How to mod the Mad Catz SE Fightstick

17 Aug 2009 ~ 1:50pm UPSLynx In B4 Thrax mentions that I said 'Phillips head screw drives' twice..

17 Aug 2009 ~ 1:57pm Thrax Your prescience is truly uncanny.

17 Aug 2009 ~ 2:20pm RyanMM Great narration, I laughed a few times, and a great tutorial overall. Nice work!

17 Aug 2009 ~ 5:57pm Cliff_Forster Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Sanwa arcade parts for the home SFIV experience is just plain doing it right. Epic win Bobby.

17 Aug 2009 ~ 9:15pm rolleggroll It is very important to note that when modding the SE stick that you use the Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT-SK. Any other Sanwa sticks will work but you will run into multiple problems such as:

1) the orientation for the power plug will be on the wrong side (right side) which will cover the space where the pushbuttons are

2) some of the other Sanwa sticks might not use the power plug included in the SE stick (which means you get to wire it yourself [PITA] and have fun)

3) some of the other Sanwa sticks are not compatible with the SE stick's built in mounting bracket

Also important tidbit regarding the screws attached to the mounting bracket, they are all attached to the bracket on top of some little ring (which keeps the screws in place, although not necessary) and that they are all covered in some kind of waxy/glue-like substance that is going to be red or yellow. This is perfectly normal. Remove the metal ring on top of the bracket and remove the waxy substance. You don't need em.

Another important note is that you are not limited to using the Sanwa OBSF-30 Pushbuttons (Snap-ons). The threaded Sanwa OBSN-30's (screw-ons), Seimitsu PS-14-KN 30mm Pushbutton (pretty clear ones), Seimitsu PS-14-GN 30mm Pushbutton (solid colors) all work just fine with the exception of the button that goes in the "x" position (Light Kick) will need to have the "lugnut" around it sanded or grinded down a few millimeters.

Lastly, lets talk about price.
The Tournament Edition (TE) stick is $149.99 retail. It already comes with Sanwa parts.

The Special Edition (SE) stick retails for $79.99. Combine that price with a replacement Sanwa Stick $24.95, eight replacement Sanwa buttons $23.60, and a nice pretty replacement balltop to match your new buttons $4.95. That comes out to $79.99+$61.49 = $141.48

I'm not knocking the whole modding process though. I prefer the feel of a modded SE over a TE any day (I'm in the minority though) but the amount that you saved isn't as much only $10. But if you were unsure about a joystick in the first place then this is definitely a good idea.

17 Aug 2009 ~ 9:31pm UPSLynx Protips for Eggroll:

1. In the video I mentioned that I was installing the Sanwa JLF joystick. This was to provide clarity, as saying "JLF-TP-8YT-SK" is hardly an efficient means of communication for a how-to video.

It's precisely why I linked to the JLF-TP-8YT-SK in the introduction paragraph preceding the video. It's a question of clarity in presentation, simply.

Good point on the different types of pushbuttons. I should have mentioned that.

Regarding price - I did not pay $140 for this stick. Though I will admit the number I mention at the end was not entirely accurate, it wasn't far from the mark of what I paid. I found the SE stick new on amazon for ~$55, and $24 for the Sanwa parts, so I ended up paying somewhere between $80-100 total. A significant savings over the TE stick.

And, when you mod, you customize and do things your way. That alone makes it worthwhile.

17 Aug 2009 ~ 9:48pm Koreish Heh, "find the hole then push it in." "feels like a great stick"

17 Aug 2009 ~ 10:59pm NiGHTS Feels like an awesome stick, you say? Hmm...

Very well done Lynx,

18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:10pm UPSLynx Yeah yeah, I knew that one was coming too.

It's just one of those things, you know

18 Aug 2009 ~ 11:58pm mas0n nice work.

19 Aug 2009 ~ 3:09pm MAGIC I do hate phillips head screw drives, or screws(as i regularly refer to them as).

Nice write up though.

Is that streetfighter themed faceplate removable?

19 Aug 2009 ~ 9:07pm UPSLynx

MAGIC wrote:

Is that streetfighter themed faceplate removable?

It is, though it does require a bit of work. It's the next thing I plan on doing once I do a bit more reading up on it. Haven't decided what design to replace it with yet....

Dangit, can't find the link Eggroll sent to me.

Eggy, halp!

20 Aug 2009 ~ 8:08pm rolleggroll http://driph.com/words/2009/02/howto-add-new-art-to-your-madcatz-fightstick/

20 Aug 2009 ~ 10:50pm UPSLynx Thanks a lot!

10 Sep 2009 ~ 1:36am Cliff_Forster http://www.buy.com/prod/official-street-fighter-iv-arcade-fightstick-joystick-for-xbox-360/q/loc/108/210674146.html

Buy.com has SE sticks for $40, Go now!

