They just didn't get posted in the review for some reason.

[waveryder]

Actually lowmax I edited my post whilst you were posting your reply as i didnt want you to get upset and your posts were becoming really childish.  I dont really give a rats ass if you dont like translucents. I love em! as do many others. I was answering your post and you got all pissy! But thats ok Im taking my ball, going home and telling my mum!
Nah nah nah nah nah!

[lowmax]

You can consider this alternative:
Illuminating Happs Pushbuttons.

Yeah it seems that this might work out also, with the 12 volt leds from ultimarc http://www.ultimarc.com/ultralux.html we might get some decent results.

[TheManuel]

I am considering this myself but for P1 and P2 only using MAME's keyboard led funcionality.
Sasquatch told me it does not shine too bright under regular lighting so I will test first before I drill.

[arzoo]

I've got both Electric Ice and Ultralux buttons on my cp. I use the Ice for the game play buttons and the Ultra's for the start and coin buttons - that's what's really nice about the Ultra's - they can have labels under the caps. They can also be ordered with chrome bezels if you like - very cool. Too bad they don't have an RGB option. Also, the Ultra plungers are flat where as the Ice are concave.