Don’t snip any wires. This will just cause a major headache later if you ever decide to convert to back a JAMMA system vs. MAME. If you want to use a JPAC, use a fingerboard that plugs into the JAMMA Harness. Solder the wires to the fingerboard and then connect those to the iPac. This will ensure your setup remains intact as it wont damage anything in the cabinet.
Any opinions on buying a cabinet with no monitor? There is one that is possibly for sale but seems like too much of a hassle to hunt down a 15 khz monitor and install it for a novice like myself. Is it worth the effort or should I just wait for a functioning candy cabinet to come around?
It really depends. Candy cabs are kinda rare in the US, you have to check classified ads and craigslist list for your area unless you want to deal with pricy freight shipping.
You can also check out local business and see whats available. Most cheap cabs will be fix em-uppers.
I apologize because I think mine are packed, but before you buy a finger board, check the IPAC if the second to last finger is not common ground then you can just solder to that. Andy goes to button 4, so if you look at the diagram above, Buttons 5 and 6 will need to be jumped from the fingers to the JPAC input. If you are not sure how to check for common ground, hit up Andy he can answer it form Ultimarc, or wait until August when I unpack mine 
All depends on the cab. Dynamos are easy to fit flat screens in if you want to do that. Candy cabs are not easy to swap and don’t look very good (I don’t think any look good,but the bezels in Candy’s make flat screen retrofits look horrible) I would not turn down the cab that quickly, tubes 27 and up are not too hard to find because most classic guys stumble on them in showcases and other places and have no interest in them. A 19" GO7,that’s a tough one to get out of somebody, but a 29" shouldn’t be too bad. A lot of the Gun Games from late 90’s through the early 2000’s had CRTs.
Checkout CoinOpWarehouse on Facebook. They are a trusted source in MD that can ship and sometimes swings by places for drop off if you are willing to wait. There stuff is all used and is usually in decent shape. I did buy a complete NAOMI cab with a 31khz monitor for $250 working from them. I gutted it and used all of the parts, well worth the $250 I paid. They have a load of monitors usually, but generally require some cleaning and tweaking.
Additionally, you can buy new monitors from places like TwistedQuarter.com and Happ directly that are tri-sync.
Jasen
Do tri-sync monitors look bad with 15 khz games? Curious as to how they look compared to a Astro City nanao monitor. Ebay has those Makvision tri-sync monitors by X-Arcade but I don’t hear much good about those.
Showcase cabs are sick but way too big for where I am at in life, I’d definitely consider a Big Blue Cab though.
Show cases can have 29" monitors you can steal
The Nanao’s are definitely nice if tuned properly,the X-arcade tri-syncs are low quality, I would look for a Nanao, or even a Wells. Wells 19’s and 25’s are awesome. The 27’s and 29’s can be variable, but are better than the X-arcade. To be honest though, if it’s a first cab, just find what ever you can cheap and have some fun. I may have missed it but this is a candy cabinet?
The cab I am potentially interested is an Astro City with a missing monitor. I say potentially because I need to revisit Arcade UFO in Austin when I move there in a few days. I was watching a stream the other night and it appears they replaced the Astro Cities with Delta 32s (or moved the Astro Cities off camera). I don’t know the whole story really, supposedly the CRT monitors from the Astro Cities were being repaired months ago but I’d need to ask if anybody has a clue where they went.
Ah, They probably sent them out to get repair in Cali there’s a few cheap places out there. If you can get one with a monitor, grab a cap kit, see if that get’s things back in shape, if not I really like Chad at arcadecup.com he won’t repair some Nanao’s though. I also have another guy I use from time to time based in TX but he’s not as reliable timing wise (great work, it can just be unpredictable as to how long…)
I saw that on LA’s CL. If I were in town I would have bought it already 
Where is the comment delete button? Accidental.