10 Sep 2009 ~ 4:32am rolleggroll That is the cheapest 360 SE stick I've seen online. Its a steal. Nice find.

10 Sep 2009 ~ 12:56pm UPSLynx Buy.com once in awhile comes through with some outstanding deals. It's where I bought my logitech Z-5500 speakers years ago.

Surprised the PS3 edition of the stick is priced at $63 dollars. They must have an overstock of 360 editions, as far as I know the two sticks are similar with the exception of console interfacing.

11 Sep 2009 ~ 4:27pm rolleggroll 360 stick has headset jack, also is easier to dual mod should you choose to.

11 Sep 2009 ~ 10:37pm UPSLynx Ah, good to know, thanks for that.

... but wouldn't that generally make the 360 version more expensive, having additional hardware?

16 Oct 2009 ~ 6:04pm joyedele Hey, I tried modding just the joystick and found that the connector keeps coming undone. I tried using tape, but that was unsuccessful. I noticed in your video you said we can use glue...any suggestions on what kind of glue to use. Thanks in advance for your help.

17 Oct 2009 ~ 12:39am UPSLynx I would suggest a glue that's non-conductive, but it's not necessary as you're gluing a plastic piece (as long as you're careful to keep the glue on the plastics only.

A hot glue gun would probably do the trick, as long as you're careful with the application. This will hold it tightly, but won't be terribly difficult to break the seal if you decided you need to later down the road.

You could probably use epoxy as well, though I don't think it would be as forgiving as a hot glue gun.

Eggroll, any personal experiences that would serve as a suggestion?

19 Oct 2009 ~ 9:09am Haikkari Thanks for this awesome guide! Now my FightStick SE is a lot better with Sanwa parts.

9 Dec 2009 ~ 1:20pm riverfr0zen Update on PS3 stick pricing - I got my stick from amazon for ~ $45. That was during Black Friday sales, but I just looked again, and the price is still about the same.

This was an awesome guide, thanks so much - gonna try mod this thing now.

9 Dec 2009 ~ 2:54pm UPSLynx $45 is an INCREDIBLE deal for these sticks. If anyone is interested in doing this but has been afraid to spend the money, you'll find no better time to buy than now.

Let us know how the mod goes, riverfr0zen!

9 Dec 2009 ~ 4:01pm riverfr0zen Question about the joystick you recommend - on the Lizard Lick site, it says it has a square gate. Is that the same kind of gate as this stick has out of the box?

Just, I'm finding it hard to pull of simple moves like hadokens with the stick. Granted, it has been a long, long time since I've used a joystick, so I'm practically a n00b again. Are there any joysticks with octagonal or circle gates that can be used instead, and would you recommend them to play Street Fighter?

Ultimately, I'd want to be playing with controls as close to the arcade as possible (within a similar price range as this mod), so if you could base your response on that, it would be great. Thanks so much again.

9 Jan 2010 ~ 2:13am UPSLynx apologies for lack of response, I somehow missed that comment.

Yes, the MadCatz SE stick comes with a square gate.

You can buy separate gates for the joystick without having to replace the entire stick. On the lizard lick joystick page (http://www.lizardlick.com/pages/joysticks.shtml), Look for the Sanwa GT-Y Octagonal Restrictor Plate about half way down the page. This will replace the square gate on the Sanwa JLF joystick. Gate's snap on and off, pretty easy to change out yourself.

If you're playing fireball motion characters like Ryu and Ken, then 8-way octagonal gate is probably the best way to go.

9 Jan 2010 ~ 5:18am riverfr0zen cool stuff man, yuu rock. maybe i will try to use a damn joystic not restricted to ryu or ken. thanks again.

11 Jan 2010 ~ 3:55am EvokeDesiderata I opened my Mad Catz SE Fight Stick and it looks like you skipped some steps because there are a bunch of wire/connections to chips that need to be also disconnected because if you don't it is almost impossible to disconeect to the connecter that is glued to the joystick. I see when you opened it up you didn't have any of these extra wires/connectors. Is this because your madcatz SE stick is for the computer and not XBOX or did you just leave that step put. At 9:05 in your video that green chip above the joystick has no wires on mine there is 3 or 4 more glued connections that need to be taken apart to get a clear ability to get the joystick glued part undone..also in the botton left corner I have a ton of wires wrapped around where in your video you have none. Any help?

11 Jan 2010 ~ 12:30pm UPSLynx My Madcatz SE stick is actually for the PS3. I bought the PS3 edition because it is also compatible with the PC.

I'm not exactly sure what wires/connections you're talking about, but I think it may be for the Xbox 360's live functionality or headset.

