Pins Sounding Different

[Hammer]

I was just wondering if differnt pins make differnt sounds??

I bowled at Ipswich on Wed night, and noticed that the pins sounded different. To me they sounded dead, didnt get much reaction when the ball hit them, but they just got brand new pins, not so long ago. Tonight at Richlands I watched several lanes while bowling and I would say that there was 3 times the amount of noise or crush sound when the ball hit the pins.

I was told that Brunswick pins sound differnt from other pins? Sorry I dont know what kind of pins you can get.

Is there a differnce between brands??
Does this make a difference in scoreing??

Hammer

 

[double_d]

i was once told at a state youth camp in '94 i think
that at that time there wasnt a lot of difference in pins except that brunswick pins for some reason had crappy bases and would fall a lot easier
at that time greenslopes had brunswick pins for the first 6 lanes then amf pins
then after my 8 year break went to greenslopes for twin tour and guess what i checked out first lol
only to be dissapointed
daniel

 

[jason_doust]

Hmmm... Good question!

Different pins can sound different, but different houses definitely do! Different levels of acoustic insulation in the backend or different building construction (e.g. Brick vs Plasterboard internal walls) makes a big difference to noise reflection. Liverpool in Sydney for example has brick internal walls and was always pretty noisy. May still be for all I know.

As for pin fly, there's a squillion variables affecting that including, but not limited to:

• pin age
• pin maintenance / resting
• kickback condition
• pin deck condition
• type of lane surface (affects ball roll & friction)
• lane surface topography approaching the pin deck (uphill to a ski jump like Rushcutters Bay used to be? Balls that are airborne don't carry well!)
• and many more...

Hope this helps. Also, I'd be interested to know if anyone has synthetic pins in Australia? If so, what are they like?
Cheers,
Jason

 

[mic]

because it sounded weaker just in ur lane compared to the others in the alley my guess would be that ur back end had more oil on it which made all ur balls finish different and not a hard which caused crap hit and sound

hope this helps
mic

 

[Hammer]

Mic, it was the whole house because I walked up and down quite a few times to see if it wasnt just my pair.

 

[Ice_Magik]

I agree with these pins sounding different.
I bowl at forest hill, and at greensborough.
the pins from each center sound quite different, even though i was sure they are the same...
Maybe its just the accoustics of the centers giving a different sound reaction when they are hit ?

 

[Brenton_Davy]

Accoustics are different in every centre, not only because of the layout of the building, but the set up of the pinsetter, kickbacks, masking units etc. Starting out in the game, I always noticed that the strikes in a Brunswick centre always sounded louder than in an AMF centre more of a BANG whereas AMF was more of a THUD sound. That has changed over the years and the differences between the Brunswick and AMF equipped centres are much less than previously, but different brands of pins and their ages and levels of care do make a difference in their sound. I would even suggest that heat and humidity would make a difference due to expansion and/or contraction of the pin covers and wood inside.

 

[Brunswick Tech]

Brenton, the maple timber does expand and shrink to a certain extent, though I don't believe this would cause too much of a difference to the sound the pin produces upon impact.
The Suryln which surrounds the pins does neithier, expand or shrink, what happens is the timber around the belly of the pin gets hammered from the constant ball impact, this reduces some of the timber to sawdust which creates a void or air pocket between the remaining timber in the pin and the Surlyn cover.

When a ball impacts this air pocket section of the pin, the cover has room to flex and absorbs some of the impact from the ball which not only gives you a flat dull noise it also produces far less pin action for the bowler.
A internal crack of the timber inside of the pin will also produce a "dead pin" resulting in a flat dull noise.

I don't believe the age of a pin or it's level of care will make any difference to the sound the pin will produce, back in the days before Suryln coverd pins, one had to rest the pins every couple of weeks (based on lineage) to allow the plastic covering to remould or recover from the ball impact.
I know of pins that are 6 years old which will produce a sound identical to a brand new pin................in fact, without looking at a old and new pin I would suggest it would be near impossible for anyone to tell the difference between them based on sound alone.

Todays pins need no rest period and require no maintenance besides cleaning the cover and checking for cracks and loose bases.

On a side note, you will score higher bowling with old pins, old pins are easier to knock over for the bowler, their bases are chipped, gouged and rounded over, and because of this reason they will fall over with less effort than brand new pins. Not much of a difference, but it is noticeable.

Anyone want to guess what a box of 10 brand new AMF Amflite II pins costs in Australian dollars? I think the average bowler would be amazed if they knew what each pin costs.

Neville

 

[Fitzy]

I would actually be interested in that fact. How much are they?? I guess $100 (for the box set that is)! And another one, I can't remember exactly but there is I believe 21 pins on each lane 10 on the deck, 10 in the rack and 1 extra (I think) should they not come in packs of 11/21 then. Just a thought.

 

[Easy Tiger]

The number depends on the Machine.

AMF 82-70s run with 20. Brunswick GS-10's run with 21 (I think, it's been a while since I had to count as I don't do it anymore!)

However, a GS-10 machine (and other Brunswicks) can run with more than 21 in the machine, due to the way the pins feed, for example in lane 6 you might have 21, but have 22 in lane 5. Although all machines are meant to be the same, they all have their own "personalities" and quirks and sometimes it won't feed quickly enough with 21 in the machine, causing delays to the bowler with setting a full deck. If you put 21 in an 82-70, the pins will pile-up, because there is nowhere for the extra pin to go, and you will end up with an extra pin sitting in the bin, usually causing the distributor to jam. With GS-10s the pin just keeps going around until it finds a free spot to drop into.

And yes pins are very expensive. I can't remember the exact figure, but I couldn't afford 400 new pins at any rate (which is what a 20 lane centre needs at a minimum).

 

[double_d]

was it around $170 each cant remember but i was told when i was a young whipper snapper " lane technician"
lol

 

[Brunswick Tech]

Daniel, you got a long memory.................I can't remember when a box of pins was only a $170......LOL

I haven't seen a invoice for new pins for at least 18 months, from memory, a box of glow in the dark AMF Amflite II pins costs between $350 and $380, meaning each individual pin costs between $35 and $38 dollars each.

Brunswick machines work best at 21 pins in each machine, a 20 lane house has 420 pins in the machines, at a cost of between $14,700 and $15,960.
If they have a full set of spare pins so that they can regulary rotate em.....you can double that figure, some houses that I've worked have three sets of pins................that's a lot of money sitting around resting!!

AMF, Amflite II pins are IMO the best pins to buy and to bowl at, the majority of centres in and around Brisbane, Australia and the world use these pins.................they are the ones with the red AMF triangle logo on em and the 2 red striped bands around the neck. These pins give best pin action and are known for their durability.

I do not know of any centre in Australia which use a completely synthetic pin, like the "Twister" pins, which are made of plastic.
There are several other pin manufacturers other than AMF and Brunswick......................but, from what I have heard, their pins are more trouble than what they are worth...........

Shawn