How to Mod the Hori Fighting Stick EX2 with Authentic Arcade Parts (Xbox 360 Version)
The Hori Fighting Stick EX2 is a good stick that I got pretty cheap, but like all stock joysticks, there are plenty of room for improvements. In my review of this stick, I brought up two minor complaints with this stick: mushy buttons and the square restrictor plate. Well, here’s the walk-through on how to fix these issues. With a little soldering skill and plenty of patience, you can make this good stick into an incredible one and it’s not as hard as you might think.
(UPDATE: If you are looking for more joystick projects then head over here to add an actual Sanwa Stick inside your Hori EX2 or here to mod the MadCatz Fight stick.)
WARNING:
This is a simple project if you have some technical skills. This walkthrough is as simplified as I can make it so if none of this makes any sense then please DO NOT ATTEMPT. This project will void your warranty.
Attempt at your own risk!
Pineconeattack will not take any responsibility if you kill your joystick.
Learn from my mistakes and read through this walk-through BEFORE attempting. I’ve made and corrected a few mistakes when upgrading both Ancient Flounder’s and my stick, so learn from my mistakes and read through this walk-through BEFORE attempting. Make sure you have the proper tools before beginning. This will make your mod much faster and much easier.
Unless you really like the stock art that came with your joystick, you will want to replace that decal with something a little more to your tastes with something cool looking; something that will make this joystick truly yours. Look for a nice high-resolution piece of art and download the templates here to size up your artwork perfectly. There is no use to start on this project unless you have the art printed and laminated. Once you size up the image file and have it printed out, head over to your local FedEx Office and have it lami-labled.
Lami-label is the quickest and easiest way to protect your art from the oils in your hands. It’s a laminate with a sticky siding on the backside; it will literally turn your printed pic into a laminated sticker. Now that you have your art laminated and ready for install, let’s proceed with the actual mod.
Here is the list of suggested tools you will need for this project:
One (1) Hori Fighting Stick EX2
Your lami-labled art work
Six (6) Sanwa “OBSF-30” Pushbuttons with Vertical Micro-switch (color of your choosing)
One (1) Sanwa “LB-35” Joystick Ball Top
One (1) Sanwa “GT-Y” Octagonal Restrictor Plate
Soldering Iron
Solder
Solder Sucker
Phillips and Flathead Screwdriver (4-in-1)
Razor Blade
Four (4) “Cherry” Micro-switches
Dremel Tool or a file
18 gauge wire (Solid wire) [You can get it here @ Radio Shack]
Wire Stripper and a Side Cutter
A container to hold the spare parts. (I used a plastic cup.)
Step 1: Â Simply unscrew the six (6) screws and place them into the storage container. Carefully remove the metal plate and set it aside.
Step 2: Unsolder the 2 points for each buttons (a total of 12 points). Use the solder sucker to remove the melted solder. You should start at the daughter board first and work your way towards the main PCB. Gently pull the PCB free from the buttons. Carefully move the PCB out of the way to expose the six (6) buttons underneath.
Step 3: Use the flat tip of the screwdriver and firmly press into the tabs holding the Hori buttons in place. The buttons should “pop” right out when the tabs are pressed in. Dispose of the cheaply made Hori buttons.
Step 4: Now that all of the buttons are removed, you need to remove the joystick shaft. The only thing keeping the joystick in place in the small “C” clip holding the shaft and the spring in place. Wedge the Flathead screwdriver to carefully remove the “C” clip. Gather up the shaft and the rest of the miscellaneous parts and put them into your storage container. DO NOT LOSE THE “C” CLIP OR ANY OTHER PART TO THE JOYSTICK!
Step 5: Now that the buttons and the joystick shaft is removed, peel off the decal. I used my razor blade to start the peel near the buttons and slowly but firmly pulled back. If you go too fast, the decal will be removed but the glue will still be in place and that’s a bad thing. If you are lucky the majority of the glue would have been removed. Whatever glue that is left can be rubbed away with old fashion friction. So, rub away.
After the plate piece has been stripped clean, use your Phillips head screwdriver and remove the six (6) screws to separate the plate from the joystick base.
Step 6: DO NOT MAKE MY FIRST MISTAKE!* Dremel the tabs down, but do it away from your work area. I walked my piece over to the kitchen sink and began to grind away. I carefully made the holes slightly wider just so I would not have to fight with the buttons when I was about to install them.
