I just installed 2 comp sticks on my cabinet, and we were excited to fire it up and play but, even qcf motions were hard to pull off!
The corners were so hard to hit even jumping forward or blocking down-back became a huge issue.
I know eventually they wear themselves in, but because this isn’t at an arcade, is there any way I could speed this along manually?
Not with out risking damage
So it’s normal? I thought comps corners where easy to feel? These are almost impossible to find.
Happ changed since they moved production to China, so the Happ comp is not as consistent as when IL did the manufacturing.
But Happ joysticks usually have to be “broken-in” as they are built for Durability not Precision.
Happ is designed to be installed in thick wooden panels and to accept alot of rough play and abuse. Unless a Happ is broken in corners can be a pain.
If you want easier corners you would want Japaneses joysticks.
Well, thats good to know, I plan on breaking apart my Seimitsu’s I’ve made and sacrificing them for this cabinet.
There’s a couple things you can do. If you have a heavy spring you can get a medium spring for it. Or you can (I forget what it’s actually called) but fire tone the spring. I’ll find the video for you.
You can do this with out the tool, (by the way the tool just looks like a bolt, 2 washers, and a screw) but I believe this makes it uniform. I would highly suggest testing on some rando springs you don’t care about.
Maybe a better solution is to buy 2 new IL EURO sticks, they are $12 on PAS and come in a variety of colors. They are slightly different build than the old Happ comps, but they mount the same and have the same dimensions.
My brother went from an Old Happ comp (which he liked because of the stiffness, but once he used the IL Euro he fancied the slightly less stiff feel (it’s still stiff, just not as much as the old happ comps)
I hope this helps
Thanks man, I’ve been going out to the cab and sitting there spinning the sticks like some cracked out hooker over the past week or so and I can already tell they are a little better than before. I might just do what you suggested and buy a couple of new ones.
Yeah, I’d just get an IL, or maybe a p360 one, from which I only get good reports, specially from people who grew up in the 90’s and find playing with a stick on the lap and using different restrictors awkward. One of the local Ryu players who’s been doing fine attributes his current execution precision to his 360 stick.
I never like that mod as you are heat stressing the spring and destroying its elasticity. Instead of just making the spring softer, you are also starting to make the metal brittle.
You are risking that later that spring will snap and break.
Just trying to give him options. Best thing is to get 2 ILs =)
There are Options, and there choices where you risk more damage than anything else.
Happ and IL was not intended on accuracy, they were made to keep angry troublesome teens, drunks and prat kids from destroying the joystick and push buttons in one day.
I disagree with the “not intended on accuracy”.
I play on jap and american parts alike and find them to be pretty interchangable if you aren’t a fanboy of either.
Nothing lasts long in an arcade environment.
I just think most people associate American parts with poor quality because their local arcade joint usually had busted up controls. If they’re taken care of, accuracy will be just fine as long as you’re used to those styles of controls.
Of course, it depends on the parts. Reliable American-style controls are in short supply these days in comparisons with Japanese counterparts. They don’t make them like they used to.
I suggest you play a couple rounds of zangief, that’ll bust in the sticks 
It does not apply to every model of IL joystick, but in general American style parts are not (and was never) intended for accuracy.
Arcade owners only cares that their machine works and bring them in money. They do not care if you are unable to pull off a Shoryuken or able to navigate a screen of pink objects in a bullet-hell game.
Now there is the exception like the (old) Suzo 500, the P360 (I think they are garbage) and IL’s Magstick
This is a general summary of how American parts are like.
You have to know that this is true or you not be asking how to loosen the spring in your poorly made Happ competition joystick.
And yes Happ’s quality became the red headed step child of the industry since they moved production from IL (in Spain) to China.
American in deed.
Quick Generalization of arcade parts
American/European parts - made for durability (not curacy)
Japanese parts - made for accuracy (dose not take the abuse the American/European parts do)
Korean parts - Sits in between, forgiving on corners.
You are speaking of Arcades of the 80s and 90s in the US which are nothing like the arcades in Japan.
With a few exceptions, Japanese parts will break faster in a US arcade than American style parts.
US arcades have issues you don’t see in Japan, maybe in Europe.
Spilled beer and soda, cigarette burns, chewing gum stuck to the machines, kids who treat the joysticks like punching bags, graffiti, decals peeling off.
These are typical of US arcades. Factor in most arcade owners buy conversion kits instead of whole cabinets, a cabinet gets recycled so many times that the machine is no longer recognizable for its original game.
Like Someone turning a Klax machine into Street Fighter II not caring that the six button layout isn’t going to fit well.
Good point. But I think these questions are sort of moot in today’s gaming environment, where everyone’s carrying their own personal stick which typically sees mild use. Most people tend to be a lot gentler with their controllers as opposed to the arcade, where people don’t give a damn, like you so mentioned in the 80s and 90s in the US.
I’m sure even in Japan, they’re going through arcade parts fairly quickly based on the sheer number of traffic and how their arcade scenes are still hanging in there, while ours dwindles on year-to-year basis.
tl;dr Personal preference. Buy whatever you’re comfortable with.
Also if you think Japanese arcades don’t suffer from spilled drinks, juvenile delinquents and smokers we have been in very different Japanese arcades.
If you want to keep the American stick feel, nab an IL stick. Paradise Arcade Shop sells them.
http://fgc.paradisearcadeshop.com/5_industrias-lorenzo-il
I use Eurosticks myself. They feel more like Happ sticks used to.
Try to get that White Cherry Micro Switch paired with IL Eurojoystick (they originally come with brown harder micros). And last but not least… stay away from E-switch… they´re so crap that even the push buttons feels horrible with them. while Cherry micros (I know they´re not the same micros, but i think this shows the trademark reliability) are used in premium mechanical keyboards… e-switch are chinese generic ones.
You are confusing two different kinds of Cherry Switch.
https://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/89-thickbox_default/75-gram-cherry-microswitch.jpg
There are the Cherry switches that are compatible with joysticks and Happ/IL Push Buttons
http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/key/images/mx_series.jpg
and there are the Cherry MX switches that are used in keyboards.