4 way joystick, Seimitsu LS-32, Sanwa JLF, or other?

[Purple Tophat]

So the cabinet I'm building is going to have a 4-player control panel + a dedicated 4-way joystick. Because the machine is a purple theme, I bought this purple crystal balltop. It's wicked awesome, but it's made to fit either a Sanwa JLF or a Seimitsu LS-32. I had previously thought I was gonna buy a Pac Man stick from Tornado Terry's that's made with the longer shaft for wood control panels, but I'd rather not have to alter the balltop if one of these Japanese sticks will be just as good. The questions I have are:

1. Are either of these 2 joysticks a good 4-way stick...mostly for Ms. Pac Man?
2. How is the height when installed on a wood panel CP?
3. How about the overall feel? Return to center?

I'm not looking for a perfect replacement for a Ms. Pac Man joystick. I just want something that feels good, plays well, and looks how I want. Just curious if anyone can let me know if I'll be disappointed if I go with one of these two! Any advice would be appreciated!!!

[RetroACTIVE]

Really subjective here...

Besides Seimitsu and the Sanwa's you referenced, the Sanwa JLWs are actually a pretty decent all around stick that many folks have used for replacement 4/8 way sticks.

They are all fine sticks... None of them feel like the original Ms. Pac or Nintendo but if all you are looking for is a good substitute ... you really won't go wrong with either choice.

[Nephasth]

JLW seconded here. Love mine.

[paigeoliver]

If you are specifically wanting to play Ms. Pac-Man then you will be disappointed with anything other than an original Midway 4-way stick or the Class of 81' reunion stick. Nothing else feels right.

Although you may be able to get away with something else if you haven't played a real machine in a very long time.

[mgb]

For 4 way I use a Sanwa JLW with soft switches and a heavy spring and I love it.

[sharpfork]

I'm a fan of the JLW's too.  Great stick!

[Purple Tophat]

Thanks for all of the great responses! I haven't played on a dedicated Pac machine in forever, so I don't think I'd really notice any difference. The wife is the huge Pac-fan, but she's not picky about anything except that it works ok and it's purple. Haha!

I think I'll go with the Sanwa JLW. I'm going to be buying a mameroom.com quad panel. Any idea if there's a particular model number I should get to mount under a wood panel and still be a good height? Like is there a longer shaft model for wood CP's? I couldn't find on the mameroom website anywhere where it said how thick the panel is.

[mgb]

The jlw is a good choice.
   I think they only come with one size shaft

[Vigo]

Just to clarify, if you have a balltop for a JLF, you are gonna need a JLW-T. If you get a JLW-U you will find that the shaft is too thick to fit the balltop. AFAIK, there really isn't any difference between the two models other than the shaft.

Ultimarc sells longer shafts for the JLW. It is marked as their Ultrastick 360 long shaft, but it will fit on a JLW. (Their J-stick balltop is a JLW-T) Make sure to get the shaft for the T and not the U, they have both.

You could also get a JLF, but you would need to heavily modify it to make it good for pacman. I only bring it up because some people get a kick out of modding sticks, and the JLF is an amazing, quality stick that is really fun to change around. You can find hollow extra long shafts for LED lighting as well. With no mods, the JLF is about the polar opposite of what you want for pacman though. 

[Purple Tophat]

Wow! What thoroughly awesome info! Thanks so much. See, this is why this forum rules. Now I know exactly what I'm going to do! I'm definitely going with the JLW, and I'll order the longer shaft from Ultimarc when I place my order for my I-pac4 and a few other things! Rock on.

Modding joysticks sounds fun though! Maybe someday... as if I need another hobby!!!

[mgb]

Not sure how you feel about the stiffness of the joystick but I found I really like the heavy spring for the jlw.
Ultimarc has stiff springs too.

[Purple Tophat]

Cool! If I get them from here: http://www.arcadeemulator.net/cgi-bin/shop/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F7214880&rnd=4127524&rrc=N&affl=&cip=&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=UltraStik360OptionalHardSp&cat=UltraStick360AnalogDigita&catstr=HOME:Ultimarc:UltraStick360AnalogDigita

How many springs would I need? This is definitely going to be my 4-way dedicated stick!!

Oh, and while we're on the subject of joysticks, I know exactly what I'm doing for the 8-way joysticks too! Being the unbeatable Mortal Kombat Master that I am (earned that title from beating a credited and formerly Miday employed unbeatable MK master in a best of 7), does anybody know of a vendor who will sell these HAPP joysticks cheaper than the $22.99 that HAPP charges? I can't find a way to link directly to the page, but here's the model number: 50-6071-12. It's a "williams modified" competition joystick that my buddy has on his multi-Mortal Kombat machine. They are perfect for fighting games!!! Gold switches and hard springs...poifect!

[mgb]

thats where I got my heavy spring from too. you just need one heavy spring per stick.

Is that Happ stick you're looking at, just a competition with gold terminal micro switches and a heavy spring?

[Purple Tophat]

thats where I got my heavy spring from too. you just need one heavy spring per stick.

Is that Happ stick you're looking at, just a competition with gold terminal micro switches and a heavy spring?

Thanks. I think that's all they are. My buddy had a guy come over and fix some things on his MK cabinet and he installed them to replace his worm out sticks. They have the perfect feel for Killer Instinct and MK. I suppose I could buy regular competition joysticks, then buy separate heavy springs and gold switches, but unless I"m mistaken, it looks like the gold switches are $4.00 each. Don't know what the spring costs, but with the Black version of that stick being $21.99 (50-6071-16), just replacing the switches with gold ones will put me over the price of just buying it already done for me.

However, I get the reason why heavy springs give a better feel, but what is the benefit of the gold switches?

[mgb]

In my opinion, the heavy spring would be great but I don't see a bunch of benefit to gold terminal switches

[wachin]

I think one other thing to consider which hasn't been mentioned is the 4-way restrictors.  I believe that the Sanwa has a diamond shaped 4-way while the Seimitsu has a clover shaped restrictor.  This means the on the Sanwa, you can easily slide along the diagonal from say left to up, where the Seimitsu has to move closer to center before being able to move left to up.  Then again, I've been away from the joystick scene for a few years so things might have changed since then.

[mgb]

I believe hes already decided to go with the JLW which in my opinion is the best choice.
I really don't like that clover leaf pattern o the seimitsus or zippyys but you can file them into a diamond shape.