1961 SPACE JETBELL PIGGY BACK SLOT

[MONTI]

Well I guess I should have shied away from this machine when it made its way through my shop door but I didn't as unfortunately when it comes to slot machines after 35 plus years of doing this I am always up to the challenge! I'm a stubborn Italian, what can I say?

It had quite a few issues with the mechanical portion of the machine which I was able to correct pretty quickly and the mech is now working perfectly as to its operation and the timing between each reel assembly is also proper however the electronic portion having to do with payouts is a nightmare.

Voltage is present for the proper function of the coin acceptor and correctly triggers the solenoid for the handle to properly activate the reel mechanism when a coin is detected but the payouts are nonexistent.

The electronic portion of this machine is nothing like an early Bally and the switching used as well as the unique payout control units mounted on the inside of the door apparently are not functioning properly and as I am without a schematic, a wiring diagram or any form of documentation on this puppy to check for proper voltages being present it is a pain to diagnose.

If I am right the company originally started out as Pace Manufacturing, well known in the early slot machine industry, then Pace was bought out by Ace, then Ace was bought out by Space and the company finally ended up as Allied in Henderson Nevada where it died never to be seen or heard from again.

If there is anyone out there who has any documentation on this puppy, schematics, wiring diagrams, Etc. either answer me here or contact me at montislots@thegrid.net

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE,
MONTI

SHOWING THE FRONT OF THE PIGGY BACK SLOT WITH ITS SMALL FOOTPRINT AND BEING RATHER SHORT IT FIT WELL INTO THE CASINOS OF THE TIME!

SHOWING THE UNIQUE PIGGY BACKING OF THE REEL MECHANISMS, EACH MECH HAD ITS OWN CLOCK AND AN ADJUSTABLE BAR ON THE SIDE ALLOWED FOR PROPER TIMING BETWEEN THE TWO MECHANISMS.

INSIDE THE DOOR SHOWING THE TWO PAYOUT CONTROL DEVICES, ONE FOR EACH REEL ASSEMBLY.

PAYOUT HOPPER AND OTHER COMPONENTS IN THE LOWER PORTION OF THE CASE.

[Anglobritish]

The only person who is still alive that can answer any questions about this machine is Marshall Fey, the cabinet was designed by Lou Benetti, he designed several of the last Mills cabinets, he also designed the original cabinet that housed the last watling mechanism's that went to England, Benettii had Nevada Novelty in Reno, the company is still operating games , but Lou Benetti's grandson will not come to the phone.

[MONTI]

Thanks for the feedback, knew Lou back in the day prior to his death when Nevada Novelty was located on Silverado Blvd., 1901 Silverado, if I remember correctly, had some interaction with Lou Jr. after his father passed in the 90's but he was more into the electronic machines.
Lou Senior had vending and slot routes in Reno/Sparks and sold some machines to the cruise ships, great guy.
Had also been to his house and saw some of the Floor Wheels he had there, George Miles and I bought some of his machines, George, another guy who's no longer with us, all the good old boys are dying off.
Lou owned a bar in Sparks also, never thought about him having anything to do with the JET BELL, have to research that a bit.
I know Ace manufacturing was in Sparks, possibly he was part of that company, don't know.
Also knew Baldechie built cases in Sparks for the casino revamps, didn't know Lou did, learn something everyday, right?

And thanks for mentioning Marshall, hadn't talked to him since a little after his collection was auctioned off after the Liberty Bell closed, I've got his number I'll give him a call as he, if anyone, would possibly have some documentation on the machine, that's what he does, right?

Anyone else out there have any thoughts, let me know.
Ciao,
Monti

[Anglobritish]

Hi Monti,
Seems you know several of the old timers up there, did you know Ron Brooks up in Virginia City, also in the early 1980's, I bought a fully restored Watling Rol-A-Top and a Treasury machine from A-1 in Reno, I knew Si Redd he once sent his Lear jet to Vegas to pick me up, and bring me to the IGT factory, when his plane landed, they rolled out a red carpet for him and his wife Marilyn and their dog. Did you know Logan Pierce he was chief of production at IGT. Also Lane Fleischer who made some repro machines out your way, I think he finished up in Arizona, probably buried in the desert, he was also involved with Balduchi at one time. Did you know that the Watling tooling was sent to Reno in the 1950's, for fear of it getting destroyed by the government after the Johnson Act came into force.it was sold to George Brock and Kenyon Wilkingson who brought it to England and they formed Bell-Fruit, the company is still in existance, Balduchi was involved in that deal also. If you go to www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk and type Freddy Bailey in the search box, all my articles will come up, you can then read about the 50th Anniversary of Bell-Fruit and see some of the Balduchi cabinets.

Also one of my best friends of 40 years was Mickey Wichinsky, Mickey died over a year ago, we held a couple of patent designs together, I have been helping Mickey's wife Zola to settle his estate, he left me a Keno machine that he designed in 1957.

