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Section_25:
I’ve been tinkering around with the MAME program for several years and have often thought about assembling my own arcade cabinet to run various games on.  Recently I have acquired a used CAPCOM 1943 arcade game that is in very good condition.

  I know this is going to be a long project and will require a lot of work;  but before I get started I wanted to reach out and seek advice with some of you that have already completed a cabinet regarding what I should do, i.e. what you would do different?  I am going to leave the cabinet intact for the most part; but I do plan on building a custom control panel to control the games with.  I would like to build something that is premium quality and is very customized; yet easy to work on.   I have looked on several websites that have arcade parts for sale such as buttons, joysticks and trac balls that I will need; but they all look the same to me.  I plan on customizing the control panel with lighted buttons and I need to know the best site for this type of stuff.  I have read on other sites that once the control panel is complete there is certain devices that you need to run them through to convert the controls to a USB so that I can access them through the Windows operating system that will run the program.

Another dilemma that I am extremely uncertain about is what type of monitor to use in the cabinet?  The monitor that came with the unit has burn-in extremely bad and is junk so I will be needing another one. The games that I play on my pc now run on a 22” widescreen monitor and they look and run great; but I have seen and heard about other VGA cards you can connect to a computer that make the graphics and resolution even more arcade authentic.  Is this something that is recommended or just a personal choice?   To sum it up at this point, the main advice I need is on this control panel and which monitor to install in the cabinet.   
So as you see this project is just starting and before I get too much money wrapped up in this thing, I wanted advice to point me in the right direction and hopefully prevent mistakes that others have made.

Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks  ;D
Blanka:
Is it this one?
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6769
I would first check if you can keep it original. There are for example 4 VAPS members looking for an original one. I think a MAME cab is best built from scratch.
garnerb350:
Buy Saints book " Project Arcade". Available at your local Amazon or Barnes and Noble store. Trust me.
You are going to see where everyone here will tell you to do this or do that....Its basically going to come down to your decision making.

I myself I am going for the quick fix-cheap cost road. I bought a used 21 inch CRT PC monitor. The control panel. I am going to go with an X-arcade control panel. I myself dont have an old cab...I'm having to make my own.

You will see where people here have Roll Royces for arcades cab...others have cabs that look like it came off the Beverly Hillbillys truck/car/house vehicle whatever. I've even seen cabs that I thought Michael Bay was going to use for the Transformer movie. Its all up to you, your imagination, and your wallet.

X-arcade has it where you can build your own...( buy joysticks-buttons -etc)
Happs ( has everything...but expensive)
Lizard Lick (good people in NC)
Countless others...

Check out the woodworking and project anouncements section here...good info. Might can find you some  good info for that 1943 cab you have.

Wish you the best of luck.
CheffoJeffo:
Don't forget to check out the wiki !
Turnarcades:
If it's your first project take care not to go overboard and stick to your budget. Things can get pricey very quickly and you may end up with unused parts and possibly wasted woodwork if you fail to think it through first.

If you do decide to MAME your cabinet and the existing monitor is toast, your simplest solution may be to go completely with PC architecture. Get a 21" CRT for peanuts, rip out all existing JAMMA wiring and grab all your controls and interface from Ultimarc. Use a nice 2.1 speaker system and you've got a setup inside there that should be all pretty much plug-and-go, rather than stripping wires, working with high voltages and having exposed electronics to work round.

Good luck whatever you plan to do.  :cheers:
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