Need guidance sourcing Williams Blaster PCBs

Griffin

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Hi all,

Glad to be finally posting here instead of just reading in the wings.

I have access to a very nice Williams Blaster cab which is completely empty of it's boards, power, monitor etc.

I'd really like to bring it all together by using original PCB's. I know that the game is reasonably rare and the boards themselves can be a hard find due to their individual nature and not being used in other machines (CPU and ROM boards).

That being said, I am in it for the long haul, I want the challenge of creating something true to it's origins rather than using multi-boards, Jamma etc etc. I know it's not very practical or economical but that really isn't what the hobby is about for me.

I'm a reasonably new collector and I build my own cabs too, finding this hobby is allowing me, like many to return to my childhood and ressurect some great memories, and hopefully some great cabs along the way.

I'd appreciate any useful help that will point me in the correct direction to pursue my goal.

Currently I am actively scanning eBay and CL, I have active accounts over at BYOAC and CoinOpSPace where I am asking around and learning as much as I can.

Many thanks for any help you can give.

Joel
 
I have access to a very nice Williams Blaster cab which is completely empty of it's boards, power, monitor etc.

I'd really like to bring it all together by using original PCB's. I know that the game is reasonably rare and the boards themselves can be a hard find due to their individual nature and not being used in other machines (CPU and ROM boards).

That being said, I am in it for the long haul, I want the challenge of creating something true to it's origins rather than using multi-boards, Jamma etc etc.

I'd appreciate any useful help that will point me in the correct direction to pursue my goal.

Currently I am actively scanning eBay and CL, I have active accounts over at BYOAC and CoinOpSPace where I am asking around and learning as much as I can. Joel

You are in for one tough fight. Is it a duramold or wood cabinet? Blaster is one of the more rare boards around. Sure Quantum PCBs sell for more, but Blaster is definitely harder to find. The have been people looking for years for that PCB. The sound board is a typical Williams sound board. The interface board is same as Sinistar. Power supply is same as any Robotron, Stargate, Joust. So those boards shouldn't be too tough to round up. But the RAM & ROM boards are a whole other story. I got my RAM & ROM boards about 5 years apart and even then felt very lucky to get them. Just have to keep looking on ebay and on this forum. Hopefully you'll get lucky, but I think they will be a hard find.

Got any pics? Hows the CP/CPO? Where are you located? If it's a dedicated wood cabinet version and you decide to sell or trade it, I'd sure be interested.
 
Thanks for the reply.

No I haven't got any pics, yet, I can get to it when I need it.

I already have a sound board, thanks for the info on the other shared boards that's a huge help. Yes I do understand that it will be very hard to find, but I knew that this was the place to ask.
 
In the short term, get a harness adapter and a jrok board. Once you have the original hardware in there, it'll make for a nice backup.
 
not going to be an easy find.. I picked up 2 converted duramold blasters like 20+ years ago. After much looking, I found 2 boardsets, a marquee and a joystick a long time ago. I saved 1 of them and then sold it when I got a really nice one.

The other was put on the back burner as the main board has a problem and my friend could not track it down. Maybe I should get back to the project as someone might be able to fix it now.

I would imagine a working boardset would be about $500. I am tempted to use the jrok board and save a lot of headaches.
 
I wouldn't be too surprised if the full machines pop up more often than the boardsets do.
 
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