I assume you mean one of these shown here (black/yellow one in the front):
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a141/Paik4Life/My%20Collection/th_P1010331.jpg
That DC ASCII Stick uses a Sanwa Flash clone with octagon restrictor. It is an amazing clone. ASCII has done similar JLF clones for their other sticks. I say this with no exaggeration that they are so close that I personally can’t tell the difference from just feel. Those who know me know that I’m a hardcore stick builder and parts mongrel so that says a lot. Hell I even wrote the damn Sanwa/Seimitsu FAQ on here.
I even went through the trouble of doing comparison shots of the ASCII optical stick and the Sanwa Flash here:
http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a141/Paik4Life/Useful%20Photos/
Check that sub-album and you will see comparison shots of the individual parts side by side.
As for trying to get one, you’ll be very lucky to get one. Especially the DC version (or any version with the optical unit). But the cases are almost identical for all the ASCII sticks they’ve made (probably around 10 or so different kinds for various systems). And they will easily cost you close to, if not more than $100 for a good conditioned used one with box. If you’re going to modify it anyway, I’d be willing to sell you a case with everything except the optical stick itself.
It’s pretty obvious from your post that either A) you’ve never owned one or B) you’ve never modified one even if you did. In the future please don’t answer without knowing.
Because they are near identical Sanwa clones, they drop into ASCII sticks without any modification to the case or top panel (aside from damaging the artwork to remove the hidden screws). The wiring is different since the ASCII sticks don’t use wire harnesses and connect directly to the PCB (for optical sticks) and directly to the microswitches (for non-optical sticks).
The buttons require that you grind away some tabs before buttons will fit in. That is probably the most difficult part of the mod, but in terms of difficulty it is much easier than say the T5 mod which I regard as an entry-level mod for beginners.
~Paik