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nam9

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So I posted this up in the 'Recent Purchases' thread recently and plan to share my progress here.

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The cab is 'complete' to the best of my knowledge - the seller apparently received numerous offers to part out the NeoGeo 2-slot and/or the monitor but fortunately turned them down.
It did come with an OG Xbox installed which was a nice addition.

These cabs were built up in Trondheim, Norway by a company called Lars Berg AS, hence the LB on the speaker grill. Their same design is used in generic Jamma cabs as well as branded Neo Geo cabs.
As things are already 80% there, I am planning to complete the Neo Geo theme to look like this:

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I am not planning on preforming any miracles - there is some minor cosmetic damage here and there, but it falls more into 'patina' than 'eyesore' territory.
I'll be happy if I can get things fully functional and consider anything else as bonus.

Here are the pics from the ad:

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First task is to get the Neo Geo MV-2F back up and running. The previous owner only made use of the Xbox it seems.
Then its time to take a closer look at the monitor and see what sort of maintenance is required. Never touched an arcade CRT before, so that is my biggest concern.
 

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So here are two pics of the Jamma harness:

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Couple things going on here... but first I'll mention again that this cab was wired for MVS Jamma.

The Xbox that was installed used an Xbox to Jamma PCB - that could well explain the scorch marks on the resistor attached to pins 10/L.
As this cab is mono only, Speaker Left and Speaker Right are tied together with a resistor on each output. No idea what was like on the Xbox unit, but clearly wasn't healthy.

Probably also explains the cut ground wires on pins 27/28, Ae/Af. Guess those caused issues, were cut and bundled up front.
Of course that means that the giant solder mass on Gnd, +5v etc is probably factory. Kind of odd as the rest of the cab is neatly organised.

Finally Game Select Up on pin 26 was cut and relocated to pin 11 for some reason. Its just twisted on and secured with the masking tape you see there...

Anyway... I have reattached the Game Select Up to pin 26. Pretty rough looking, but should be functional.
 
Up next: Cleaning the 2-slot Neo Geo unit. With the latches undone, the whole control panel slides out on rails. The MV-2F is mounted beneath.

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Pulled the PCB and turns out to be in amazing condition - this pic is before I even got as far as dusting.

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Some minor improvements. Leaking battery neutralised with white vinegar, and swapped out for a coin cell. Cart slots were already very clean. Added in Unibios v4.0

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And we're in business. I've managed to adjust the vertical distortion via pots mounted under the screen, but I guess i need to access the width coil for horizontal.

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Leaking battery neutralised with white vinegar, and swapped out for a coin cell.
Looks like you didn't disable the charging circuit. Alternatively, you could swap the coin cell for a rechargeable one.

Anyway, nice cab! I always regret not picking up a Finnish Neo cab. They were manufactured in Japan, but rebranded here in Finland.
 
@nem I pulled the 470ohm resistor, so charge circuit should be disabled... at least according to the @XianXi JNX tutorials..
 
Got to work on the control panel this week. Really happy with how it turned out!

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Progress shots:

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New CPO from Arcadeoverlays, and new hardware from ArcadeWorldUK.
Arcadeoverlays really came through in helping to fit their Neo Geo artwork to my rather non-standard panel.

For hardware I went with IL Eurosticks and Suzo Happ Classic buttons with Cherry switches.
Luckily the IL sticks fit the 80x50mm joystick holes on the panel. Just not super easy to centre them.
I also had to re-crimp the spade connectors on the harness. Previous buttons had half sized spades that these Cherry switches do not.
End result is a bit of a mixed bag... but that is well with in keeping with the overall style of the build :P
 
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Nice job but little bit odd button setup methinks.
 
The bottom foot rests make this look like a hybrid Craftsman Toolbox.
Neato looking cabinet indeed.

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Nice job but little bit odd button setup methinks.
I'm still not sure if this is a 3 to 4 button conversion, or if the panel was cut with the button placement template applied back to front...
If you look at the control panel of the 'stock' Big Red, it looks to have the same layout... B2,3&4 are not in a straight line:

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Maybe I got the offcut panel X/

The bottom foot rests make this look like a hybrid Craftsman Toolbox.
Neato looking cabinet indeed.

