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Silverline Jamma Arcade


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This is something you don't see every day, not in Australia anyway. A project cabinet which I picked up, mainly because I've never seen one here. Searching "Silverline" on this site yielded no results at all so I thought I'd share.

It's not from here, originally. It's not from Japan, USA or China either. Any guesses?

silver.jpg.c2b4482ca1b3038f8235910f86978eca.jpg

It's a Silverline arcade machine which was apparently quite common in the UK in the '90s but probably never officially exported here. It's a generic, JAMMA wired cabinet, intended to accommodate any 'standard' JAMMA PCB.

With a 20" CRT monitor and a control panel typically supplied as a 2 player, 3 button layout it's quite compact while a larger version with 26" monitor was also made. This one appears to have been modified with six buttons per player for fighting games, the layout looks a little awkward though compared to larger cabinets.

silver1.jpg.c0baba59982c9e7ecdc6516f73321cee.jpg

At first glance it seems in pretty good condition with only a few bumps and scrapes. The original, glass marquee and bezel are present and intact. The Mars ME111 coin mech and matching credit PCB are there and still labelled for UK currency, not having been operated commercially here.

Putting it in the van, the water damage to the plinth becomes obvious - amazing the machine was still standing up straight. MDF was obviously a very poor choice of material for this section, fortunately the entire plinth can be fairly easily removed and re-made using something more suitable.

silver2.jpg.3fc144ce14df86460f18b362c1e326e3.jpg

Thankfully, the cabinet side panels are not bad, a little spreading at the bottom which should be corrected with a bit of glueing, clamping and re-cutting the T moulding grooves.

The back door panel is also a bit swollen at the bottom, having been left off and resting on wet ground at some point. It's not a write-off and with matching finish to the rest of the cabinet it's worth saving. I'll trim the bottom edge and refit the guide strip, also trimming a bit off the thickness on the inside only, at the bottom so it sits in its recess a little better. It will overhang slightly on the outside but it won't be too obvious and it's on the back, after all.

The key to the cash box area is missing so if I can't pick it I'll drill that out and replace the lock, either way.

The monitor works, JAMMA wiring is all there, it's just missing the arcade PSU as it had been running a PC with MAME via a JAMMA adaptor. Looks like the JAMMA power wires are still there, they had just been taped off when the PSU was not required.

It has an interesting feature, looks like the control panel is attached to a pull out shelf which the game board can be mounted to so the control panel can hinge down and slide out to gain access to or replace the game PCB. I'll take a photo of that next time I work on it, for the moment it's been put in the corner, waiting its turn.

To be continued...

Regards, John.

Edited by jbtech
typo
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Hi, the CRT is a Samsung, I didn't recognise the chassis but doing a bit of reading some had Hantarex monitors, will have a better look at it down the track. It does have a frame so the monitor can be removed or rotated as a unit.

I wasn't too worried about the button layout as I don't really plan to put a 6 button game in there. They looked better with 3 buttons in photos I've seen. I could blank off any unused ones but like the idea of having a full complement in case I want to run or test any PCBs in the cab. Original style reproduction 'blank' CPOs also appear to be available from the UK.

I have a little lowboy which was running Street Fighter 2, its layout is pretty crowded but the buttons are in rows, at least. The Silverline cab is even narrower than the lowboy.

Regards, John

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On 02/11/2021 at 7:41 AM, namastepat said:

We were having a chuckle at the horrific button layout 🙂

 

On 02/11/2021 at 6:38 PM, Brad said:

what the hell were they thinking with that button layout 🤣

I have to agree and think this cab is much better suited to a 3 button game or 4 button, at a pinch. It's really too narrow (less than 600mm overall) for 2 players, six buttons but as it was running all the games using MAME I guess they added where they could. It didn't help that the 2 start buttons are also on the top of the control panel, not on the front.

There's a picture on an old UKVAC forum post (I'll link the post here rather than using the photo unfairly)

http://www.ukvac.com/forum/silverline-60in1_topic338422.html

In the photo the machine on the left has an original looking 3 button layout, I think that matches my machine and the extra buttons were added around that.

I'd like to reinstall the red, white and blue buttons in those positions and either blank off the rest or just add black buttons and wire them to inputs 4,5 and 6 (separate connections for 5 and 6 I guess as they don't fit the JAMMA standard anyway) which would allow other boards to be swapped in and tested at least, if not an ideal layout for playing.