*My first attempt had left microscopic metal shavings all over my work area and that scratched up the buttons I was working with. Dremel/file your tabs AWAY from your work area.
Step 7: Wipe down your plate of any and all metal shavings, because you will be using this piece as the template to cut your laminated art. Place the plate over your at work and use a very sharp blade and slowly trim the sides to size.
After the artwork has been trimmed down, install the plate back onto the joystick base. Screw the six (6) screws back in to secure the plate. Now very carefully peel the adhesive backing on your artwork and place the artwork over the plating.
Step 8: Now with the artwork in place, use a sharp blade to cut out the button and joystick holes. The sharper the blade, the better because you will have to cut through the artwork, laminate and the adhesive backing. You want the holes as round and smooth as possible for easier button installation.
Step 9: Previously, I tested to see if the buttons would fit and for the most part they did, but they have smalls nubs that seemed to get stuck. So, I decided to just trim the nubs flush with the button’s sides. Trust me, this will make the button installation much easier. This step is optional, so it’s really up to you.
Step 10: Push all the buttons in place until you hear a “snap”, signifying the buttons are secured. Before flipping the base over to work on the back, be sure to lay out a rag or something soft to prevent scratches from forming on the buttons. Bend the pins to the buttons on the far right to make more room for the main PCB control board. You can push all of the pins down; it’s up to you.
Step 11: Don’t worry about trying to direct connect the push buttons pins’ to the PCB’s. Cut twelve (12) short snippets of wires about one (1) inch long. Strip each end like in the picture above. You will use these short wires to connect the buttons to the PCB.
Step 12: Tin the ends of only one end on each wire then tin the ends to both pins on the push buttons. Solder the tinned ends to each other. Bend the wires so each ends are pointing up. The wires will not only help keep the PCB’s from grounding out on the metal base, but also give you the flexibility to make everything fit inside the casing.
Step 13: Feed the wires into the soldering points and solder in place. Once everything is soldered, gently move the PCB’s out of the way where they are not in the way. If you can muster the courage, the direct solder job* is the cleanest and more reliable route to go but I prefer the quick and easy route; therefore, I’m soldering onto the daughter PCB. Congratulations, you have now installed Sanwa buttons to your joystick.
*Option: If you want to make this mod more badass you can unsolder the daughter PCB and solder longer pieces of wire directly onto the main PCB. I decided against this method because there is too many places were I can destroy the main PCB and I don’t feel that confident with my soldering skills to do that precise soldering.
Step 14: Unscrew the four (4) screws to remove the square restrictor plate and revealing the black Hori micro-switches.
Step 15: Replace each black Hori micro-switches with a new white Cherry micro-switch. Replace each switch one wire at a time to prevent confusion with the ground wires. Tin the end of you wire and tin the ends of each connector. Solder and connect each and every wire. The Hori micro-switches are fine, but the Cherry switches are arcade quality. Since you have the stick all torn apart, you might as well upgrade, right?
[Update: I guess there has been some confusion on which micro-switch you should purchase from Happs. So here you go.]
All of my switches that I use are the cheap $0.97 ones,
part number: 95-0733-01
type: D44
terminals: .187
amps: 10
Step 16: There is four specific spots that needs to be drilled/Dremeled out in order for the new 8-way restrictor to fit onto the micro-switches. Make sure the two nubs in the yellow center ring are pointed up at you. You will see the four points since they are indented aready. Just fit your bit into the hole and slowly drill out to the other side of the restrictor plate.
Step 17: Since I used a Dremel tool to drill out my holes I got some melted plastic that formed around the new holes. Just take a sharp knife and carefully cut away the excess. You want the hole to be level with the restrictor plate because the head of the screw will need to lay flat against it.
Step 18: Now lay your modified 8-way restrictor plate over the four (4) Micro-switches and screw them down with the original four (4) screws. The switches should now be held in place and looking good.
Step 19: For some silly reason, this step confused the hell out of me and I needed to look at another joystick to see how it was put back together, which is why I took this picture. The shaft (with lollipop ball), dust cover and the curved plastic washer are to be put together is that order and placed on the top side of the stick. The two plastic piece are sandwiched between the spring and is installed on the bottom of the shaft from the bottom side of the stick. The “C” clip is what holds everything in place. Once everything is assembled, your joystick will now feel smooth, due to the new restrictor plate. Now install the base cover plate and screw down with the six (6) screws.