I've consulted our resident joystick expert on the matter. You should have an answer soon.

11 Jan 2010 ~ 3:55pm rolleggroll

EvokeDesiderata wrote:

I opened my Mad Catz SE Fight Stick and it looks like you skipped some steps because there are a bunch of wire/connections to chips that need to be also disconnected because if you don't it is almost impossible to disconeect to the connecter that is glued to the joystick. I see when you opened it up you didn't have any of these extra wires/connectors. Is this because your madcatz SE stick is for the computer and not XBOX or did you just leave that step put. At 9:05 in your video that green chip above the joystick has no wires on mine there is 3 or 4 more glued connections that need to be taken apart to get a clear ability to get the joystick glued part undone..also in the botton left corner I have a ton of wires wrapped around where in your video you have none. Any help?

Using the step 3:36 - 3:42 as a reference could you perhaps post a picture to help us help you?

Also the only main difference between the PS3 version of the SE vs the XBOX360 version is the addition of the input jack for the headset. shouldn't have that big of a difference.

Did you buy your stick brand new? Or perhaps was it dual-modded? A picture of the top side and the insides will help us figure it out.

19 Jan 2010 ~ 7:47am Meteo2 Thanks for this tutorial. After seeing how crappy my SE stick was, I was a bit disheartened and didn't know modding it would be this easy! Waiting for my (correct) parts to come in.

SE cost:
$59.99 + free shipping

1 Sanwa stick and 8 Sanwa buttons:
$35.50 + $8.00 shipping

Total= $103.49
I think TE would have cost $115.13 + $3.99 shipping
Not a huge difference but it's all good!

19 Jan 2010 ~ 4:32pm UPSLynx The cost is spot on, but the ability to customize your stick to your own look/feel propels it WAY beyond the standard.

Glad we could help!

23 Jan 2010 ~ 7:12pm c4rizzle I bought a te stick last summer when they were sould out everywhere and paid 213$ after shipping and markup. I had used a hori ex2 for a month and after going through 1 stick a week and having to return them for new ones I decided to get the real deal. I haven't regretted it since and Ive logged over 1000 hrs in battle with it. Today on craigslist I got another like new(and I mean NEW) te stick and other goodies for only 75 bucks. This stick is the bomb. The only issue is the pcb problem with the rt/lt buttons but it has an easy fix. I'm thinking of modding one with cool art and new gate.

23 Jan 2010 ~ 9:59pm UPSLynx $75 for a like new TE stick? That's not a bad buy at all

10 Feb 2010 ~ 12:27am Starion Meteo2,

I thought the JLF itself is 24.95 and the buttons are ~3.00 USD each? Wouldn't that make it 25+16=41? With shipping + stick at amazon for 60 USD it would be 110 USD....

I'm wondering if it would make more sense to just get the PS3 Real Arcade Pro. 3-SA, since that would be 10 dollars more only...

That or get a used one, but I'm never sure how much abuse these parts can take...

Any comments from fellow fighting stick owners?

10 Feb 2010 ~ 1:41am rolleggroll

Starion wrote:

Meteo2,

I thought the JLF itself is 24.95 and the buttons are ~3.00 USD each? Wouldn't that make it 25+16=41? With shipping + stick at amazon for 60 USD it would be 110 USD....

I'm wondering if it would make more sense to just get the PS3 Real Arcade Pro. 3-SA, since that would be 10 dollars more only...

That or get a used one, but I'm never sure how much abuse these parts can take...

Any comments from fellow fighting stick owners?

Its all preference really. Both of the SE + TE will retain the Vewlix layout which is more similar to the American parallel layout. Most vewlix layouts have the start and select buttons on the front side of the stick.

The HRAP3 and the HRAP3-SA both have the Astro City layout which has more of a curvature to the buttons. Both the HRAP3 and the HRAP3-SA have the start and select buttons on the top part of the joystick.

Both the SE + HRAP3 will need slight minor mods to get to an "Arcade" quality. The SE needs a joystick + buttons. Whereas the HRAP3 only needs the buttons replaced.

The TE + HRAP3-SA are all "Arcade" quality Sanwa parts. You just buy the stick plugin and you are good to go.

The Sanwa parts can really take a beating. I used all Sanwa Parts in a custom-built stick which I built in 2001. It still works perfectly fine. Never replaced anything and I have been consistently playing fighting games since. UPSAvatard can vouch for the quality of the parts since he also has used that custom stick.

I personally like the look and feel of the HRAP3s. A modded HRAP3 will be equal to a HRAP3-SA performance wise. I personally think that the Madcatz have superior boards in them and the wiring feels a bit better than the the HRAPs but its not a big deal at all.

