What is the best stick to use for a wood control panel, mounted from below?

[2PacMan]

I'm making a MAME using an old pacman arcade cabinet.  I'm working on the control panel, and I need to find a joystick that i can mount underneith the panel.  The panel has 3/4th'' wood.  I don't have a router or anything.  Is there any joystick available with a longer shaft that i could just mount on the wood that wouldn't involve me using a router?

[massive88]

Any non-japanese stick should mount fine in 3/4" wood afaik.

[ArtMAME]

Happ Supers are my stick of choice for my MAME setups.

Happ Universals are real nice too if you like the action a little stiffer.

[2PacMan]

I have one, can't remembe the name, it's one you can change from 4 to 8 way on top, and the shaft was so short that it i mounted it under the wood, the stick had to go through the 3/4 wood and then the small metal control panel that not much was sticking out from the top, it was too short.

[Evil Ivan]

You could also get a different stick to put in the base, depending on what you have of course. I picked up some last week that were at least half an inch longer than the bat-handle my competitions came with.

[severdhed]

i'd go with a u360 from ultimarc.  if you get the longer shaft option, it mounts just fine under a 3/4" thick panel, and it is the most versatile stick you can buy.

if you are looking for a cheap option, the Happ competition stick should work just fine.

[Ginsu Victim]

Happ Universals are real nice too if you like the action a little stiffer.

I hated mine. The short throw makes it too easy to engage diagonals when you don't want to. Plus, the mouting is ugly (and they're top-mount anyway, so they don't fit the topic)

[2PacMan]

Thanks for all the advice guys.  I'm thinking about going with maybe the competition joystick.  I see there's an Ultimate Joystick too, that looks excactly the same as the competition joystick, but is a few dollars cheaper.  Does anyone know the difference? 

[ArtMAME]

Thanks for all the advice guys.  I'm thinking about going with maybe the competition joystick.  I see there's an Ultimate Joystick too, that looks excactly the same as the competition joystick, but is a few dollars cheaper.  Does anyone know the difference? 

I would not use either one myself.  They are 8-way sticks and they are horrible for Pacman and other 4-way games.  Comps are supposed to be better for fighting games than Ultimates.  Beyond that, they are pretty much the same as far as I can remember.  Still I would strongly discourage you from getting those if you are going to play Pacman, Frogger, DK, or any of the popular 4-way games.

If you are getting Happs, go with the Supers.  You can set the actuator in 4-way mode, but it is not true 4-way mode.  It will let you hit diagonals if you hit them just right, yet you can still play Pacman and other 4-way games better than with the 8-ways

[2PacMan]

The Super was what I originally wanted, but they aren't available in any other color besides black.  I need a yellow one  

So i'm left choosing from the Competition or the Ultimates.  They look exactly the same to me, how is the throw on these?

[Ginsu Victim]

Never buy Ultimates. Comp all the way.

However, if you want the best you can get, check out the UltraStik 360 at www.ultimarc.com

[2PacMan]

Looks like competition it is then.  The 360 looks neat, but is way too expensive for me, and it's not available in yellow.

[Ginsu Victim]

The U360 can use any color a Sanwa can
Here's yellow at www.lizardlick.com

[2PacMan]

Oh! Forgot all about lizardlick's site.  Looks like they've got some different items, and slightly cheaper too, i'm going to have to do some more research and see what they have...thanks!