ohh and the button hole was made with a 15/16 spade hole saw and a drill
Thanks for the answers. I’ll go get one of those drill bits and give it a shot. Last stupid question I promise. On the M:F cables are the colors the same on both ends? I understand it’s probably just different connectors but I didn’t know if the order needed to be reversed, etc. I’m guessing not by your description.
I’m glad you’re into it. I haven’t touched my stick since I got this done.
i need one!!! lol how much would it cost to make one fo rme lol any1? ill send a ss pad to make it cheaper lol
Another option besides putting Guide, Back, or whatever on the project box would be adding tiny buttons to the Saturn pad - say on the top near the controller cable. I don’t know exactly what type of buttons to use, but I’ve seen RDC at Xbox-Scene add buttons that way.
Also an SNES controller would be another great pad to hack - much more comfortable than the NES pad to me.
Great thread! I always thought this would work but I never bothered to try it. If Toodles releases his board soon I’ll probably just go that route, but we’ll see.
pricey! I sold fallback his, so I have feedback if you want. if you’re intersted, let me know (PM me).
kyle, the wire colors are the same on both sides of the cable. nothing has to be switched. simply cut the m/f cable in half. Use one side on the psx or xbox pcb and the other side on the saturn pad. then match up the wires by color. It’s very straight foward and the connection is great. :wgrin:
shrimpnoodles, after doing this mod i can easily understand it being “pricey” I dont think i would sell one for less than 100 dollars labor cost. Maybe i just suck, but i thought making this was extremely hard work. It took me 2 days and probably 10 hours. Thankyou for pioneering this technique, and thank god i was able to perform it.
Thanks again.
Yeah, I did my second, PS2 pad much faster and it still took a couple of hours. When I have some time to blow I’m gonna stuff both the 360 and PS2 PCB in the same box. There isn’t much more required to do this since I’ve already got the foundation for it down.
I decreased the pic size though for the second pic that shows the pins its pretty useless if you cant see the actual pins so I decreased it as much as I could.
yeah I must give credit again to shrimpnoodles because if I had not bought and opened his I would never have been able to duplicate it. His was quality work. :tup:
^ Thanks. I don’t have to scroll horizontally anymore. And since I didn’t say it before, thanks to anyone who has had some part in this. I filled in a number of blanks using the info and pics from Fallback who credits shrimpnoodles, etc etc.
I played some PS2 shmups this morning and it was good times. Especially since the Saturn-Xbox-PS2 chain didn’t work for most of them.
Last dumb question I promise. How did you guys leave the little black nub that comes out of the controller intact. This picture shows what I’m talking about:
Slightly OT: I bought me a clear Saturn pad this morning for $20. It’s pretty slick.
I slit that “black nub” as you call it vertically on the backside with an exacto knife. That way I could wrap it around the new DB15 cable. I then glued it back together with krazy glue once I had it around the new cable. It comes out pretty neat that way I think.
Ace hardware has this style hole saw which I think is easier for this sort of thing and stick building in general and they have 24mm and 30mm sizes.
fallback u live in ny?
Thanks. I’ll try this later today.
That does look easier. Is it also a drill bit?
I took a different approach to that, what I did was took two pliars and pull on both ends at the same time until it rips leaving only the “black nub.” leaving it intact. it’s comes off very clean. it’s because it’s just attached to the wire on the outside, so once you pull it, the attachment comes off. put some muscle into it. the hardest part then shoving the wire into the rubber cable holder. because if you have a wire that’s slightly too big, it’s a pain…
Yeah, my db15 cable is pretty fat compared to the Saturn. It barely fits through the original opening. I’ll give this a try first and then cut it if it won’t fit. Maybe slim720 can chime in since his cable also came from MonoPrice.
i did it the hard way like shrimpnoodles. I pulled the black wire sheath from the “nub” on the original controller and then very slowly pushed and pulled it onto the db 15 cord. I swear it felt like it took an hour. I also stretched the little black piece by repeatedly opening a pair of pliers inside it. I could not believe it actually fit in the saturn pad. Its very snug but it fits and it looks pretty awesome
just a little side note. My saturn pad has been through hell and back as you can see from my pics. I got it for 3 bucks from game trader. still it feels better playing on this pad than any other pad or arcade stick i own and i have quite a collection 
It just boggles my mind that a 3 dollar used pad from 1996 is more fun to play on than a 150 plus dollar stick.
I do have a question though for all you experts. If i want a new housing for my hacked pcb can i buy one of the numerous usb pads i keep seeing on ebay or should i search until i find an actual sega saturn pad in good condition?
^ New Saturn pads on eBay cost the same as the USB variety. I’d buy one of those since the USB are reportedly clones now.
I was able to pry of the nub with some needle nose pliers. I did the same thing trying to loosen it up enough for the cable to fit through. I don’t have that kind of patience so I snipped it and spun it around where the open end is facing the back. Good enough for me…
Yeah, buy a 24 mm Hole Saw bit from Ace and then buy a guide bit to go inside it. Stick them together in a drill and you are ready to make clean 24 mm holes. Both parts together cost about $20 total.
Thanks.
I tried the stretching method again for the nubbie. I’m officially not going to do it. :arazz: The damn thing finally tore after probably an hour of fussing with it. I’m thinking the cable is just too large.
hah, i dont blame you man. if i were trying to make more than one of these hacked saturn pads i would never go through the trouble of pulling that stupid nubbie onto the db 15 cord. Its simply cosmetic. And i would have to say splitting the nubbie is the best option. You waste way less time and you lose almost nothing cosmetically