Only Hori’s ‘Real Arcade Pro’ line comes with Sanwa parts, and most of the time it’s just the joystick (Hori likes to make their own crappy buttons to save a few cents). The HRAPs are very moddable though, which is probably why you were associating Hori with quality. The Hori ‘Fight Stick’ that you have (they are out for PS3, Wii, and XB360) is generally regarded as garbage.
I have come to regard it as garbage. TE’s still expensive? Are they that good? That easy to mod?
TE’s are $150. They are awesome, and unless you want dual console support they require no modding. If you want dual console support, buy the Xbox version as it’s really easy to put a Cthulu & Imp (See Tech Talk forum…) in them to make them work on PS3.
The TE stick has to be the best arcade stick for console use, quality buttons, quality stick(no homo before someone tries to call me out for it), im not into the whole modding business but i know a quality arcade stick when i use one, its worth every single penny of the 150 i paid for it. I bought this horrible quality one for like 60 dollars and the joystick broke off in my hand, i just broke down and bought the TE and never looked back. But which console do you want it for because although you have a ps3 there are alot of hdr players being converted to the xbox 360 because of the lag free online play and lack of any sort of glitches except for a rare few and minor bugs. Honestly i own a ps3 and 360 but because of the excellent online play that im only paying 50 bucks a year for, i hardly pick up my ps3 at all, and i am really considering selling it.
If you are used to the size of a Hori Fight Stick I would suggest a Madcatz SE and mod the parts with Sanwa yourself. The TE and HRAPs aren’t exactly lap friendly which is my favorite playing position.
TE stick with a bat top and last two buttons plugged ftw! I like the square gate just fine. Tried octo for a while though.
Bottom line, all that really matters is quality parts. Everything else, from bat/ball top, square/octo/circle gate, button placement, size/weight, whatever… comes down to personal preference and what works for you. Don’t just try to emulate what player X uses, even if they are the best.
Edit: Just an FYI, but for Mack and anyone else longing for that American feel… In addition to a bat top/octo gate combo, you can add different or additional springs to the stick to make it tighter. It’s super easy to do and you can find a pack containing appropriate springs from Home Depot or someplace similar for a few bucks. There’s also a thread about spring mods on the tech forum.
I still play on a FS3 taped to the side of a VCR. Too broke to get anything else. Though I do use my MAS stick just as often. Any time anybody has ever played me in HDR I have been playing on one of the two. I play 99% the same on both, but maybe get more super reversals on JPN controls.
I have used Sanwa parts and although I find them to be superior overall, I think the stardard Hori parts are pretty good.
This is the number one reason i bought my TE stick. I’m at the point now where i’ve reached the limit of what a pad can do for me and my thumb dexterity can’t act quickly enough to respond to what my brain sees is coming. It’s maddeningly frustrating to lose to a move you saw coming, knew how to counter, and were let down by your controller. Also it makes you sound like a supernoob when your opponents hear you complaining that “you only lost because your gamepad is shit” 
I don’t know squat about modding off-the-shelf sticks and i can tell that the TE is top quality. From playing various battered arcade cabinets, and from building my own mame cab and control panel from the ground up, it’s easy to tell that it’s built with really good parts and is put together thoughtfully. You can get access to the guts really easily, and almost everything you’d want to swop out or replace is designed to come away easily or disconnect with the minimum of tools and hassle. The buttons are really tight and responsive and don’t have that horrible loose “deadzone” feel, as soon as you hit them the move comes out every time.Also they seem to be getting cheaper, i got one on amazon UK (i’m in Ireland) brand new for half price. Would definitely recommend picking one up if you have the cash.
Great idea on plugging the buttons, i hate those “easy mode” 3P and 3K buttons. An old school 3 over 3 is perfect. I should look into getting button blanks, anybody know if there’s some place that sells them? EDIT: I just ordered 2 of them from Andy in gremlin solutions (http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/index.htm) UK based company, dealt with them before, good service, decent product range, one of only a handful of sanwa stockists in europe. Would recommend them if you’re europe based.
My plan is to try it out with the bat top and octo gate and see if it’s useable, and maybe mod the spring if i want the tougher resistance later on. Thanks for the heads up on where to get the springs, i hadn’t even looked into that yet. Does anybody know of any good video tutorials on it?
i’ve been using a stick for months now and i main ryu. i feel pad offers quicker accesibility to DP and fireball moves. i can land DP’s so quickly with a pad that its damn near a single button press type of reaction.
