System Modifications - Poll

[SignOfZeta]

The thing with cosmetic mods is that, while I'm not opposed to them on principle, NEC systems are so damned cool looking that it's almost guaranteed you are going to end up with something worse.

Go ahead and mod a XBox1 or PS2, the things could hardly be any uglier, but a Duo? How can you improve upon that?

The TG-16 is pretty naff though...go ahead, paint it hot pink and put spinning LED chrome shit all over it. The Shuttle might look nice plated.

[TheClash603]

The thing with cosmetic mods is that, while I'm not opposed to them on principle, NEC systems are so damned cool looking that it's almost guaranteed you are going to end up with something worse.

Go ahead and mod a XBox1 or PS2, the things could hardly be any uglier, but a Duo? How can you improve upon that?

The TG-16 is pretty naff though...go ahead, paint it hot pink and put spinning LED chrome shit all over it. The Shuttle might look nice plated.

I agree with what you are saying, I wouldn't want to mess up a Turbo Duo.  However, some TG16 cosmetic mods are what I'd like to see.  Someone on this site needs to be up to the challenge?

If I didn't already sell my spare TG16, I'd make something shitty just for fun.  Can't do that with my only remaining console though.

[SignOfZeta]

I'd consider a complete case replacement. Put all the guts in a...Masters of the Universe play set or an old jewelry box.

Maybe a huge thick book of some sort?

[BlueBMW]

I posted this mostly out of curiousity as to where the folks here stand on this stuff.  No right or wrong answer

As far as someone who does sweet mods.... Red Ghost seems to be at the top of his game on this stuff.  He's the one who did that awesome Zonk cutout on that Duo-R for henrycsc.  He's done some other awesome stuff too.  Not sure how much he still does though.

[henrycsc]

Beamer, Red Ghost is AMAZING to work with!  He took my original concept and honed it until I was fully satisfied with what the end product would be.  He offered me full console paint, but it wasn't the look I was particularly after for this mod.  He has other painted consoles on his site, but I wanted the logos intact.  Paint might be a great way to clean up a particularly beatup system though - we've all seen some ugly old yellers!

Lots of detail here for a simple design - notice there is black paint on the edges that were cut as well as the floating shades, and the yellow bolt is a piece of yellow acrylic. 







Here's Red Ghost's page with his work:  http://gametz.com/user/platinumfungi.html  Red, when are you posting the Youtube vid of Zonk?   

Again, I had this done on a loose setup.  Of course, you can do whatever you want with your own stuff, but I personally feel that a fully boxed system is worth preserving in good working (but as close to original as possible) state.  But that's me.  I'm very happy with it, and I have no regrets whatsoever.... nada, none, zilch.

I'm going to have a Super CD Rom2 painted as Lizard Man's head and a PC Engine done as a pink PEZ Candy next.   

[Opethian]

hey henry that XE stick looks familiar I saw that bid up with that sticker on the controller  nice!!

[vestcoat]

If you want a working system, it's pretty arbitrary to draw a line on what is an acceptable modification.  Since we're all swapping out components to keep playing at this point, I say do what you want and collectors be damned; they only jack up prices anyway. 

personally, i gotta say that i'm a fan of any mod IF DONE WELL.

Ditto.  Don't be a bonesaw, especially with rarer systems.   I for one don't like paint jobs.  A tasteful one could potentially be done, but this statement effectively prohibits all but the most meticulous.

[SignOfZeta]

I think that eventually, in 20 years maybe, we might be really familiar with painting the white systems since we'll get tired of retrobrighting them every year until the screws strip out. We need a decal/screen print system first though...

[MasonSushi]

I like the idea of improving the function of the systems.

[grahf]

Speaking of decals, has anyone made any high quality vector format PCE logos? If not I think I'll work on that.

[blueraven]

I vote everything.

evAR.

[termis]

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with modding, and would encourage EVERYONE, yes, even the ones with a brand-new spanking rare system, to put in mods.  Every single system I have is modded at the very least with a region-free chip/switch. 

That said, I think cosmetics should definitely be considered.  For example, a lot of people put in simple rocker switches like this below which I think are ugly.  It just looks so out of place.



So when I put in my umpteenth multi-region + 50/60Hz switches for my saturn, I really looked around for some switches that wouldn't look awful.  I ended up with this. 



I know that some people put the switch inside the battery bay for the saturn, and there's the switchless mod too, but those are annoying for functional reasons -- I just want to switch and start playing.  Not open the battery door, close it again, or having to press buttons for multiple seconds to switch regions/Hz -- that's just irritating.  Functionality still trumps anal desire to make it look completely stock (why even bother modding in the first place, then?)

[BlueBMW]

I agree termis, do whatever improves function / usability, but do it as tastefully as possible!  I have been using micro slide switches in region mods because they were small and not a terrible eyesore.  Recently however, I found these mini rocker switches that seem to look great!  The picture makes it look like a terrible color match, but in person it blends in perfect!

[Twood1130]

For my TG16CD, I chose to use the F8UEE 8PDT switch with my system, and found it easy to hide it inside the system.
The switch is mounted onto a piece of sticky insulation paper with 2 part apoxy, and the insulation paper is stuck onto the motherboard. It doesn't move at all inside the system.
I drilled a small hole so i could push it with a screwdriver when i want to switch regions.





When the TG16 is plugged into the TGCD the hole is hidden.
This also makes sure that the region cant be switched while the unit is on.

[soop]

I've put repair mods ok, but to be honest, I don't mind so much with the non-rare stuff.  But if I did mod anything, I'd want to retain an original, just for prosterity.