will a sanwa ball or bat top directly fit onto my hori fighting stick 3? or would i need to swap the stick assembly completely out… any input would be greatly appreciated 
I think you just need the adapter and it’ll fit fine. That’s what the guides I saw said.
I’m doing the same thing to mine once the parts get in. G/L!
He’s talking about the fighting stick 3. Not the HRAP 3.
Most hori sticks I have seen will accept the sanwa balltops without and problems, and since the JLF also accepts the seimitsu tops, I would figure the hori would also accept them without too much problem. I will try to take my t5 stock stick to a friend to try on a bubbletop to see if it works.
There are so many other places to post questions like this aside from making a new thread. For example one of the stickies is specifically designed for the clueless like yourself to ask any kind of questions you like. It’s even titled easily for you to understand
The absolute NOOBIE thread/TECH SUPPORT CHECK HERE BEFORE MAKING A NEW THREAD
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=143234
There’s also my Sanwa/Seimitsu FAQ
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=118289
It’s utterly frustrating nowadays to see members (new and old) flood the Tech Talk forums with new threads just to answer one simple question.
I’m going to answer your question since I’m taking out all my angst on you. Honestly, it’s not directed solely at you, it’s just that you’re the 100000000000th person to start an unnecessary thread ever since the flood of MadCatz CE/TE members joined SRK and fill up the first 4 pages of Tech Talk with stupid threads.
You can use any standard Sanwa or Seimitsu balltop. This includes regular colors, 30mm smaller balltops, 45mm larger balltops, clear balltops, etc. Anything that can fit on a Sanwa or Seimitsu standard stick. The battops can also be used but need a converter (which typically comes packaged with it but check with your store because some sell it separately). With (and in a few cases, without) the adapter, the battop can be used with any Sanwa/Seimitsu stick.
3rd party accessory makers that make Japanese style sticks use the same standard for the joystick threads. So yes, your HFS3 will be able to use any of the above. I can’t think of any relatively new Japanese style joystick made by a well-known company that doesn’t use standard sizes. Hori, ASCII, MadCatz all use standard sizes.
Again, in the future post questions like these in the appropriate threads.
~Paik