Wow still finding leaf switches (on the joystick) in this day of age.
Preferred by old school purist for it’s soft, silent action. Used in many old 70s and early 80s arcade cabs joysticks and push buttons.
In some applications a leaf switch is preferred, but the downside is the blades of the leaf switch will bend.
The more they bend the more they can ware out. The upside of a leaf switch is you can bend it slightly to effect actuation and engagement.
I’ve heard the leaf switches on those things aren’t too bad, but yeah, like you said, durability is an issue. Better to go ahead and swap out the stick and buttons in one fell swoop.
Even laugh said in his howto that the top priority for the mod was getting rid of the buttons, and the Saulabi stock buttons are trash.
Putting in a Myoungshin makes all the difference in the word though.
I’m really considering the getting one of the Myoungshin Airbags though.
I’m really curious about trying some Crown CWB203As. What do people think of them? How would you compare them to Sanwas?
Good News Everyone!
Crown 303-FK installed successfully in a HRAP V XBONE!!!
No dremel required, a tight fit for just one of the connectors, but no clearance issues with the bottom panel or buttons. Some creative wire stacking and screwdriver angles have to be used but nothing daunting.
But here’s the best bit,** I GET IT!!! **
even after reading all about them and seeing youtube vids, nothing prepares a sanwa-addict like me for the feel of these Korean beauties! man o’ man!
I went straight to Raiden in MKX. As soon as I turned off the Directional Inputs option I was teleporting and flying across the screen like a madman 100% of the time. even the cancels and post input options were now possible!
such a smile broke out across my face as the feeling of frustration began washing away … now I can just focus on playing the damn game!
to be fair it took 5 minutes or so trying to use it as a sanwa before i got it. you gotta BAT the bat around!? crazy talk! but sure enough after that everything that I wanted to happen just happened. even how to use the crazy rebound to my advantage quickly became clear. its finally like playing on a D-Pad with no Nintendo thumb! all of a sudden I was pulling off combos and linking strings to special moves that made sense in my head but never manifested in reality until now … now I could get them out in time!!!
I’m looking forward to the next 3D fighter now! Bring on T7! GAME ON!
(thanks to focusattack for having all the needful)
They’re flat and I love flat buttons. They’re not as stylish(?) as sanwa buttons imo. They also seem like they are cheap buttons (they’re not) at first glance but I’ve never had any issue with them. Same can be said for the C buttons as well.
I used them for several years, there good but Sanwa buttons are abit better, Gamerfinger buttons with blue cherry switches are even better!
What is your criteria for “abit better”?
I personally find Sanwa buttons are way too soft.
how much of a difference would the Fanta upgrade kit make for a 307?
For a point of reference I can do a no buffer Kara-demon in 3rd strike more consistently on Korean buttons than sanwa, Seimitsu, or happs.
If the upgrade kit is the same it’d just be different microswitches and a harder rubber for more resistance. I have the hard version in one of my sticks and I love it. Your mileage may vary.
I don’t think it would make much of a difference. The 307 feels like the 303 with the upgrade kit installed and a larger actuator, which made diagonals easier. I have the 307 installed in both my VLX and Hrap Kai. I really like the feeling of it.
Sanwa buttons felt better quality wise and more consistent.
Crown’s are of poor quality, had several of the buttons brake easily, even plastic chipping off. the feel between buttons would variate often.
Crown 203 buttons are great, if they all are working and all have the same feel. I used to love theese buttons more then sanwas, but it pissed me off that I had to put in new buttons all the time.
Gamerfinger took me a while to get adjusted to, because they are so accurate. But the feel and the physical click is very satisfying, best buttons i have ever used!
Crown 303 and 307 are very different, at least too me! in 2D games you properly wouldn’t feel much of a difference, but with Tekken the 303 felt far better!
The main issue with Gamerfinger buttons that I ran into is that if you change the switches even once you start running into random connection issues. Two of my buttons would sometimes just not work when pressed randomly. Then I ran into the issue where if you hit them just right the buttons would fly out. I was pretty dismayed when a local Fuerte player did a single run-stop and two buttons came flying out. Then we got all of them to do it.
So yeah, watch out for those things. Oh, I also had the reds and the blues and much preferred the reds for consistency. The tactile bump of the blues just didn’t jive well with me. But, I also had random drop issues too so maybe it was that. If Gamerfinger ever makes a version where you can’t swap out the stems and removes the issues I outlined then I would consider them again. But right now I consider them a rather expensive mistake.
Hey Kkolding, how did you get your Green Arcade lever? I have been trying to get one for a while to use since they feel sorta distinctive to what I used. The white top looks so clean. I guess I have to go to Green myself right? Have you tried their buttons? Reminds me of Gamer Finger blues with Sanwa sensitivity.
Crown 303-FK
installed the FA Fanta Upgrades today. rather easy mod. there was indeed a large loose spring as well as a grommet inside that crown blue and black case!
feeling the two grommets side by side its hard to perceive the difference, but when combined with the new switches its definitely a noticeable upgrade. in neutral, the actuator is bumping right up against all 4 leaves.
the standard FK configuration made it very difficult to engage the diagonals, but now I can hit them as easily as the rest. what I like though is they have to be intentional. so no weird jump inputs out of the blue are likely for me anymore! (sorry my execution is still lacking)
I installed on the xbone hrap V so I tried it out with Killer Instincts Jago. I found it curious that fireballs were fine with QCF but Shoryukens worked out better with Forward then Down in a double tap-hold motion. two inputs instead of 3 to get a SRK? what what what? and more noticeable is that I could get those two inputs in separate taps instead of gripping the lever all the way through it. this is probably old news I guess, but I never noticed this before on sanwas. not sure if this is a KI think or a Korean stick thing. if I get a chance to test on a USFIV machine I will let you know.
I also did the crown->ball top shaft conversion and used the sanwa clear screw bat top. it measures just slightly higher than the normal crown lever and bat. for those curious the normal sanwa lever shaft with a bat top and screw conversion measures just shorter than both.
303-FK “Fanta” Upgrade - Under
303-FK “Fanta” Upgrade - Over
They use regular crown Crown CWB203C buttons in green arcade, yea I’m afraid you have to visit green arcade to buy one. usually the arcade owner builds the stick for you on the spot. they charge about 45-50 dollars for the stick. you also more or less have to beg for it lol. they don’t like selling the stick.
KOFTEKKEN was right then when I had a conversation with him at Strongstyle, it’s that hard to get one. Maybe I should buy one off of Nin if he ever goes to EVO again. Iirc, Sweden’s JFK got a used one by Nin. Ty for the info! Might as well stick with Myoungshin and modded Crown.
Those “Thailand” microswitches are just regular Matsushitas aka Panasonic, (the same Seimitsu micros, but made in Thailand) notice the “M” logo… just saying.
Oh God I love Seimitsu switches, so I definitely think I ought to get one of the Airbag sticks.
So what are the options of getting a full Korean stick now since etokki is sold out of Omnis and the saulabis are out of production. I am really interesting in trying out a real fanta as I been using the 303fk with rubber mod but everyone says the myoungshin fanta is way better. Anyone get a chance to look at this? http://www.istmall.co.kr/shop/goods/goods_view.php?goodsno=9992350&category=013 It seems like the new wooden korean stick, but the options for it look really appealing. I can’t read Korean, but looks like you can set an option for an airbag fanta.
These is the Make Stick pro out there