Mod 360 controller

With the prices of Street Fighter 4 sticks being stupid right now, I was wondering if anyone has modded a 360 controller (wired or wireless) into a stick. If so, was it straight forward or difficult? I figure I can build my own instead of putting out some serious cash and it will be customized to my preferences. I just don't want to destroy a controller if it will be very difficult.

It's pretty straight forward only problem is that the soldering is difficult as the pads to solder to are very small. But it's been done.

I wonder if the $30 wired controllers they have at GameStop are easier.

I hacked a microsoft brand wired pad for a joystick and found it to be a REAL pain in the ass. Keep in mind I'm a no talent hack with a soldering iron so that doesn't help.
Small solder points and multiple grounds made it a real chore for me.

I haven't tried it but I have also heard that the generic brand pads are considerably easier. I don't see how it could be any harder.

When you say multiple grounds, does that mean I can't daisy-chain the grounds like an arcade? Also, what do you do about the power/connect button on the controller?

The power/connect button is just a momentary push button.

As far as the grounds go, I can only speak from my limited knowledge but I couldn't connect all the buttons to the same ground. Some inputs shared grounds but not all. Again, the generic pad may be different.

If I was doing it over I would just buy one of the generic Hori sticks (the EX2 iirc) and throw in new parts. It would be considerably easier. You could still laminate some Street Fighter artwork and fix it to the face of the stick.
Despite the fact that there is some clown trying to sell his generic 360 hori stick for a $30 mark-up in the selling forums because they are "sold out everywhere", you can still find these in stores.

I read that the Mad Catz Xbox Live Arcade Retro Stick has both a common ground and larger solder points. The best thing about it is that it is discontinued skew and retails for around 9.99 now. I found two of them at Lamestop in my area and picked them up for $20. I think they retailed for $50 originally. Already tore into one of them and the soldering does not look bad at all.

http://dealspl.us/Buy-Mad-Catz-Xbox-Live-Arcade-Retro-Stick-Xbox-360-In-Store-Only_126763

The Madcatz arcade stick has a common ground, so you can daisy chain with that one. Some of the Gamestop generics also do.

The official Microsoft doesn't have a common ground. Although I've heard newer models are supposed to, I'm not sure.

Oh, you can also gut a EX2 fighting stick, or a similar 360 controller, and use that as your pcb.

You can find these for like 25 on forums sometimes. Mostly on shoryuken.com