Ok. This is a short update. I have repainted the blue bottom panel white, and reprinted a high resolution version of Emphatic's artwork. And I've successfully accomplished the LED mod I referenced earlier from Shoryuken, and wired up the controls. I haven't had time to take pics yet, but I think I can do it tomorrow after work.
Overall it looks SO GOOD! I am very happy with the way everything turned out. One issue I have noticed is that there is already a small dirt spot on the white panel from where my wrist rests when holding the stick. I got most of it off, but I think it is actually rubbing through the paint a bit. So I will tape off all the plexi and respray one more coat of white and then do a clear coat over it for protection.
As for the stick... I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed at the moment, but I don't blame it on the quality of the stick itself. There are a few factors which are creating some issues for me. First off let me say that I have never used a Jap/Balltop stick. What I'm used to is the Happ 8 way competition with a very stiff spring. And after that I got somewhat accustomed to my Korean sticks which are physically the same size shape as the Happs but with a MUCH looser feel and longer throw (actually about the opposite of what you would look for in a shmup stick, but I got used to it nonetheless )
My problems right now with my LS-32:
1) I'm not used to having the stick sit so low on the panel... It just feels akward. My hand is resting on top of it instead of gripping it from the side like I'm used to. This will probably be the easiest thing to get used to though.
2) I'm really disliking the square restrictor that it came with. I'm used to full circular movement and this square gate is really bothering me. It's not allowing me fluid, smooth movement, and I keep getting stuck in diagonals. Also, I've noticed that when I try to move straight up, I often slip left or right and slide right into a bullet. This is because I'm putting most of the pressure up, but any slight unconscious pressure left or right will cause the stick to slip in that direction. With a circular gate, the curvature of the gate causes a small resistance to lateral movement when you're holding straight up or down. Ideally I would like to try an octagonal gate, which would allow you to accurately lock into any of the 8 directions with confidence. However after some Google-ing I am pretty sure that there aren't any octagonal gates for the LS-32. So I will be ordering a circular restrictor from LizardLick soon.
3) I don't like how easily the whole shaft spins in the stick. It makes it harder to grip. Even my Happs do this but it takes a lot more torque to make them spin. So much that they won't spin during normal gameplay. Whereas this stick spins a lot (BTW I'm not talking about the balltop spinning on the shaft. I mean the whole shaft spinning).
4) The stick isn't as responsive as I had hoped. But I think that is my fault... In order to keep the wires leading to the balltop LED from getting twisted up during gameplay, I used a headphone plug and jack to connect the wires to the base of balltop. This allows the shaft to spin without the wire getting twisted up (I believe I saw this idea on one of Franco B's old posts. It's quite smart actually, and I don't want to take credit for it.) I think that part of why the stick is feeling less responsive is that the added weight of the plug/jack and the electric tape that I used to attach them to the shaft is affecting the inertia of the stick. I don't think that the stock spring is strong enough to return it to center as decisively as it would normally. I don't know, I just think it feels kind of "wonky". I don't really know if my head is playing tricks on me or not though. I don't want to get rid of the balltop LED. What I'm gonna try and do is get a LS-33 spring and swap it in. Supposedly these are stiffer, so I hope that it will compensate for the LED assembly and I happen to like a stiffer spring anyway.
So sorry for the "essay" on my new stick...
Hopefully I'll have some pics up tomorrow.