I do own all 3 of the SEs (ps3/360/wii). I own the original TE stick (ps3) and the TE Marvel vs Capcom version (ps3). I have the HRAP3 (ps3) and the HRAP3-SE (which is the 360 version of the HRAP-SA but with seimitsu parts instead of Sanwa). And I have a couple of customs as well. So if you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a PM.

If you still feel like reading I made a list of pros and cons.

Modded Madcatz SE

Cons:
- Retails for $50-80
- Add $25 + $18 + tax and shipping for a stick & buttons.
- Kinda small (meaning little room to set hands/wrist
- Slanted wrist-rest then flat surface. (preference though - I like that slant)
- light-weight meaning it might move around in your lap if you are getting violent with the stick.

Pros:
+ knowledge gained from modding the stick is always a plus.
+ Customizable parts (lol) with your choice of Seimitsu or Sanwa.
+ Fairly cheap. Not that big of a commitment.
+ Start and Select on the front side of the stick (not in the way)

Neutral:
- Vewlix Layout

Madcatz TE

Cons:
- Retails for $99.99-$159.99
- Most of the versions of the TE look ugly. (opinion)

Pros
+Arcade quality out the box. Stick is Sanwa JLF, buttons are the OBSF-30s.
+ Lots of arm / wrist / finger space.
+ Good Weight. Won't fumble around on your lap if you get violent.
+ Comes in 5 different designs (that are easily obtained at least)
+ Start and Select on the front side of the stick (not in the way)

Neutral:
- Vewlix Layout

HRAP3

Cons:
- Retails for $89-99
- Have to replace buttons (so $18-24)
- Start and Select buttons are on the top side. (this is a problem because accidently hitting start and pausing the game in a tournament results in a DQ for that round.)
- Troublesome to replace buttons (not hard at all, just not as easy as the SE or TE)

Pros:
+ Probably one of the first mainstream sticks to become available.
+ Solid rounded / curved body as opposed to the SE + TE rectangular and flat shape.
+ Weight is good as well. Won't move around so much.
+ Really attractive default color scheme (opinion)

Neutral
- Astro City Layout

HRAP3-SA

Cons:
-Retails for $110-129.99
- Start and Select buttons on the top

Pros:
+ same as HRAP3.
+ no need to replace buttons
+ silver faceplate is shiny.

Neutral:
- Astro City Layout.

23 Feb 2010 ~ 6:20am N.R. I just bought my PS3 SE stick and should get it soon. Your tutorial looks great. I have one question about modding it though. I intend to switch the art on the fight stick box with my own variation and I saw other people also added a new texture to the stick and buttons. How do you do that?

23 Feb 2010 ~ 11:07pm UPSLynx Glad you're looking to mod your fightstick N.R., it is well worth the effort!

When you say texture, do you mean graphics below the buttons, or physical texture to the top of the buttons?

I know some buttons have translucent plungers, allowing you to place a small circle of a graphic inside of the pushbutton. As for the exact pushbutton types that allow this, I'm not exactly sure. There are a few different translucent pushbuttons on lizardlick.com, but I don't know which of these are compatible with the MadCatz SE Fightstick.

Any input, Rolleggroll?

27 Feb 2010 ~ 7:14am N.R. Thanks for the answer. I did refer to the physical texture on top of the buttons. I've seen a couple of impressive looking designs of these when casually googling for modded MadCatz SE sticks.

27 Feb 2010 ~ 12:42pm UPSLynx Hmm, interesting. If you find any guides with any such mod, I'd love to see it!

8 Mar 2010 ~ 8:00pm DC I have a Mad Catz Street Fighter IV TE PS3 stick. I hate the square restrictor. How and where can I get a circular restrictor? Or should I get a stick that's has a circular restrictor built-in?

9 Mar 2010 ~ 2:02pm UPSLynx DC, the Sanwa GT-8F 4/8-Way Restrictor Plate should work on the stock Mad Catz fight sticks.

You can find it here: http://www.lizardlick.com/pages/joysticks.shtml

10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:34am DC UPSLynx, you mean the Sanwa GT-0 Round Restrictor Plate right? Sanwa GT-8F is still square.

10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:57am UPSLynx DC - good eye, I did grab the wrong gate. My apologies.

You don't want the GT-0, as it is for JLW sticks, and is cornerless. If you want 8-way operation on the stock stick, grab the Sanwa [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GT-Y Octagonal Restrictor Plate.[/FONT]

25 Apr 2010 ~ 9:01pm level1online thanks so much for this guide!

26 Apr 2010 ~ 9:35am xu Does the stoke joystick ball (that comes with the MadCatz) fit the Sanwa joystick?

I don't want to have to buy a joystick ball if the old one fits.

Btw, great video.

