Basically I recently bought a Hori EX2 joystick and I’ve had some success however I can’t stand the square gate and one of the buttons is starting to act up, so I decided to just say screw it and fully replace the stock parts with Sanwa parts. Unfortunately I can’t find a real good “beginners guide” since I have no experience with tools and I don’t know what parts to buy and all that. I searched around and there really aren’t that many guides for the Hori so yeah.
“Minimal Effort”
go buy a mad catz SE stick
i had a ex2 my first stick and i modded it …that stick was a pain in my ass to modd…yea save the money get a se or better yet te
There is no way to modify at minimal.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/360-hori-ex2-quick-mod-guide-plenty-pictures-140160/
Although since the images are down, I prefer this one:
There ya go. 
This is cooler to me though.
Joystick Mod Tutorials
Since faux123 doesn’t do unneeded stuff like Jangofatt did in this.
How to Mod the Hori EX2/Hori Wii Fighting Stick with Actual Sanwa Joystick and Buttons ? Pineconeattack!
And the Pineconeattack link I posted is for Sanwa JLF and Buttons.
Not just a Sanwa Restrictor Gate and Buttons.
Yah it’s not easy but I enjoyed doing mine. Gives you a better appreciation and understanding of how your stick works. Plus the size is great for travel. I have some friends who are really happy with their modded Hori’s.
However, for the money though, after you put in Sanwa, it’s much better of a deal and easier to just get a TE used/on sale.
Okay thanks everyone. I just gotta find a soldering iron and get the parts.
You can easily remove the microswitches from Sanwa OBSN-30s and put them inside of the stock Hori button casings. They’re a perfect fit. You’ll still have to desolder the circuit board from the old microswitches and solder the new microswitches to the board with some wire, but this is very minimal as far as mods go. All you need is a soldering iron, some solder and a desoldering tool/copper braid.