Alright!! The stick came in today, and it works decently out of the box. SpiffyShoes, you think we could get together this weekend maybe and see what to do with mine?
Yeah this weekend is fine.
What tools do I use to remove the buttons in the RO’s? It looks like I can just rip out some parts, but I’m not sure and I don’t want to break anything. Btw, I have Sanwa replacement parts (only 7 buttons for each stick, tho!)
UPDATE ON HAPP MODIFICATION:
The button holes are best suited for Happ Competition buttons. They fit perfectly in there (not too tight, but not too loose). Getting the stock buttons out is a chore. I used a mallet and a wrench (to mallet on the outside edges of the buttons). Worked like a charm.
Here is a picture of the case with various buttons / button holes exposed:
http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=phto00075xe.jpg
The pretty red ones are Happ 
If you just twist the buttons and push they should come out pretty easy. I didn’t have to use a mallet. Happ buttons are the easiest to fit into the case.
FiveHit: In order to mount the sanwa buttons you will have to widen the holes. There really isn’t a supper easy way to widen the holes. You can use a dremel or router to widen them. Just be carefull not to widen them too much. You can also just use some sand paper and do allot of sanding. Or you could try filling them in with bondo and then re-drilling them with the correct size drill bit.
Huh…mine were super tight. There was no way of getting them out without a mallet :nunchuck:
hey, i don’t know much about sanwa sticks…so are those JLWs pretty much like competition sticks(in feel i mean). how about the feel of the spring…is it hard or soft?
Mine were super tight also but if you grabbed the little fins that hold the microswitches you could twist and push and they came out pretty easy. It might help to grab the fins with some pliers if you cant twist them with your fingers. Once you get them going though they just pop out.
ok , i got my shipment of three today. the box is great, that alone was worth 20 bucks to me. the first hting i noticed was that the stick they gave us sucks big time. ill prob keep the buttons in their for a while, but the stick has to go. seems like from reading this thread, spiffy and others say go with the sanwa jlw, ive only used happ parts before.
for the jlw, do u choose ball or bat style when u order or what? i would like to stick with the bat style. seems like the sanwas are pretty expensve huh, happ controllers are like 2 for $30 on ebay.
where do i buy these sanwa sticks at? ill need 2-3
thanks
**UPDATE ON SANWA MODIFICATION:
**When you open your Red Octane Box, you might notice that RO connected the stock joystick with two screws, mounted in the center of the sides of the mounting plate. Unfortunately, this mounting plate is the only one I’ve ever seen with this layout. The Sanwa mounting plates (at least the ones I’ve got) only have holes in the corner. One solution is to drill new holes and use 4 screws to attach your Stick. The EASIER solution, using no power tools, is to simply switch the mounting plates. Thats right. The RO stock stick is so similar to a Sanwa JLW that the components are nearly identical (though a lot cheaper). So the Red Octane mounting plate fits the Sanwa JLW perfectly. Viola! (Thanks to Z-Gundam for helping me figure this out.)
**
Also, if you must have an octagonal gate: **The plastic restrictor plates on the Sanwa JLW and the RO stock stick are also identical. It is very easy to use a piece of sandpaper or a file to file away the flat sides of the square to make it octagonal. If you mess up one plastic restrictor plate, you still have the second 
Oh yeah…I only have 1 JLW left. I’m having a small shipment of Sanwa JLW’s with bat-tops sent to me soon. As SpiffyShoes mentioned, these are slightly longer. Price will be $27 including shipping. The last JLW is still $26. PM me if interested.
I don’t know about your case but on mine they just used some wood screws to mount the stick. Couldn’t you just use them to screw in where the holes are on your mounting plate? Personally I think it would be best to drill some holes in the case and use bolts to mount the stick. Wood screws can come loose over time if you are hard on your stick. I’ve seen it happen a number of times.
As for a Octagonal restrictor the company that makes the Red Octane joysticks also makes one with a Circle Restrictor. You could probably try putting one of them on a JLW.
This guy sells some with the circle restrictors on ebay. I’ve emailed him before and he said he would sell just the joysticks without buttons for $6 each which is about what you would pay for an octagonal restrictor from Himuragames so it might be worth giving a try.
Yeah…its definitely better to bolt the joystick down in the corners, but some people don’t have power tools. You are right that the wood screws will come loose over time, especially in particle board.
Great idea about the guy with the circular restrictors. That restrictor plate should fit a Sanwa JLW, and you’d be good to go.
Few questions.
1.So when I get the sticks can I just take the screws out from the RO joystick and put them in the Sanwa plate? No extra drilling or anything is required?
2.Oh and the Sanwa’s you’re giving me I would assume would have a square gate?
3.Also, I noticed that all the buttons on the RO have quick disconnects on them. How do you remove/replace them?
- Oh and will I need extra disconnects for the Sanwa or can I just solder?
This project is too hard for you…
:xeye:
LOL. Believe it or not I’ve actually modded a stick before (with some help from my dad). The Pelican Real Arcade to be specific. Sanwa seems like a whole different type of stick so I just wanna make sure what’s up before I do anything. I know once I put it together I’m gonna be like…“wow, I was acting like such a n00b”.
Drilling is the best, but if you don’t have a drill you can switch mounting plates from the Sanwa and the stock RO.
Yep.
Use a pair of pliers to grip the quick disconnects at the narrow part. Then pull.
You can solder the grounds. It’s probably a little quicker. I almost always use quick disconnects though.
If there is enough interest, I might make a guide ala ArcadeStickMonk’s SFAC guide.
LOL. That’d be da hotness. Just make one cuz I said so. :devil:
yes, make a guide please! …if you can
anyway, how stiff are the sanwa JLWs? i’m used to stiff sticks:xeye:
BTW, do you have to remove the padding to remove the screws? can’t you just stick the driver in to where the screw is and take it out like that?
aso, couldn’t you use the shaft of the RO stick for the JLW(looks longer)?
and does the extra bolt on top of the shaft hinder comfort?
Yeah,a guide would be helpfull. By the way Iseelba did you recieve the paypal i sent you?
this is why lseelba rocks. theres no such thing as a dumb question to him.