Wonder if any of these shaft covers will fit a JLW (at least the thin shaft version)
Now to find some dye or Fusion to make some ‘Dark Hai’ happ buttons…
Depends on how close the JLW shaft is in thickness to the JLF. If their close you’ll just need to do the JLF mod and maybe sand it a bit to get it to fit.
so i finally modded my namco stick by putting in a sanwa octagonal gate. i’ll put some pictures up soon.
My joystick tiers
**GOD Tiers
**
[LIST]
[]what
[/LIST]
**Top Tier
**
[LIST]
[]LS-32(01). IMO, the best joystick ever made. Great for every type of game, and it has the option of round gate for those who aren’t hip. Only gripe with it is the short and fat shaft. Pivot problem and thin plastic are also taken into account. But I prefer this over the JLF anyday.
[/LIST]
**Mid Tier
**
[LIST]
[]JLF. Great stick, but overrated. Bad in 4-way games, 2-way, shumps, and every other kind of game that’s not fighting. Favorite things about the JLF is the thin shaft, high quality components, and the TP-MA. Plus the GT-Y sucks ass, I dunno what you guys are thinking.
[]LS-40. This joystick gets very little love. I got it yesterday, great joystick fuck you all. Short engage is great, multi colored shafts are cool, etc.
[]Happ P360. The only decent thing happ still produces after they merged with suzo. The spring is a little too strong, but Kowal’s mod to softening the spring really helps it out. Only use it with MVC2 and CvS1. Trash on other games.
[]iL comp stick. One of the best sticks to come out of Europe. And here I thought Europe was a continent filled with pasty white skinned hipsters who couldn’t pay their rent on time. But nah, good for fighting games (specifically umk3.)
[]LS-56. Great stick, Seimitsu shouldn’t have made the LS-55 and just stick to this bad boy.
[/LIST]
**Bottom Tier
**
[LIST]
[]Sanwa JLW (TM and UM.) Good for first and second generation fighting games. But trash for games that include zany motions and constant movement. Originally, the JLW was a combination of an american stick and japanese stick. Not too popular anymore (when was it ever popular?) This is an alternative to somebody who can’t let go of the happ feel. Works great in 4-way mode. Some people say I’m too harsh on the JLW, but tbh, it’s just not my cup of tea, or 40oz.
[]LS-33. Spring is way too loose. Even with modification, it still doesn’t feel good. I dislike the far travel on it, the installed shaft cover is really stupid. No PCB mounted switches for an option. Avoid it if I were you.
[]LS-55. The improved version of the LS-56. Nothing really improved here tbh.
[]LS-64. I did try out the analog joystick made by Seimitsu. Not suited for fighting games, but it works well with shumps. It is extremely heavy for joystick standards, and requires TONS of clearance inside your stick. It’s a bitch to wire, and from what I hear, it don’t last long. I guess this is something you would use if you were to make a big universal controller.
[]Suzo-Happ’s competition joystick. Basically the same thing as the iL joystick, except has flimsy nylon plastic, a shitty pivot, low quality cherry switches, and black dust cover that doesn’t match the color of your bat top. Had five of these things crap out on me. Cheap joystick though.
[]iL Magnetic joystick. We had one of these in our 3s cabinet at Tilt. But it’s been so long ago since I played on it. The only impression I had about it was an okay one, that’s why I put it in the bottom tier.
[/LIST]
**Trash Tier
**
[LIST]
[]Anything else made by Suzo-Happ. You wouldn’t be using a Super joystick or an Ultimate joystick to be playing Street Fighter? Who the fuck would use the 49-way joystick?
[]Hori proprietary joystick’s. Good for two months of intense play, but crap out after a while.
[]Madcatz SE JLFake. One of the worst and most blatant imitations of the JLF to this date. Engage distances are wrong, travel is extremely far, and it has the washer problem. Also the PCB switches are pretty funny.
[]The Easy Mounting Joystick. Honestly, this thing is a piece of crap. Too much force applied to the joystick will break the spring. The mounting is a joke too. I guess you would use this for Q-Bert?
[/LIST]
**Haven’t tried yet:
**
[LIST]
[]K-Sticks. I’m contemplating on using one, but I guess it’s only purpose would be for Tekken.
[]Suzo-Conductive. Heard good things about this stick. 3-way or 5-way operation sounds interesting. I never bought anything from Australia other than Vegemite and Didgeridoos.
[]SNK (It’s really Seimitsu) LS-30. I want to try out this bad boy on some Ikari Warriors. Also, I once had a dream that I was playing Super Turbo on an LS-30
[/LIST]
Tier list will be updated at the next joystick tournament.
Fuck the GT-Y, square gates are the only way to go.
You know, funny, you rank the joysticks I played on the same way I would black shoemaker! :lol:
The Seimitsu LS-32 is by far the king of joysticks, I couldn’t agree with you more. Even with the pivot problem (which seriously, it’s pretty easy to ignore; and old school players in Japan had to deal with it all the time back when the Astro City cabs used Seimitsu on everything) it still beats a Sanwa JLF by a long mile in my book.
