Thanks for the kind words guys.
My FSVX is actually fully wired up and functional, but there’s still a few things I’m planning to do with it before I’ll post pics of the completed project. One thing being that I’m awaiting a new top-panel from blklightning21, and another being that I’m redoing the Start/Select/Home buttons so that they’ll have tactile microswitches (waiting for them from an eBay purchase).
Yeah! I saw that you sanded down the nub on yours. It doesn’t bother me too much, so I figured I’d just keep it as-is. At first I was thinking of repainting the case, then for a while I decided to skip out on that, and now I’m going back to wanting to do it. I’ll probably at least wait until I get my new top-panel, figure out what I’m going to do for art (already started to cut my own plexi for it), and then I’ll decide about whether to repaint or not.
It’s a much lighter stick than a TE, that’s for sure. Hell, it’s much lighter than an SE.
But after putting in Sanwa buttons and a JLF, it should be just as good as a TE/SE, functionality-wise, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t last you just as long. I will say that I find the top buttons (Home/Select/Start) to feel kinda on the cheap side, though, hence why I’m planning to make them use tactile microswitches like I mentioned above.
Artwork-wise, you’d have to approach it like an SE: there’s no stock plexi, so you’ll need to remove your stick/buttons, peel off the existing stock foam-sticker, and either laminate your artwork and stick it on with some sort of adhesive, or get a plexi made for it.
Im having som trouble with my VX. When i press the START button, i more then often get a BACK input aswell, and vice versa. I have to press down the CP, and slam it before it registers just one of the imputs. Anyone else with this problem?
Sounds like you have a short somewhere. If you want any further troubleshooting assistance, take pics of the PCBs.
Back to my FSVX mods: got a bunch of 6x6x9mm tactile microswitches in the mail today from eBay (basically your standard tact switch, but with a really long button-part so that I can trim it down to fit). I’ve gotten to the point where I hate those squishy rubber-dome-contact buttons on my sticks (on my modded TvC stick, I removed to the Select+Start buttons, put in 24mm Seimitsus, and soldered in tact switches under the Home and Turbo buttons).
Had to dremel out the insides of each of the individual buttons a little, and had to get creative of ways to mount each of the tact microswitches onto the secondary PCB: two of the four legs were bent and soldered under the switch, the other two were snipped off.
The only thing left for this stick for me is my replacement panel from blklightning21 (already in the mail), complete the drilling of my own plexi cover, and some panel-art.
My LS-01 fits in the little stick square on the V3, but I didn’t want to screw through the top plate to mount it so I just hot glued it instead. It worked for a while but its starting to come off. Not surprising.
Any suggestions for another adhesive to keep it secure?
Quick update to this stick. The Client won another stick raffle (MCZ SCV) and after I modded that one, he traded me his VX for the work!! decided to switch out the stock stick and replace it with a JLF body w/ Cherry switches and Kowals custom Acuator. added QD’s to the VX stick harness so should be easy to swap out in the future if I change my mind.
impulse buy V3, really loving the body/casing form and size, perfect layout too.
I have a question regarding the home/turbo panel buttons for this stick.
And by that I mean the Start and Select buttons. Any chance those are some sort of standard sized buttons i can get on its own (in various colors?) i see them a lot in weird Hori sticks, namely the VF4/Evo , Namco(?) V3 and seems like iCore uses them too…
plainly, i just need ONE yellow button for Start, w/o gutting other cheap sticks (assuming they really are the same size)
(trying to make my V3 look like a “V3SHG” as much as possible, gonna add Sanwas and some weights to give it a more solid feel, yeah its pretty silly)
After reading this thread I finally decided to make the leap to a fightstick from gamepad. I ordered a V3 and Sanwa JLF/Sanwa OBSF-30s (so this is also my first mod). I figured if I get started, I might as well get started on good parts. I got the V3 Friday and had all weekend to play with it (so far loving the stick, pulling off my first solid/reliable BnBs on Cammy), and got the parts in last night. After about 4 hours, here’s how it turned out:
The wiring is a bit messy but I was pleased. Thanks for the suggestions by a couple of you in this thread to whittle down the JLF body and mount with screws below the restrictor plate (else I probably would have drilled it too). After doing the whittling plus widening the holes to fit over the existing case screw studs, the JLF screwed in and I had it right at 24mm height. My finished product looked like this:
Hey guys. I’m planning on getting my first Arcade Stick really soon, and decided on the V3 because it seems like the best stick I can get that’s within my price range. Now, I wasn’t initially planning on modding it (aside from swapping the square gate for an octagonal Sanwa), but my friend keeps telling me that I should change the board-type buttons for pushbuttons instead, due to performance and response and whatnot. He also tells me that I should try to get another stick, because I would probably screw that up, never having modded a stick before, and having zero knowledge on wiring.
Now, here’s the question: should I really opt to change the stock buttons for pushbuttons eventually down the line? “Getting another stick” is not exactly an option for me, and I’m a bit afraid of screwing up and ruining the stick while attempting to switch the buttons. On the other hand, he says that if I’m really serious about performance, I should switch for pushbuttons…and I AM serious about performance. And, should I try to switch them, I’ll probably ask an electrical engineer friend for help…couldn’t ask someone with actual stick modding experience for physical help, as I’ve been told there’s 15 stick players at most in my country (we kind of really suck like that).
So yeah…should I go for pushbuttons? Leave them stock at the possible cost of responsiveness? For the record, how’s responsiveness with the stock buttons? Could a first-time modder with electrical engineer assist screw the stick beyond repair? Those are the questions I’ve come to ask you. I hope someone can shed some light on the situation for me soon! Thanks in advance!
Stock, out of the box, it’s probably the best ‘budget’ stick available. The parts are good enough, especially for a first stick, so you shouldn’t rush into getting new parts. With the stock parts, and with replaced parts, it’s a great stick and very recommended.
Swapping the parts out is a hair more difficult that it would be with the SE stick though. Not hard, but harder, since wires would have to be cut and soldered to and you have to desolder the original buttons. We can’t answer if your friend could do it, but having him look through this thread should give him an idea of what all would be needed once you get to the point you want to swap parts.
I bought my V3 and used it approximately 3 days before I swapped the buttons for Sanwa OBSF-30s. It’s my first stick, so as someone who isn’t super spoiled to the high quality parts (and not used to a stick) I can say that the difference in buttons wasn’t that apparent to me at first. In fact, when I first put them in I thought they might actually be inferior because they were so sensitive; however, now that I have had a bit of time with the Sanwa buttons I am really appreciating the sensitivity, and they seem to take less pressure to push down compared to the Hori stock. Hitting more than one button at the same time (especially KKK or PPP) is noticeably easier to slap out. In all I would say they are a good change, but definitely not game breaking.
I also changed the stick out for a Sanwa JLF which seemed to make a larger difference to me than the buttons. The Sanwa stick feels more precise, and the clicky tactile feedback seems a bit higher (which I can appreciate, as I am a fan of mechanical keyboards already).
In all though I don’t think the Sanwa parts are going to pull me any extra wins. It’s more like comparing a good reliable vehicle to a luxury model. Both stock and modded are going to take you where you want to go.