26 Apr 2010 ~ 9:36am xu I meant **stock** joystick ball.

26 Apr 2010 ~ 11:18am UPSLynx You're both very welcome! I had a lot of fun putting together this guide.

The stock joystick ball will fit on the Sanwa joystick, but there is no actual need to buy a joystick ball. The Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT-SK Joystick comes with a ball included. In fact, when you purchase, you choose what color the ball is at no additional cost.

26 Apr 2010 ~ 4:38pm xu @UPSLynx, actually they changed it to where the joystick no longer comes with the ball.

But thanks for the info and your help.

26 Apr 2010 ~ 4:47pm Cliff_Forster Bat top, thats how you kick it old school hommie....

26 Apr 2010 ~ 11:41pm UPSLynx Ouch, $5 for a ball top to the joystick? That sucks.

Thanks for the heads up xu, I had not yet seen that.

27 Apr 2010 ~ 2:16am destinyking Nice Work & thanks for the nice post... lynx..

27 Apr 2010 ~ 3:31pm WarLokk so I am thinking of taking the plunge and getting this stick and modding it. I keep hearing that want to make sure to avoid getting "square" gates for my stick.

Question: The JLF-TP-8YT-SK that you recommend, is that an octagon gate? Is that what 8-way means on the product description?

Please excuse the noob questions and thanks in advance =)

27 Apr 2010 ~ 3:52pm UPSLynx The JLF-TP-8YT-SK stick comes with a square gate, and to my knowledge, that has not changed. In the product description, it says square gate with 8-way orientation - that means that the square gate can still go in 8 directions, which is up,down,left,right and all four diagonals.

Octogon gates can be purchased for a decently low price on Lizardlick, and are easy enough to install. The gate just snaps into place.

Square gates aren't all that bad. I've been playing on a square gate since I modded my stick. I play charge characters mostly (Chun Li, Guile), and I haven't found the square gate to hinder my input of commands. I've actually found that forward sweep motions are actually quite simple with a square gate, as you don't need to translate the stick down at all, but rather just slide it across to bottom of the gate.

To be safe, order the stick with an octogonal gate. You'll want the Sanwa GT-Y octogonal gate, which runs $4.95 on Lizardlick. Try the square gate, and swap to the octogonal and see which one best suites your style of play.

Have fun with the mod!

27 Apr 2010 ~ 4:05pm WarLokk Thanks for the clarification

4 May 2010 ~ 6:22am Ca9ine The SE stick modded like this now feels like perfection for me.

Only thing left now is to print and apply my new artwork.

Great article and video!

4 May 2010 ~ 10:31am UPSLynx Glad it helped you out!

28 Aug 2010 ~ 7:57pm Matt Will the JLW version work as well? The only reason is because Sanwa does not make a circular gate for the JLF version.

29 Aug 2010 ~ 5:06pm rolleggroll

Matt wrote:

Will the JLW version work as well? The only reason is because Sanwa does not make a circular gate for the JLF version.

Two answers: A very complicated yes & a simple no.

JLW on SE-stick three problems.
1) Mounting plate
2) power connector
3) orientation of the power connector

1a) the JLW Could work with the SE stick if you were to replace the mounting plate. You could use the MadCatz SE mounting plate that came with that crap stick and mount it onto the JLW. You can also just buy the correct mounting plate for $3-5. Either method will work.

2a) The JLW's use this weird 2-prong power connector. You would have to find a 2-prong connector into a 4-pin connector, or an adapter.

3a) the position of the 2-prong is not in the best place (i think its facing opposite of where the power connector is on the SE. You can easily fix this problem yourself by re-orienting the connector.

Why not opt for a JLF with an octagon gate? Its the closest in feel to the circle gate. its not the same of course, but the jump from per se an american happ p360 to a jlf w/8-way is not that bad.

2 Sep 2010 ~ 9:05pm Gabe I plan to buy the same controller (PS3 and all) and I plan on buying the same parts he bought (Different colors, though). Does the JLW stick come with the bottom part, and such? Also, can anybody make me a good art for my stick? Thanks

4 Sep 2010 ~ 4:44pm UPSLynx Which bottom part are you talking about exactly? The restrictor plate?

4 Sep 2010 ~ 8:22pm rolleggroll

gabe wrote:

I plan to buy the same controller (PS3 and all) and I plan on buying the same parts he bought (Different colors, though). Does the JLW stick come with the bottom part, and such? Also, can anybody make me a good art for my stick? Thanks

If you plan on buying a "JLW" and not a "JLF" then refer to the post above you.

If you choose to go with the "JLF" they make a drop-in replacement that is 100% compatible with the MadCatz SE used in the video. The power connector is in the proper orientation and the mounting bracket can be used without any changing anything. Just note that you ought to get Snap-in pushbuttons instead of screw-ins or else you will have to sand down the lugnut of the button in the "x" position.

