Just curious if anyone has of these and has used it regularly, as I just won one off eBay for a pretty decent price. I messed around with one at EB a year or so ago and it seemed pretty solid, but the $60 price tag kept me from buying it at the time (ironic, since I’ve invested more than twice as much in my MAS stick!). I hope they’re at least notch or two above the 15th Anniversary character pads, those things are horrible!
Anyway, any input in regards to quality and/or durability would be much appreciated.
The parts in the SFAC Stick are fine. Pretentious custom-builder wannabes like to talk about how bad it is, but the only big difference in quality between the parts on the SFAC stick and more expensive Happ parts is the button height. The SFAC stick comes with buttons that are a few sixteenths of an inch taller than what you get from name brand arcade parts - so if you have small or weak hands and having shorter buttons are a big deal it might matter, otherwise it’s fine. The stick is a little tight at first, but it loosens up just like any spring-operated device will, so unless you hate round actuators it doesn’t really need any changes either.
One thing I would take note of from this stick is that diagonals are a bitch to hit at times. It needs to be very defined or chances are you’ll miss it. You won’t notice it too much doing SRKs, but if you do a quick jump in or a hyper hop there is a good chance you might miss it. Still, it’s a solid stick right out of the box. The buttons work fine, and the stick itself is better than half the crap you see in arcades since it isn’t broken in any way. Just a warning though, myself and others have had loose buttons right out of the box, so if that happens open up the bottom and tighten them and make sure the QDs are attached securely.
i agree. i’m all for custom sticks and modding; but the sf:ac stick is pretty solid. i’ve been using it for about a year with no real problems (except the mentioned diagonals). i tend to like the stiffness of the buttons compared to the more sensitive sanwas.
the sf:ac pad is horrible. i just went out and bought another 5 of them. these pads are so awesome to solder onto :). atleast they’re good for something.
Wow, who’s the pretentious one here?
Whenever you play any game it’s all a matter of personal preference, no matter how you look at it. Some people like to play with game controllers vs. arcade sticks. Why do you think some arcade machines now implement PS controller hook-ups? Quit flaming others because you don’t respect their opinion. It’s old.
Anyway, Bill, I bought this stick about a year and a half ago and it is still going strong. Yes, I have had loose buttons, but they are an easy fix. The joystick is a different story. I had problems with my character involuntarily jumping repeatedly. After opening up the case, I saw that the levers on the microswitch were bent too close to the switch, causing up to be activated when I didn’t want it to.
After awhile I replaced the parts and the case and PCB are still holding up great. I recommend this stick because it has xbox/PS2 compatibility on one cord.
re: the loose buttons, does that mean that certain buttons don’t register? i picked one of these up new from a brick-and-mortar retailer and the button for X-Box’s white button just doesn’t register at all, which is a bit frustrating.
I didn’t want to immediately write it off and bring it back… would opening it up and making sure all the connections are good possibly fix it?
Well, by loose I meant that they weren’t tightly on there and you could rotate it. However, sometimes the Quick Disconnects aren’t connected properly. Judge unscrew the bottom and carefully remove it. Then make sure all the QDs are connected tightly. They have two per button so maybe one wasn’t quite on properly. If you can’t fix it by doing that then just bring it back, they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Well, last night I opened it up, saw that all the QDs were (to quote the awesome looking mod guide) ‘sneezed’ on by glue. every last one of them. i pressed hard on all of them to push them into the terminals some more, without any visible difference.
i put it back together and it was working again. who knows.
given what i saw when i opened it up, i’m not particularly happy with the current setup. some buttons seemed more ‘solid’ than others when viewing the action on the bottom (ie, the plastic part that i think registers key-presses travels farther on different buttons… ugh). and in my playing experience, the stick felt like it was occasionally getting caught on something when doing quarter circles. not quite sure what caused that, but it’s not a fun experience and it makes me feel like i’m breaking something. if it was consistent, at least it would be something i could get used to…
when i get some time and money put together, i’m definitely using the guide to put in new buttons and maybe a stick… i know it’s probably sacriligious to say this here, but i think i’m going with concave buttons for that 1980s arcade feel.
Sorry to bump such an old topic, but I received my stick on Friday and played with it over the weekend. Overall I’m pretty satisfied, and while I don’t have a problem with the joystick, the buttons are a bit too high for my taste.
I was considering purchasing some Happ competition buttons, but Happ wants $15+ just for S&H. Anyone in SoCal know of any resellers in the L.A. area where I can pick up these buttons?
Much better deal right there, thanks a ton! BTW, that price is less than half the total price shipped directly from Happ in Vegas, and the eBay buttons are shipped Priority 2-Day to boot.
