A GBA conversation about string pinsetters with Erin and Rob + Aaron and Mike - Garage Bowling Alley

Rob and Erin talk about her recent visit to bowl on string pinsetters. Cut those strings ! Free Fall Pinsetters forever !
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Pinsetter s/n 3690 built in 1956. Pinsetter and lane from a closed church in Ft Worth, parts acquired from various other sources in Ohio.
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#cutthosestrings #brunswick #amf #fun #funny #garagebowlingalley #gba #bowling #bowl

[@beetleworks738]

Watching the free fall pinsetter do its thing is half of the fun

[@pbwizard2007]

Erin did a great job with this 'interview'. Well said and well done, Erin.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

It was a FUN interview.

[@michaelmcdonough7949]

CUT THOSE STRINGS!!!!!!! FREE FALL ONLY!!!!!

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Long Live free fall !

[@FranBushardt]

Great Job ERIN!! BOYCOTT STRING LANES! MERRY CHRISTMAS GARAGE BOWLERS!!!

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Merry Christmas to you too ! Thanks for watching as always 😎🎳

[@DrummerboysWashersAndMore]

I just bowled on string pinsetter last night for the first time and it was awful. The pin action is different, there’s much less pin action, and the strings often prevent pins from doing things that they otherwise would do. Multiple times i watched a pin come across the deck to hit another pin, and then get yoinked back by the string. That and there’s no “off spot” pins. If it slides but stays up, it gets respotted to where it was originally, and countless times a pin standing in the gutter was counted as still standing. The amount of tangles is also infuriating, And takes more time than something like an A-2, or 82-70.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Thank you for vindicating us 🎳🙂✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️

[@riversarcadereview385]

I haven't bowled in about 10 years due to injury although I do help with a handicapped league and I have noticed with Brunswick's newest string machine (2022), I have noticed no difference in pinfall between the new strings and the old 82-30s. as a retired mechanic, I have found the drop off of league bowling is the reason centers don't want to pay a proper wage for mechanics. when I began, my center had a 6 and a 9:30 pm league 5 days a week and 4 shifts on Sundays all full houses. my last center had only one full house the entire week

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

I keep hoping for a rebound but doubt we will ever see that happen. If nothing else a stabilization with remaining centers. Bank when I started it was 58 lanes from 6pm til 2am 7 days a week. 2 shifts a league followed by open play til alcohol pickup.

[@riversarcadereview385]

@@GarageBowlingAlley - the biggest center by me was Miami Bowl (where you got the orange Arena Masking unit) which had 80 lanes and was open 24/7

[@riversarcadereview385]

@@GarageBowlingAlley - I was able to buy a top-end ball and win 3 times as much my first night after purchase now the cost of a new ball will require someone like me to sweep the pots for the entire season to come close to breaking even.

[@donbuttaccio4464]

I can see string pinsetters strictly for kids play n birthday celebrations type situations & gatherings but never for pro or league bowl.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Totally agree 😎🎳

[@franknewman2532]

String pin has been on the Canadian game of 5 pin since the 1960's. Good luck trying to stop it. Was there this big of resistance when synthetic lanes came.

[@FranBushardt]

5 Pin Bowling with Strings are a Different thing! I have no problem with Synthetic Lanes as that does save Lane Maintaining! A Couple Houses in Western NY still Have Wood Lanes and they require Yearly Resurfacing and thats Downtime they cannot be used.

[@LongtowerNyc]

5 pin isn’t real bowling… Two different animals.

[@franknewman2532]

@@LongtowerNyc ya 5 pin is hard

[@cr2822]

Well, thanks for sharing Erin. I agree. I do not enjoy bowling with string pinsetters. All I can say is, "I did not know that!"😄

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Mike wanted that thrown in 🙂🎳

[@fazbearentertainmentinc6514]

✂️🎳 *snip snip strings*

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Get those hedge clippers out ! ✂️🎳

[@NipkowDisk]

Stringed pins are OK for amusement park bowling and nothing else. Period.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Exactly ! ✂️🎳✂️🎳✂️🎳✂️

[@ilovetoysto1]

yes find a mechanic do away with string pins. Pin dominator posted video one month ago. in the 2nd frame he bowled it took 10 trys for the machine to set up all 10 pins.What A joke.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Agreed !

[@lightingnut]

Strings suck. The pin fall is not the same as free fall.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Spread the word ! Snip those strings ✂️✂️. I agree. It isn't the same at all

[@davidseeburger8448]

I'm not in favor of string bowling!

[@LongtowerNyc]

I buy used bowling equipment and this is the problem. Brunswick and AmF made ZERO effort to find train new techs to repair and Maintence the machines.. All of the mechanics are in their 50 and up.. You’ll rarely if ever see any 20 year old techs working on the machines. I recently bought 12 GSX and last week picked up 8 Amf 82/90 xli Machines. Both centers converted to string because nobody could fix the machines. Amf/Brunswick is totally to blame for this. Instead of marketing balls, bags they should be going to trade schools/bowling centers promoting apprenticeships and training….. as of now 5400 string pin machines are on order from AMF…. Bowling is absolutely doomed! They only care about profits, not preserving the sport. I’ll NEVER waste a penny of my money in a string pin center. Even if the corrupt ABC sanctions it!

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

I am personally doing pinsetter maintenance videos for the bpaa right now and have a list of videos on our KZbin page trying to help people with those. They're even trying to start a line of AMF videos as well for those who want to learn

[@LongtowerNyc]

@@GarageBowlingAlley That’s awesome and necessary. Best of luck and success. I’ll be watching.

[@SPINAL_MEN_IN_JESUS]

this is genuinely by far the most relevant and objective comment in this feed. thank you

[@daltondick5223]

Hopefully this video shows the bowling industry that string pinsetters are not the future. To those out there who put strings in, I wish you luck on your amount of business cause it’s gonna drop. FREEFALLS FOREVER🎉

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

We're hoping it helps show as bowlers we don't want that !

[@SPINAL_MEN_IN_JESUS]

THIS VIDEO IS WILD. As a former certified pinspotter mechanic whos worked on A2s and 72-80s ranging from 30 to 70 years old. ive seen these machines and played on these machines. i get that as tried and true boomers you all hate change, but the minor inconvenience of having to reset/respot pins on your lanes due to string malfunctions far outweighs the dozens of hours, and thousands of dollars it takes to replace a single assembly in a conventional machine. youre just not looking at it from an objective standpoint... your sport/industry is dying. simpler updated machines mean fewer stops, fewer part replacements, more time and money that goes towards the rest of your bowling experience. seeing i know how alot of you league bowlers are. theres nothing that anyone can do to make you happy anyway. so drink your own tears while you slowly start bowling on more and more string machines.

[@lightingnut]

I was a mechanic on 82-70s back in the mid to late 70s. I want to know how much are the centers paying to remove and replace their free fall machines? And how long will it take to recoup that cost? Don't forget to count the loss of league bowlers not willing to bowl with string machines reducing the amount of income coming in. I think bowling is on its way out, only faster now due to string machines. A fun observation i have seen. There is a very good 2 handed bowler that has a youtube channel and he did a nice video on a collage bowling alley that switched to string and there definitely is a difference in how the pins fall, and not in a good way.

[@GarageBowlingAlley]

Great response. Thank you. Spend $25k per machine x how many lanes.....that's a long time to profit to recoup that money. I'm hearing the tangle rate comes on a lot sooner than expected.