You need to open the stick up to do what chonkzilla says, from the underside of the joystick. It’s either that or take pliers to the shaft and twist hard, but you’ll probably scratch up the metal.
Damn, i just got this thing today too :[
If you want to really make it stick, you could look into using some blue loctite to really hold it in place. However, just give it a good screwing in with a flathead screwdriver here at the bottom:
That little notch at the bottom of the shaft is where you put a flathead, and just tightly screw it in.
I’ve never done this before and i don’t want to ruin the warranty :[
Never mind, i stopped being such a puss and did it 
Though if something ever happens i have no warranty :[
If you have a TE and just opened the top, your warranty should still be valid.
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Madcatz official statement on warranties: http://www.madcatz.com/faq/default.asp?Action=Q&ID=211
Voided warranty, yes. But they may still be able to help you.
As long as he didn’t break the warranty sticker on the bottom, they would have no way of knowing he removed the top panel.
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well i had to break the sticker since it was covering the screw that i needed to unscrew.
It was that or just have to deal with my balltop coming off during matches 
For anyone else having this problem and don’t want to open it up and void warranty:
Just use a pair of pliers to hold the shaft while you screw the balltop on. Be sure to have a piece of cloth or something in between so the shaft doesn’t get damaged.
EDIT: Maybe the TE has a shaft cover though. If so, this doesn’t apply to the TE but it will work with other sticks out there that don’t have shaft covers, like the SE.
i was thinking about that suggestion, but the dust cover on the shaft was preventing me to doing so.
TE has Shaft Cover.
You could have opened it from the top using a Metric #3 Allen Wrench. However, there is warranty glue behind the screws, and they could tell if you opened it then.
Regardless, Madcatz still has pretty good tech support even on a voided warranty.
I wrapped a little bit of teflon tape around the balltop threading on the shaft and the balltop never came loose again.
If the glue is anything like the glue used to hold down the edges on a TE-S then it’s worth nothing. I sent back a TE-S to Mad Catz as the glue was in a dried out state when I got it (fresh out of their distributor’s warehouse). No amount of glue or stickers can prove that the interior has been messed with.
BTW Non-Europeans seem to get the short end of the stick on the warranty, any Mad Catz products sold in Europe have to have a 2 year warranty by law (mandated by an EU directive).
d3v
18
I actually used the fingernail on my thumb to tighten one of these things. It doesn’t take much to get it in tight.
Yeah, glue really doesn’t do too much to prove or disprove a warranty.
That warranty is exactly why a government should not mess with the economy. I realize these things should last well over 2 years if taken care of, but in reality it shouldn’t take a government to tell one how long a warranty must be. That should be up to the manufacturer of the items in question. If they want to take a risk and pass out a long warranty, that’s fine, if they want to use a short warranty period that should be allowed as well.
cover the shaft with some thick tissue so you dont scratch it, hold the shaft tightly with pliars and screw the balltop with your hand. It will take months/years to it to get loose again, even if you play like a troll.
Is there anyway to tighten the balltop with the dustcover on without opening it up and voiding the warranty?
Not really.
That said, if it’s been more than 90 days since purchase, you don’t have a warranty left, anyways. Madcatz is still very supportive. Quoted from their website: (http://www.madcatz.com/faq/default.asp?Action=Q&ID=211)
“There is a limited 90-day warranty for our Street Fighter IV products. Opening or modifying the product in any way will void your warranty. However, if you run into any issues, please let us know as we may still be able to help you.”
