Blogged by buffi

IMPORTANT!: Hori released two version of the HRAP1. Only the first one of them has the seimitsu mounting plate. Mounting a LS3201 in a “new version” HRAP1 is a lot trickier

Nowadays everyone seem to think the Sanwa is the only way to fly. Something that isn’t all that common knowledge apparently is that a lot of japanese arcade fighter cabinets uses Seimitsu joysticks instead though.

What is the difference between these sticks then you might ask?

Sanwa sticks needs to be moved a lot more to hit the microswitches which registers presses in directions, which of course doesn’t need to be a bad thing in fighters. If you prefer it that way then thats fine by me, however if you only prefer sanwa because of the fact that “everyone else is doing it” then I don’t like you

Something that is pretty common knowledge however is that japanese shooter cabinets usually use Seimitsu sticks. In my honest opinion Swimitsu sticks and Sanwa sticks can’t even be compared when playing shooters. Sanwa sticks are way to lose and I can’t get any feeling of control when using them for these kind of games. In other games like puzzlegames or fighters however it’s pretty even for me. Ilike both Sanwa and Seimitsu but I’m leaning more towards Seimitsu right now.

Anyways… one of the most common models of Seimitsu being used nowadays is the LS-32. The original LS-32 uses solder-on microswitches for its connection which isn’t a bad thing (soldered connections usually are better than pinconnector connections). However in this mod we are going to use the newer LS-32-01 which uses a 5pin header. The reason for this is that the stock Hori Real Arcade pro uses a Sanwa JLF-TP-8Y-SK which also use this header. This means that we can completely avoid soldering anything. There seem to be a few difference about the mounting of the sticks though, but it’s easily solvable.

Anyways, here goes…

Step 1: Buy parts

Parts needed:
1 LS-32-01

Step 2: Get tools

Tools needed:
Star shaped screwdriver or Electric Screw Fastener
Flat header screwdriver
Bolt remover thingie
Knife

Step 3. Unscrew the bottom screws

Flip the HRAP upside down and locate the 8 screws at the bottom. Unscrew all of them and remove the bottom plating. It might stick a little so you can use the flat headed screwdriver to make this easier. You will now see a big hunk of plastic.

Step 4. Locate and unscrew bolts at the bottom

There are 6 bolts located under the screws that you can see at the top of the stick. Remove these. Remove the screws also.

Step 5. Remove cover

Turn the stick back so that it is standing correctly and you will notice that the top plate is loose. It is however still connected by wires to the PCB so just lift it up and flip it upsidedown so that you have easy access to the joystick.

Step 6. Remove the balltop

Locate the middle of the bottom of the joystick and insert your flat headed screwdriver in the flat headed screwdriver shaped area. Then hold it in position as you unscrew the balltop from the other side of the mounting plate. There is also 2 plastic pieces for the joystick on the balltop. Remove these aswell.

Step 7. Remove connector

For some reason Hori decided to use a glue gun to prevent us from changing sticks. Locate the white 5-ping connector connecting the sticks with the cables from it. You will see that it is glued on. Use the knife to scrape away enough glue so that you can safely unplug the connector and the unplug it.

Step 8. Remove old joystick

The joystick is fastened with 4 screws. Remove these and then put away the old stick. You can probably sell it on ebay or something later.

Step 9. Insert Seimitsu joystick

Here is the part that can be a bit tricky. You will notice that if you try to fit the stick the same way that the Sanwa was facing with the connector in the same direction it wont fit. If you however flip it 90 degrece then it fits like a charm. Rotate the stick so that the 5pin connector is facing down on the stick (away from the autofire hole that is) and then screw it in with 1 screw each on the left and right side (yup, that will be enough)

This means that you cant simple plug in the old connector as it will be mapped wrong. The solution for this is in the next step.

Step 10. Rotate the controller PCB
Under the stick you will see a few things. First a blue plastic restrictor. Under that one a smaller blue restrictor and under that one a metal plate securing a printed circuit board containing the switches for the stick. You need to remove the restrictors, unscrew this plate and rotate the PCB so the 5pin connector socket is facing the same way that the sanwa-sticks connector was facing. Then simply plug in the connector and everything should work.

Unfortunately I can’t find my pictures of this, but it is rather straight forward.

Step 11. Test it

Put the flat plastic protector back on the top of the stick and then screw on the balltop of your choice. The plastic stick shaft protector from the sanwa won’t fit a seimitsu so just put that one aside.

Now everything should be mounted so flip the component plate back to its regular position and plug it into your ps2 to check that you made step 10 correctly. If for an example pushing up on the stick results in the ps2 registering right then just switch those cables and so on, but hopefully it should be fint. Doublechecking is always good anyways.

Step 12. Put it back together

Do step 3-5 but backwards.

Step 13. Enjoy!

Shooters might actually be playable with a stick now

buffi Gaming Hardware