Hey guys, I’m looking to mod my Mayflash arcade stick, specifically replacing the joystick. All the mods I’ve seen have used a Sanwa joystick, which is far above my budget. I was wondering if I could use a Happ joystick instead, preferably this one:
You can get a Sanwa JLF clone, if that’s your gig. Plenty of 'em on eBay. I can personally recommend these:
Keep in mind, they are clones. They look and feel very similar, but not exactly the same. The build quality on these particular clones is slightly worse too, but they’re still built well enough to survive in an arcade environment.
It’s not that much more expensive. If you’re spending $8 + $6 shipping on a Happ stick, why not just drop $20 + $3 shipping on a Sanwa JLF?
If you’re going US/EU parts, go iL instead of Happ.
Also there’s entire threads dedicated to the Mayflash v1 and v2 sticks and what people did for them mod wise. You should search up and find them and post there or post in the Absolute Question and Answer Thread v3 sticky topic instead of starting a new thread.
The thing is that I’m looking for a bat top joystick. Do you know if I can just screw off the ball top and replace it with a bat top? And if not, then would the wiring of the Happ be similar enough to the Sanwa to make it work similarly? I really like the joystick you advised, so if I can change the top then I’m going to buy it.
Battops for the Sanwa JLF do exist. It requires an adapter, but those usually come with the actual bat top itself. The official Sanwa bat tops come in red, blue, white, black and clear.
Yes, Sanwa sells an LB-30N, and they generally come with adapters.
Wiring is the same for both. The Mayflash has .187" quick disconnect spade connectors which you can swap out for the contacts on the new lever.
I found some reviews of the clone joystick and they say it’s pretty loose when installed, and that was the problem I was trying to fix by replacing the stock joystick to begin with. I may have to go for the Happ Competition after all (because I don’t feel like spending an extra $10 for the Sanwa. I’m on a pretty tight budget for this project). Both joysticks (Happ and Sanwa) seem similar enough technically, so based on your guys’ info, I’m assuming the Happ would work on the Mayflash?
you would probably run into some clearance and mounting issues trying to fit a happ style stick into a mayflash. the sanwa jlf and clone should mount more easily after the mounting plate is removed. but please do yourself a favor and spend the extra 10 for the jlf, it is in your best interest
The whole issue is that actually mounting a Happ/IL joystick in a Mayflash is not as simple, nor as well documented.
You might find that, in the end, the extra $10-15 you would’ve spent on a JLF might be way more worthwhile than the effort in trying to put in the Happ Competition.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound like I’m discouraging you from the experiment or challenge; I just want to make sure you understand what you’d be getting yourself into in terms of modding work at the tradeoff of cost.
I was doing more research on the topic and I came across a post where someone suggested trying this:
They basically attached some MDF to the Mayflash joystick mount so they have more freedom in making the joystick fit. I’m basically trying to find whatever would make a Happ joystick work before I order any joystick. I would prefer to get a Happ to work, but if there’s no way I can get it on (which I’m hesitant to believe!), then I’ll have no choice but to order a Sanwa.
I really appreciate all the help, btw. I didn’t expect so many people to respond considering there haven’t been many posts on this subject since like 2010.
I think it was laugh who made a super simple tutorial for this. I modded a joytron stick which is the same build as a mayflash.
Hey guys, here’s an update. So I ended up finding a Zippyy joystick for $13. I just got it in the mail yesterday and I finished soldering it in. I haven’t tried it on my PC yet, but it works perfectly on my PS2. There was no PCB for the Zippyy so I simply soldered the wires to the Mayflash PCB and it works great.
you get the seimitsu variant?
Yeah, it’s very similar to a seimitsu. The joystick has a very great feel, not loose at all, especially looking at the fact that it was half the price of a Sanwa.