Custom Sticks Thread!!

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dial911
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Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by dial911 »

I have seen a lot of threads talking about all the various ways peeps around here like to play their shmups.

<b>I'm curious to see what everyone plays with, this thread is to show off your sticks</b>

I have built many custom sticks myself and I use them for all the shooters and fighters I have. Here are a few:

Image
<b>Sanwa JLW Ball Top, 8 Happ Competition Buttons</b>
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<b>Sanwa JLW Bat Top, 8 Happ Competition Buttons</b>
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<b>Happ Competition Stick, 8 Happ Competition Buttons</b>
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<b>Happ modded Pelican Real Arcade Stick</b>
What more can I say I wouldn't be here today if the old school didn't pave the way.
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Ord
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Post by Ord »

Good grief man! I think i've just fallen in love with your Ikaruga stick!! Did you make that yourself, and if so do you take commissions?
Ikaruga review now up in PLASMA BLOSSOM
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Ex_Mosquito
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Post by Ex_Mosquito »

I only have one stick now. Dc stick modded to a db15, sprayed black with plexi-glass cover. It's looking pretty tatty now though due to just one coat of spray paint on it because its starting to chip slightly, next time i think i'll just leave it white. Modded with a sanwa jlf-tp-8y-sk (square gate) stick and obsf-30 buttons.

Looking at it now i think i need a better pic for it, atm im using a random poster from Arcadia. Any ideas?

Image
My Arcade 1-Credit Replays
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dial911
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Post by dial911 »

Good grief man! I think i've just fallen in love with your Ikaruga stick!! Did you make that yourself, and if so do you take commissions?

Yes sir, did all of the work myself; unfortunately I don't have any materials to work with at the moment and since I'll be going back to college in a little under 2 weeks I won't for a while.

Looking at it now i think i need a better pic for it, atm im using a random poster from Arcadia. Any ideas?

I think an Ibara pic would go well with your stick/button color scheme (which is real nice BTW); the pic I have isn't very high quality though (just an idea).

Image
What more can I say I wouldn't be here today if the old school didn't pave the way.
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elvis
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Post by elvis »

http://benchmark.mameworld.net/cab1/

Check the "images" page for a build log.
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GaijinPunch
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Post by GaijinPunch »

Ex_Mosquito wrote:I only have one stick now. Dc stick modded to a db15, sprayed black with plexi-glass cover
Mind if I ask how you cut your plexi? I bought some Lexan, but have had shitty luck getting it cut right. I need to take it out to a local field to cut b/c I really don't have shit to cut it on -- I tear up my carpet. :(

Also -- wouldn't happen to have a Photoshop/JPG or something of the layout? Gotta figure out the exact size to print that shit.

I've got a couple of modded Sanwas (from agetec) which I can't find the images for. When I get off my ass and cut the plexi, I will print this beautiful piece of work and out and put it on there:

Image

Edit, here's my stick:
Image
Last edited by GaijinPunch on Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tychom
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Post by Tychom »

This was awkward, meant taking some parts from the original stick as the Sanwa shaft was too long. Anyway, a SS Hori stick:

Image

Unfortunately it's acting very strange :(
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iatneH
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Post by iatneH »

A lot of you guys have seen this already... click on the thumbnail for the full size picture.

Image

Built with cheapo parts though, so it works like crap, and the sticks are WAY too tall and have too much throw for my tastes.
japtor
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Post by japtor »

back in the day, before i had a cab, and a jerker:

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leftover happ super and horizontal switch buttons, and unused desk keyboard tray, mated up to a 15 pin molex that could hook up to hacked up dc and ps pads for (along with a ps-usb adapter for the pic).

also had another stick with the same connector, big and ghetto, but it worked (which snapped into a mini cab i never finished and should probably be burned one day). i basically just used the stick on a tated 27" tv, which hasnt been plugged in in over a year because...

Image

i have the urge for a blast city and a naomi lately though.
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Konsolkongen
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Konsolkongen »

Lets get this topic revived! I have made quite a few custom arcade sticks myself but i'm only gonna show my latest (but not completely finished) work:

Image

I bought an old arcademachine frontpanel and modified it so i can use it on Dreamcast, Saturn, MegaDrive, PSX/PS2/PS3*

*PS3 requires a converter cable.

Here is a picture of the front panel when it first arrived from Japan:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e236/ ... 1248570991

Its pretty obvious that i have painted it black since ;) And it turned out very nice. The overlayplatethingy has been switched from an Astro overlay to a much prettier New Net City. All buttons and sticks have been replaced by brand new SEGA-blue Sanwa parts.

