Good stuff Zweihander. I’m glad that Mad Catz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition Round 1 I dual-modded for you is still holding up and I hope the LS-36 you commissioned me to make for you will serve you well. Good games in the past by the way. I’ll have to come play you some more in the future with you playing on an LS-36. You’ve been telling me over AIM that your execution has gotten better, so let’s see you put your money where your mouth is! :lol:
FullAutoDeath, the best advice I can give you is to let it break in a little. Although the LS-36 will always retain a bit of circular feel simply due to the technical specifications of each individual component of the joystick, as you break it in, you’ll recover more and more of the square feel. After about a week of use, my own LS-36 came to gain a more square feel. I suppose it also helped a bit that I was playing charge characters in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but that’s another matter. The square feeling of the original gate will become more pronounced as you break it in a little. Do let us know your results with this since I’ve only ever made two of these things so I can’t do a self-comparison. :tup:
All Sanwa and Seimitsu Joysticks can use Bat Top.
Not with Shaft Cover unless modified.
When I say all, I mean the ones we use:
Sanwa JLF
Sanwa JLW
Seimitsu LS-32(-01)
Seimitsu LS-40(-01)
Seimitsu LS-33
Seimitsu LS-55(-01)
Seimitsu LS-56(-01)
i just looked at the sticks i have here and figured i’d give this a try. it felt ok to me, but i found that the stick height changes by .120"(~3mm) when you do this. to get proper stick height you would need to use the ss plate with a shim. the only thing i seemed to gain over a ls-32 was the shaft cover, which is cool. you can eliminate the pivot from jumping on a ls-32 by using a washer that is .050" thick with an ID of .394-.415" between the c-clip and actuator. this has the same initial feel where you loose the corner and will break in just like the ls-36 mod.
i’m using a 10mm copper crush washer, but one made for 3/8 may work if the ID is big enough. you could probably look in a hardware or automotive store. you can just take the balltop off to test fit the ID. the top end where you screw your balltop has the same diameter as the section where the actuator sits.
dogworth, that’s actually a really neat mod. It’s very inconspicuous! I like it. :bgrin:
Out of curiosity, how exactly does it fix the pivoting issue? I’d understand if the washer was placed somewhere else like directly under the base beneath the spring holder, but how does placing it underneath the C-ring alter the stick?
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands/ls32_xp.jpg in this image you can see the yellow piece, i’m not sure exactly what it is called. that piece slids up and down the shaft as you go from neutral to engage the directions. that piece and the green actuator have extra play in it when the stick is fully engaged in any direction that allows the stick to be able to jump. all the washer/space does, is remove the extra play. i haven’t taken my stick apart yet to see what acually “breaks in”, but i imagine its probably the yellow piece wearing against the main body.
Is this project possible using the LS-40 and the LS-56-01? I’m trying to decide on either a LS-40 or the 56 but can’t make up my mind. I’ve never used both but am liking the LS-40 for it’s short throw and engage distance but at the same time like the LS-56 for the octogate. Any way to add a LS-56 spring and gate to the LS-40?
Sorry for the newb question. I’ve only used a jlf.
Sorry Mungstar, you unfortunately can’t get an octagonal gate on an LS-40. The white main guides on the LS-56 are way too small to be used on the LS-40. The screw holes won’t match up at all. If you absolutely have to go octagonal, then go get yourself an LS-56. I still condone that you should stick with square gates, but that’s my personal opinion. :lol:
The LS-56 WILL feel different from the LS-40; that’s a guarantee, not an opinion. I can’t quite explain it, but it feels more…how shall I say, “grindy” when you move it around. It doesn’t make any noise, but the way the joystick moves makes you feel a lot of friction, though nothing is wrong with the stick at all.
Well, in any case, to get back on track, no, Project LS-36 will not work for anything but the LS-32 and LS-40s. You can however Frankenstein together almost anything from the LS-33, LS-55, and LS-56 families together since they all share the same compact design.
It’s been awhile but I’ve finally managed to gather all my parts and find time to do the mod! I literally just completed this thing a half an hour ago and it works like a charm. I didn’t take any pictures of the process either since I’m not exactly the neatest guy when it comes to doing these things. I did take some pics of the end-result though:
I opted to use the LS-32-01 blue gate rather than the yellow one from the LS-40 since I have experience with the LS-32 and I like the feel of the gate that it comes with
That damn C-Ring for the LS-32 was a BITCH to remove. I had to use so much force to get that thing off using pliers, I think it literally disintegrated or something because I have no idea where the C-Ring is anymore. Most likely flew somewhere in my room. I tried using the method from Slagcoin, but that didn’t really work for me. Doesn’t really matter though so long as I got it off, lol!
