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I think a lot of members already saw the restored pictures of the Tapper CT I worked on a while back. I recently found some old pictures of 'the before', which I thought were erased, so I wanted to share another before/after comparison. A lot of the work done on this cabinet is internal, so it's not that visually exciting, but alas, here it is. Whole thing was a 4+ year journey.

Starts with me going to CAX (not sure what year, sometime <=2016) and playing a Tapper Cocktail. I liked the experience, so I started hunting for a complete game or project... however, it turns out the CT version, while not sought after, is rare compared to the UR, so I put it on the back burner.-shrug-

Probably a year later, I was watching a Johns Arcade video where John visits Xyla's Hyperspace Arcade (RIP) in Lakewood CO. Towards the end of the visit I saw them briefly talk about a couple projects sitting in the back of the arcade, including a Rastan cocktail that was formally a Tapper CT. I thought it was a wide shot (video might have been a year old at that point) but I decided to contact Xyla anyways. We eventually settled on a price for the project cabinet, without the Rastan PCB, underlay, jamma wiring. Around 2017 the machine made its way down to Tucson.

Big thank you to @Xyla, @jawhn and all the other AZ collectors (I am very :sad6: I don't remember everyone's names , it was so long ago) that helped get the Tapper CT project from Colorado down to Tucson! That was an awesome surprise. -Interesting enough, the machine was originally from Tucson, before going all the way up to CO.

Around 2017-2018, the hunt started to find the parts to bring this game back from the dead:
  • Xyla generously provided a set of unhacked Tapper CT CPs she had purchased a while back. The metal was in great shape, the CPOs not so much.
  • I found a complete boardset on ebay (back when you could actually still find good deals)
  • Lucked out and obtained a set of repro tap handles from 8bitnintendo, those were well made. These parts otherwise would have been impossible to find unless I had my own fabbed.
  • The joystick-bases were tricky, I ended up using the functionally identical Galaxian joystick bases and retrofitting the Tap handles into them.
  • Purchased a couple sets of CPOs from TOG, I was disappointed that both sets had the same printing defect. The defect was thankfully easily concealable. :-/
  • New leather T-molding
  • New Glass cut - the original glass was shattered before Xyla got it; I had to strip the insides out to remove all the glass shards
  • New Smoked plexi 'marquees' - the originals were cracked and brittle
  • Got a set of bumper stickers that worked perfect as mini marquees and stuck them onto the smoke plexi
  • Reproduced a unobtainable glass clip, it came out so well it was impossible to distinguish from the other 3 original.
  • Repaired one of the damaged metal legs that the feet-levelers screw into
  • Installed a new PSU to run in parallel to the original. Unfortunately the original was creating a high-pitch sound when next to the CRT. The new PSU resolved that issue.
  • Repaired what was left of the hacked up wiring harness. While checking the pinouts, I found some undocumented wiring issues in the tapper manual. - > see here
  • Used some spring steel to create some spring tension in the tap handles.
  • Wired in "Freeplay" courtesy of http://onecircuit.com/index.php/shop/
  • The most time consuming aspect of restoring the game was oddly the underlay artwork. PHXarcade was the best source for it, but it was out of stock. Some members had it for sale, but at a marked up 'unobtainium' premium. I decided to make my own because I thought the asking prices were ludicrous.
    • It still ended up being cheaper (& more engaging) to print out a bunch of failed attempts (to get the one perfect underlay) than buying those overpriced underlays. So take that.
    • I believe I still have the art file I altered a bit for use, I do not think I have the cut trace file anymore sadly. The cut trace can easily be made by taking the wooden board off and tracing that with a pencil onto some large sheet of paper. If someone restoring a Tapper CT wants that specific art file, you can send me a 'private' message. I will try finding it again.
    • I used polystyrene instead of cardboard, I consider the plastic underlay to be much better (I would go as far as saying -superior) because it is water proof. So many Bally cardboard underlays become water damaged and butt-ugly wrinkly from moisture.
    • The overall shape of the underlay is very different from the standard vertical monitor orientation bally cocktail. That is why matching the shape-trace is so important. Some of the websites selling a Tapper CT underlay product used the wrong shape-trace and it will not fit your machine!
    • The correct dimensions are: 23.875" X 33.875" (23 7/8" X 33 7/8") To the edge of the wood. Dimensions from the official flyer are WRONG, they list them as 22" x 32" Tapper Flyer
The machine was finally functional mid-2019; just in time to attended Zapcon 7.
After the show:
  • Repaired the faulty power cable
  • Increased the spring tension in the Tap-handles.
    • The spring tension in the tap handles was another challenge. I kept adding more and more spring steel to the tap handles to obtain a tension I thought was good. I ended up using the UR Tapper at Cobra Bar Arcade Tucson as a reference. I couldn't find any documentation on what the spring tension should be for Tapper. :confused2:
  • Like all CT's, I have to sell them eventually for space reasons. They take up the sqft of 2-3 URs typically. Ultimately I traded the game for a bunch of beat up CRTs (which I put up high on the suspended ceiling shelf, taking up zero floor space)
Tapper CT was a cool machine to own. I know the upright has all the sweet art, but this is one of the few games where I prefer the cocktail version... it naturally fits into it's appropriate habitat at a pub, lounge, living room, etc... It's furniture, which fits the games theme so well. I've grown to appreciate CT's more as a result of owning this game. It used to see them as parts donors, but now I understand that they have their niche place in collections. :cool2:

Pictures of the before:
Tapper Rastan 2.png
IMG_7136_zps0ohbzf9j.JPG
IMG_7138_zpsihv2fkhv.JPG
IMG_7140_zpsvduyl2yq (3).JPGIMG_7141_zpst0g6wib4.JPG
IMG_7142_zps1oklojhw.JPGIMG_7146_zpsslzg7chg.JPG

After 'Restoration' :

IMG_5972.JPG
tapper_1.JPG
tapper_8.JPG
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