Jersey Jack Pinball Guns N' Roses

Repairs, Restorations, Tweaks and Insights

Introduction

August 27, 2022

Jersey Jack's Guns N' Roses pinball is an incredible pin, starting from the first game where you experience the amazing band introduction with full playfield spotlight effect. This sets the quality bar and JJP's Guns N' Roses keeps impressing. This pin sets a new standard in several areas.

I've always thought the band Guns N' Roses was fine, but I am not a huge Guns N' Roses fan. Having never owned any of their CDs, I could probably only list 3 of their songs. My praise of the Guns N' Roses pin isn't based on some deep love of the band.

Here are some notable aspects of the Guns N' Roses pinball machine

Game lighting effects are the best I've seen.
Superb theme integration with real band member callouts
20+ full length songs
Very musical sound effects along with riffs done by Slash himself
Best cabinet art package I've seen (LE version).
Unique playfield items such as guitar string ramp, spinning record, guitar neck 6-ball lock, and Thunderchucker drum stick lane
The game has tremendous flow.

I’m having a blast. It all fits together, creating something I’ve never seen before.

Concert Light Show

September 3, 2022

The JJP Guns N Roses pre-game concert light show is incredible. I was taken aback when I first saw it. This light show occurs when you first play the game or after it has been idle for some time. Here's a video.

Ball Sneaks Back into Plunger Lane

September 3, 2022

Sometimes when you plunge the ball in Guns N Roses, the ball sneaks back into the plunger lane. This isn't how the game is designed to work because there is a 1-way gateway and should prevent the return. The solution is well documented (Pinside, elsewhere) and simply involves adding 2 washers to the gate, effectively lowering it.

I wanted to better understand how the ball was sneaking back and while the washers will resolve the problem. I took a 120 fps video of the ball while it was sneaking back to the plunger lane. You can see it below.

The video shows the following:

The plunge looks fine. Ball goes through the gate and the gate closes 100%. It's very still.
When the ball comes back toward the gate, it hits the gate.
The ball bounces back a little.
The force of the ball hitting the gate causes the gate to spring out a little.
When timing is "right" (or wrong depending on your perspective), the ball rolls just under the gate after it springs out.
With the gate now resting on top of the ball, gravity and the design of this area causes the ball to roll back to the plunger.

The fix is incredibly easy. Simply add four #6 washers, two on each post between the 1-way gate and its bracket.

The image below shows the nuts that hold the 1-way gate in place.

Remove the two nuts with a 5/16" driver, allowing the 1-way gate top drop down and be removed. Below is a picture showing the playfield with the 1-way gate removed followed by a picture of the removed 1-way gate.

Drop two #6 washers onto each of the posts. The picture below shows 2 of the washers installed.

With the four #6 washers divided between the posts, place the 1-way gate back into the housing and tighten the nuts. The 1-way gate is now just a little lower, preventing the gate from opening enough to allow the ball back though.