Here is a picture of the backside where the wires goes to. Its important never to plug it into more than one console at a time or sparks will probably fly... :)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e236/ ... 1248571114

Here is a picture of how i mapped the buttons. The SEGA controllers are pretty self-explanatory and the PSX buttons are mapped like they are on SEGA's PSX arcade controllers.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e236/ ... 1248571226

It took quite a while to solder it all together. Here is a picture from the inside:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e236/ ... 1248571353

Not everything has been completed yet. For example the DC 2P side of the controller still doesn't have any VMUs connected, and the PSX controller in the 1P side is a digital one which needs to be replaced by an analog one otherwise it won't work with PS3.

So far it has taken me more than 2 months to get where i am now. It ended up costing a lot more than i originally planed and i got a cough i cant get rid off by inhaling too much solder-smoke. Lame but true...

For info on soldering multiple controller PCB's together go here:
http://slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_wiring.html

If you have made a custom stick then show us some pictures so we can get inspired for future projects :)

Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
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emphatic
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by emphatic »

Here's mine.

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It's a CD case (plastic) with LS-32 stick and Seimitsu screw in buttons. Just some crap I had laying around at home. At the moment has a hacked PSX pad inside, but I think I'll just solder in a joystick connector instead and have the PCB's for different stuff outside of the stick in project boxes. The pink start/select buttons are now White Sanwa 24 mm's.

I used a knife to do the holes for everything, and the LS-32 is in fact glued to the top from below (using double mounting plates):
Image

It really is super comfortable to use, as the edges of the case has rounded edges and you basically rest your wrists on them. The stick is pretty short, and that suits my needs perfectly.

Here's another shot (using old purple Sanwa 24 mm's for start/select). The "wood" is an adhesive shelf stripe I had laying about:
Image

The case itself is pretty soft, so if you press down too much with your hands, it'll make the base of the stick grind against the bottom. I avoided this by taping a juice cork as a "shield". This will of course also relieve the glue that holds the stick from any stress.
Image
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Retri
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Retri »

This is my first custom arcade-stick which was purposely built for a videogame named "Sensible World of Soccer" (the name should ring a bell in those of you who were around during the "8~16 bit computers" era). The game dates back to the early 90's however it's still played to these days (the next World Cup will take place in August in Germany) due to its unbelievably balanced, meritocratic and skill-oriented gameplay.

Granted, It's no keypad (actually it ain't your typical arcade-stick either, even though I've snuck in it enough buttons to play comfortably any beat'em up) however what has driven the choices I've made design-wise was the gap I felt joystick players (such as myself) have always had toward Keyboard/Keypad users (who can use up to 4 fingers for directions - which means much faster, smaller and tighter movements - and generally don't have to deal with throw and engage distances since every input gets through pretty much instantly - you're clicking a button which is tigtly connected with a sort of microswitch after all) when it comes to responsiveness.

Let's take a look (albeit it isn't 100% finished yet, it still needs a paintjob, a brand new 9 pin cable and a few decals):

Image

...yeah, that's a pillow my fiancee sewed for me haha.

in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9OPZtSTJQ&fmt=18

The thing is heavy enough to sit steadily on my lap so I can now use both hands to play (something that has never been done with joysticks in the 15 years long history of SWOS), basically one of the sticks aims whilst the other one quickly adds the aftertouch (Dino Dini docet), a feature that shortens my input speed and improves greatly my accuracy.

The sticks are also quite different from each other: the shorter one (a slightly modded Seimitsu LS-32) is great for quick movements such as dribblings (I also tend to use it a lot while defending) whereas the black one (a Sanwa JLJ-PL2-8V) is perfect for long shots and headers: I could've never achieved such versatilty with a single stick set-up.

6 months ago I knew very little about custom controllers, arcade parts and DIY in general (I've always used "stock" controllers, the first stick I modded was my previous SWOS joystick which was a Thrustmaster Flightstick USB/Quickshot Apache hybrid, nothing too fancy though and used to fall apart every other day) so I had to put a lot of time into researching stuff, basically relied upon a "trial and error" approach the whole time and had to make a ton of experiments before achieving the "right" feeling (I've actually badly damaged a Quickshot Apache QS-131 handle and a Seimitsu LS-32 joystick in the process).

It was definitely worth every effort tho (and luckily I could use my dad's laboratory tools for cutting, painting and wiring stuff)!

The stick is Playstation 3/Windows and Commodore Amiga 600/1200/Atari ST 520 compatible (via USB and DB9 cables respectively).

Apparently it works better on Amiga though because either the PCB that handles the PS3/PC compatibility (Toodles' Cthulu, it's unlikely though since it's a top-notch interface) or the Amiga emulator for Windows (WinUAE, most likely the one to blame here) add some tiny lag which, albeit imperceptible for the most, was pretty noticeable to me (Sensible World of Soccer gameplay is even more unforgiving than modern beat'em ups when it comes to input delay/lag).

