Hello everyone. I just received my Panzer Fight Stick 3i kit and am excited to build it out! This will be my first custom stick, with a stock Madcatz FightStick TE (X360 era) as my primary basis of comparison. From what I’ve read, the Panzer is known to be an exceptional stick in quality, features, and easily modded so I figured it could be worth starting out with a quality stick from the upper echelon.
While I am still mulling over the eventual aesthetics, I would appreciate some assistance in selecting a lever, buttons, and accessories/mods for them. Given limited experience for hands-on testing as I am unlikely to find a nearby vendor with options available, I was hoping to tap the wisdom of the community. It is my understanding that my Madcatz FightStick TE (X360) uses exclusively Sanwa parts, including the JLF lever w/ balltop (with a Square gate?) and OBFS-30 buttons, so I suppose that any frame of reference/comparison may be helpful in relation to these. I should mention that I intend to use my new Panzer Arcade Stick 3i for fighting games but also for any other games improved by an arcade stick such as emulated arcade classics. I was considering purchasing from Arcade Shock, Paradise Arcade Shop, or perhaps FocusAttack; all are viable as I know some of them have certain exclusive parts, but if there’s somewhere else of particular note or a specialist vendor I’d be open to buying from them as well.
Lever - I suppose the first choice to be made is Japanese style vs Korean style. Thankfully as I have a Panzer 3i, I have the option for both being easy to swap between thanks to Jasen’s really neat mounting system. Would anyone be able to give me an up to date overview of the difference between the two? From what I’ve read Korean styles are noteworthy for having a different feel using rubber gaskets instead of microswitches and that they are preferred by some, notably for games that require “tapping” inputs like Tekken, with the Myoungshin Fanta being the “premiere” lever of this type with Crown in the rest of thew field. Is there anything else I should know?
Given that I don’t see myself playing Tekken competitively , I figure that the Japanese levers are probably best for me and their varied options a bonus. However, this still puts a lot of choices in front of me. There is the Sanwa JLF of course which I use as my “starting point”. From there, it seems there are a variety of Sanwa JLF upgrades and mods, first party and otherwise. For instance, I read that the latest edition of Sanwa JLF is their “High Tension” Silent (2017 edition) stick (Arcade Shock labels it as exclusive, but it seems some version of it is also on Focus Attack?), which has some upgraded internals as well as lower noise - it is the latest in a series of “silent” sticks going back to 2014 direct from Sanwa. Costs a bit more but sounds like it may be worth it. Alternately, I notice that Paradise Arcade Shop has a number of modded versions including a JLF with the PAS Silent Mod, JLF with Cherry microswitches, and a RGB modded JLF with some other upgrades. I am curious how these would stack up compared to Sanwa’s latest “official” Silent of their own.
Seimitsu seems to be one of the big competitors to Sanwa and they seem to have a daunting selection of varied levers and sub-versions of those levers. I am guessing that the LS-32 seems to be the “JLF equivalent” but beyond that, there are lots of both improved versions and also differences that I am guessing are based on user preference as far as what to choose. Also, it seems that Seimitsu gates and shafts are different and not compatible with Sanwa JLF types so that may be of note to follow… I’d appreciate an overview of Seimitsu levers and especially if there’s a reason to choose them over the Sanwa ones above.
Hori seems to have come onto the scene with parts for their home joysticks but with the Hayabusa line have finally offered something at least in the same neighborhood as Sanwa/Seimitsu by some accounts. Its nice to see Hori Hayabusa seems to be compatible with many mods made for Sanwa JLF. I am curious about the Hayabusa Silent Optical though (apparently ArcadeShock exclusive) - as it seems to be one of the few optical sticks, using something other than standard microswitches no matter their quality. On paper the standard Hayabusa is said to be a competitor for the JLF; do think this is so? How do you feel about the Hayabusa Silent Optical compared to the various official or modded Silent JLFs? Would you choose either of these for your lever vs Sanwa/Seimitsu?
Finally, now that it is shipping I couldn’t end this section without mentioning Project Magenta. Developed by Paradise Arcade Shop, Magenta is a custom lever w/ hall-effect sensor (similar to those used in high end flight sticks) that is touchless like an optical , but using magnets instead. From the previews, it seems that lever can be programmed and tweaked by the user by connecting to it via a separate USB. It indeed seems awesome, but being realistic I am nearly sure that it is not a stick for a first-time builder (I am not sure if it comes with easily usable defaults or if it needs to be customized from the start) who doesn’t have a wide frame of reference for other levers and/or the need for highest-end competitive play. Is this a fair assumption? Seems like something interesting down the road (if anyone involved in the project is reading - it would be nice if you could open-source the software needed to program/tweak it. As a Linux preferring user, it would be unfortunate if it was solely dependent on Windows only software or something proprietary).
Lever Mods and Accessories - Whatever lever I end up choosing, I can think of a couple of desirable feature, mods, and accessories. I am to understand that most ball and bat tops are compatible with nearly all of those I listed above, is that correct? Seems like shaft covers and perhaps dust washers are lever-dependent, though. However, shafts themselves seem to vary, with Sanwa and Seimitsu types divergent. As I may one day decide to RGB light my lever and buttons, I am gathering that having a hollow shaft is a prerequisite in the case of future wiring/LED necessity. Combine this with the very useful and portable ability of being able to remove the shaft/top for storage/travel and it looks like Phreakmods “The Link” is a worthwhile addon. It offering various coloration options is nice too; I wonder if there’s a way to change color without having to buy a whole new shaft. It seems primarily set for Sanwa JLF (and compatible, like Hori) but it seems there is a Seimitsu LS-23 compatible variety. Is there any reason I shouldn’t pick this up? Other than shaft mods, I’ve seen there are sometimes gate or switch related mods for levers. From the levers I’ve listed, most of them have a “built in” upgrade for the switches and in some cases it is not clear if they require different gates or not - I suppose it all depends on the chosen lever.
Buttons - Assuming I plan to stick with Japanese (or at least Asian style buttons; I am assuming that their convex shape is what differentiates them from Western style buttons that are concave?) there doesn’t seem to be many models that differ by function and feel,instead being mostly cosmetic. From what I gather, much like levers there seems to be varying lines from Sanwa and Seimitsu, as well as Hori’s mostly matte offerings plus an assortment of buttons from Korean manufacturers. Can anyone give me a general overview if the buttons feel/respond/or are spec’d differently either within a manufacturer (ie Sanwa solid colors vs clear) or between Sanwa and Seimitsu etc.? However, one somewhat significant mechanical difference I see is “push-in” vs “screw on” button mounting. Would anyone have a comparison for this and what it means specifically in the case of a Panzer Fight Stick 3i? From what I’ve read, I hear that screw-on buttons can handle a wider assortment of material thicknesses for the stick’s body, but given that Panzers do not come with a specific “use this kind exclusively” note, it seems like both would potentially work but I still wish to make a solid choice.
Button Mods and Accessories - From what I’ve seen besides the major manufacturers above, there are those that offer modded buttons that either make use of and/are in the style of conventional buttons. Paradise Arcade Shop seems to offer versions of Sanwa buttons modded with CherryMX style switches, not unlike those used in mechanical keyboards. Likewise, there are niche developers who make special buttons based around similar upgrades - GamerFinger is the one I’m most familiar with and they seem to use a similar mechanical switch among other upgrades. What does everyone think of these mods and would it be worthwhile to buy something like a set of GamerFinger for my main/play buttons?
I’m sure that’s more than enough to start and I appreciate those members of the community that may be able to weigh in with their expertise. Thank you!