Has anyone else that switched ever noticed this and or find that eventually you get as fast on the stick when executing the DP? i feel like it is physically impossible to do as quickly as the amount of movement your thumb makes on a pad compared to your hand moving the stick is something that cant be changed.
PS: i’ve been playing HDR with a TE stick, and i have an upright vanilla ST arcade(all HAPP parts). i play both quite regularly and i think square gate is far and away the better option. many times going for DP’s, its to easy to go past the down forward point, and throw a fireball instead. definitive corners are where its at. and like what was said above…charging down back is WAYYY more precise.
Thanks a million. Much appreciated.
Re post of link in case anyone wants to find it without looking: [media=youtube]L67fUfH3S5o[/media]
I’ll look into it, the hori isn’t easily moddable, as in it isn’t designed to be at least as far as the restictor plate goes. When I start saving for the xbox, i’ll look into the SE/TE.
I do like to play in my lap too, Stud.
(wow that’s dirty)
OK…just reporting back after modding my TE stick as somebody asked me to do a while ago in this thread.
I did the mod last night, and i gotta say, there’ll be no going back to a square gate for me, the octo gate is WAY better. It just feels way more fluid and responsive, and even better than what i’m used to. It really is the best of both worlds, a nice hybrid of an american stick with a japanese action and shallow, responsive japanese convex buttons. I think it’s just a matter of personal preference, but i always played on an american circle gate with a bat top, and a medium spring, and the octo gate is even better. It has the fluidity of movement that a circle gate gives you but you can feel that slight “snap” into position from the 8 soft corners, so you get all the freedom to pull off moves and ride the gate, but you know where you are direction wise at all times, and finding diagonals is still a doddle. The throw is equal to all points on the stick too, which again is a matter of personal preference, but to me it just feels right that way.
I can definitely appreciate the japanese light spring on the stick, IMO it was much better than having a heavy spring once i sorted out the gate. It’s quicker and easier to pull off counter moves on reaction with just a flick of the wrist, and i definitely won’t be adding another spring. The stock sanwa buttons are by far the best i’ve used too, and feel just right for pianoing reversals etc. If you even graze the buttons the switch underneath will activate. At the moment, my modded TE feels better than any stick i’ve ever used.
I also added a bat top as well as the octo gate, and removed the 2 easy 3P and 3K buttons and plugged them up with sanwa snap-in button plugs (thanks again to andy in gremlin solutions UK for his good advice).I can now pull off all the stuff that had been frustrating me before with ease. Both shoto and charge characters are a doddle, (dragon punching on reaction is soooo easy) and the lighter spring that comes as standard on the TE actually adds to the fluidity of doing the motions versus a heavier spring. The bat top feels much more workable and easy to move than the ball top did, and feels like it gives me much more control in the placement of my hands comfortably. Being able to twist the stick shaft easily along with having the bat top feels invaluable when doing some moves. Also the addition of the button plugs seems to make it much easier to get oriented on the stick without having to think for a second where my hand is. I know it’s only a question of getting used to the new buttons being there, but i don’t care, they’re annoying and they distract me, and i hate hitting one by accident and not getting a move i was expecting to come out. Street figter is meant to be played with 6 buttons, not 8. Anybody who isn’t of a high enough standard to already know how to hit 3 buttons at the same time has no business buying a top end expensive controller like this. Anyways, the button plugs feel like they’re my “reference point” on the stick now. My little finger sits against them and i instinctively know where all the other buttons are by feel. The “snap on” connectors on the buttons themselves were a little reluctant to “snap off”, so i just unplugged them from the PCB end, took out the buttons along with their wires, and then plugged the holes up. Easy!
Final verdict. It was a really easy job, and in the 15 or 20 minutes it took me to mod it, my stick went from something i was pushing myself to learn to use because “i knew i should” to something i can really “feel” and can see the benefit of immediately. I can tell it’s going to become my go-to controller for a very long time. Like lots of people have posted before, it’s all about personal preference, but if you’re not “feeling” your TE stick, if you don’t like the square gate, and are used to american style sticks, i’d definitely recommend trying this mod out. It’s easy to do, requires no experience, and is easily reversable, and it makes a big difference to how the hardware feels. It’s only been 24 hours, and i can see the effect it’s had on my game already.
