@beatifically
It’s all common ground.
The 8-pin connector for the joystick just has duplicates of all the ground signals.
Hey guys - new to fightsticks here (analog stick user for years). I seriously suck ass with my new V3, but I still love it oddly enough. I really, really, really hate the feel of the square gate… but I refuse to give up! I’ve been playing SF for years and want to finally play legit lol.
My question is:
In the future I’d like to mod the look of my stick. I’m a bit of a visual guy, so it’s actually more for the cool factor, but I might as well use nice parts. From what I’ve read, the OSB30 Sanwa buttons go in with a little sanding, correct? Is there an easier, better button, or is that the go-to?
I would also like a matching (color) ball top. What top can I get that should just screw right on in place of the existing Hori ball top? I don’t really want to replace the entire stick if possible.
I really appreciate any answers. I’m thinking of basically just going black and white (buttons/top). Simple and clean. Thanks!
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OBSF-30s need the little notch/tab thinggie under the rim to fit properly. Otherwise, they grind too tightly.
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Any Sanwa/Seimitsu balltop will fit the existing shaft of the stock Hori stick in the Fighting Stick VX/V3.
Fast, efficient, perfect answer - thank you!
Side question - If you (or anyone else) were to buy buttons/tops, where in your experience has been a good place to shop? Whether price or service, I’m just curious. I was looking on a site called focusattack.com - and they seemed pretty fair in price. Then again… I have no idea what fair is haha.
Hey everyone. First time post and mod. Was very happy with the result, except the air bubbles, but that I can live with. Went with JLF, OBSFS buttons and eBay CF wrap. Link for full album
Thanks to all the helpful posters in this thread!
Looks pretty clean Youngblood. I don’t know mods to well, but I’d say that’s an excellent first pass! 
Thanks! I really appreciate it.
Also forgot to mention, the JLF is mounted using Laugh’s method (slicing down body, new screws -> self tapping 4x12mm)
wait, which wire connects to which again for the JLF? which one is the ground?
from this picture, it looks like if I am to look from the bottom of the stick, the 1st of the color pair is the ground, is that right?
is this the same for both v3 and vx version?
so if I just want to put in my own L1 L2 button, I just use need to extend those 2 wires and the ground, right?
The FSVX and V3 have different PCBs and pinouts. The wiring WILL be different.
The FSVX’s joystick wiring is as follows:
(From top to bottom)
Ground
Ground
Ground
Down
Up
Left
Right
Ground
This is no different for the sub-PCB; the FS V3 and VX have slightly different sub-PCBs.
You’d be best following the traces for those two buttons.
But the rest of your train of though is correct: extend those two wires (and an accompanying Ground signal) to a separate button, and voilà!
so what is the layout for ps3 pcb’s? my biggest problem when I tried to trace the joystick part connection is that I couldn’t see where the ground wire goes
and the top bar looks even more confusing to me, I do circuits mostly on breadboard, so looking at printed circuit board is troublesome for me.
also, does this wiring guide still applies? I remember marking down the up down left right on the pcb itself, but I don’t know the order of the jlf-h harness
Yep, that pinout is still good; you’re just connecting wires. As long as you follow your JLF’s orientation, and the correct pins on the PCB, you’re ok.
Use a multimeter to check for continuity from contacts to pins. That way, you won’t need to follow the traces directly.
If you don’t have a multimeter, something that I used to use in a pinch was a couple of wires hooked up to a battery+resistor+LED. Use the loose ends of the wires to touch contact points. If the LED lit up, you have continuity.
just to be certain, the ground trace on the pcb doesn’t have the resisters connecting to the chip right? I couldn’t see where the grounds go so I assume the ones with resisters are the ones where the switch wires should connect to.
@MuffinMan123
Not sure. It’s hard to go off of the description you’re giving; you should either use a multimeter to test (I cannot stress this enough) or post a clear picture of what you’re referring to.
traced the top circuit board, after you open the case, you see lables for gnd, pc1 and pc2
pc1 is L2
pc2 is L1
gnd is ground obviously.
if you use the stock jlf mounting plate, the stick will have the same height as madcatz stick, and the stick rod will rub against the bottom of the case. it’s not that bad though, so far it doesn’t affect inputs, I think after a few games it will scratch out enough and fix the problem by itself.
no the money to buy the quick disconnects and stuff, so the entire modding is done with just wires, solder, and electric tape
I also kept the 6 button board because it makes wiring the buttons much easier.
btw, is there any way to change the wires for the hori’s joystick connector without breaking it? the wire quality is so bad that I thought it would break if I mess with it too much.
the surface is a kitchen mat bought from dollar store and glued to the metal plate using weldbond,
WARNING, it looks really disgusting, make sure your eyes are ready for it
Congrats on finally getting all your mods done!
Maybe, but if you plan to keep it like that, your best bet is to grind down the bottom part of the casing right under the joystick, to ensure that you have enough clearance. It won’t grind itself down smoothly enough, I’ll tell you that much.
Not using QDs is fine; some people prefer the to solder, though that doesn’t give you the flexibility to easily switch things out later on if you need/want to.
I would’ve recommended to just get rid of the 6-button daughter-board, and solder your wires from the buttons directly to the PCB in the lower-right.
I will, however, recommend against using electrical tape; it WILL unstick itself in the long run. Your best bet is to just pick up some heat shrink. You don’t even need a heat gun to shrink it; just use a lighter or a match under it.
The only way would be to re-crimp new wire for the header. But yes, the stock wires are very cheap.
Yeah, I gotta admit, that does look pretty bad.
If anything, you should’ve just picked up some self-adhesive vinyl wrap, and wrap the whole thing, and pierce holes for the screws so that the entire metal panel is covered.
You now have some exposed sections which is not good because a) it’ll eventually rust, and b) you’re opening your stick up to electrostatic damage (I’ve static-shocked my FSVX in the past through the edge of the metal panel; I believe it damaged a PCB in the process).
the plate is steel isn’t it? even if it rusts, you can easily remove it
I didn’t use any plastic wrap because I like the surface of the kitchen mat. it’s really comfortable and I want to feel that when I use my stick.
if I have the money I’d get plexi glass, but I don’t have the tools to replicate the plate right now.
I suppose I could always tape up those loose corners, I will try it right now
So I bought 6 sanwa buttons and a JLF from Focus Attack and got them today. I removed the buttons from my VX and put the new ones in and realized I wasn’t sure on how to wire them. I have quick disconnects and was planning on soldering 2 wires directly to the buttons and then using a QD to connect it to the wire coming off of the motherboard. Is this a good way to do it or should I order the QD specifically for the buttons from FA?
Most people, myself included, have QD’s attaching to the buttons and splice that to the wires coming from the PCB, after removing the button PCB. This makes it much easier to remove or change the buttons
Okay thanks. I guess buy some…
I have another question though. I noticed the JLF has a common ground but the stock stick has a ground for each switch. How do I wire the four JLF wires? Also a labeled diagram of the VX would be great if anyone has it. I’ve searched a lot.