these diagrams are prolly THE most helpful information on how to solder ive ever seen. THANKS!
Just saw your site and I was astounded by the quality of design and amount of technical details you’ve covered so far. I gotta tip my cap, you really did a superb job on everything and I’m sure it’ll continue to get better
And the stick god aka Byrdo has spoken (or posted). Great job though, finally a consolidated wealth of good information and pictures.
your site was AWSOME! i learned a lot. im about to make a new pad (my first from the ground up. i did the wireing on a friends cabinet he gave me) But like you said, your stick was a little bigger than they tend to be. I was mine to be about the size or Laurie’s from the “I love my custom stick thread” (the first one posted (thats NOT Byrdo’s) with the Baiken art on it) Is there anyway i could get the demensions of a pad like that from you??
Many thanks Byrdo. 
I’m definitely not sure, but eyeballing that one photo, I’d say the control panel is about 8" by 6.5", and it is about 50mm high.
And I do definitely plan on going smaller in the future, at least thinner. The first two controllers I made were kind of warmups, but they do work very well. But because my shoulders are wide and hands like to spread, about the smallest I’m willing to go on a quality panel is 10.5" by 7", and that’s pushing it a bit for me.
I did another update of the site responding to some of the suggestions given, and doing many other things I felt necessary. The updates are summarized on the front page.
I thought of some new designs and tricks, and Im thinking I might be able to set a panel that uses many of the less-popular joystick models at the proper height, and Im thinking of making some very slim controllers.
I have not gotten started on a new controller yet; hopefully Ill have some time soon.
I do have a few questions in mind:
I got a suggestion to add various PCB soldering diagrams, and made a subsection for them. Only thing is I am not sure where to get more diagrams, and, more specifically, how to know if Im not stealing someone elses images and giving proper credit.
Im wondering about putting images into acrylic itself, and the mounting of acrylic. Do some people stick their artwork to the bottom of the acrylic? What do people use to put images on the acrylic? Do the ones who make controllers without screws on the surface of the panel just let the buttons hold the acrylic down, or do they fasten it in some other hidden way?
Im wondering if there is a good guide for illuminated buttons and joysticks somewhere.
Im also looking for some more brand controller makers to reference, trying to make sure that they are reputable as I have heard bad things about a lot of them.
And as always Im look for suggestions in general.
I just updated my site with a fair amount of refinement throughout. But most of the work was done on the tool and especially PCB sections.
I just got started on a couple new controllers which should be pretty compact and interesting when they’re finish. These will probably make up most the next update. I probably also need to get an X-Box 360 controller and soldering diagram done for it.
Again, I welcome any input. Currently all the input I have received has been in this forum.
I don’t know if you know or not, but there are two different versions of the 360 controller PCB’s. There was the older matrix style board which while it was better built, you needed two wires for each button (not good for JLF sticks) and the new ones which have a common ground setup. Great for JLF sticks but the quality isn’t as good as the older controllers IMHO.
Here’s a site that may help you mapping out diagrams.
Just got another update for the site done.
I went on a bit of a tangent and centered a lot on my PCB section.
With some very basic electronics studying, I refined the page nicely. And with some connections and quite a bit of work, I got my PCB diagrams up to a total of 27.
Still need some xbox and gamecube diagrams (a tri-wing screwdriver for that one). I’m also kind of wondering if there is a way to distinguish from looking at an Xbox 360 wireless controller if it is the complex multi-ground type or not.
I really got to get going on some controller builds now.
One way I found that I could tell if the controller I have is CG or not without opening it is that the grey part on the bottom of the controller (that curved piece) is kinda like a dull grey on a CG controller whereas my older matrix style controllers have a more shiny grey.
Not sure if this is 100% conclusive, but it’s worked for the few controllers I’ve opened.
@ slagcoin
I am a huge fan of this site and think that it is SUPERB !!! You don’t come across sites like these everyday and I think it is a JEM on the web!
I have one request…
In the “idiot box” section, I find it a little hard to follow along. I was wondering if you could make an “idiot list” of things to do so it’s easier to understand… such as:
1)Cut 3 wood piesces into x" -pic-
2) Glue 2 together like this -insert pic-
3) Shove JLF into board that is 3x4x1/2 -pic-
etc… etc…
I think that would make it a lot easier to follow along.
Really great info on that site. Definitely bookmarking for reference.
Thanks, I might get one of these soon and check it out.
The guide in that section is supposed to be summarized (and more examples should be added within a month). I can see your point about that though and I’ve made a note in my “to-do” document. I will see if it can be better arranged like that and will look though it again in the future. I called that controller the idiot box because it is about as simple a controller build-type for Japanese parts as I could think of.
Wait, wait, there are single-ground official first-party X360 controllers now? Damn, I missed that memo. If someone can give me some concrete details for knowing which is which I’ll be hitting the stores looking for same. I need them to piggyback on my UPCBs.
If you get new stock, you’ll have a better than average chance of getting one that has a CG PCB in it. I ordered a wireless pad from Play-asia at the beginning of the year and it was CG. The wired ones should be the same I’d say.
It is a bit hard to tell from the outside without opening it up, besides using the info I gave about the grey plastic.
Here’s a link showing the different boards.
Thanks for that. Unfortunately it seems the new wired boards are common line instead of common ground. I’m waiting on Toodles to comment on how difficult they’d be to use in a UPCB setup.
Probably damn easy to mod for a single-system stick though.
i have a request, since i don’t have any drafting/design software to use. you have several great button layout guides, but i’d like one more like this:
http://www.crookedjester.com/sticks/index.html refers to it as “Hori RAP Left”
if you don’t think you’ll be able to add that layout, can i ask what software you used to create the other guides? thanks
Looks like it’s an older Japanese arcade layout like in some Hori sticks like:
That is definitely a good suggestion, and I’d like to add it. But I really need some measurements or a high-resolution scan to make a decent diagram for it. I dunno if anybody knows where such information is located, and I’m not sure if that maker feels like divulging it.
What a pain in the arse! Sorry everyone, I just found the info on this over at Xbox-scene. I was almost going to buy one of these new wired pads to mod a mate’s VSHG (dual 360/PS3). Luckily I didn’t. I should really do more research next time :wtf:
Here’s a link for those of you who are interested.
Anyone know where I can get a wired common ground 360 controller cheaply (3rd party is ok)?