I decided to make my own stick, since the best stick available to me was the Capcom Fighting Jam Hori Real Arcade Pro (CFJ HRAP). It has an authentic Sanwa stick, but had Hori (not Sanwa) buttons. The cost for that stick didn't quite justify spending such a large amount of money, especially since it was just shy of perfect. Building my own stick sounded more appealing. Furthermore, I didn't want such a bulky stick. I much preferred the compact design of the Namco stick.

Hence, the main design was heavily based off the Namco stick. My stick has a 1mm thick stainless steel control panel and base cover. The stainless steel was a nightmare to work with! I don't recommend using stainless steel if you can avoid it. I believe a 2mm thick brass plate should suffice. Nevertheless, I was trying to keep the design as compact as possible, so I opted for the thinner stainless steel. The stick has a good, solid weight to it, being just a tad heavier than the Namco.

Bottom cover:

Guts: Nothing is as satisfying as a good soldering job! I used TheRealNeoGeo's method of housing the PCB within a recessed compartment. In fact, I got a lot of ideas from his stick. The main wire is recessed into the wood. The PCB is from an old Sony Playstation non-dualshock joypad. With a converter, it works perfectly with the Dreamcast. Ikaruga anyone?

Sanwa arcade parts. These are the real thing! They just feel better. Silky smooth stick, and the stick and buttons are incredibly sensitive. Imported from Japan from RiverServiceJ. Great service, and cheap too! Except for the bank charges...

Size comparison with the Namco stick. The button layout is identical. Although it has the same maximum height, my custom stick "looks" bulkier. It's as low as it can get to accomodate the longer bottom shaft of the Sanwa stick. I even had to shave off a little of the shaft so it wouldn't interfere with the bottom plate. You can see the icky grease I put to protect it from rusting.

In the end, I would say that the total cost of making this custom stick is about the same (could be more expensive, I believe) as buying a CFJ HRAP and swapping the buttons for Sanwa ones. Nevertheless, the satisfaction of building and playing on a self-built stick is priceless!

Special thanks to my dad, TheRealNeoGeo, Tabris, Byrdo, and all the peeps at Shoryuken.com forums.