Its not super easy to pull the artwork off. It won’t be the death of you though.
Most of the comments about art removal say its tough if you want the art intact, it can be a huge pita to get it off in one go.
If you don’t care about the art go crazy on it, rip it the hell off. Want the art? I suggest using a heatgun.
If you don’t have a heatgun, a hair dryer might work, too…
aww snap, newegg went back to normal price its 149. I missed out =(
I believe Gamestop still has their sale going on. You should hurry if you want one.
I recently acquired a Hori SC V stick as a gift and have been considering modification. I am a little new to the fight stick world as a whole, but I was thinking about trying to design some new art to personalize the stick with and I was wondering a little about the art replacement process. If the stock artwork is on a 0.5mm layer of plastic adhered to the top panel, like I think it is, is it entirely necessary to remove the original art, or can new art be layered on top and a plexi screwed down over top of both? Either way, from what I can tell the ease of modding this stick might turn in my favor as a bit of a noobie to this area.
Do it either way…
Just be sure that the paper you print the new artwork on is quality laser jet paper and THIN… Contrary to what many people think, you don’t need to print on cardstock IF you’re going to buy a plexi anyway. The plexi will protect the artwork for practically forever unless you leave it out in the sunlight or a humid area all the time.
(I sold the Mad Catz art that I removed from most of my TE’s but that was easier to pull off. I don’t know how the Hori art is taped down to the faceplate plus I don’t have plans to remove the artwork on my SC V… This is the first time I’ve actually liked the character art on a licensed Hori joystick!
(Again, if you really want to bother removing the original art, use a heatgun as suggested or heat up the faceplate with a hair dryer. Either way will probably soften the adhesive strip/glue(?) enough to remove the art layer gently without warping much… Might even leave the artwork in good enough shape to sell if somebody wants it for another joystick…)
Cardstock absorbs more color and tends to make printed art look darker and is much harder to cut with X-acto knives than laser printer paper.
In the end, you’re just paying for more pain and a darker image with cardstock… especially if you intend to use cutouts in transparent 30mm pushbuttons. Cardstock is 5-8 times harder to cut NICELY than thinner laserjet paper.
One change I made this past year in printing artwork was to “sweeten” the color before I resaved flattened images as PDF files to print out at the local printshop. I use Photoshop and adjust Saturation on “Hue/Saturation” to +35 points. It brightens the color a bit and gets rid of the grays that can creep into digital imagery. It also makes the final printed image look closer to actual screen imagery. There’s always a difference between printed and monitor imagery because of backlighting on the monitors and hardware translation issues…
Thanks for the advice, I do think the SC V artwork is nice, but I actually do not even own that installment in the series. Also, small resentment that Siegfried and Mitsurugi get a place behind Ivy and the new guys. I do want to save the art though. I’ll have to find a place to use a laser printer, but I’m pretty sure there’s a few on my campus that I might be able to use. Could also just go to a Fed-Ex Office. For actually cutting the artwork to size with an x-acto knife or other hobby knife, does one simply use the metal case to gauge the cutting zones? I have also thought about buying the art-printing/cutting from tek-innovations (where I currently plan to get the plexi from), but it sounds like printing on laserjet paper might be preferable to the cardstock.
Also, since I’m still a little new to using a fightstick, I was wondering if anyone else felt that the Sanwa buttons on this stick seem very sensitive, or if that is a normal feel for t buttons. he buttons.
No, I wouldn’t use the metal faceplate. tends to have projections on it that make it difficult to use… The only way way you could use the faceplate is to flip it over so its lies flat on the upper flat surface. Good luck aligning it with the button holes that way, though! You stand a good chance of cutting outside the button holes unless you see them well enough (artwork reversed so that the ink layer lies down) to cut with the metal faceplate. I’ve just never bothered to cut them that way…
I usually just use the Tek-Innovation plexis as a guide for cutting. (Of course, I’ve also scratched them that way, too, but the scratches aren’t as obvious as breaks in the button holes if you fail to shave off the nubs on the buttons!) Cheaper and easier that way in the long run.