That being said, I still nonetheless strongly believe that Keyboards/Keypads are the best all-around controllers for SWOS (closely followed by oldschool joypads), I just can't use them effectively (even though I've tried, props to those who play with them) since I've grown up as SWOS players with joysticks (the Quickshot Apache was my stick of choice back then), so I tried my best to come out with a different, out-of-the-box solution which would suit my playstyle and habits.

EDIT: ...and this is another project I've been working on as of late :D

Image

~~~

Many thanks to Toodles, Romeo Bianchini, SRK tech forum posters, slagcoin.com, English Amiga Boards and Jan @ arcadeshop.de for going out of their way to help me out.

~~~

btw, I'm currently loaded with Seimitsu/Sanwa spare parts (basically leftovers of my previous project) so if you liked what you've seen above and wanted something similar made I could probably provide it at a reasonable price, just PM me (keep in mind that I live in Italy tho). :D
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brokenhalo
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by brokenhalo »

hey emph, your ls-32 is way too short. they sell an s shaped plate that you can use instead of the flat plate your using now. but if you like it that short then that's cool. just looks uncomfortable to me.

here's a couple of my sticks.

built this guy for my brother. poplar case, metal top and bottom panels. sanwa jlf and snap-in buttons on top, seimitsu screw-ins on the back. xbox 360 wired pcb.

Image
Image
Image

this stick case was built by BigPockets. the case is a routed block of mdf and is a real work of art. the pictures don't do the router work justice. paint by BP. art stolen from deviantart (need to redo it, the white edge annoys me), seimitsu parts and ps2 pcb by me.

Image
Image
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emphatic
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by emphatic »

brokenhalo wrote:hey emph, your ls-32 is way too short. they sell an s shaped plate that you can use instead of the flat plate your using now. but if you like it that short then that's cool. just looks uncomfortable to me.
I was a bit sceptical at first as well, but it plays wonderfully at this length. Your sticks look awesome btw.
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Elixir
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Elixir »

...
Last edited by Elixir on Tue Jan 31, 2012 5:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
I haven't actively browsed/used this forum in many years and it's no longer an accurate representation of me.

I have retired from genre-specific content creation after 13 years, but I'll always love this little genre in my own personal way.
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powerfuran
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by powerfuran »

Good job everyone!

I don't have a custom, even though I have all the necessary tools to make one I lack time to concentrate on woodwork, but I've modded some retail sticks so far with fairly decent results.

My favourite one, agetec modded with seimitsu hardware:
Image

An old Virtua Stick Saturn with Sanwa hardware:
Image

Hori Fighting Stick 2, modded for X360.
Image




Please post some more, there are not as many shmups-themed sticks as BEU-themed sticks out there :)
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DEL
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by DEL »

Not a custom stick but
http://www.videogameimports.com/hw_index.htm
Expensive I think :lol:
mistcore
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by mistcore »

My newly modded T5 Sheryl stick with all Seimitsu parts(Sheryl's riding my stick!):
Image
I designed the layout, and had it modded by another person since I don't have any of the tools.
Dual PCB mod with PSX and 360 PCBs, so it will work on PS1/PS2/PS3(w/ converter)/PC/360.

I have a HFS3 with all Sanwa parts and the same dual PCB mod, and I hope to get a custom art on it in the near future.
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Ed Oscuro
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Ed Oscuro »

I have some stick somebody put together w/PS2 connector and stuck a printout of Wolverine under the shiny stuff...gonna tear that out probably.

I have an SNK LS-30 sitting around that I'm hoping to get a stick built around (for Midnight Resistance and whatever other spinstick verts I can find)
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dan76
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by dan76 »

This was a dry run for a stick I made for a friend, he was a retro head and owned an original Atari Star Wars machine.
I had it wired for PS2 and Dreamcast until Deathsmiles came out - it's now my 360 stick.
Seimitsu LS-56 stick with Sanwa buttons (Happ start/home). I'll probably swap the buttons at some point to make it all Seimitsu.
I found the artwork online and adapted it. A guy had scanned an original machine with an A4 scanner... and missed out Darth Vader's shoulder...


Image


Image

My next stick will be a Suzo 500 - a pain to mount, but they're the tightest most responsive stick I've found for shooters.
Image
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cools
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by cools »

I really like the look of that one. The SW art I can take or leave, but the shape, size, and blue/black combination works well.
Image
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Matsunaga
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Matsunaga »

Image

It's the 15th anniversary SF stick, with Happ competition buttons and stick. I wish the picture came out a little better.. I just ordered an L-32, not sure if I'm putting it in this one or my hori stick.
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wachin
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by wachin »

Hi, I'm new here, but I'd thought I'd contribute with my latest build. LS-32 w/ PS-14-GNs. USB gamepad hack for my PC. In hindsight, I should have gone with 24mm for the 2 Start/Select buttons.

