Question about seimitsu ls32

I have a madcatz TE stick, looking to get rid of the jlf, and i have a few questions

  1. Does the seimitsu rotate like the jlf? I hate this feature with no end
  2. Will it work easily with my te stick?
  3. I currently have an octogate, will this matter?
  1. The octogate won’t matter since it’s a Sanwa product… The closest the LS-32-01 has is a circle gate. Frankly not worth it. The LS-32-01 is far more forgiving with its square gate because of the levered microswitches on its PCB. Much, much easier joystick to come to grips with when playing with a square gate.
  2. Yes, the TE was designed to accommodate Seimitsu as well as Sanwa product. The LS-32-01 (the model you want, NOT the plain LS-32) will fit in fine. You just have to rotate its PCBso that it lines up properly. Orient the 5-prong harness connect in the same direction the JLF’s 5-prong was in, and THEN flip the wire harness 180-degrees. If your joystick input signals properly, no worries. If something doesn’t work, you have to open up the joystick and either flip the harness 180-degrees back, or reorient your PCB. Usually, if you keep the PCB in the same direction the JLF had its prong in, you’re in good business and it’s a matter of whether you have your wire harness flipped in the right direction or not…
  3. What do you mean by rotate? If you mean sound, then yes, all joysticks with PCB’s make noise UNLESS there is a Flash (optical) PCB available. Those noises are the microswitches engaging to send signals for direction. Nobody has a Flash PCB in production for either the JLF or LS-32-01, and those that exist are JLF-only or Ascii stick-only and insanely expensive since they’re out of production and are collector’s items. By rotate, all joysticks rotate the same way if they use the same kind of gates. You definitely can feel square gates on both the JLF and LS-32-01. Where it becomes different is when you swap for optional gates because the distance the joystick has to travel diagonally becomes unequal with different gate styles.
  1. By “rotate” I’m assuming you’re talking about being able to turn the shaft around while holding the ball top. Pretty much every sanwa and seimitsu stick I’ve seen does this. It’s not a feature; this is by design.
  2. Yes. I use an LS-32-01 in my own stick. It was very easy to mount. Refer to this page and start with step #41.
  3. Only if switching to square bothers you. You could also remove both gates for the LS-32-01 and end up with a circlular-style, if you wish. You could also mod a sanwa octogate with some drilling, but that’s a bit of work.

thanks for the reply, when i say rotate i mean literally rotate. you can spin the stick in place by twisting it. i would prefer not to have this feature because it causes slipping, and frankly i cant imagine why anyone would want it that way.

One bad thing is that the LS-32-01 has a tendency to “pop the gate” when handled aggressively.

The LS-40-01, which is similar to the LS-32-01 but a tiny bit tighter-feeling, doesn’t “pop the gate” and remains in place… Although the LS-32-01 does pop on occasion it’s always settled back into position whenever I’d had that happen which isn’t that often.

The LS-40-01 is a bit smaller than the LS-32-01 and the mounting plates between them are interchangeable. If you ever decided to use an LS-40-01 in a TE or HRAP SA/SE stick base, you have to replace the flat mounting plate of the LS-40-01 with the SS Mounting Plate that comes stock with the LS-32-01. That’s an additional $5 cost unless you can convince the vendor you’re buying from if he’d kindly send the LS-40-01 with the SS Mounting plate only and not charge for a Flat Mounting Plate that you don’t need. Lizard Lick and Akihabarashop would probably do this for you if you asked them…

I personally like both the LS-40-01 and LS-32-01 but think the LS-40 has a slight advantage with 2-D fighters. It feels a bit tighter and maybe snaps back to center faster. It’s still more difficult to do dash moves with any joystick IMHO than a joypad. Those perceptions could be different depending on the player but it’s a nice-feeling joystick. It’s also been said to be the joystick that SNK Neo Geo arcade cabinets were most often equipped with in Japan, too.

The LS-32-01 gets bought more often because A) the LS-40-01 is harder to get in the US and often isn’t in stock; B) people don’t care about slight feel differences and stick to the LS-32-01; and C) everybody’s brother and cousin are getting LS-32-01’s just because it’s the second most common joystick that equips arcade cabinets or joystick bases! It’s a peer thing.

I frankly don’t care one way much over the other as long as I’m using a Seimitsu joystick. I just think they feel better than the JLF. That joystick’s too loose and has gate issues, too. I don’t pay much attention to the build quality that some FAQ references. The Sanwa and Seimitsu product are pretty much the same quality = BETTER than Happ, IMHO.

Doesn’t this kill the actuator?

I mean sharp metal edge on soft plastic = not good

Straight from slagcoin:

I agree with Threi… I mean you COULD let that happen, but I have a feeling after mashing on the rough (and the seimitsu stuff can be pretty rough) metal circle it would dig into the actuator… You’ve also got Seimitsu selling a circle gate on it… I don’t think they would do that if it was a feature built in.

The rotating is standard on all jap sticks and is definitely preferred for ball tops, try not gripping it so tight maybe? I recently got a bat top on my LS-56 and hated it, possibly due to the rotating. I had a bat top on my old saulabi which IIRC didn’t rotate and I loved it so if you’re used to bat top sticks or are using a bat top currently this could be your problem. seriously, use a ball top and don’t grip overly tight.

Only a few joysticks do not rotate, for instance the LSX-57-01

In theory, I would have thought that the LS-32 would be the same type/class of stick as the JLF except with a stiffer spring and slightly different microswitch throw. All in all, I went with a LS-56 on my first attempt when trying out other types and I’m absolutely in love with it for shmups and SSFIV(Ibuki main). Tried it with an octagonal gate and it really only plays awesome for shmups where it kinda deteriorated my SSFIV style.

I tried my friend’s stick equipped with a LS-56 and Bat top on it, it wasn’t bad since he told me that with a bat top, you’ll have more of a center of gravity or something while holding it oppose to a ball top(can’t remember what it was exactly but it did feel different).