I noticed that the LS-40 shaft is much taller than the standard Sanwa JLF and the LS-32 / 56, and that’s awesome because I have big hands and being able to wrap more fingers around the joystick means better control for me!
I don’t know if you’ve experienced this with your’s Ikagi, but I noticed that on my LS-36, the micro-switches on the corners are really stiff and hard to hit. It almost makes me feel like I’m back in the arcades ramming that stick all the way into the corners so that I can get the input to read. It really DOES have a round-ish feel to it. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. I’ve never liked the shortcuts in SF4, so having diagonals not read as easily kind of forces me to use the regular motions instead of the “easy way out”. I also think this is just because the LS-36 is new. I think after a few weeks of breaking it in more, it’ll feel like second nature.
Overall:
I think this mod is awesome! Not only does the end-result of this thing feel amazing, the modding process itself also gave me better insight as to how the various joysticks work, as well as what their individual parts looked like. It was a valuable experience to say the least. Shaft cover on an LS-32 body is a beast! No more being paranoid about having the shaft turn to shit because of oxidization. This thing is incredible, and for that, I give your LS-36 a thumbs up! :tup:
I expect great things from this as I game with it long-term!
Phoenix Reborn, I’m glad to hear that you’re pleased with your results! Yeah, I won’t lie that the LS-40’s shaft is just a tad taller than the standard LS-32 shaft, but I personally don’t think it’s too bad. It’s only a couple millimeters of added height.
The C-ring really does suck to remove. I didn’t find mine again after I did my first mod until 2 weeks later! :looney: Makes me wonder why Seimitsu decided to use them on their LS-32 when installing an E-ring is SO much easier and definitely cheaper too.
I did actually experience the stiffness of the corners, but don’t worry, that’s natural. I think that since the LS-32 PCB has levered microswitches, the actuator of the LS-40 makes it travel a further distance across the corner since it’s smaller in diameter. As such, you’re hitting the microswitch levers closer to the “bend” so to speak. It’s like the scenario where if you’ve got a seesaw, it’s easy to make the thing move up and down when you put your leverage on the edges, but as you get closer to the center, it’s harder to make it move. Same deal with the levered microswitches I think. They do break in though, so the corners will get softer. I thought that it was going to be a major problem myself since I had a lot of trouble doing Yang and Yun’s divekicks in Street Fighter III 3rd Strike which has the input df+K when you’re at the peak of your jump. It turns out that it was just my imagination and my timing was simply off. The inputs read perfectly fine; it’ll definitely be easier to hit the corners as it breaks in, but you’ll still retain the “circular” feel of the LS-36 even after you break it in.
Good stuff though! I’m glad your first impressions of the LS-36 were overall good! :bgrin:
You know, then length from bottom half of a Shaft does not matter.
It is the distance from the top half of the Shaft that matters.
You say that LS-40(-01) Shaft is a much longer than JLF and LS-32(-01) and LS-56(-01) Shaft.
But did you know that when mounted, LS-40(-01) with SS Mounting Plate is only 2mm taller than mounted JLF?
But did you know that when mounted, LS-40(-01) with SS Mounting Plate is only 1.5mm taller than mounted LS-32(-01)?
But did you know that when mounted, LS-40(-01) with SS Mounting Plate is only 2.5mm taller than mounted LS-56(-01)?
I don’t know about you, but 1.5mm and 2mm and 2.5mm is small to me.
Would I feel the difference?
But if these few millimeters allow you to use more fingers, then that is cool.
One more finger than usual?
Your picture does not agree with my numbers.
I want to be totally wrong about this.
Laugh.
Your picture does show a taller Shaft Height.
Would you take a measure for me?
Oh, jdm714, thanks for that info! A few millimeters does a lot to change the height of a stick surprisingly. Those few millimeters make it so that you don’t have to go busting your knuckles by cramping your fingers between the ball-top and the top panel. At least, that’s how it is for me; I play wineglass style, so a few millimeters of breathing room is absolutely great to have on a joystick.
You could be right about that JDM. I’m not expert on plate-to-top distance, but what I do know for certain is that:
The LS-36 is definitely a lot longer than the JLF when I had it in the TE
It was definitely longer than the LS-32 when I had it in the TE
And it was longer than the LS-56 on my HRAP3, but that probably has more to do with the mounting plate thing like you said
But yes, maybe I did exaggerate slightly. The length increase wasn’t drastic, but it did allow for one extra finger like you said. May not be anything stellar for others, but it’s always a plus for me. I’ll see if I can grab a snapshot of it for you. Gimme awhile.
Ikagi, that’s good to know. I’ll make it a note to play more games using this stick so that I’ll get used to the feel of it. Thanks again for a great mod!