Freddy Bailey

[Anglobritish]

Monti,
A quick thought, Jack Lavignia and Doc Kaufman designed a Roulette out your way in 1960 they called it the ACME Roulette, they were close to Bally and Doc, was later a trouble shooter for that company, your mechanism as a lot of Bally characteristics, also possibly Raven Electronics. Also can anyone identify

[MONTI]

Hi Monti,
Seems you know several of the old timers up there, did you know Ron Brooks up in Virginia City, also in the early 1980's, I bought a fully restored Watling Rol-A-Top and a Treasury machine from A-1 in Reno, I knew Si Redd he once sent his Lear jet to Vegas to pick me up, and bring me to the IGT factory, when his plane landed, they rolled out a red carpet for him and his wife Marilyn and their dog. Did you know Logan Pierce he was chief of production at IGT. Also Lane Fleischer who made some repro machines out your way, I think he finished up in Arizona, probably buried in the desert, he was also involved with Balduchi at one time. Did you know that the Watling tooling was sent to Reno in the 1950's, for fear of it getting destroyed by the government after the Johnson Act came into force.it was sold to George Brock and Kenyon Wilkingson who brought it to England and they formed Bell-Fruit, the company is still in existance, Balduchi was involved in that deal also. If you go to http://www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk and type Freddy Bailey in the search box, all my articles will come up, you can then read about the 50th Anniversary of Bell-Fruit and see some of the Balduchi cabinets.

Also one of my best friends of 40 years was Mickey Wichinsky, Mickey died over a year ago, we held a couple of patent designs together, I have been helping Mickey's wife Zola to settle his estate, he left me a Keno machine that he designed in 1957.

Freddy Bailey

Well Yes,
I've been around the block a few times, to say the least!
Worked in the casino's in the 60's and 70's, started out in the slot shop. under the teachings of some old pros in the business, then spent some time in the cat walks looking for slot and table cheats, there were a lot of "cross roaders" in those early days.
Got moved down to the casino floor as a spotter, floorman, shift super and anything else that needed doing, which in those earlier days covered a multitude of sins.
There was nothing like those days in the casino's.
If we caught a slot cheat in those days, it was all handled internally, if you know what I mean!
Didn't personally know Si but we did bump into each other once in a while kind of being in the same circles, so to speak.
Hung out at the Shy Clown a lot with boys there also when I was in Sparks.
Worked with Milos "Sharkey" Begovich in South Lake Tahoe, Stateline Nevada at the old Nugget casino when it was owned by Dick Chartrand, they've both been gone for a while now too. Dick didn't leave cuz he wanted to but that's another story.
Did you know Dave Mercer from Tahoe City? Used to pick up old English machines in Europe and bring them back to the states in the 80's, he's been gone for quite a while now also.
Anyway, I'll check out you writings, been told I could write a book but never have.
Ciao,
Monti

[MONTI]

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Monti,
A quick thought, Jack Lavignia and Doc Kaufman designed a Roulette out your way in 1960 they called it the ACME Roulette, they were close to Bally and Doc, was later a trouble shooter for that company, your mechanism as a lot of Bally characteristics, also possibly Raven Electronics. Also can anyone identify

There was a lot of scrambling going on in the early 60's trying to keep up with the early Bally's which were starting to be used quite heavily, oh, and I did call Marshall and he reminded me why the Space Jet Bell was a short lived machine, it had hopper issues and payout issues and the hopper would randomly kick out coins and sometimes dump everything which was not appreciated by the casino, He said the old Palace Club had quite a few of them.
As for similar to a Bally, the Space Jet Bell had a similar coin acceptor unit but the rest was quite different and from what I have heard, made use of old telephone relays as part of the payout circuitry.
I think the thing was doomed before it left the factory but this one being a piggy back with not many made is probably worth bringing back to life, maybe?

[Dave]

Speaking of Acme Roulette.

I owned one of those a while back.

It is a neat machine. However, it is very big and has an ugly case (IMO).

You can place a ton of simultaneous bets.

If you go to YouTube and do a search you can probably see a couple of examples.

[Midcoast Vintage]

I have seen a couple of these ACME ROULETTE machines that people have re-covered in wood veneer, and they looked far more attractive.
Not original, but... a lot better looking.
One of them was re-done in quarter sawn oak veneer, and it looked great.
The nickname for these machines back when the horde was discovered was WHITE ELEPHANT'.
There is a fabulous looking roulette machine called I believe ROULETTE-O" that is in a cabinet similar to a Paces Races cabinet. I believe it was made by Evans.
RARE... and BEAUTIFUL.
I have only seen one of these ever.

[MONTI]

Speaking of Acme Roulette.

I owned one of those a while back.

It is a neat machine. However, it is very big and has an ugly case (IMO).

You can place a ton of simultaneous bets.

If you go to YouTube and do a search you can probably see a couple of examples.

Dave,
Getting back to the SPACE JETBELL, you have been around a while and have quite an extensive collection, do you possible know of where any documentation on the Space slot machine may be found?
I have checked with most of my connections in the slot machine hobby and have come up dry.
Let me know,
Monti