Step 20: With a rag around the joystick, clamp down with an adjustable wrench or pliers and twist the top off with your hands. Take your new ball top and twist on to finally complete your mod.
Congratulations, you finished your joystick. Now, go kick ass or get your ass handed to you in Street Fighter and quit complaining about the controller.
Do you want to put a Sanwa stick inside your Hori Ex2? Then check out this mod:
How to mod your Sanwa Joysticks to work in the Hori EX2 & Wii Fighting Stick
Hey there, for the snap switches what amperage did you use? Or it doesn’t matter?
All of my switches that I use are the cheap $0.97 ones,
part number: 95-0733-01
type: D44
terminals: .187″
amps: 10
Thanks, just wanted to make sure before putting in the final screw and then the board shorts out. As an electrician more amps means more potential.
Cool, I know what you mean, my wife is an electrician for the IBEW local 357.
Local 3 NYC. I just got all my parts in the mail and once I get my image printed I’ll be ready to slap this thing together.
Hi, I really like your tutorial its very descriptive about what you have to do in each step. Im really new to this though, and was wondering if you can maybe give me a difficulty rating on this project. I would love to mod the hori ex2 because i love fighting games, and I hate using a controller to play them. I also have had no experience in soldering or tinning, but there is always time to learn.
Out of 1-10 I would rate this as a 6. With patience anyone can do this simple project.
[...] you with the in- and outs of fixing up what’s broken, or likely to do so in the near future. Jangofett’s guide comes with plenty of pictures, a list of the used parts (and where to acquire them), and detailed, [...]
Hi jango nice guide.
I have a little problem with the microswitches… You use a switch in a website where the order can be taken only if is 25$ or more ._.” but 4 microswitches don’t cost so much… what can i do?
You could always order actual Sanwa microswitches (MS-0-2P Microswitch) through Lizardlick but they cost $3 each or pick up $25 worth of tools for a future project…
Hi again, thank you for your previous response. It helped me know whats going to be up ahead when i do the project. Although i have one more question about this mod. I really do like the sticker that the SCIV hori ex2 has, is there anyway to avoid peeling it off?
Yes, the decal is glued onto the metal plate so if you like the art, leave it be. It will save you time so no worries!
Oh, okay sweetness. Thought i had to remove the metal plate for some reason. Thank you for your assistance, it is very appreciated. Guess i need to be extra careful when it comes to grinding away on the metal tabs though haha XD.
Hey Jango, awesome awesome tutorial, thanks so much for doing it. I’m just about ready to start my own mod (except with sanwa parts instead of Happ) but I did have a couple of questions.
1.) I see you opted to replace the control switches but not the stick/spring itself. Do those two components make any real difference? I’m guessing if you left them alone, then not really.
2.) I’m looking at Sanwa microswitches on Lizard Lick, and the Sanwa comes in two varieties: with solder legs for mounting a PCB or a levered version. Might you know what the difference is?
Again, thanks so much for the guide, it’s so helpful for noobs like me (I haven’t done electronics work in… oh… I’d say 8 years).
I can’t wait to get these: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ux11HK3MvAM/SWY3CadLASI/AAAAAAAAAD8/l0JHcCOeDbY/s1600-h/dual-mod2.jpg done just in time for SF4!
Thanks for the kinds words and hopfully you find more value here at Pineconeattack in the near future. Now to answer your questions…
1) The reason I opted out of replacing the Hori stick is due to convenience. I still don’t think that the Hori joysticks are all THAT bad. But I will be replacing the joystick on my Wii Hori stick and eventually on this stick as well so keep your eyes open for that.
2) I would go with the Sanwa MS-0-2P Microswitch only because that how the original style was. I have Happ Supers which uses the exact levered switches described and I’m not a real fan of it in my cab. Shoryuken uppercut are my more difficult (for me) on that style of a joystick. It all comes down to personal preference.
So if I did want to replace the stick itself, would you suggest I get all the components together (say, a Sanwa JLW-TM-8) and rip it apart or would it be better to buy all the components separately (say, the shaft and spring)?
As for value… I’d say value is an understatement. I probably wouldn’t even consider this project without this caliber guide to work from.
