Problem with that is everything is subjective.
There are people who swear up and down about what ever joystick they thing is the best and feel some other joystick is absolute garbage.
The only real consideration I give as it is the only thing that is a real factor is older games and 4/8 way joysticks.
[details=Spoiler]Games like Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Q-bert and so on don’t work with diagonals, in those classic arcade titles you really need a 4 way joystick or a joystick set to 4 way mode.
Most Sanwa and Seimitsu joysticks provide this in there stock joysticks, its just a matter of adjusting the gate.
For Sanwa Joysticks you rotate the gate to a diamond shape, the JLF you have to pop loose the inner gate first.
Seimitsu sticks have a gate with multiple selections. The LS 55, 56 and 58 lack these options.[/details]
Someone working on Universal gate system, I want to see how this thing would work.
I need to get around to getting myself a JLW and LS-40.
Considering I made the change from JLF to LS-32, and the JLW and LS-40 supposedly improve on those two (respectively), albeit in slightly different directions.
Yeah, JLF (and Sanwa in general) build quality is higher, Seimitsu generally feels tighter.
I want to point out that the JLF is more precise in the sense that it has more leeway; there’s more room for error in your directional inputs so you get less mistakes in output. With the Seimitsus you have to be more precise because the inputs are all closer together (especially on an LS-56 or LS-40). The former is what you are more likely to want when you need to make complex rapid inputs with fewer mistakes, while the latter is what you want when you need to change directions quickly.
@Darksakul Man as much as I would love to say you are wrong, I cant LOL. Those levers are by for some of the most durable you will ever play with. By me playing mostly charge characters, precision and accuracy is not that much of an issue. I tried playing on JLF, LS-40, LS-56 and then had to get this spring and that spring, and none gave me that old school feel of karate champ, SF2, MK1 sticks in the arcades. The biggest problem was finding a case that would support the IL, and I just got lucky and was able to pick up some nubytech sticks cheap on ebay and converted them. So I guess we are the lower scale users but we are here ha ha ha.
That what I meant about the JLF is Forgiving, you can afford to make “mistakes”. You to have sharper execution with the Seimitsu.
Why I call the JLF sloppy, in games where your performance might outpace the capabilities of the joystick like in a bullet-hell shmup game.
To expand on your inquiry
JLF= beginner/ all around
Seimitsu = Preferred by Shmup players for high precision
Korean = Preferred by Many Tekken players, can hit neutral without going dead center to allow for faster inputs (assuming you learn how) difficult on diagonals.
Also Korean sticks are centered by a rubber grommet and not a metal spring so the feel is completely different.
JLW = Old School feel, according to many it has the best traits of American and Japanese parts.
Happ/IL = for nostalgia & restoration only. I don’t recommend these for lap/desk arcade controls. Although Old school Street Fighter and Marvel players sware by these.
Hayabusa = Upgrade from the JLF.
My big recommendation to push people away from the American/European part format is it no longer as feasible to use American/European parts in a stick.
As you already know that Nuby tech stick case is a beast, same with the PDP Mortal Kombat stick, Pelican universal and MAS systems sticks. In home use, what ever fine use what you life and comfortable with.
With tournament play or taking to a friends house, that is quite a big stick to lug around.
Of course I am completely ignoring the IL Euro stick (the equivalent to the Happ completion) which is the only half decent American/European style joystick still in production.
Suzo 500 are nice, but they are hard to find and difficult to install, I like Wico more but unless you find some NOS (New Old Stock) the poor sticks are beaten to hell.
Happ became a shit brand now since they quit doing buisness with IL and moved production to China, where quality and uniformity/consistency in joystick design took a plunge.
Note: I left out X-arcade for a reason, the new happ parts are a upgrade to the X-arcade and its case and PCB leaves alot to be desired.
Still, even back int he hay day of arcades, American parts was never intended with the player in mind (just the arcade owner/ operator).
The tolerances on the Sanwa JLF and JLW are acceptable but nothing extraordinary. Better than on a seimitsu, at least for the the tolerances of the shaft,pivot,socket, actuator assembly.
I currently do not have any access whatsoever to a CNC cutting machine, but cutting a repro square restrictor-gate for a JLW out of a good bearing grade of Delrin or Ultem would be so easy it’s retarded once you have the right maximum throw angles for the hole cutout, these plastics cut like butter with sharp clean bits. No burns, no weird gumming up, they auto lube when being machined.
Why then do we not have custom parts makers offering JLW square, circle and octo gates for JLW?
Seems like there are quite a lot of players requesting that kind of upgrade.
@Darksakul again I have to agree with you. You are on point with the IL/Happs. the size of all those cases are massive but they have to be to have room for the parts, which were design for cabs anyway. Personally I dont have a problem with the size of it. I never went to tournaments (feel Im to old to be going out there man and let these kids beat the crap out of me ha ha ) but I may go to a local one down here (New Orleans) next week to see how they are ran. One good thing is the chance of someone wanting to use my stick will be slim to none, but I will bring both of them with me just in case. I will try to convert these young guys to my old ways ha ha ha.
I have one of the original Omni korean sticks, and I like it a lot for SF4. This might sound weird but I switch to it for practice when I’m having an execution problem. Like back in AE I was having some reliability issues with DeeJay dash ultra 2. I switched to the Fanta and worked it out, then went back to my regular stick and no longer had problems.
I think it helps to throw yourself off a little bit like this to undo bad muscle memory or habits.
I talked to the guy some time ago, asking about his custom aluminum parts: this video pops up here and there on this forum very often!
Well the chinese are saturating the market with jlw clones that do not have a replaceable balltop and have dubious quality, so it means the JLW format is still something sought after in the arcade cab replacement parts world.
for my 2 Stick it goes:
MdCz SE: JLF with JLW+LS-33 Spring, shortened activation way for Left/Right with small pieces of paper and 1mm bigger actuator(focusattack shop) -> hardness like seimitsu.
TE: Hayabusa with Microswitches with levers and JLF stock spring ->smoothed
Best move I made was kicking the JLF to the curb
I got stick of all the JLF mods, for all the mods out there, the JLF is still the JLF and it is a piece of shit in my opinion.
Now your own mileage may vary.
Still the sad thing is the biggest improvement I seen on all the retail joysticks on the market, the newest model with the most improvements is the Hori Hayabusa joystick.
All the offering lately from Sanwa and Seimitsu have been lack-luster and a "dollar-short-and-a-day-late. Really a More silent JLF and a LS-32 with a shaft cover?
How bout a LS-32 with a fixed pivot or a JLF that isn’t looser than a whore in Baltimore.
As someone who used a JLF with 2lb spring and 1mm actuator. It just felt way to stiff to play anime fighters. I removed the 2lb spring and went back to stock. it feels better due to the 1mm actuator, But to lose now.
Would the Hayabusa stick stock be a better replacement for my JLF? Or maybe a spring that’s like 1.3lb or so for JLF.
The Hayabusa looks like a great choice, Just cant seem to decided.