Cocktail CP - Need your input please

[Boris the Spider]

I'm trying to layout my CP on my cocktail cab. I'm going to use either two U360's or one U360 and a dedicated Wico.T hey seem to have the exact same mesurements. They will also be mounted horizontally.  I'm worried that they may be too close together. Does anyone who uses two sticks like this find it difficult or find themselves banging their knuckles on the adjacent stick?

As for the buttons, I'd like to use Ponyboy's leaf switches on Ice buttons. The leaf switches are indicated in green in the image. The player 1 & 2 will be microswicthes. Does anyone else use leaf switches on their cocktail cabs? I'd be intersted to see how you handled the space. I got the measurements of the switches from one of Ponyboy's threads last year. The swicth sticks out 1 5/8" past the plunger...and the contacts add another 1/2". I don't know how wide they are though. Can someone tell me the width of these switches?... because one of my swicthes will have to fit in between the player 1 and player 2 buttons.

Anyone see a problem with this layout? I've considered moving the player 1 & 2 buttons, if space becomes an issue, and building them into the cabinet as I've seen done on other examples....so they won't have to be on the cp. I'm also not sure if the height of this cp is correct. I retraced the template from arcadedepot.com in photoshop and then scaled it (maintained aspect ratio) to the correct size in inches. There seems to be way to much space above the joysticks compared to pictures I've seen of these panels. Can someone also tell me the height of the 11" panels from arcadedepot.com?

Thanks

[spacies]

Thats not going to work like that.

You are going to have problems banging knuckles together. I would ditch the 1 & 2 start buttons move the rest of the buttons to the middle and put a joystick at either side.

What you need to do is pretend to hold on to a joystick. Now some people hold them different to others.
Either between your index and thumb or in your palm with your fingers around the ..uummm.....eerrrrr....knob.

Now look how much room you are going to need from the sides of the panel.
If you hold it in your index finger and thumb you are going to need a lot of room inwards from the sides and with only 11" things are goingt to be tight. It might pay to rethink the design and the need for 2 sticks on a panel. If you think you still need them, then an upright machine might be the answer if your cocktail doesn't have the room.  Even better still, build one like mine

[Boris the Spider]

I got the idea from Pharaoh's cocktail cabinet and Currygoat's Pac-Man cocktail (pics below). Pharaoh's is a 9" panel and I'm hoping that Currygoats is too because the space is very tight...but I can't tell.  I've done a mock setup mounted on cardboard and the spacing doesn't seem that bad...except I have to sit a little more to the left when using the stick on the left with my right hand....but there are only a few games I'll play like that anyway. I'm not worried about the sides of the cabinet panels because the wood is curved leaving an open space next to the stick.

I would actually prefer just one stick per player...but since I really like the U360s, and it does make a great all-in-one stick...I'm not sure I want to swap restrctor plates between games. I'd prefer to use restrictor plates so using two will allow me much more flexibility....even though it's gonna cost me  a bundle!

The 11" panel is my only option in my case. I do like the idea of the sticks mounted on opposite sides though. I'll think about that, thanks.

Your cab is nice....but it's not the style I'm going for.

[gonzobrian]

I have a cocktail with cps like yours and I also have some of Ponyboy's leaf switches and don't think you will have room with your lay out.  Those things stick out a pretty good ways.  Maybe with just one or two buttons but thats about it.