the x-arcade stick

[shoryuken929]

I had a friend who bought one and I was really impressed on the feel of it.  There was one really big qualm that I had though.  Player 1 and player 2 were really close together, so the elbow room was really small.  

Now, I found that the X-arcade stick has a kit for $99 so I am deciding to buy that.  My friend however, is thinking about ripping his apart and building just the control cabinet.  Has anyone done this before, or how long the wiring is, and if this could be done easily?  This would be a great help.