Rock Custom Pinball publishes practical guidance for pinball owners, buyers, renters, and collectors. Our evidence approach starts with a simple rule: match the source to the claim. Exact specifications need primary documentation, owner experiences need appropriate context, and recommendations need criteria tied to a real ownership or service decision.
How we assess evidence
For machine features, dimensions, edition differences, software behavior, and service information, we prioritize current manufacturer pages, manuals, feature matrices, service bulletins, code release notes, and official parts documentation. Research-based coverage, such as our overview of Stern’s Fallout pinball machine, draws conclusions from available documentation without implying that the machine was played, owned, or physically inspected for that article.
Manufacturer and supplier statements are presented as published claims when that distinction matters. Community reports can help identify recurring symptoms, ownership frustrations, or useful edge cases, but they are treated as reported experience—not proof that every example of a machine has the same issue.
Technical guidance can help explain electrical, mechanical, and safety questions, but it is not a diagnosis of a reader’s specific machine. A startup error is evidence to record and investigate, not automatic permission to replace parts. Our guide to reading pinball startup errors follows that cautious approach.
Documented direct work and editorial judgment
Firsthand testing, gameplay, measurements, repairs, mod installations, and machine-condition assessments are described as direct experience only when that work is documented. When that evidence is unavailable, an article remains research-based. We do not imply physical testing, technician diagnosis, credentials, or formal review without support.
Recommendations use criteria appropriate to the subject rather than an invented universal score. Edition comparisons may consider mechanisms, software, serviceability, price, and home-space consequences. Mod coverage considers reversibility, fit, heat, electrical load, service access, installation difficulty, warranty implications, and resale concerns. Troubleshooting separates safe owner observations from possible causes and work better left to a manual or qualified technician.
Currentness and limits
Prices, inventory, availability, software versions, production details, and support information can change. Those facts should be checked against current primary sources when an article is published or updated. Dates are included when older information could otherwise be mistaken for current information.
No article can remotely confirm a fault, machine condition, or compatibility question that depends on inspection or measurement. Verify the exact model, edition, hardware revision, and documentation before buying parts or beginning service work. Questions about this evidence approach can be sent to contact@rockcustompinball.com.