I think 1up tried removing the springs in his horizontal microswitch buttons just to see what they would feel like and I think he said that they seemed more responsive but he wasn't sure if he was going to leave them out permenantly or not. I don't remember hearing of anybody testing the ultimates without their springs. I've been told that the ultimates are slightly harder to push to begin with. I don't use them so I don't know if its because they have a heavier spring or that the microswitch is vertical instead of horizontal. If you're removing the springs in your ultimates because they feel too stiff then you probably would have been happier with the horizontal microswitch pushbuttons. Try takeing them out and see what they feel like. You can always put em back in.