Choosing the right light for a marquee!

PhoenixStar

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Hi All!! (I know this same thread was posted in pinballs for sale thread by accident, forgive me!) I have a final fight cabinet im looking to light up and I need YOUR preference help. With so many bulbs, and so many colors, wattages, I cant simply choose something authentic. I dont know what vintage games used for bulb lighting (incadescent soft glow, clear, frosted, wattage) Anyways I dont have a tube fixture, but I will be using the newer CFL spiral bulbs. I have an actual light fixture with a left and right side screw in socket. Here are the bulb choices I have as currently being sold by Home Depot.

Soft Glow CFL's
Bright White CFL's
Daylight CFL's

Which bulb would be the best for popping out the marquee colors while maintaining an authentic, perhaps semi classic look?
Which wattage would you use per bulb or which simulated light wattage?(again I need 2 bulbs for left & right socket)

Thanks for your input guys!!!!!
PhoenixStar
 
If you are installing two of them, I would go with the replacement 60W Bright White. I think that turns into two 18W bulbs. If that doesn't look good to you, an under counter 18" Fluorescent fixture is 7 bucks at Walmart.

-Gregg
 
Personally, I'd go with the Wally World special. I have seen marquees with two light bulbs and I think the long fluorescent gives a more even light. The two bulbs give two "hot spots" in a lot of marquees where the spot behind each bulb is very bright and the rest fades off.

ken
 
Go to walmart and but the complete 18" flourescent assembly. It is $6- the same cost as the bulb only!
-Take cover off
- screw into cabinet
- Cut off plug and wire nut into existing marquee wiring (or keep plug and plug into aux. outlet if there is one).

Done and done.
 
Go to walmart and but the complete 18" flourescent assembly. It is $6- the same cost as the bulb only!
-Take cover off
- screw into cabinet
- Cut off plug and wire nut into existing marquee wiring (or keep plug and plug into aux. outlet if there is one).

Done and done.


That may be easy, but what if you want to keep it authentic like in a pac-man cab?

IMG_7663.jpg
 
I have used the bright whites 40w and it looks fine, but I too have gone the Walmart specials as they do a great job for 6 bucks, they are light as a feather and can be attached with two small screws, I like the look better as it disperses the light along the marquee....I have also used a led strip once and it lliked amazing but requires a little more work......
 
i use daylight 60s in my pacman, looks the best. i tried soft and bright, daylight just looked the best, in my opinion.

i also tried blue CFL bulbs in my pacman for a couple of weeks. pretty neat, kind of a blacklight look:

2n0nexu.jpg


but the best bang for the buck is the 6 dollar wally world special. even light, no heat.
 
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i use daylight 60s in my pacman, looks the best. i tried soft and bright, daylight just looked the best, in my opinion.

i also tried blue CFL bulbs in my pacman for a couple of weeks. pretty neat:

2n0nexu.jpg

Chris, your collection's looking nice. what happened to the Dig Dug?
 
With regular flo. tubes, I always aim for the highest K rating possible... the higher, the bluer. I don't care for the yellow'sh/orange lights some other bulbs put out, so I hunt around and get the highest rated bulbs I can find... I guess it's probably just personal taste though. With CFL, I'd do the same, but I don't think there are that many to choose from, so... yeah, no idea.
 
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