Quoted from Vengeance

Just a note, hopefully no one is taking this debate personally.

End of the day they are your machines and do whatever the hell you like to them.

It's a slow day at work so a lively discussion always help pass the time   

No, no. Nothing personal at all. At the end of the day it all comes down to personal preferance, and I too have seen games with %100 cointaker LEDs and agree with you on ghosting. So to actually get back on topic here,
I believe that noflix from pinball center are hands down the best LEDs period. You can watch YouTube videos of them tested against 2 other brands of LEDs and it's obvious that they are the better product.
There customer support is great, I have placed several orders from Marco at pinballcenter and pointed out a few missed inserts on his bsd kit. He quickly sent me the missing bulbs as well as a few other goodies. They also have a large assortment of different colours and shapes and you can really make a game your own.
If your ever in Ottawa, come try my noflix bsd and see what a great product it is.  

I have used Bruce Crawford's LEDs and Ablaze.  I did notice the most of the BCS 555 bulbs needed to have to contact wires pulled of to the edges a bit so that they made contact in the socket.  I have had no problem with bulbs dying or anything like that.  I have used the BCS LEDs only in the insert in my CV and I feel they look incredible.  I recently used the BCS colour changing bulbs under the CV marvel inserts and they look great too.  I just placed an order with Coin Taker for the complete LED kit for my new SM so I can't comment on those yet.  The BCS LEDs are a little more expensive but I have found the quality to be much better than the Ablaze LEDs.  I bought some of the Ablaze ones (around 8 of them) for another pin and half of them died within the first month.

OT: For reference, some people like "tripe" some don't.  Same thing with LEDs.  'nuff said.  

Quoted from sensfreak

I have used Bruce Crawford's LEDs and Ablaze.  I did notice the most of the BCS 555 bulbs needed to have to contact wires pulled of to the edges a bit so that they made contact in the socket.  I have had no problem with bulbs dying or anything like that.  I have used the BCS LEDs only in the insert in my CV and I feel they look incredible.  I recently used the BCS colour changing bulbs under the CV marvel inserts and they look great too.  I just placed an order with Coin Taker for the complete LED kit for my new SM so I can't comment on those yet.  The BCS LEDs are a little more expensive but I have found the quality to be much better than the Ablaze LEDs.  I bought some of the Ablaze ones (around 8 of them) for another pin and half of them died within the first month.

have you contacted Terry ref the Ablaze?  Terry is a good guy and stands behind his products. He even has PinballLife on facebook

Well, I can only comment on the Cointaker LED's they sell at Starburst. So far, probably out of a couple hundred bulbs only 3 didnt work. The warm white look good as GI's generally, the cool white look great as GI's in my Stargate. I tricked out my T2 and Stargate. Yes it screws with your eyes on the T2, thats what I love about it actually. It adds to the craziness. And, I can still see fine, had no problem putting up a couple 300+ million games on it last night. And my Stargate gave me a rather nice 1.6 billion last night too and the way I set up the LED's, theres not another Stargate on the planet that looks as cool as this one does.
Thats the thing about LEDs, its not just popping some in and leaving it at that. It took me hours of trying this bulb, that bulb, in different areas just to finally get the perfect affect.

But thats it, I wont be putting LEDs in my HS, for example...just wouldnt look right. Or on my Wof...it wouldnt work out right I think...you have to have the right machines for it.

Stan

Has anybody here added LEDs to a TZ?  I am planning to get a couple of things and if able would order LEDs as well.  I need to add the diverter magnet, Cliffys for the slot and maybe the clock LED conversionÉ

I got the LEDs when I was new to pinball collecting and to be honest I didn't think much of it. By no way am I saying that ablaze LEDs are bad. I am just speaking about my experience. Each person may have their own experiences with specific companies and how they react within their machines. Terry is a great guy and my experience does not reflect on him. I continue to order products from him.

Quoted from Pharoah007

have you contacted Terry ref the Ablaze?  Terry is a good guy and stands behind his products. He even has PinballLife on facebook

I put frosted LEDs to replace the condom bulbs on TZ. Makes it look a bit newer.
Next looking to put an LED kit in the gumball machine to illuminate the coloured gumballs. Possibly an under playfield flasher for Gum and Ball like the prototype.

I'm hesitant to do the 3rd magnet as it is irreversible and Im not sure it's worth the effort in terms of enhancing gameplay.

Quoted from Vengeance

Impressions?

LED's are really the worst thing to happen to pinball that I've experienced in my time in the hobby.  This isn't a purist thing, it's a playability thing.  
LED's are overused and over hyped and are terrible.  

If your games are nothing more then big hulking pieces of artwork that you just want to look at, then by all means go ahead and use LED's but if you actually want to be able to play your machines, don't use LED lighting.  

Thought that , considering my age , i was one of the few prefering incadescent lamps . At one point , when LEDs would cost some $2.00 a piece , i started making my own LEDs (44 and 47) . It didn ' t take too long to find 'em anoying . The only place i use LEDs is on the 5 blue inserts on my CPR centaur PF since they ' re too pale . It may also have to do with the type of games i own as well , all SS pins , except for one EM . Some people have LEDs on EMs . IMO , that is terrible ...  

My $0.02

Quoted from wbradley

I put frosted LEDs to replace the condom bulbs on TZ. Makes it look a bit newer.
Next looking to put an LED kit in the gumball machine to illuminate the coloured gumballs. Possibly an under playfield flasher for Gum and Ball like the prototype.

I'm hesitant to do the 3rd magnet as it is irreversible and Im not sure it's worth the effort in terms of enhancing gameplay.

Mine has the Gum-Ball door panel flashers (was there when I bought it) and I think it would be silly not to have it.  Have you done the clock Led conversion or is it still regular bulbs creating all that heat? I think I will be doing the Gumball LED kit and I noticed on Vengances TZ he had lights around the back of the spiral loop that lit up a very dark area anyone know of a kit for that?  

I have the clock all original factory. There is no reason to
fix it if it isn't broken. Considering the game rarely stays on for even 1 hour at a time I doubt it will get heat damage. In fact I have touched the top of the clock housing and it doesn't feel
hot to me. It's good to know there is an aftermarket clock board if I ever need it but I am not looking for things to fix, Im busy enough.

Most all my machines receive constant improvement over time but with long work hours and a family things sometimes take time.
Also, although some TZ mods are interesting, I do not want to clutter up the playfield with mods. In the case of the gumball lighting it is pretty necessary if you have put coloured balls to enhance the gumball machine. That area of the playfield is dark.

I have purchased several machines with damaged connectors/headers for the backbox lighting. It's funny how other collectors I have bought from never get around to fixing this and just live with half or no backbox lights. Although unlikely to fail again from home use, I am putting LEDs in all my backboxes. This seems to be the most stressed part in most machines and also I like the look of properly matched (warm/cold) back Box LED lighting.

Quoted from wbradley

I have purchased several machines with damaged connectors/headers for the backbox lighting. It's funny how other collectors I have bought from never get around to fixing this and just live with half or no backbox lights. Although unlikely to fail again from home use, I am putting LEDs in all my backboxes. This seems to be the most stressed part in most machines and also I like the look of properly matched (warm/cold) back Box LED lighting.

I am going to do the same thing to my back boxes. It gets hot enough in there as is due to the PCB's, LED's will help this a lot.

I have a habit of REMOVING lights from my back boxes as most of the time they are too bright and put a glare on the playfield glass. I took 20 something bulbs out of my TFTC back glass and the glare/reflection off the glass was much better.