7 Sep 2010 ~ 4:27pm Gabe I'm gonna go with the JLF. Do I need to buy a new restrictor plate? I play BlazBlue and I hear I need an octagonal one or something?

Also, you know anyone that can make me art for the stick?

8 Sep 2010 ~ 3:23am UPSLynx Might as well buy an octogonal gate. They're inexpensive, and pretty easy to swap out. You can try both and decide which one you like.

No clue who can do the art for you though. You could comission someone on Deviant Art, or you could look around the shoryuken forums.

8 Sep 2010 ~ 7:41pm Gabe Okay, thanks guys :P

Appreciate it ^^

21 Sep 2010 ~ 12:48am Joe Thanks a lot for the easy-to-follow tutorial. I just ordered the Sanwa parts, including the octagonal gate. I'll try this on my Xbox 360 version this week. I'm sure it'll be almost exactly the same.

3 Oct 2010 ~ 9:22pm Alexander Hi. Thanks for this helpful tutorial. I followed it to the letter (including purchasing the parts specified from Lizard), but I'm having a problem.

Everything on my PS3 Sanwa modified Madcatz SE fightstick works perfectly--except for the Joystick. I can't get any reading from it at all. I tried opening it and reconnecting the harness, gluing it together, so on. Even tried installing the original Joystick piece and seeing if it would work, and nothing.

It doesn't look like any of the cords or circuitry were damaged during the modification. Have you heard of this before? Do you have any idea what the problem could be?

3 Oct 2010 ~ 10:17pm Alexander Also, on the dp and ls switch settings, down on the stick works, but nothing else. Weird; what the hell am I doing wrong?

4 Oct 2010 ~ 5:04pm UPSLynx That's odd, I haven't run into anything like that before.

So the original stick no longer functions when re-installed?

hmm... that doesn't sound good.

Though I don't know if this would acctually affect anything, I wonder if one of the pushbuttons are causing a conflict. Try pulling all of the quick disconnects on the pushbuttons so just the stick is connected to the PCB, and see if it responds then.

7 Nov 2010 ~ 2:22pm Jorge Hey Nice tutorial, I've yet to buy the SE, or the parts,but about how much do the Sangwa parts go for?
And where could I buy some?
Thank you for your time.

7 Nov 2010 ~ 2:23pm Jorge Sanwa*

7 Nov 2010 ~ 4:39pm UPSLynx As stated in the article's text, everything you need to buy can be found at http://www.lizardlick.com/. Pretty low prices for everything.

7 Nov 2010 ~ 7:41pm Jorge Thanks I just saw that haha
One last thing, the type of buttons and joystick, is that the type that will work for all Madcatz SE sticks? or Do they change?
(I have a 360)

7 Nov 2010 ~ 7:49pm Oneironaut So octagon and circle gates are different? What is JLF & JLW? :[

7 Nov 2010 ~ 7:52pm Oneironaut Also, what size ball will I need for the "Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT-SK Joystick" you mentioned? Thank you.

7 Nov 2010 ~ 11:22pm UPSLynx Jorge, the type of pushbuttons used are consistent across all types of SE fight sticks.

Oneironaut, octagon gates have eight "corners" to help guide the stick in directions. Circle gates have no "corners" at all, it is smooth for the entire 360 degree rotation.

JLF and JLW are two different types of joysticks. Just one look will tell you the difference:

JLW, JLF

You need the JLF.

Any Sanwa ball offered on Lizard Lick will fit on the JLF. They have a standardized screw size, but you can get whatever size ball that you prefer.

11 Nov 2010 ~ 1:53pm Oneironaut TY for the quick reply! so are there circle gate restrictors for the madcatz se stick? THANKS!!

11 Nov 2010 ~ 2:03pm Oneironaut oh i found that the circular restrictor plates are only for the jlw stick, is there any difference in installing a jlw from the jlf?

11 Nov 2010 ~ 2:39pm Oneironaut ok so the circle gates are pretty much the same ones used at the arcades? & according to the posts above i will need a jlw stick b/c the jlf dont have circle gates right? are there any like pros and cons of having the circular vs the octagonal? & is the process the same of installing the jlw as installing the jlf? TY!

11 Nov 2010 ~ 5:22pm Cliff_Forster Everyone knows the proper way to play Street Fighter is on an old Happ Bat Top.

11 Nov 2010 ~ 6:02pm Oneironaut nvm.. i'm probably just going to do the jlf... even in the arcades lets say im blocking diagonally (left & down) sometimes I still get hit. Where as if I get the octagon gate I will be able to hear the "click" when i'm holding left & down, correct?