Definitely takes a while to get used to cutting with an X-acto knife. The tips on the blades do frequently break if you use too much muscle… When the tips break/dull, it’s time to swap out the blade for a new one. Good thing is that sets of X-acto blades are fairly cheap.
And yes, Sanwa buttons are supposed to be that sensitive. Most people prefer them that way. They are way more comfortable than the Happ buttons will ever be. Seimitsu is a good alternative brand in case you think Sanwas are too sensitive but most people get used to the Sanwas. Some people even swap out compatible switches in other brand buttons with the SW-68 microswitches Sanwa buttons use.
GeorgeC,
So, did you successfully install the LS-32? Cuz I’m considering this stick for the price instead of getting an HRAP EX-SE, and modding it to Seimitsu LS-32.
I never did such a mod before, and didn’t really understand what you were saying before. Photos of how you got the LS-32 in there would be awesome.
LS-32-01 installs in the Hori SC V joystick just like the HRAP V3 case… There’s only one way the joystick will install. Definitely have to use the SS Mounting Plate. Very easy install… You definitely have to screw in the PCB from the bottom of the SC V case (open up the baseplate)… There’s no way the LS-32-01 PCB will fit through the hole the JLF sinks into. I still found it somewhat difficult to take the JLF out from the top, though. It sort of snakes in sideways to fit; really strange that Hori designed the case the way they did – it just makes the joystick lever replacement/maintenance that much more labor-intensive.
The HRAP V3 mount-style seems to have become the standard joystick mount for the new-production high-end Hori joysticks. Everything (JLF, LS joysticks) installs in one direction; no longer any nonsense about rotating PCB’s… The 5-pin connects orient the same direction, JLF or LS – just flip the harness 180 degrees for the LS joysticks and they’re good to go.
Can’t help you with the LS-32 if that’s the one you’re using. That requires more modding (of the harness) to use it on an SC V case… I’ve always used the LS-32-01 as a JLF replacement… If you’re getting the LS-32 (no 5-pin connect) you have to replace the flat mounting plate with an SS Mounting Plate. I think you’d also have to fit all the directional signal wires with 0.187 quick disconnects and daisy chain the ground signal wire. I’m sure somebody has pictures of how to orient the 0.187 quick disconnects on the LS-32 microswitch prongs somewhere on the SRK forums or another videogame site. I could be wrong — never done this myself (yet) but I might doing it in a few months with a very similar LS-32 clone stick…
I got my stick yay!now to figure out what art I want. Im thinking of jet set radio
Just to confirm the ls- 40, 55, 56, 58 will be able to be installed from the top as I put a 58 in there and they all use similar pcbs. Also the bottom is pretty easy to get access so if you are switching just the stick i would go from the bottom because it would be a little easier; however if you a switching the buttons you really have to do it from the top as it is pretty tight spacing to reach the buttons the way the enclosure is built.
It will install just like JLF only the LS-32 and LS-40 install differently
im planning to get one soon if e3 dont have any new fight sticks coming out.
a question for owner who havent mod their stick yet.
i would like to know if theres any cons about the stick n its performance.
also for those who use it for a while now, do you ever experience squeak on stick or buttons?
i own a hori v3 for two days and the stick already started to squeak.
No cons that are major. I don’t like the that you can’t fit your whole fingers in the handles but it’s a good thing I don’t take it anywhere lol. Sometimes I hear some squeaks from the stick. But it stopped. Buttons work fine.
whats the reason behind squeaky stick? or even buttons? lubrication ?
yea, lube it. But you have to use a specific lubricant i hear.
I’ve had it for about a month, no squeaks or anything. The buttons were sensitive to me at first, but I think it’s just been me adjusting to the feel of the Sanwa buttons.
are the buttons super sensitive?
also have you experience any input lag?
No input lag that I can tell. When I say the buttons are sensitive, I mean that it only takes a tap, enough to depress a button a few millimeters, to input a command. It sounds like this may be normal though, and I’ve already almost gotten used to it. It’s most noticeable in the game menus, where I selected my character and assist in Skull Girls a few times without hardly noticing because my hands were resting on the buttons a little too much.