Anyone ever use Japanese parts?

[J.Max]

I recently obtained a Japanese Sega Astro City control panel that I'm going to rewire to work with MAME for jome fighting game goodness.  It has Sanwa sticks and buttons, and I've never worked with them before except doint the occasional mod on a console stick.  Do they work like Happs parts, with a common ground?  Are they easy to hook up to an IPAC/KeyWiz?  Anyone ever done this before?

[elvis]

Do they work like Happs parts

Yes

with a common ground?

Yes.

Are they easy to hook up to an IPAC/KeyWiz?

Yes.

Anyone ever done this before?

Yes.   

Seriously: they are the same as any other switch-driven joystick out there.  Sanwa's have all their microswitches wired to a 5-pin connector (4 switches and the common ground).  You can either buy a genuine Sanwa cable to hook up to this, or solder direct to the pins.

If you can connect up Happ parts, Sanwa/Seimitsu are no different.