Ultimarc Mag-Stik

[Paulson]

 If this has been mentioned before I appologize...
 So has anyone have any experience with these joysticks?

 Thanks.

 

[Ginsu Victim]

Here's a review from Retroblast

REVIEW

[divemaster127]

These are good sticks the magstick plus is the model to go with.  You can switch from the top or bottom
dm

[Paulson]

 Yeah...I like the look too...with that chrome stem.
 
 Thanks.

[TheShanMan]

I have a mag stik plus with ball top. Absolutely love it for 4 way games. Nice short throw. Switching between 4 and 8 way from the top isn't quite as trivial as it may appear - it does take a little effort. Personally though, I really dislike it as an 8 way. The short throw is great for 4 way, but terrible for 8 way - it's just so easy to end up in a diagonal when you don't want to. Indiana Jones is a good example that really emphasizes this weakness because it's so touchy about direction. You fall off a ladder if you accidentally hit a diagonal instead of hitting straight up.

No idea if other switchables are better with 8 way.

[Ginsu Victim]

To be fair, that's just Indiana Jones for ya. Even on the original machine, it was too easy to fall off the path.

[Paulson]

 Well as long as it plays Robotron & Crazy Climber?
 I probably won't be installing Indiana Jones...it wasn't
 really my cup of tea...but thanks anyways.

[Ginsu Victim]

I prefer two Ultimarc Ultrastik 360s for Robotron, with the circular restrictor and medium springs. Best feel, to me. (Some people like microswitches for that game...)

[TheShanMan]

To be fair, that's just Indiana Jones for ya. Even on the original machine, it was too easy to fall off the path.

I'm just using that as an example - it's kind of an extreme that really demonstrates the weakness well. The point is, it's much easier to hit the diagonals than to hit the main directions (whatever you would call that). Ideally it would be equally easy to hit the main directions, but it definitely isn't.

[Turnarcades]

I like the solid feel of the stick and the short throw, plus the colour options are nice. I'd prefer a softer click though like on Suzos with cherry switches.

[paulscade]

I just received a pair of these sticks. They're not in the panel yet so I can't really comment about how they play. The plan is to make these the main sticks on my panel.

Everyone is right about the short throw... I'd call them "tight".

I was very impressed by their quality. Nicely built. They have some weight to them... they don't feel flimsy at all.

I think that I made the right choice... time will tell.

[TPB]

the magstick plus is the model to go with.

Not necessarily.

This depends on the ease of access to the area underneath your panel (eg, does your panel have a hinged lid ?).

If there's easy access to the area underneath, then IMHO the standard Mag-Stik is a better choice.

It's $9 cheaper than its more expensive cousin, which is an $18 saving for a pair of sticks.

Further, its design is simpler, less prone to malfunction, and with no risk of accidental engagement during frantic gameplay.  You can't go wrong with lifting the panel's lid, then flicking a switch, to change the restrictor.  This is more straightforward than the "pull upwards and twist" method of the Mag-Stick Plus.

You can also tell what mode it's in (4 or 8 way), by lifting the panel's lid & visually glancing at the switch, to see its position.  With the Mag-Stick Plus, there's no visual indication from the top of the unit, you'd have to go through the "pull upwards and twist" routine to confirm the mode.

[TheShanMan]

Good points, TPB. Other than that there is essentially NO risk of accidental engagement during frantic gameplay. It takes a good deal of upward force to engage the switching mechanism. Not something you'd do unless you were really trying to.

[shredso]

I liked these when i first bought em, but I eventually switched em out.  The short throw does not work well on all games.  I also found the switching between 4 and 8 way irritating.  I may be selling a pair if anyone is interested.

[TPB]

I also found the switching between 4 and 8 way irritating.

With the standard Mag-Stik, or the Mag-Stik Plus ?

[thatitalian]

I have these on my first cab with the normal oval stick and later changed to the ball tops. To be honest they are a solid stick. Short throw is really noticeable and very good for gaming. IMO, go with the ball tops, they look sexy!

Only bad thing is the clicking but that is from the switches, not the stick!

I have only switched a couple of times but as TPB said, if you can open your lid then the "visibility" of 4/8 way could present a problem, but not much!

I will probably be changing to u360s in my next cab (still deciding as the mags are good) but will be keeping these if (or when) I do my next project, a bartop. But first I have to finish my current project!

[shredso]

My switching difficulty was with the plus version.  The other thing i wasnt crazy about is the footprint is different than most joysticks, so if you routed into a wood CP for this, you would need to re-route to fit in a standard joystick.

[remal]

I have both mag and older t-sticker plus, the main reason for getting this joystick is the ability to switch between 4 and 8 way.

You don't have to pull it and turn or look at the switch to figure out which mode it is in, just make a diag move on the stick, you can easily determine which mode it is in.

I  add a microswitch connected to 5v, and led to the joystick, so when the white lever hits the microswitch (one with actuator arm), which lights up the led..

One thing you should consider is to replace the 4 microswitches..  it makes the joystick play better.

[TheShanMan]

Hey remal, I was thinking of doing the exact same thing with the LED's! Would you mind taking some pics and posting what you've done? And can you be more specific on the microswitch thing? Which ones did you use and how is it better?

[remal]

It looks like the switches that is currently used in your magstik or t-stik:

http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/95073500.htm

I basically mounted the switch on to a small 5/8 mdf about 1" in size, switch the joystick to which ever mode you like to have an led indicator.  Line up the actuator arm where the switch will press it and secure the 5/8 mdf to cp.  and then connect your +5v source and led.

if you decide to reverse the led indicator, you can always move the n/c and n/o wire on the switch.

I bought 20 of these switch to replace all 4 (2 t-stik plus and 2 mag-stik plus) switches on the joystick itself.  I would highly recommend it.

[kowal]

cherry KWJ is too soft for Magstick

only Omron or Matsushita is good

[mrclean]

Personally I had the Mag-Stick Plus and I HATED it,very short throw for me.. went with the ultimarc U360's and added circle restrictor and hard spring set and LOVE em'

[Ginsu Victim]

I've played Gunsmoke on my old Happ Universals, then on my U360s (same setup), and I
know where you're coming from. World of difference.

[mark shaker]

I just installed a pair of Mag-Stick Pluses in my new cab. I find them "corner happy", it's very easy to go the wrong way playing Robotron.

Here is the funny part, I have their predecessors, the T-Stick Plus in 3 other cabs, and have never had this problem.

If anyone has a NOS pair of T-Stick Pluses, to sell me please send me a message.

   - Mark

[TheShanMan]

Ahhhhh! Finally I've found someone to make the same comment about the sticks. I've posted several times about this over the last few months and it's nice to get some validation.

[TPB]

OK, so the Mag-Stik Plus is corner happy.

Does this observation also apply to the standard Mag-Stik ?  Does anyone own them ?   


It appears the Mag-Stik is great in 4 way mode, especially as a short throw is suited to many 4 way games.

But there's a consensus that it functions poorly in 8 way mode.

There's not much point having 4/8 way switchable sticks, if they're only good in 4 way mode, as you'll then need separate 8 way sticks anyway.

A better option would be to mount dedicated 4 & 8 way sticks (if there's room on your panel), or use U360's with their multiple mappings.