Entirely up to you dude, it’ll be your stick. All that matters is if you think it’ll look good.
Yeah,
Like other posters have said…
It’s all about what you want to spend and what you think looks good to you.
Word of advice about color combinations and art mods, though –
Always check them out in an image editing program before you order parts!
If in doubt, buy a color wheel from an art store and start sliding the wheel around to see what combinations look best together.
My general rule of thumb in color combinations for buttons and ball handles is to stick to triadic color combinations or try to match to what’s present in the art you’re using. If there are particular colors you DON’T like then by all means stay away from them! Buy and use only what you like. There’s no point buying purple or orange/vermillion buttons if you hate those colors! 
Ditto for case coloring if you’re going to paint your stick cases. I’m tending towards two and three colors for my stick base mods. Right now, I’ve only spray-painted the Tekken 5 stick bases. I have no plans to do this for the other HRAP and TE sticks I own.
i have the HRAP3sa and my bro has the HRAP3, ive used them both and id have to say the sa is alot better, but the only difference is the faceplate and buttons.
If you want to save time on modding, or you are afraid/cant be bothered to mod it yourself, then i suggest you go with the sa. If you want seimitsu buttons then id say go with the HRAP3 standard.
If you do happen to get the HRAP3 then i would suggest you changing the buttons, because the hori standards really suck.
I went and preordered a second SA just in case, and i may keep Tekken stick bundle and do that button swap, so i’ll have Dark Hai SA with Black meshball, an Unmodded SA, and the Tekken Wireless stick with White sanwa buttons from modded SA
Thanks for the input 
nvm, i found the hrap FAQ, must’ve overlooked it
I just want to make sure im clear about the differences between the SA and EX-SE
SA: PS3 compatible, sanwa components
EX-SE: 360 compatible, seimitsu components, headset jack
is that everything? is the above all correct?
That is what it is, yes.
There is even opposite of each too.
HRAP 3 SE; PS3, Seimitsu.
HRAP EX SA; Xbox 360, Sanwa, Headset Terminal.
don’t forget the PS3 ones work on PC
and my black mesh balltop arrived, yay!
now if the darn ps3 slim and sticks will arrive already…
PS3 slim? Vaporware until Sony confirms it one way or another.
Just like the PSP2 is vaporware.
PSP-Go was just shown… You think Sony wants to ruin sales of that by prematurely saying anything about a true successor portable? No, they’re trying to be smart and do what Nintendo does except that the latest PSP revamp goes back to the original launch price!
Anyhow, the PS3 is fine as is… Everybody agrees it needs to go down in price at least $50-$80 for the low-end model but the hardware really doesn’t need to be revamped again.
The PS3 needs a revamping to cut down costs so they can sell it cheaper.
The HRAP3 (and HRAP3SA) are compatible with PS2 games on PS3, right? That’s the only thing that bugs me about my modded SE stick. I’m debating on whether or not to get either a HRAP3 or SA, or just replace the Madcatz PCB in my SE with a Cthulhu.
That is correct. This is the only reason I got the HRAP, and I’m glad I did. I actually like the stick WAY better than the SE (both modded to sanwa of course).
I’m really not that sure it needs a case redesign so much as a reduction and simplification of the interior. I don’t think a restyled case is the answer here. I’m actually afraid of what Sony will throw away NEXT if they restyle the case!
Agreed that it needs a big price reduction with the next ten months ==> at least $50 by the end of this year, probably at least $100 price reduction within the next 14 months.
I have no truck with what Sony did to the PS2 slim – I mean it made the PS2 more reliable in the long run and they included broadband within the case – but I have concerns about the newer Blu ray technology and the interface of the PS3.
Sony’s already simplified the PS3 quite a bit since launch, and granted, I think the original media card adaptor slots were a bit much and they should have stuck to 4-USB ports only, but with every revision the system has lost some kind of capability. The big sticking point for the hardcore crowd has always been the loss of backwards compatibility with the PS2 but frankly that never mattered as much to me since I have import PS2 games that wouldn’t work on a North American PS3 any way!
It’s unfortunate that the gaming market really doesn’t allow for much more than the casual crowd. There are people here who just don’t understand that SFIV’s “hardware success” caught all the arcade and parts supply retailers off-guard because joysticks haven’t been big sellers or standard equipment for well over a decade – really over 20 years in fact! It’s the casual market that the price cuts cater to. Honestly, most people aren’t going to pay over $300 for a console let alone over $30 for a joystick.
In some ways, it’s a minor miracle anybody’s sold a console in excess of 10 million units that’s cost over $400 per unit average. I think the PS3 is the first console release that launched over $400 retail that’s actually survived over 3 years and thrived (at least gamewise in support – it should have sold more consoles than it has but maybe if it had been priced $100 less to begin with!). Every other console that ever launched over $400 retail failed hard and became hobbyist/cult favorite machines and that includes some of the best hardware ever made – Sega Saturn, SNK Neo Geo, 3DO, Capcom home console (built for CPS-1 games and a few conversions from CPS-2), etc.
Granted, I’m more partial to the first two in that “failed” list and not a big fan of the 3DO Video-CD player (pretty much all it was really good at) and the Capcom system was never marketed out of Japan as far as I know…
ok, so there’s this newer Madcatz TE, should i still keep my 2 preorders of the SA’s?
^Up to you, both the HRAP3SA and MC TE sticks are quality sticks.
i’ve had my TE for almost 2 weeks now… yesterday, i experienced the annoying defect where the LT and RT buttons stop responding… i returned the product and Game Stop gave me another one… for some reason, i am kinda expecting this to go bad in the future as well…
i know i can return it and just wait for the SA but i really like the looks, form factor, and buttons layout of the TE better than the SA… i just need to know what my options are for fixing it… i’m not very familiar with it but is the Cthulhu solderless board all that i will need…? the buttons and stick wires will connect directly to the Cthulhu…? if i do change the PCB, can i still maintain functionality to the panel on the top left corner where the home button is… i don’t use turbos but it would be nice to still have 100% functionality… also, i use the xBox home button to check Live account, so at least that has to work…
i’m aware that the Cthulhu is only PS3/PC, but since i don’t have a console and i’m only using the stick on my PC, it doesn’t matter to me whether the board is PS3 or xBox compatible…
dang, that’s what is keeping me from getting a TE in a way, the chance of defects that i’ve been hearing, but I guess it’s possible that the 2 SA’s i’ve preordered could have defects as well…
I kinda like the look of the TE’s as well
darn it
i wish these arcade sticks were cheaper in price but still great in quality
that way i could have a bunch of everything,
wah
I had the same problem as some guys…
Pre-orderd HRAP from arcade shock…
2 weeks later: HRAP SA
I was so amazed by the sa that i was quite upset in buying the HRAP 3, which was a dream come true btw (i’m from brazil). So i bought my sanwa buttons and balltop to switch, but the panel in the HRAP3 is just MEH…
gets arts plexi for your hrap3… thats what i’m doing
But he still won’t have the superior panel used in the SA/SE and would have to ship to another country.