SF IV Tourny Stick "clicking" issue, HORI 360 joysticks too *Arcade expert needed*

[Poofta!]

i bought the SFIV tourney stick when it first came out (the 150$ one) since i wanted a stick for the 360 and since its USB i could use it for my HTPC on emulators and mame etc, this looked like a great stick so i bit.

problem: when you move the joystick dpad, with each direction hit, there is an annoying 'click' you hear and feel. the older HORI 360 sticks had this too and its the main reason i didnt buy them, i find it incredibly annoying.

question: anyone was able to do something to get rid of the stupid clicking, anyone maybe know a website with tutorial or perhaps can i just replace the stick itself? any help would be great.


why the hell is the clicking even there!

[Vlcice]

I'd assume it's because the joystick is microswitched. The clicking you're hearing is the switches being pressed by the stick. I don't know too much about the noise level of the Sanwa stick they use in the SF4 tourney stick, but the Seimitsu LS-32 in my custom certainly clicks a decent bit - it's normal for that kind of hardware.

[Poofta!]

i dont ever remember arcade sticks on machines to have this noise... is there no way to get rid of this mechanically? are there quiet sticks?

[Cryomancer]

Clicks mean it's good!

[G-Boobie]

i dont ever remember arcade sticks on machines to have this noise... is there no way to get rid of this mechanically? are there quiet sticks?

The stick in yer TE is a pretty nice Sanwa, JLF-TP-8YT-SK-W if I remember correctly. The clicking is indeed a positive sign: that's a high quality stick.

I don't think you can get a happ/american style stick in there without some serious modding work, but if you're set on having a quiet stick, the best one on the market is the Happ Perfect 360. (http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50608300.htm) It doesn't rely on microswitches. Instead, it relies on photo electronic switches.

Finding a decent tutorial for wiring the stick is difficult. I'd google that bad boy if you decide to make it happen. Here's a write up (http://web.archive.org/web/20071210051123/http://www.alfredchow.com/street-fighter-joystick/) of wiring the P360 to an older controller. Might give you a basic idea.

[MarkMan]

Yea the only quiet sticks without microswitch clicks are Happ's P360 and the Sanwa JLF Flash.

Unfortunately the JLF Flash (and it's clones) are hard to comeby nowadays.

[otaku]

click is normal and personally I love clicky sticks :)

[c0ldb33r]

Is the clicking as noisy as the NGPC d-pad? that clicking used to piss me right off. I quite like it now.

[Poofta!]

click is normal and personally I love clicky sticks :)

i dont remember US arcades ever doing it... i prefer those sticks i guess. it drives me nuts and i hate it to all hell.


The stick in yer TE is a pretty nice Sanwa, JLF-TP-8YT-SK-W if I remember correctly. The clicking is indeed a positive sign: that's a high quality stick.

I don't think you can get a happ/american style stick in there without some serious modding work, but if you're set on having a quiet stick, the best one on the market is the Happ Perfect 360. (http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50608300.htm) It doesn't rely on microswitches. Instead, it relies on photo electronic switches.

Finding a decent tutorial for wiring the stick is difficult. I'd google that bad boy if you decide to make it happen. Here's a write up (http://web.archive.org/web/20071210051123/http://www.alfredchow.com/street-fighter-joystick/) of wiring the P360 to an older controller. Might give you a basic idea.

thanks a lot for the information and links. truly informative and thank you.

are you sure it would take heavy modification, couldnt i just solder that new stick in there and replace it in the opening. i hate the clicky jap stuff argh! that HAPP looks like the sticks at the arcades im used to. im pretty dead set on doing the mod, if i cant i guess i'll build one from scratch and sell this thing.

edit: while im at it i may as well put in concave down buttons...

[kedawa]

Leaf-switch joysticks don't click, but I don't think you can fit one into the TE stick.

[Poofta!]

Leaf-switch joysticks don't click, but I don't think you can fit one into the TE stick.

can anyone confirm what can/cannot fit into the TE? who has one and has some experience with arcade parts?

i found this site, lizard lick, and have decided on the perfect 360. unless it cant fit i'll look into something else. definitely not interested in the leaf-switch however.

http://www.lizardlickamusements.com/pages/joysticks.shtml

[G-Boobie]

thanks a lot for the information and links. truly informative and thank you.

No problem at all, good sir.


are you sure it would take heavy modification, couldnt i just solder that new stick in there and replace it in the opening. i hate the clicky jap stuff argh! that HAPP looks like the sticks at the arcades im used to. im pretty dead set on doing the mod, if i cant i guess i'll build one from scratch and sell this thing.

edit: while im at it i may as well put in concave down buttons...

Lucky for you, the buttons are snap ins. Replacing them should be easy as popping them out and slapping the new ones in there, as long as you stick to either Sanwa or Seimitsu buttons. If you try putting Happs in there, you're going to run into problems: The base of Happ buttons are significantly longer than Japanese parts. I'm not even sure you can get the top plate closed once you've snapped the microswitch in place. Just a heads up.

The stick, not so much. The base of Happ sticks just don't fit very well (or indeed at all) in the holes already in place on the TE. If you have the means to drill some holes and MAYBE move the PCB, you might be alright.

EDIT: I found some great tutorial videos on modding the TE stick on SDTekken. Here's the link (http://sdtekken.com/2009/02/07/shinjns-workshop-sf4-tournament-edition-stick-modding/), Poofta.

