Shaker motors add a “4D” experience to a pinball machine by adding vibration effects to the feedback of lights, sound, and scores. The first pinball machine I owned with a shaker motor was a Stern Star Trek Pro pinball machine that had a shaker motor installed.
Later I added a shaker motor to my Stern Godzilla Premium. That was an easy install using an after-market shaker kit from Pinball Life. With modern Stern pinball machines like Star Trek and Godzilla, the shaker effects have been programmed in.
Installing a shaker motor into older pinball machines like Sega, Data East, and Early Stern pinball machines is a bit trickier but PinSound has a solution.
PinSound makes a soundboard that takes over the sound duties of older machines allowing one to change the sound effects and music in these older games by using their free software or downloading user-created soundtracks. You can even switch back and forth between various soundtracks.
For example for Lord of the Rings, some users have created soundtracks using direct quotes and music from the movies — assets that were not used in the original game due to licensing issues or memory space. PinSound stores the sound files on a flash drive so it doesn’t have the same memory constraints there might have been decades ago.
PinSound’s “Motion Control” add-on kit adds the ability to add one of 12 types of vibration patterns to various sounds. For example, a monster’s roar might be accompanied by a vibration pattern. The vibrations are completely customizable by duration and intensity. Keep in mind this is a large shaker so the whole cabinet vibrates.
The Motion Control kit includes an add-on board that connects to the PinSound board, the shaker motor and all wiring as well as excellent instructions.
Everything about the PinSound environment has been well thought out from software to the glowing leds on the boards, adjustment dials, labeled wires and templates for installing the shaker motor. The Motion Control board even includes a relay for additional output such as lights, a fan, fog machine or whatever.
NOTE: The hardest part of this install was screwing down the shaker motor to the bottom of the cabinet as there is little room to get a nut driver down on the left side. Have a good set of nut drivers on hand.
Other tools needed will be a hammer and maybe some extra zip ties.
Other than that and downloading the latest firmware, the installation was easy. Getting the motion control and intensity will just require tweaking to your liking.
