Gaplus Cabinet - Franken-stined at the factory?

smokinfish

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
831
Reaction score
3
Location
Dallas, Texas
Ok so here are some pics of the Gaplus cabinet I just got, as you can see the cabinet is in really good shape wood wise, no water damage what so ever and very little chipping. Serial Number on the front of cabinet is stamped 557.

The sides paint job has been painted black. The front appears to be original.

There is use of white painted wood (galaxian?) on the inside of the cabinet as well as the bottom where the legs are.

Galaxian plexiglass bezel (betting that was a refurb), with a real Gaplus back board. Monitor only has Gaplus burn in.

And a really nice almost new Gaplus plexiglass header. The header hardware is in new like conditional as well.

Check it out here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48400772@N04/sets/72157623494963853/
 
Last edited:
I can tell by the side angle of the pic that this is definately a Gaplus (Galaga 3) cab. Apparently the sideart stickers were removed or painted over. They may have started with a Bosconian cab at the factory and that would explain the white paint.

4432300313_956ecced00.jpg
1181242110124.jpg
 
Last edited:
Also, Midway was known to use scrap/spare wood at the factory. I've seen pics of cabs with Ms Pac art on the bottom, etc. Mine seems to be all original except the CPO. It's very similiar to a stock Gaplus, but not exactly the same. Interesting yours has the serial number stamped on the front...mine has it in the edge of the top on the back, just above the back door (plus the full number printed on a piece of paper stapled to the inside). Also, my marquee is glass instead of plexi. I just checked mine, a few pieces on the inside are white on mine too. The angled board behind the monitor (looking at it from the back) and the vertical part above the playfield area (it's got artwork on the side facing the player). The sides are black, and the vertical board the PCB is mounted to is bare wood on both sides.
 
(looking thru your pics on Flickr) Looks like the buttons have been replaced, as mine has leaf switches. The joystick is a stock Midway joystick with an 8-way restricter plate. I think your volume control knob is an add-on. Mine only has a pot on the PCB to adjust the sound. Took me awhile to find it when I first got it (and it was set pretty loud) Looks like a nice addition though, probably alot easier to adjust than on mine. Where is that little volume control board located, on the coin door side?
 
What does the other tag behind the board bracket say? Just "Gaplus" written in cursive?
 
The volume knob is located to the right side when you open the coin door.
Yea the tag says Gaplus too. Infact if you look closely at CPU board it has Gaplus printed on it too.

I tried heating up the side paint and peeling it off to see if there was any old art under there and all I found was bare wood. The front art is painted was the side art painted too? I figure the square art was a sticker, were the side stripes a sticker too?

Starting to think someone definitely restored some stuff at some point.

Is the speaker cover the same on your Gaplus?
The housing around the monitor is also new to me, it looks like it held something on top of it?
Did they not use the black plastic bezels like on williams games?

Any pics anyone has of their gaplus in and out it would be really cool to see.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the auction. There were at least 6 other KLOVers there I could have introduced you to. Maybe next time. Nice purchase.

.
 
I can tell by the side angle of the pic that this is definately a Gaplus (Galaga 3) cab. Apparently the sideart stickers were removed or painted over. They may have started with a Bosconian cab at the factory and that would explain the white paint.
Bosconian cabinets are not as deep as Gaplus type cabinets; an easy way to tell the difference.

So, just measure the depth of the cabinet and compare that to a Gaplus and you would easily know if it is an original Bosconian.

Also, Bosconian cabinets, turned Galaga, back doors had the plastic bubble because the monitor didn't have enough room and stuck out. This would lead me to believe that, if a true Bosconian cabinet, a 25" monitor would not fit without sticking out the back a whole lot.

I would also bet that if it actually is a Bosconian cabinet, that it wasn't "Franken-stined at the factory" since they did the first Galaga's with Bosconian cabinets, what, early '81...and Gaplus wasn't until '84? Doesn't seem like they would have saved some extra Bosconian cabinets for future games.

My guess would be that it was something that some regular guy or an operator fixed up.

-Tim
 
Last edited:
Congrats on your Gaplus. I picked up a pretty decent Gaplus a couple of months ago in Dallas. I'll try to get some pictures up here soon.

It really is a cool game. Originally, I got my mine with the intent of turning it into a Galaga. But after playing it a while, I think I prefer the gameplay of Gaplus. I'm definitely keeping mine original.

-Mike E. in Austin, TX



The volume knob is located to the right side when you open the coin door.
Yea the tag says Gaplus too. Infact if you look closely at CPU board it has Gaplus printed on it too.


Any pics anyone has of their gaplus in and out it would be really cool to see.

Thanks
 
Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the auction. There were at least 6 other KLOVers there I could have introduced you to. Maybe next time. Nice purchase.

.

Next time I will definitely reach out if I go. I was wondering while I was there who was KLOVers.

So I'm thinking of doing a Midway tribute cabinet. Ms. Pacman art on one side, Galaga on the other side and Gaplus on the front.

So should I go with a 60-1 board or pic up a Galaga/Ms PacMan anniversary board?

hmmmm... I guess that decision will dictate what my control panel looks like.