To use a Sanwa JLW-TM-8 there would be a lot of modifying which I will do at a later date just for curiosity sake. I just suggested replacing the microswitches on the Hori joystick just for simplicity. I will get more in depth soon.
The Sanwa shaft is NOT the same size as the Hori and like I said above, you will need to mod the joystick by cutting and carving out the plastic to make the joystick work.
Maybe this is a stupid question and all arcade sticks do this…
Is there a way to keep the stick from clicking as I go through the 8 directions, or is that click an actual mechanical sound made by the unit. If it’s something they added in so you would have an aural cue that you were switched directions, I’d like to get rid of it. I also wonder if switching to the octagon instead of the square would effect this.
This is pretty sweet.
This is awesome. Is there any way to keep the stick from clicking? I know some people like to hear it so they can hear what they’re doing, but if I got the octagonal plate, that wouldn’t be as necessary. Also, where do I get the lami-label?
The clicking that you are hearing is the microswitches clicking. There is no way to get rid of that noice unless you go with the optical joysticks but they cost $50 each and will not fit in this casing.
Also the lami-label are found at FedEx Office/Kinkos
Hell-O…
Ok so If I buy the switches from Lizard Lick the “MS-0-2P”, since I would rather spend $12 than 25 bucks, couldn’t I just buy the whole “TP-MA Replacement PCB Switch Assembly” instead. Its only a buck more than buying four individual switches. Will it fit or do you need to use the old one.
Site is much help, many thanx
I just noticed that at the top of the joystick page on lizard lick they have these “Cherry Microswitch, Silver .187″ Tab, Happ part # 95-0733-01″ are they the same switches that you used there only $0.85. If not will they work.
[Thanx]
krazmoose: the PCB switch assembly would only work if you intend on replacing the joystick all together. To make it work with this guide you will have to remove the switches. The Cherry Microswitch, Silver .187″ Tab, Happ part # 95-0733-01 should be the correct switches.
Is there a huge difference in quality between the sanwa and cherry switches that they have on lizard lick to justify the price difference or are you just paying for the sanwa name. $2.95 vs 0.85 that’s a big jump in price. $0.85 is a pretty sweet deal but from what I’ve been hearing on all these sites is that sanwa is the best company all around.
[Thanx]
Sanwa is the best when it comes to Japanese arcade parts. Happs are the best when it comes to American arcade parts. Since this is a Japanese joystick then the “best” part should be Sanwa. The reason I used the Cherry switches is because I had a load of them lying around in my bag ‘o stuff. Personally, I would suggest installing Sanwa joysticks in place of the Hori. More on this later…
[...] it’s time to make a fighting stick! The question is, do I buy something, make something, or mod something? Filed under MLP, art, pinball | SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “link love 01-13-08″, url: [...]
Great guide. I think you should add more information about removing the C-clip, as that was the hardest part of the mod for me. I had to buy some mini needlenose pliers, although they also make c-clip pliers, I am told.
Also, not every Fedex Office/Kinko’s carries lami-label, so it’s best to call ahead before making the trip to laminate your artwork.
I have a question about switching the hori microswitches with the happ ones. My hori switches seem to have some black rubber sleeve like things covering them, and I was wondering if I should just pry these off or what?
Peel/strip back the wire to expose the end and either solder the wire in place of use a quick connect. Look at the picture before and after step 14, I peeled back the black sleeve and solder the wires in place.
jango thanks for tutoriol my stick works fine exept the third button on the right bottom row executes strong fireballs and hurricane kicks even though i assigned the button as weak kick checked solder points twice over everthing seems to be in order .
Problem solved the small pcb board to the left was 1mm to high and was earthing out on the metal base plate . Thanks again tutorial 10/10
Hey guys, i’m ordering parts today for my stick, but have a question or two. First, i’m going with a 4 way restrictor plate like in the arcade, but I was gonna switch it out for a sanwa plate, I know it’s an easy install, but will it feel any different than the stock one? My other question is the stock hori stick switches vs the cherry switches, do they perform the same too? Sensitivity? Will I notice if I don’t switch the horis for the cherrys?
If you are leaving the square restrictor, then I wouldn’t bother with the Sanwa plate, unless you are using a sanwa joystick. I just used the cherry switches more for reliability sake.
ah really? I know the stock one didn’t feel different from the ones I play on in the arcade, but some people say the sanwa gate is a bit tighter than the stock gate, but I guess i’ll leave the stick alone then if there isn’t that much difference. I was thinkin about the cherry switches, but once the SF4 stick comes in, I probably won’t play on this one much anyway. This whole project stems from my boredom more than anything else haha.