11 Nov 2010 ~ 6:36pm rolleggroll

Oneironaut wrote:

oh i found that the circular restrictor plates are only for the jlw stick, is there any difference in installing a jlw from the jlf?

See my earlier post.

Oneironaut wrote:

ok so the circle gates are pretty much the same ones used at the arcades? & according to the posts above i will need a jlw stick b/c the jlf dont have circle gates right? are there any like pros and cons of having the circular vs the octagonal? & is the process the same of installing the jlw as installing the jlf? TY!

If the cabs are using American sticks chances are the sticks are either a Happ Super (bat top 4/8-way), Happ Ultimate (bat top retarded 8-way), Competition (bat top 8-way, or p360 (bat top 360)

If the cabs are using Japanese sticks then nine out of ten times its a Sanwa JLF with a 4-way gate. People who are used to American sticks usually try for the 8-way since its closer in feel to what they are used to.

Pros & Cons : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkn4xSQ4mc
TL:DW use a 4-way. the stick throws (movements) are shorter in general and itll teach you better execution. Its become the universal standard.

Oneironaut wrote:

nvm.. i'm probably just going to do the jlf... even in the arcades lets say im blocking diagonally (left & down) sometimes I still get hit. Where as if I get the octagon gate I will be able to hear the "click" when i'm holding left & down, correct?

if you are getting hit while holding down-back you are 1) not holding down back. 2) hitting buttons and getting stuffed. 3) stick is problematic.

if you are using a JLF you can hear the "click" whenever you throw the stick and it "registers" an input.

TL: DR suck it up and use a 4-way itll pay off for you in the long run. dont use a JLW and / or a circle gate. they suck.

11 Nov 2010 ~ 7:29pm UPSLynx ^what he said.

11 Nov 2010 ~ 7:43pm Oneironaut Eggroll you have convinced me to try the square gate.. I will order the octagon gate anyway.. just in case.. Last question: The Seimitsu bubble tops also work with the se stick? and do they glow? Thank you!

12 Nov 2010 ~ 1:22am rolleggroll

Oneironaut wrote:

Eggroll you have convinced me to try the square gate.. I will order the octagon gate anyway.. just in case.. Last question: The Seimitsu bubble tops also work with the se stick? and do they glow? Thank you!

the Seimitsu bubble tops, seimitsu 30mm balltops, san35mm balltops, 40mm large balltop, the chrome balltops, or w/e balltop will work on the JLF stick.

they do not glow unless you add a custom light kit which is an incredible hard thing to do.

12 Nov 2010 ~ 9:18pm Oneironaut do any bat tops work with the jlf?..

3 Dec 2010 ~ 8:22pm Oneironaut Idk if anyone still visits this place but I just got my buttons from lizardlick. I did order the right ones bc I clicked on the direct link from the site. I don't know why but the Sanwa buttons aren't able to pop right in. I've tried taking all the crappy ones out and inserting the Sanwa ones into every single hole. Even if I force it to pop in, on the face of the arcade stick it's still a few mm out. Halp plz!

3 Dec 2010 ~ 9:55pm UPSLynx I had to push VERY hard on my sanwa pushbuttons to get them to lock into the face of the fightstick. It hurt. They eventually snap into place, but they took serious force for me.

4 Dec 2010 ~ 4:27am Oneironaut Got it under control. I used an xacto knife to shave a bit of the bumps from the buttons. Thank you :]

6 Dec 2010 ~ 2:18pm rolleggroll

Oneironaut wrote:

Got it under control. I used an xacto knife to shave a bit of the bumps from the buttons. Thank you :]

congrats. you should take a picture and post it up.

9 Dec 2010 ~ 12:40am Oneironaut I would but it's not that cool to look at yet haha. I want some pretty specific art yet I know nothing of how to edit the photo, what kind of paper to use, and everything involved in that process.

20 Dec 2010 ~ 10:29pm Jacob How did you get your buttons to be blue with the black plungers? I wanted to a do a similar thing but they don't have those on Lizardlick.com what website did you get those? or is there to put a different colored plunger in the button. I was doing a Cammy stick *her alternate bison costume[magenta and pink with violet]* and wanted the buttons to be magenta with the violet plunger but they only have either magenta buttons or violet ones, please help

29 Dec 2010 ~ 1:34am Oneironaut Does anyone know how to make the buttons have more resistance? The only real difference between the Sanwa and the default ones on the stick is that they work. I thought they would have more of a spring to them (having to press a little harder in order for them to work). To me it feels like if an ant walked on the button it would press down... I kind of like the ones at the arcade where it feels it needs a bit more effort.