The Monitor bezel is a tough one, the clear space in the art needs to be in the middle. Where Galaga is less art by the control panel and more art up top. And I'm sure I won't find a GOOD Gaplus bezel.

not sure what to do with that one.

Let the dismantling begin!
 
If you plan on putting a multi board in it, may I suggest you get a JAMMA Gaplus cab adapter? They're available from several sites (with varying costs), but they are plug in play and you won't have to hack your cab wiring. I put a 48-in-1 board in mine using one of these adapters. I left everything in place, but unplugged the cab harness from my Gaplus board, moved it to the coinbox side and put the JAMMA cab adapter and 48-in-1 on that side. That way, it's a 5 minute swap to go back to Gaplus. You'll also need to unplug the 6 pin monitor cable and 3 pin power cable from the Gaplus board and plug it into the adapter.
As to some of your other questions, mine has the same speaker cover. My monitor has sort of a plastic shroud around it, with a tinted piece of glass bolted over it underneath the bezel. That's probably why yours looks the way it does. Mine does have a Gaplus artwork bezel, but the instruction cards are missing (and the rectangular locations painted black). I think all the artwork on Gaplus cabs are stickers. Some point late in the production of Ms Pac's and Galaga, Midway switched from painted/stenciled to stickers. Not sure if they peeled off yours and repainted it or what. I believe the front is also a sticker. Don't know if you can find Gaplus artwork though, so your idea might not be a bad one.
As to what kind of board to put in, the Namco ones are legit, whereas the 48-in-1/60-in-1, etc aren't, but that's your choice I guess :) The 60-in-1's have Ms Pac and Galaga (and Galaga 3, which is the same as Gaplus). I think both boards are emulated and have sound issues (even the Namco ones)
 
If you plan on putting a multi board in it, may I suggest you get a JAMMA Gaplus cab adapter? They're available from several sites (with varying costs), but they are plug in play and you won't have to hack your cab wiring. I put a 48-in-1 board in mine using one of these adapters. I left everything in place, but unplugged the cab harness from my Gaplus board, moved it to the coinbox side and put the JAMMA cab adapter and 48-in-1 on that side. That way, it's a 5 minute swap to go back to Gaplus. You'll also need to unplug the 6 pin monitor cable and 3 pin power cable from the Gaplus board and plug it into the adapter.
A

I was looking at the Gaplus Jamma adapter, for some reason I thought it was for hooking up a Gaplus board to a Jamma harness? But for what your saying I can keep my original wiring and run a jamma board? I'm new to converting to Jamma, so I am still researching. But I would love to keep as much original stuff in place as possible.

I'm pretty sure the front of my Gaplus is painted. I'll take a closer look. I like the artwork too bad none has done repros.
 
That would be awesome!

Ok, here are a few pics of my Gaplus. Sorry my phone camera isn't the best.

My game was missing instruction cards. I found images on the Internet and simply made some 4 x 6 photos from them. They may be on the wrong side - maybe someone can confirm how the instruction cards are supposed to appear?

-Mike E. in Austin, TX
 

Attachments

  • GaplusSide.jpg
    GaplusSide.jpg
    70.3 KB · Views: 18
  • GaplusFront.jpg
    GaplusFront.jpg
    87.1 KB · Views: 17
  • GaplusBezel.jpg
    GaplusBezel.jpg
    73.6 KB · Views: 16
  • GaplusInside1.jpg
    GaplusInside1.jpg
    85.1 KB · Views: 18
  • GaplusInside2.jpg
    GaplusInside2.jpg
    69.9 KB · Views: 18
I was looking at the Gaplus Jamma adapter, for some reason I thought it was for hooking up a Gaplus board to a Jamma harness? But for what your saying I can keep my original wiring and run a jamma board? I'm new to converting to Jamma, so I am still researching. But I would love to keep as much original stuff in place as possible.

I'm pretty sure the front of my Gaplus is painted. I'll take a closer look. I like the artwork too bad none has done repros.

There's 2 types of adapters. There's a PCB adapter to play a Gaplus board in a JAMMA cab, and there a cab adapter to convert a Gaplus cab to JAMMA so any JAMMA PCB can be used (they'll have to be vertical, of course). Then you can buy other JAMMA PCB adapters to play other PCB's too (like Pac-Man, for example)
This is what you'd be looking for, although they're currently out of stock:
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/jamma-to-galaga-adapter/prod_210.html
I think this is the same one I have (I bought mine from a friend, but it looks identical) Arcadeshop.com has one, but theirs is $40 I think. Not sure if any others are out there (seems like at least one more vendor sold them). They also include places to attach more controls, so you can have up to 3 buttons and a joystick per player (you'd need to add them to your control panel, of course)
 
Ok, here are a few pics of my Gaplus. Sorry my phone camera isn't the best.

Thanks that helps out allot. That's what it look like alright! It really is a fun game to play.
Thanks for the info on the Jamma Adapters, as well.

I can't wait for a nice weekend so I can get started on this puppy.
 
Back
Top Bottom