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:D
 
yeah not a straight line but totally different compared to the big red.
 
Still work in progress:

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Monitor is out for service. Burn in is quite apparent with the contrast screen removed. Looks like Fatal Fury - you can make out the life bars and round winner circles pretty clearly. The coin door had taken a beating - the whole panel was bent inwards slightly. Once I straightened things back out I found that also fixed the entire drawer. Everything slides in and out smoothly now :thumbup:

Not too much left to do I hope! Has anyone replaced their contrast screens before? Wondering what sort of tempered glass would work...
 
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Still work in progress:

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Monitor is out for service. Burn in is quite apparent with the contrast screen removed. Looks like Fatal Fury - you can make out the life bars and round winner circles pretty clearly. The coin door had taken a beating - the whole panel was bent inwards slightly. Once I straightened things back out I found that also fixed the entire drawer Everything slides in and out smoothly now :thumbup:

Not too much left to do I hope! Has anyone replaced their contrast screens before? Wondering what sort of tempered glass would work...
Beautiful work.
You're going to have the nicest cabinet in Norway.
If I ever get up there, I'd love to play on this thing, it's beyond rad.
I hear you guys got Salmon vodka out there.
 
Has anyone replaced their contrast screens before? Wondering what sort of tempered glass would work.
Any tempered glass will work. You could stick a tinting film on it afterwards. Look up videos on Youtube on how to apply one. The glass is small and straight (as opposed to curved), not hard to get right.
 
@psykom1 not sure about the vodka, but give me a heads up and I’ll have time to dig up the Gravlaks.. :thumbup:

@nem hadn’t thought of tinting it... could be a simpler option and I can always change the tint if it turns out too light or dark. That was my main concern!
 
So the monitor turned out to be in worse shape than first though...

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I had it serviced locally which sorted out the horizontal width issues, but almost immediately started sparking when reinstalled.
Back to the repair shop for a more thorough overhaul seemed to do the trick.

It's a Hantarex MTC 9300, so the chassis is housed in a nice plastic case which includes a built in PSU.
Unfortunately, that means the +5v adjustment pot is also located on the chassis - directly under the yoke, and only accessible with the rear panel removed :/

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Interestingly, there is a +5v pot on the front service panel! The wiring is bundled with the remote board, but leads to a 2pin connector that is disconnected.
I haven't found the other end, so it is possible that the monitor is not original, or the chassis has been swapped at some point. Who knows?

Back to the monitor itself, I found the colours were off when reconnecting the MVS. I had no light grey on the Unibios screen, and overall the image was too dark.
I followed this guide over on Arcade Otaku, but had issues with the RGB cutoff pots - I couldn't turn down the individual colours to zero.
Its possible to increase/decrease relative to one another... but not shut them down individually as per the guide.

Anyway, I have managed to improve the image to a point that its passable. Probably need to revisit in the future when I have a better idea of what I'm doing...
 

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Wow, that's definitely an interesting chassis.
 
Here are the final cosmetic updates!

I went with some custom scaled NeoGeo side art from arcadeartrepro.com
It's larger than the reference piece I was working from, but hey, Bigger, Badder, Better?
Spend an inordinate amount of time lining everything up on each side but I'm happy with the outcome.

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I also lined the edge around the CRT with black card to mask the bright red vinyl behind the plexiglass. Looks amazing with the lights out!

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Before & After :thumbup:

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So here is a gallery of similar Lars Berg models I have collected (as in the pictures, not the machines):

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And how about this model - you won't see it unless you expand the image, but it is fitted with stereo speakers and a 2-Slot marquee.
Really jealous of those chrome foot bars too 8o

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I like them! They actually included some neat design cues. I certainly wouldn't mind having one and I'm in no shape or form a 'woodie' fan.

EDIT: I actually had a BAS cab that's like the one on the right in the last pic. Absolutely awful button placement. BTW, can anyone identify what's the game on it? Looks a bit like that undumped shmup, Variant Schwanzer. Surely it isn't that though.
 
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