I’m surprised you didn’t list any Japanese style optical joysticks on your list. I would like to vouch that they are definitely worth at least trying because let’s face it, they feel just way different from their microswitch counterpart. In fact, with a heavier spring, the ASCII Answer (Optical if you prefer) and the Sanwa FLASH 1 could probably be used for SHMUPs due to their consistent engage.
I’ve never heard of a magnetic iL stick actually. That sounds mad dope for SHMUPs! By the way, on the note of magnetic induction joysticks, the Suzo Inductive is AWFUL for fighting games. Just gonna throw that out. It is definitely by far the best SHMUP joystick ever made; shame it requires like a freaking well’s depth of clearance to mount. :xeye:
Amen to this! I hate octagonal gates with a passion. I have no idea why, but it irks me so much when I do a 623 (Shoryuken) motion only to be stopped partway during the 3 (down-forward) because of the stupid corners. Not to mention Sanwa had NO CLUE about the enlarged throw on these things. I have no sympathy for people who play on GT-Y gates. :bluu:
I personally find any sort of non square gate confusing. My hands instinctively search for the corners whenever I play on any stick. Same reason a few friends of mine who used to play 3rd Strike hardcore back in the day could never really adapt to any cheaply made home stick. It just didn’t feel right without the corners.
Eagle PCB can suck my nads
That is all…
So uhh… A nut came out of the top right screw hole on my TE. Looks kinda goofy. But w/e, it was worth it, that bezel had to go.
ls-33 is by far the best when modified shameless plug i know, but right now this is my most used stick. even over the ascii optical. when modified, the stick is more loose than the ls-32 but more tight than the jlf. by far the most responsive stick i’ve used.
-ls-32 is a pretty damn good stick. can’t think of anything wrong with it. i guess if theres anything wrong, its the pivot
-sanwa jlf is too loose most of the time. the throw is also slightly bigger than most
-sanwa flash/ascii optical feels like the jlf but much more smoother. too bad its rare/discontinued.
-ls-55 feels like a cross between a jlf and ls-32. rugged and sturdy like the ls-32 but have the same throw as the jlf
-ls-56 has the smallest throw and feels tight. its both a blessing and a curse. you can execute moves faster with its small throw but it can also cause you to miss some commands
but there are corners on an octagon gate. and for up, and down, and left and right.
maybe i’ve started with an american stick, but the diagonal corners really throws me off
That’s four too many.
I’m more concerned with the durability. I’m torn between getting a second JLF (loving my first stick) or a LS-32. Which stick lasts longer and requires less replacing in a period of time?
EDIT: I’m a cheap bastard so I dealt with square gate. I semi-tried an octo with a Dreamgear Arcade Fighter IV, it was bad…
The_Third, you got to understand that these are industrial quality parts you’re dealing with. These joysticks are probably going to last longer than you’re going to want to play fighting games. I’ve heard stories of some people buying Astro City cabinets from Japan which parts that haven’t been changed out since Street Fighter III 3rd Strike came out on the CPS3. It’s not a matter of whether or not you want it to last longer, it’s a matter of which one you prefer to play on. Honestly, unless the community around you has a lot of custom sticks with various parts where you’ll get to borrow someone’s stick and try it out, the only way for you to test drive parts is by investing in them yourself. I personally say that as much of a pain as it is to install an LS-32-01, it’s quite the incredible joystick. It’s still got my vote as the best microswitch based joystick ever created. :lovin:
Well I doubt I’ll change the whole thing. It’s the little parts that I hear need replacing, like microswitches, springs, gates, and pivots.
Also, I think I already had one SW-68 die on me already. Like, I press any part on the button and it should activate. That one doesn’t activate very well when I hit it on the side. Even on dead center, sometimes it won’t let up. Luckily I bought 8 buttons and only used 6, so I have a couple of spares.
EDIT: frickin double post
What he said.
That said, I suggest getting a JLF since they’re easier to source locally (just buy one from jello900, better yet, have him make you a custom).
This LS-32 sounds interesting. However, I’m 20+ years deep in using a happ stick, and I hate the feel of the JLF (which is why I can deal with the JLW). Wonder if it’s worth even trying one
Ikagi - Where’s the ls-36 love?! 
I love mine. When given the proper mounting height it’s pretty awesome. Funny because I tried this about a year ago via Per’s (akihabarashop) video. However the really shallow custom stick I had at the time wouldn’t work well with the increased height without a decent amount of modding.
Someone in your ls-36 thread mentioned getting rid of the Ls-32 pivot problem with a 10mm copper crush washer (sorry don’t remember who). I can verify this works, but I did have to add a layer of electrical tape to fully eliminate the pop.
spenzalii. if you have been using happ for 20 years, don’t bother with the ls-32. just stick to your iL. it’s basically the same as any other japanese stick.
on a side note, I would also like to say that i hate the e-ring on the ls-32.
Attention people who hate the circlip on the LS-32!!!
(or get one from your local hardware store…they’re cheap)