Excellent review Mack, thanks for posting it. It’s good to know that an octagonal gate is round enough for an ex round gate player.
Can you give a more detailed explanation on the octo gate, where you bought it? And a step by step to modding it?
I’d like that for future reference when I eventually buy one of these.
Actually, would there be any difference between modding the SE and the TE?
I tried it and everything felt really mushy. I still haven’t found a way to stiffen (or give more resistance to) the JLF.
I have no experience of modding an SE stick, but from what i’ve read in the tech talk section of SRK there’s a bit more work involved, cause they’re not really built to be easily moddable. It’s very do-able, but be aware that the 2 sticks are not at all the same on the inside, there are some major differences.
The TE stick on the other hand is totally mod-friendly and not at all intimidating, even if you have no background in this kind of thing. I did mine in 15-20 minutes. If you can use a hex-head screwdriver and have enough dexterity to open a child-proof bottle of aspirin, you’ll have no trouble at all doing it.:wgrin:
You can get more info in the tech talk section, there are a million threads on doing this, but essentially you need to spend 5 or 10 bills on a sanwa part code GT-Y octagonal restrictor plate, open the top plexiglass panel on the top of the stick by unscrewing the 6 screws with a hex-head screwdriver, rest it somewhere it’s got support and be careful not to pull any of the wires tight. You then simply release 4 spring loaded plastic clips that hold the current restrictor plate on to the bottom of the joystick, and replace it with the new one in the same position by simply pushing it on over the clips till they snap into place to hold it there and you’re done.
Watch this 3 minute video for a full walkthrough. Go slow, don’t force anything, and it really is that easy.
If you want to replace the ball top for a bat top, all you need to do is hold the flat head screw in place at the bottom of the joystick shaft, unscrew the ball, and screw on the bat top via a small thread adaptor. You can see the flat head slot on the video above.
Parts:
This is the restrictor plate you need, complete with part numbers etc.: http://gremlinsolutions.co.uk/products/sanwa-gt-y.htm
This website is my closest stockist, and they’re very good, they deliver to usa too but look around to find one that might be closer to you just in case.
It will fit on the sanwa joystick that comes with the TE fightstick as standard.It’s identical to the square gate except for the yellow ring on the inside which is the octo gate itself.
This is the Bat top and thread adaptor you’ll need if you want to add it instead of the ball top:
These are the button plugs i used when i removed the 3P and 3K buttons.There are 3 sizes listed. The standard face buttons on the TE stick need the OBSM-30 plugs, which are for the stock 30mm buttons:
Just in case you’re not aware, opening your stick voids the manufacturer’s warranty (giant who cares) 
The buttons, screws, etc will all be stuck down with a light seal of glue by madcatz in their factory, so they can tell if it’s been opened before if you send it back to them for a repair or whatever. You’ll feel the seal on each one break as soon as you put any pressure on with a screwdriver or twist a button out the first time or whatever. It’s nothing at all to worry about, just be aware it’s not a problem if you hear a slight “crack” the first time you remove something. You haven’t broken anything, that’s just the sound of your guarantee disappearing.
If you have no experience then don’t post about something. The SE stick is just as easy to mod as the TE or any other QD stick (like the VSHG or HRAP series). Lizardlick even has a JLF that is designed specifically as a drop-in replacement for the SE stick.
A first grader could mod an SE stick. It’s that easy.
I’m tired of having waste-of-time nit picky arguments with you. You’re the most negative, unhelpful, reactive poster i’ve seen on SRK. Get the fuck off my case.
My post was meant to be helpful, and the vast majority of it was useful, accurate information in response to a direct question from someone who asked for it, but you jump straight on the one small section in it where i don’t have any experience, even after i made sure to post a proviso saying that i didn’t. Hands up, you got me, i was wrong, and you know more than i do about modding an SE stick, well done.
Get a fucking life.
You know, it is actually possible to correct somone on an error in a post without coming off like a total asshole. You should try it sometime. If you don’t want to be civil and just want to post negative disrespectful BS about other people’s posts, either find someone else who won’t mind you wasting their time or grow up and shut the fuck up unless you’re going to be constructive.
Either way i’m done with your crap. Don’t expect an argument from me in future.
Copied and Pasted, thanks alot! Also,
Thanks, and although I don’t doubt some of your knowledge when it comes to fighting games and debating, lose the attitude. Its unneccessary.
Agreed.