I called them today and the number was disconnected. I know the people who run MAS work out of their home.
If they are out of business then it’s really sad. I bought a lot of MAS frames from them. I was thinking of buying one again.
If they are gone then MAS sticks are collectors items. Even though I use a TE now because of the new trend I will always prefer a MAS stick. I bought like over 20 sticks from them.
This regularly comes up and the answer is always no. There are srk members who know them directly. Anthony from MAS was posting here but people gave him too much shit. Was sad.
Who’s Anthony?
I always communicated with the lady, Lynn. If I needed some competition buttons or joysticks or frames I would call them up and drive over there and pick it up. I just lived 20 minutes away. Didn’t have to order them online and wait.
If it is the end. Then it’s really sad. I’ve been buying from them directly since 2004.
IMO the MAS joystick design was better then the TE or the Hori. It was American but I knew the world was changing. Instead of constantly churning out Sanwa TE’s Madcatz’s should give the community variety and also release MAS style Happ joysticks.
Its sad if they did. Right now the stick market is pretty bland with the big companies thinking using the same boring designs and slapping some tacky artwork on it justifies $200.
Anthony is the guy’s son. I wouldn’t write them off without an official statement from them saying they quit. People always think they’re out of business.
It’s because these sticks work.
Happ quality has gone down considerably, so Madcatz would be doing their reputation a disservice by releasing a stick with it.
Plus from a business POV, it’s better to have smaller-profile sticks so you can package more of them per pallet.
You could buy IL Parts (Old Happ Parts).
Respect to MAS. One of the OG builders. Their sticks are really sturdy, and I’ve seen some that have lasted many years. Steve H.'s comes to mind.
And yes, you can get iL parts nowadays, which, as I understand it, are basically what Happ used to buy and rebrand for their parts back in the day. You just have to make sure to get good microswitches. I recommend real Cherry brand switches.
Did they sell just the frames? If they’re still around I would love to get my hands on one or two of em. Can’t find any info on them though lol.
It always irks me when I hear someone mention how sturdy they are. Only because most of the time when I see a MAS stick they have broken, warped, or missing bottom panels. So unless you mean just the frame of the case itself, MAS sticks are not sturdy as they have the shittiest bottom panel support in all of the custom sticks I’ve seen.
Nope Mr. Gummo, Mas sticks are the best. I own two of them and also have to six button layout cases with all the parts for them. Just need to be soldered. MAS is the best.
I do admit to clam Mas is sturdy but last time I saw a MAS stick in person, MAS was a new company. It was the SNES /Genesis era for consoles and the SNES MAS stick I saw when I was 11 felt study, this was 20 years ago and the competition used thin cheap plastics (cheap 3rd party sticks). I haven’t seen another MAS stick since.
How are they the best? Just because you own two of them?
A TE is more sturdy then a MAS and I’d wager money on it.
Flip them upside down and apply weight on top of it. The MAS’s bottom panel will give out so quick it wouldn’t even be funny.
Beyond that, I just opened and added 360 pcbs to two Dreamcast MAS sticks (both did have warped bottoms), everything is hard soldered to the tabs, and with zero room for moving. A lot of the wires looked like they were about ready to snap off (they’re screw in buttons, so the buttons will walk a lot if it comes unscrewed). That really irked me. It would cost them an extra $3 for qds.
Also the fact that their dreamcast sticks can’t work for beyond 30 minutes before disconnecting is sorta sad…
I actually mostly had the frame of the case in mind. I have seen some pretty beat up MAS sticks, but the cases live on, and they tend to continue working. Steve still uses his as a chair. Haha.
I agree that there bottoms are flimsy mr.gummo but everything else is solid. As for the soldering being. Cheap ? Never had that problem. It was even hard for me to remove the solder from the cherry switches. I hated the TE stick as soon as they released. Stupid lollipop sticks. Give me something I am use to. I will never trade my mas for any other type of stick. Also I replace that Cheap bottom on it with a sturdier one. MAS sticks are well built IMO. Also mas sticks use all arcade parts from wood to the joysticks including the T molding
If they were built solid you wouldn’t need to replace the bottom panel by yourself…
Also when did I claim that the solder work was cheap? The problem I ran into with their wiring was poor design choice, the wiring was incredibly neatly done, but the gauge wire they used, plus the rotation that loose screw in buttons have are bound to put a lot of strain on taut wires.
I live in So Cal and I would just call up Lynn and asked if she could sell me frames by themselves since buying a joystick on the spot from them would take too long since they were backed ordered. She charged me $50 each for them and then later in the past three years $62 (Times probably were getting tough with the TE as competition so they up the price) I’d get the Neo Geo style frame or the Six Button Street Fighter style frame. I been buying from them since 2004. I probably bought over 20 frames from them. They were addicting to get lol.
I had a surplus of Happ Buttons and Joysticks so making MAS joysticks were much cheaper than buying it complete. I also liked using the old school none dual shock PSX PCB since that one worked prefect on all my converters that I used for Saturn, Neo Geo, Dreamcast, Xbox/Xbox 360, Gamecube, and PS3.
The MAS frame was well designed. Perhaps the only big flaw was that if you played it too much the control panel art would peel but a good way to avoid that was to put plexi glass on it.
MAS with competition buttons and a IL stick were great.