29 Dec 2010 ~ 1:34am Oneironaut And yes Jacob he explains on the video he switched them out.

29 Dec 2010 ~ 12:38pm UPSLynx Well, for me, that's always kind of been the point. The buttons press under minimal effort. I want to be able to input commands without being caught in the need for excess pressure.

Oh, and it's a good call to buy Sanwa because they are durable beyond all reason. Those parts will last you a long time.

I'm not familiar with any methods of increasing the resistance, but I'm sure there are some ways. I'll ping Rolleggroll and see if he has any ideas.

And yes, Jacob, like Oneironaut stated, I explain in the video how to swap the plungers on the pushbuttons. With the Sanway parts, there are two openings on both sides of the pushbutton cylindars. If you use a screwdriver, you can press it inside there to release the two clamps that hold the plunger in.

29 Dec 2010 ~ 3:38pm rolleggroll

Oneironaut wrote:

Does anyone know how to make the buttons have more resistance? The only real difference between the Sanwa and the default ones on the stick is that they work. I thought they would have more of a spring to them (having to press a little harder in order for them to work). To me it feels like if an ant walked on the button it would press down... I kind of like the ones at the arcade where it feels it needs a bit more effort.

More resistance on the Sanwa pushbuttons? Why would you want this? That defeats the purpose :confused2. Anyways, The only way to get more resistance on the Sanwa buttons is to replace the buttons.

Seimitsu's generally require a little more effort to push down and activate a button - as in you need to do more than just glance the button - but are still considered "light" when compared to American buttons particularly Happ buttons. If you ever go back to your arcade, take a picture of the buttons so I have an idea of what kind they are. I can give you better advice if I see what kind of buttons you are used to. Chances are if its an American style layout + buttons it'll be Happ Competition pushdowns.

You can buy the Seimitsu: 30mm KN, GN, GNC, PS-14-G, PS-14-K. My recommendation would be to get the KN's. They are screw in types but it offers the most "resistance" when compared to the Sanwa's OBSFs and they are clear and pretty. All the Seimitsu buttons are compatible with any SE or TE stick. If its a screw-in type then you might have to sand down the lugnut in the "x" or light kick position. But that is easy.

You can also buy Happ Competition Pushdowns. I don't know if they fit on the SE's but they work with the TE's. Only time I use them is when I go back to my old arcade - which does not happen often.

TLDR : Buy new buttons and switch out your Sanwa's. Seimitsu or Happ. Both are available on lizardlick.com & modchipman.com

Side note: Oneironaut, if you are up to it we should get some games in sometime. What do you play?

14 Jan 2011 ~ 9:04am FouLuz Hey, I read you bought the PS3 joystick to use it in PC.

I can't use mine in my PC. I read in many forums that your need some kind of special USB card installed on your PC to make it work.

Do you know something about this? Any Help?

14 Jan 2011 ~ 12:45pm UPSLynx I do know quite a bit about this, unfortunately.

I recently installed a new motherboard (MSI 890fxa-gd70) and I can no longer use my fightstick on my PC. It's one of the reasons why I bought a PS3, so I could use my fightstick again.

Basically, it boils down to this - Madcatz does not publish official PC drivers for the stick. They don't provide support for PC, either. The stick's functionality on PC is simply as-is. To them, the stick is made for 360/PS3, and if it happens to work on your PC, then all the better.

There are a slew of motherboards out there that, for whatever reasons, are not compatible with the fightstick. I did a lot of research when my fightstick stopped working on my PC, and it seems to be that only certain chipsets are compatible. No one has really been able to pinpoint the exact chipsets though. Results are terribly sporadic.

Many users with incompatible motherboards were finding some success in buying a 3rd party USB expansion card. There is no definitive list of working expansion cards though, because users were still seeing mixed results.

If Madcatz provided a driver, this would all be fixed. That will never happen, though.

I read through the entire fix the SE stick thread on Shoryuken and gave up without buying any expansion cards. They do have detailed information on the first page, but as I mentioned, results are not consistent. You'll have to do the research based on your own system before making a decision on which expansion card to buy. (Fortunately, they're pretty cheap)

In my case, I decided it would be better to just buy a PS3 rather than add an ultimately useless USB card to my PC, especially considering that Capcom has no immediate plans to bring Super SFIV to PC.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you. Good luck.

4 Feb 2011 ~ 8:28pm netskater4454 im currently having this problem with my joystick, it wont respond to any commands when i connect it to my pc. the buttons work fine but when i try to move the joystick, it doesnt respond at all. I think it might be my harness or the wires to it and my fightstick is a newer version. Here a picture of the inside and idk why i have a extra circuit board than whats in the video http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/vtecnik/SanwaFighstick.jpg

4 Feb 2011 ~ 8:46pm netskater4454 nvm fixed it i disabled it by accident

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