Where Can I buy SANWA ball top Joysticks?

[infariot25]

I'm making a japenese style comtrol panel with convex buttons and jpanese style balltop sticks.  I'm looking for sanwa(Naomi fighters use these i think).  Where can i buy them? I saw similar ones at ultimarc.com but im not sure if they are sanwa(plus i want blue and green joysticks). any help is greatly appreciated.

[b3atmania]

http://www.sanwa-d.co.jp

[Molloy]

The one's on Ultimarc are Sanwa.

www.arcaderick.de has them as well. A bit pricy but they have more colours and proper convex pushbuttons they use on Naomi cabs.

They also sell the full Astro City arcade pannels. I'd say they'd be pretty cool to mod. That kind of molded plastic with nifty overlay would cost you alot more to build.

I can get it 220 euro shipped to Ireland. I think I may ditch the arcade machine idea altogether and just buy one of these and a projector. 70inch images of Metal Slug on my wall sounds like quite a thing.

[armad1ll0]

Yes, I've done the same thing. I top mounted the joystick so that the shaft sticks out higher. If it's mounted bellow, it's too short. I also have used US/Happ/Lorenzo style convex buttons. (my capcom FP stick, see examples pages)  

I used a Sanwa in my Capcom FP stick, but then used a Seimitsu in the stick bellow cause I can get it at a much more reasonable price. This stick is also for a customer. Sanwas are nicer though, but they play at the same performance. in the Sanwa, you'll find a longer shaft, larger dust cover disk, and better switching from 4-8 way.

http://www.arcaderick.de/ sells the sticks for way to high. $35-45 USD???

You might as well get them from Ultimarc, but the shipping will be a killer. $15 for two sticks so two sticks will be about $45 to ship to the US. If you can go for the Red ball top Sanwa, then go for Ultimarc!!!

I can sell two Seimitsu japanese joysticks seen used in this CP for $14 each and I'm in the US. They are much like the Sanwa's but they don't have the disk to swap quickly to a 4 way. The plate must be unscrewed to switch to a 4 way. I also think that I can get them in red/green/blue... they come from the Capcom arcade div...

In this pic I've routed the wood out to have the plate rest right under the plexiglass

[armad1ll0]

Here is the underside of the darn thing... (top mounted Seimitsu joystick)

[MilitiaMan]

Just to verify ...

The J-Sticks from Ultimarc are Sanwa.

I just bought three of them and I absolutely love them. I mounted them underneath the control panel, but I had to route 1/4 inch out of the bottom to get them to sit at a reasonable height.

Pros:

1. The "feel" of these sticks is incredible. I personally like a joystick with a short "throw" and these are perfect.

2. These work perfectly in 4-way or 8-way mode simply by turning a restrictor on the bottom of the joy.

3. Easy to mount - because the balltop is screw-on, you don't have to take the entire joystick apart to mount it (like you do with supers or ultimates).

Cons:

1. If you order it from Ultimarc, it only comes in red. This was OK for me, but it might not work for everyone.

2. Shipping was a tad pricey -- I wish I had known I was going to be getting these sticks when I ordered my I-PAC instead of paying shipping twice.

That is it .... I highly recommend the J-Stick!

MM

[armad1ll0]

The last con is that these types of sticks are not designed to mount into 3/4" wood panels but steel think panels. A sanwa's staft is longer than a Seimitsu's but it's till not long enought for a wood panel unless you really like a low short shaft.

That's why I mount them on top of the wood, it's a mess of work though.

[Stormdemon]

If you want short throw, try Ultimarc's T-sticks. It can't be any shorter than that. Absolute precission.

[Grasshopper]

Sanwas are nicer though, but they play at the same performance. in the Sanwa, you'll find a longer shaft, larger dust cover disk, and better switching from 4-8 way.

I'm not sure that I'd agree with that. Both types of joystick have their pros and cons.

The types of joystick that can be switched from 4 to 8 way by rotating the restrictor plate (J-Stik, T-Stik, E-Stik, and Suzo 500) all share the same problem -  the joystick has a slightly longer throw in 4 way mode (looking at the compass points). Most of them feel slightly better in 8 way mode. The design is essentially a compromise, albeit a good one.

However, when the Seimitsu is configured as a 4 way joystick it has the correct throw. Because of this the Seimitsu works better as a 4 way stick (IMHO). However with the Sanwas you have the convenience of easy 4-8 way switching.

My Seimitsu came with two different sizes of dust cover. The larger one is about the same size as the cover supplied with the Sanwas.

Also you can buy the Seimitsus with a special mounting plate which enables the joystick to be embedded about 1/2" into the underside of a wooden control panel. That's how I fitted mine.