If there is no difference, then I guess all I have to do is swap the ball top and the buttons.
Thanks for the info bro, any other advice you may have?
Yeah upgrade the hori joystick to a sanwa because the sanwas do feel better. I’ll post instructions on how to later this week.
Hi,
thanks for the tutorial; gonna shortly attempt it myself. Only thing I haven’t got yet is the wire…can you be more specific what type of wire you used? Is it standard electrical wire as I couldn’t see anything similar in hardware stores today when I asked + looked.
I updated the walk-through with a link to Radio Shack
this guide was EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for, great work. I was thinking about ordering the parts today but I’ll wait to see how difficult swapping the stick out is when you post it this week. Also I have 2 quick questions:
1) for someone with no electronics background, is just a cheap soldering kit from Radio Shack fine? I’m sure they make a kit that contains all I would need.
2) loved the SF4 artwork, is there anyplace else that might have more templates? I don’t have any fancy photo software nor the artistic talent to make my own
I’m going to mod my wii joystick with a sanwa stick, the wii stick is pretty much the same joystick. You CAN use the Radio shack soldering iron but I wouldn’t suggest it due to to having any control on the heat.
About the artwork, you probably should to find someone who can resize a high resolution pic for you.
NEED HELP!!
At the moment i just wanted to change the art and learn how the stick goes mack together but i tried to solder and it back together and all the main buttons (green, red, yellow, LT and RT) arn’t working? only the blue is working (not including the guide, LB, RB, back and start). I don’t know what to do cos i got it as a gift and now its screwed until i can find a way to fix it.
I’M OPEN TO IDEAS!!!
HELP PLEASE!!!
One of the little metal rings of the trace that you solder the wired buttons to popped off somehow during soldering and can’t seem to be affixed to the daughter board again. To make matters worse, the damn thing shriveled up while I was trying to reapply it and is useless now.
Do I need to rewire the button to the main pcb, or is there someway to repair the spot on the daughter pcb?
Could something like a conductive pen be used to repair the trace?
@ Cookiedude: Make sure your solder is clean and not shorting out. worst case scenario is that your board died, in that case you can always do a controller hack & have the controller board act as the main board. My joystick die while I was working on my sanwa joystick walk-through
. Check out shoryuken.com in the tech forums for more info.
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@ Oldboy: Solder your wire directly to the main PCB, by pass the daughter board.
ok…. i got the A (green), B (red), X(blue) and LT (left trigger) working be redoing some of the connections. I still can’t get the Y (yellow) and RT (right trigger) to work. i’ll redo them completly. thats kinda refreshing. lol. ^.^
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@ Oldboy: I found out that u can scratch a bit of the PCB to reveal some of the copper tracer. If u can tin the tracer properly, that should fix the connection and thats how i got most of my buttons working!
How do I solder my wires to the main pcb? Do I unsolder the black cord and solder all the wires into their respective slots?
You can connect to the black wire or just connect to the main board (where the black wires are connecting to)
Is there another site that I can purchase the Cherry Snap Switches? Happ won’t let me buy the 4 @ $0.97 each without at least spending $25.
Try lizardlick.com but they’re more or try ebay.
Hey Jango, love the guide man. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be able to give it a shot.
Curious though. In regards to the couple of people asking about the clicking, wouldn’t this tutorial more or less take care of that?
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72400
Note: I have no idea if that’s even the same thing, haha. I just saw it and thought ‘HMMM’.
I’ve seen this before and I guess you can do that but how long will the switch last will paper jammed inside it? I never understood why people are complaining about :clicking: though… If you really hate clicking that much I don’t know why people just do go the leaf switch route but I doubt it will fit in this joystick..
http://www.quarterarcade.com/GamePicture.aspx?c=&g=2206&o=1&m=0
[...] IN CASE HIS BLOG EVER WENT DOWN. ALL CREDIT GOES TO JANGOFATT. YOU CAN READ THE ORIGINAL GUIDEÂ HERE. THE COMMENTS ARE VERY HELPFUL. THIS PROBABLY LOOKS LIKE I’M YELLING, BUT I’M NOT. [...]