Searching for Bally EM Slot model 960 schematic

[Snux1]

A long shot, like most of these requests, but if you don't ask..........

I've worked on a lot of Bally EM slots over the years, but just acquired one that was going to be thrown in a skip and it's the most complex I've seen. The one I have goes by the name "Night Life" and it was posted on here for sale a few weeks back. I bought one of his other machines and he offered me this one too. It's not been used in years and all grease in the mechs/steppers has turned to glue, so it'll need a major overhaul.

It has a standard hold/draw function, but there is a lot more. Each win starts a feature that allows you to gamble for evens/double/nothing, this uncovers what Bally called a "Ghost Reel" and spins just that one. There are standard and "golden" (double) odds which are random, and also at random the "BALLY" symbol can be wild on between 1 and 3 reels.

Tracking down the model number took some time as there are no clues inside, but after some detective work on the FB Bally group we've found it's a previously undocumented variant of model 960. All the 960 variants are basically the same, differing only in the payouts and the artwork. Other 960 models known are "Club Ambassador" and "Embassy Club".

So while the mainly US members in the FB group could help identify it, as it was a UK export-only model no documentation has come to light. I've looked in all the "normal" places (bingo.cdyn etc), searched the web and Ebay etc (I have a message out to one Ebay seller that seems to have a lot of slot schematics) but so far nothing found. I don't really need a parts manual as the machine appears complete, but to be in with a realistic shot of getting it back up and running I need to try and find a schematic.

If anyone has one, or knows someone that picked up paperwork from a distributor or operator and might have something, please let me know. If someone has a copy and doesn't want to part with it, if I could borrow it and get a copy made I'd be happy to then return it and make a donation to charity.

All leads appreciated. Here are a few pics of the beast.... it's in one of those fairly ugly console cabinets, but this style gives a lot more elbow room to work on the insides!

[wolftalk]

it looks similar to a 979 "lucky wheels" which I think also is a 4 reeler with the shutter thing over reel 4 and is a hold-n-draw.

I haven't processed/posted the schematic yet, but I can move it up the queue if it may be useful.

can you email me as many highest possible resolution pics of the insides of the game as possible to slotpics@cdyn.com - especially labels on relays and other units so I can see if the 979 is relevant.

[Snux1]

I'll send some pics over now.  From a quick search it appears to have a lot in common with the 979 although quite a few differences.  Anything is better than nothing!

[wolftalk]

there's stuff in https://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/960-x and there's stuff in https://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/979/ now.

the 979 schematic is work-in-progress, but it's mostly readable.  I'll try and get it done in the next couple days.

[Snux1]

Thanks Phil.  I've replied to your email, I'll see if I can get the 968 paperwork scanned this side of the pond

[wolftalk]

if it's not exhorbitantly expensive, please scan schematics at 600dpi in color saved in a lossless format like png or tif.    Makes it a lot easier to remove the background noise and clean them up.

'course, the file size is typically 200+MB with color at that resolution :-)

if scanning in chunks on a flatbed scanner, please overlap the scan pieces at least 20% so software can automatically stitch the pieces back together.  Orientation of the pieces isn't a problem as the software automatically rotates things for alignment.

it's possible to use highest resolution camera images, but that often means making a reproduction schematic as it's difficult to keep the camera at the same distance and angle unless you mount the camera and move the schematic underneath it.