Image
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emphatic
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by emphatic »

wachin wrote:Hi, I'm new here, but I'd thought I'd contribute with my latest build. LS-32 w/ PS-14-GNs. USB gamepad hack for my PC. In hindsight, I should have gone with 24mm for the 2 Start/Select buttons.
Nice to see another "let's build a stick outta anything" man.
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dmauro
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by dmauro »

Konsolkongen wrote: Image
Fucking epic. Nice choice making a NNC panel instead; they are so slick.
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wachin
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by wachin »

emphatic wrote: Nice to see another "let's build a stick outta anything" man.
Thanks, but I wasn't always that way. I have actually "built" things in the past, but I'm pretty impatient so "found" boxes are much quicker. That's not to say I don't like my wood boxes w/ plexi overlays...

Image
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Zapf
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Zapf »

I mostly made sticks this summer for fightin games, but I recently did a shmuppin kind of stick (though I might try it for fighting games as well)

Image

Picture includes:

-My first ever stick I made w/ a seimitsu ls-40, seimitsu ps-14-gn buttons, a cthulhu pcb and this nice plastic enclosure i found on srk.
-Modded wii hori stick w/ an ls-33 (ls-55 spring), ps-14-g buttons (for gradius rebirth and maybe eventually tvc)
-Modded SE fightstick w/ an ls-40 and sanwa osbf buttons (little bit of modders remorse here with the shoddy paintjob)
-Modded namco stick, featuring a modded sanwa jlf stick w/ a hori shaft, ps-14-g-bk buttons, pcb replaced with an mc cthulhu, connected to a neutrik rj-45 mount (made some ps2, usb and gamecube cables to go along with it)

I just got this one in last week, and wired it on the weekend (im going to rewire however, as it was an ugly, ugly rush job). I figured the guy who mentioned makin a stick with a suzo might be interested in this:

Image
Image

Custom coyote wood case made by Ecksnine (http://www.ecksnine.com) w/ a suzo stc 500, seimitsu ps-14-kn buttons (gnc white ones in the back), neutrik usb adapter in the back connected to a xbox 360/cthulhu dual mod. I got the art from a gradius rebirth sprite/art rip and added a logo i found on a gradius wiki. The intentional low-rez of it looks pretty great in person.
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emphatic
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by emphatic »

Zapf wrote:I mostly made sticks this summer for fightin games, but I recently did a shmuppin kind of stick (though I might try it for fighting games as well)

Image

Picture includes:

-My first ever stick I made w/ a seimitsu ls-40, seimitsu ps-14-gn buttons, a cthulhu pcb and this nice plastic enclosure i found on srk.
-Modded wii hori stick w/ an ls-33 (ls-55 spring), ps-14-g buttons (for gradius rebirth and maybe eventually tvc)
-Modded SE fightstick w/ an ls-40 and sanwa osbf buttons (little bit of modders remorse here with the shoddy paintjob)
-Modded namco stick, featuring a modded sanwa jlf stick w/ a hori shaft, ps-14-g-bk buttons, pcb replaced with an mc cthulhu, connected to a neutrik rj-45 mount (made some ps2, usb and gamecube cables to go along with it)

I just got this one in last week, and wired it on the weekend (im going to rewire however, as it was an ugly, ugly rush job). I figured the guy who mentioned makin a stick with a suzo might be interested in this:

Image
Image

Custom coyote wood case made by Ecksnine (http://www.ecksnine.com) w/ a suzo stc 500, seimitsu ps-14-kn buttons (gnc white ones in the back), neutrik usb adapter in the back connected to a xbox 360/cthulhu dual mod. I got the art from a gradius rebirth sprite/art rip and added a logo i found on a gradius wiki. The intentional low-rez of it looks pretty great in person.
SUZO is the shit!
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RegalSin wrote:Street Fighters. We need to aviod them when we activate time accellerator.
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by Zapf »

Yeah, def. Im gettin a new pivot made for it (dimensions suggested by kowal) to get rid of the grind.

I wish I could find a suzo inductive and get that wedged into a case.
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emphatic
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Re: Custom Sticks Thread!!

Post by emphatic »

Zapf wrote:Yeah, def. Im gettin a new pivot made for it (dimensions suggested by kowal) to get rid of the grind.

I wish I could find a suzo inductive and get that wedged into a case.
The inductive is really sweet, but the plastic base is huge + depending on how you mount it (I prefer to mount the whole pivot "neck" underneath) it'll take even more space below your panel. I have a SUZO 500 with a custom steel shaft in my EGRET II, and a SUZO Inductive with a custom shaft (from Kowal) in my woody cabinet. Best joysticks I've tried.
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RegalSin wrote:Street Fighters. We need to aviod them when we activate time accellerator.
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