[MarkMan]

But yea. If you grow up on American sticks and haven't played on a Japanese stick before, you have some learning/getting used to.

For the parts that fit...

Seimitsu LS-32-01 will fit in easily.

Sanwa JLF with flat mounting plate will fit and so will JLW with VF style mounting plate.

As for buttons, Seimitsu buttons snap/screw will fit in easily just make sure you put the nut in place first for the button closest to the universal mounting plate.

For Sanwa, snap ins are no problem, but for the screw ins, you will have to shave the Sanwa nut or use a Seimitsu nut.

[kedawa]

The only thing I can't get used to are those damned square gates.
Luckily, sanwa makes octagonal gates for their sticks as well.

[MarkMan]

Octagonal gates won't help much IMO. Square gates are the standard for Japanese sticks for a reason.

If you want something with a more American feel I'd suggest installing an Seimitsu LS-56 with a harder spring and a circular Seimitsu restrictor.

[Chainclaw]

I can't use arcade style sticks that don't click.

I'm also a fan of the bat-top, and octagon gate. Ordered those for my SF4 stick, and I'm way more comfortable with it now. I do a lot better, especially with dragon punch moves.

[Poofta!]

i have no interest putting jap parts in this thing... im trying to set it up as more of what i've been playing on in teh state all my childhood. its got top notch sanwa stuff in it already.

G-Boobie: thanks sooooo much for that link, it explained everything that i needed to know. basically theres no way i can put HAPP parts in this thing. guess i'll go build a new stick.


anyone know of a NON clicky jap joystick that'll fit in here? does sanwa make silent joysticks?

[norkusa]

Since we're on the subject, does anyone know when the new batches of Tourney Edition sticks are going to ship? I thought I heard sometime in early April but my Capcom pre-order from January is still backordered.

[duo_r]

old school Street Fighter in arcades usually had competition style Hap joysticks, and those did have microswitches. They were just pretty quiet or maybe everything was so loud you didn't notice. The first cheap stick i bought had really loud switches, I hated it. I then modded and added Hap competition sticks, and although it still clicks I can barely hear it. The biggest differnces is the switches that were used on both sticks. The loud one had leaf switches, the competition had Cherry microswitches.

[MarkMan]

i have no interest putting jap parts in this thing... im trying to set it up as more of what i've been playing on in teh state all my childhood. its got top notch sanwa stuff in it already.

G-Boobie: thanks sooooo much for that link, it explained everything that i needed to know. basically theres no way i can put HAPP parts in this thing. guess i'll go build a new stick.


anyone know of a NON clicky jap joystick that'll fit in here? does sanwa make silent joysticks?

Sorry, when I designed this stick I did not design it with US parts in mind. US parts are way too big and you need much more room to fit things in nicely. If I were you I'd sell the stick and get a US custom.

[G-Boobie]

Sorry, when I designed this stick I did not design it with US parts in mind. US parts are way too big and you need much more room to fit things in nicely. If I were you I'd sell the stick and get a US custom.

MarkMan is probably right, Poofta. the good news is if you put the TE stick on Ebay, you're looking at something like 200 percent profit. The bad news is, there's a long wait for arcade parts right now. Street Fighter IV blew up in a big way.

If you want to build your own, one of the best places on the web for parts is Lizard Lick Amusements. (http://www.lizardlick.com/) They're closed to new orders until later this month, but their service is great.

If you want to just buy a custom stick, check out Arcade In A Box, Norris Arcade, or Electric Trouble. Just be aware that the wait times are starting to get into the two or three month territory.

[duo_r]

does anyone just sell arcade boxes so i can add my own parts???

[G-Boobie]

does anyone just sell arcade boxes so i can add my own parts???

Yup. Google Katryns Kustoms, Electric Trouble, and Norris Arcade Sticks. Or, if you're looking for something quick, check out the tech talk forum on SRK.

Be aware though that you might be better off just buying a hori stick and gutting it, cost-wise: a nice custom case can set you back between sixty and one hundred bucks, or even more depending on what you want.

[Spazmonkey]

http://www.aiabstore.com/main.sc

Boom

Perfect 360 is even an option for any stick.

And if your going to get rid of that clicky piece of junk, I'll take it off your hands for you......

[G-Boobie]

http://www.aiabstore.com/main.sc

Boom

Perfect 360 is even an option for any stick.

And if your going to get rid of that clicky piece of junk, I'll take it off your hands for you......

Prepare for a three month wait. Seriously.

It's worth it, but they're hundreds of orders behind right now. Street Fighter IV Arcade Stick Apocalypse.

[kedawa]

How is it that nobody in the joystick business saw this coming?
Street Fighter? Popular? Naw...

[G-Boobie]

How is it that nobody in the joystick business saw this coming?
Street Fighter? Popular? Naw...

The custom stick guys are usually operating out of their basements, with employees ranging from none to three or four. It takes time to make a nice custom stick. Add in the fact that it's a side business for a lot of them and there you go.

As for Madcatz failing to meet demand for the SFIV sticks, it's not like they're an enormous company with limitless resources. They probably just budgeted for the number they could produce and re-budgeted(and began to make more) when they saw the demand.

[Mayhem]

Big, expensive joystick... guess more people than they thought were willing to fork for the cost on it!