I feel slimy.
I figured I'd wait until I got a few things done around here before working on the Pioneer, but who can resist? Not me
 

I had an issue with the ball advance not working. I've cleaned up a bit of crud so the mechanicals are smooth again, then I started to try to figure out how the ball advance works so I could fix it. I wasn't too optimistic because relay logic is still hard for me to follow, but I got it fixed despite myself. EMs are so cool in that it's almost always 1) dirty contacts 2) leaf adjustment or 3) short/open wire somewhere. That I can handle, so I just narrowed it down to a half dozen switch stacks, cleaned & adjusted, and BEHOLD - one working pinball machine. Ahhh, that feels pretty good.

When I play this game it sure brings back memories. I sure wish that bowling alley never closed up. Man those were some good days.