N00b wants to build his first stick

Tech Talk
#1

oaky, I’ve been lurking on this forum and I have a few questions to ask. If my questions where answered someone else on this forum please link me up.

1). I am having a difficult time finding sites that I can purchase sanwa/japense parts from. So far all I can find is mail order catalogs in china. A link to wherever you guys go will be much appreciated.

2). Are Happ sticks/buttons THAT bad? At the moment they seem like the best sticks that the USA has to offer. If Happs aren’t extremely inferior to Japanese parts i’ll just go with them cause they seem easier to get my hands on at the moment. back in the day I had no problems with arcade sticks (I was a big Alpha 2 and darkstalkers player in the day)

3). I play on the ps2 and ps3 most of the time, and when Virtua fighter 5 comes out for the 360 i’m probably gonna be playing on the 360 by then (ps3 is arcade version b, 360 will be version c.) what kinda controller do you guys recomend I mod? Ps2 or an xbox controller? I’m thinking an xbox controller cause its a USB interface, so conversion would be easier (or at least in theory.)

much thanks in advance

#2

  1. Check the NEW Essential Joystick Thread.

  2. Happ stuff isn’t bad, Sanwa and Seimitsu is just the overall preference. If you’ve only played in US arcades then get Happ because that is what you are used to. But on a personal note I grew up on Happ but since I got a HRAP2 in December I swear by Sanwa.

  3. If you really want to play on XBox 360 then use an XBox 360 controller. The only controller adapter from PS to X360 is the XFPS which is expensive and not all that great.

#3

http://www.lizardlick.com/

That is a good place for happs and sanwa stuff(super quick shipping, usually 3-4 days if the parts in stock.) The downside is that the selection is kind of limited right now but I think the owner said they will get more stuff in.

#4

i really like lizardlick.com, but i have another n00b question.

I plan on making my stick with extra ply-wood and plexi-glass. and none of the sanwa buttons look long enough to be able to fit, i’m going to have a good quarter to a half an inch of material to go through. any recomendations?

here are teh buttons i speak of



#5

Sanwa buttons are meant more for metal control panels which are a lot thinner than wood. You would probably be better off going with Happ Competition buttons instead.

#6

Don’t. Just don’t. If you try to build one, it’ll suck, you’ll want to build another, you’ll be buying all these tools, that one sucked too so you make another and another getting a little better each time but never actually making you happy and you’ve spent over $1k before you know what happened.

Figure out what you want, and have someone else make it. You will NOT be able to build cheaper than you can buy on your first stick and get anything near as good.

#7

Exactly, if you actually get made by someone else you’ll definitely learn quicker that way cuz you can study the insides and take it apart/put it back together. That’s when questioning here comes to play.Well thats how learn things at least.

#8

i’ve taken apart plenty of hori controllers and remapped them and what not. Another year of college and i’m going to be playing with circuits for a living. (yayyy electronics engineering technician career) so in terms of circuitry i’m solid. I just wanted to make sure happ isn’t as bad as some of my teamates tell me. I just failed to realize that sanwa buttons are as short as they are because quite frankley, i have no experience with them.

right now my biggest dilemma is figuring out the best way to build the housing. That much i’m willing to bet i can figure out how to do by the advice from this site (it may not be pretty, but it will work goddamnit!). But I already asked that question in a different thread.

#9

I have to concur with these guys. If not for the fact that I’ve done work on full arcade cabinets, my stick-making abilities would blow, and even now they aren’t all that great, as there are still tools to buy (ie, I still use a roto-zip instead of a plunge router…bleh, can’t measure accurately at all!).

At very least get the box made elsewhere. The rest you can probably handle.

#10

In that case, where could I get my hands on a box?

#11

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=131127

#12

I am also looking to build my first stick.(getting that out of the way) But i have no experience working with wood. I do however have plenty of practice with aluminum and a welder, not to mention wiring. Any suggestions

#13

Metric hole punches, box and pan bender. Bend up a box of reasonable dimensions. The original Jap cabs were sheet metal, so everything should go smoothly.

#14

Another newbie here; what about mounting Sanwa parts on wood? I’m thinking about ordering parts from Lizard Lick for a two-man Sanwa stick and I’m looking at the OBSNs (both sizes, I gather that it’s better for wood than the OBSFs). How do you get the mounting nuts into the wood? What’s a good thickness? Is it worth putting plexiglass on the front, and what kind of adjustments does that entail? What model of Sanwa joystick would I want for a digital PS1 padhack?

I’m at my parent’s house for the summer and my dad has a table saw and drill press, so the woodwork should be simple.

Thanks in advance for your help.

#15

Nothing wrong with Happ parts.

#16

Haha, I can guess your preference. :bgrin: I’ve played on arcade machines with both American and Japanese-style parts and I vastly prefer the Japanese; and it sounds like Sanwa is the way to go if you like ball-top sticks and convex buttons. Should I use a metal surface instead if I want to go Sanwa?

#17

Mounting in wood you have 3 options:

  1. Cut a hole, route it, and set a metal plate into the hole. (This is what I do.)
  2. Drill normal button holes, route out the bottom of the holes such that the thickness if greatly reduced.
  3. Cut a hole as in option one, but cover with artwork and plexi, and pretend. :smiley:
#18

I have no preference for the sticks themselves, but I prefer Competition buttons.

#19

I take this thread to make a cuestion:

Anyone have the Byrdo Blueprint for a Small Sanwa Case?

Byrdo update his website, and the blueprint image dont exist in the site :frowning:

#20

Here ya go.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e7hajf