I'd like to find a period correct game to install in this cab, looking for 2 player, 3 button or 4 button games from the era and also considering the overall cabinet shape it seems to lend itself to this:-

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7619

Any other suggestions? Either way, I'm sticking with the generic artwork, I wouldn't change the marquee, bezel or control panel overlay as that would lose the cabinet's identity.

Regards, John.

 

 

 

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I hate the 3 button trio layout. It makes 3 button games a little unfit for use imo. I'd go 3 buttons per player but I'd slightly arc then horizontally instead. IF you went for lay it out like on my Italian Cab. (

 

See image below. If 3 buttons do the top 3 only. (Green, yellow, Red)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ah, yes, the standard 2 player, 4 buttons + ashtray layout!

Thanks @Brad , that's a good point about the 3 button trio layout also being awkward though. Maybe instead of using the 'original' 3 button holes in a triangle layout I can use the top 3 in an arc as you suggest for a 3 button game.

Here's a photo of the control panel open with the pull out shelf which gives easy access to a game PCB. I've swapped the plain red and blue buttons into those positions to see how they feel, when I get it running.

silver3.jpg.4dd2dc5802da0d5412da5e174a80307a.jpg

At the moment I'm working on a new plinth to replace the swollen /  soggy mdf one in the photo up above.

Regards, John

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  • 5 months later...

Hi, not much progress with the Silverline as yet, sorry to say - it's in the back corner of the garage waiting its turn. I did make a new plinth to replace the soggy mdf one, out of formwork ply but haven't made a space for the cab in the main 'workshop' as yet. A couple of other machines have jumped the repair queue, prompting a 'cabinet reshuffle'...

I did see those UK replacement contol panel overlays which look really nice but as the cabinet is Jamma wired I think I'll keep the original CP, set it up mainly for 3 or 4 button games but keep buttons 5 and 6 just for testing out other PCBs. It's handy the way the control panel opens and a shelf slides out to easily swap the game boards. I have some black buttons to put in the two bottom holes for each player so they are less obvious but still functional if required. I realise the layout isn't great for 6 button games but it will be OK for testing at a pinch.

It still has the original joysticks and 1 / 2 player start buttons as you can see in the photos but the machine is really narrow hence the crowded layout. The original glass bezel and marquee are both in good shape, thankfully. The original coin mech is still there but I have a spare Mars mech.which is programmed for Aus. currency so might swap that in.

I'm trying to finish off a couple of repairs at the moment and will hopefully have some progress to report on this and other projects in the near future. Thanks for the interest, regards, John.

 

 

 

 

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That sliding speaker panel is curious, it doesn't even seem to serve a purpose yet it was incorporated with such intention, It's saving grace is the fact it is in your garage...Personally I would reconfigure that sliding panel to be more about structural while opening the inside to airflow, Lose the control panel altogether and start over with a single player game, like Defender or something And change the coin door to be a double slot.

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Hi, it does look like that in the photo, but the speaker is below the marquee. Those oval slots allow access to the control panel locking clips from below so the control panel and shelf can be opened by reaching in via the coin door. They would allow some airflow as well, there aren't any other slots or vents in that shelf.

The thing which intrigued me about this machine is it's a bit different to locally made generic cabinets and there wouldn't be many in Australia at all though they're apparently very common in the UK where they were made. Its dimensions are more like a cabaret or trimline cabinet, very compact compared to a dedicated upright cabinet. I'm guessing it's a 90's era cab or late 80's at least being Jamma wired and will try to set it up with a period correct game.

I like to retain original features, good or bad wherever possible and though it won't be used commercially I like the coin mechs, counters and any other fittings to be functional if possible. Those Mars electronic coin mechs take up to 4 denominations but this one looks like it was programmed for 10pence through to Pound coins. They can apparently be reprogrammed but the devices or even the protocol for doing that seem elusive. I do have a spare one which was preprogrammed for Aus. currency so that is an easy swap.

It's an interesting cab. which I picked up out of curiosity and just needs a tidy up to bring it back to a useable state. If anyone else has one in Australia I'd love to hear.

Thanks, regards, John.

Edited by jbtech
found a typo...
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