Rip your Pelican Apart

Dallas_Five · May 31, 2004

First of all, big thanks to the roker and Shapermc. If they hadn't posted in this thread with good info (esp. Shapermc's gaming journal entry) i probably wouldn't have fucked with my joystick. My only additional advice would be to think about soldering instead of using the quick-connects, cuz the small wire gauge made it a bitch to get the connects to stay attached to the wire, even with a crimping tool.

So i got new parts and painted the fucking thing, cuz when i bought it i was terribly disappointed with how shitty the stick and buttons were. I have almost zero experience with anything involving soldering or electronics, but this was a super-easy way to learn with a simple project. Hell, i'm proud of myself; maybe that's why i'm posting...LOL. Anyways, I highly recommend modding the Pelican...if i can do it, you can too.

next to teh bawks for size comparison:

Now i feel leet like a motherfucker. Until i get a cab, this (or a MAS stick, which is way more expensive) is the next best thing...

galfordo · May 31, 2004

You are 1337 like a mother fucker - that's pretty sweet, man. What kinda xbox is that?

Tony_N · May 31, 2004

Forget the stick, that white Xbox is nice.

slerch666 · May 31, 2004

You can tell he's a gamer, take a look at the floor on the second picture! 3 controlers and at least the makings of a system from what I can tell.

Nice mod, btw.

shirt · May 31, 2004

Dude, damn nice work. You replaced the buttons as well as the stick with Happ parts I take it? Also, the existing parts sucked that much? They felt alright just moving them around in the store. A friend of mine just bought a MAS no more than two days ago. We drove down to them directly and had it custom built...and he's already having problems with it. The PS2 to Xbox converter was fucked up from the start, gettting signals crossed. Yet to find out if it's possible to solder the cable directly into the stick. When I get around to it though, I'm just gonna hack a new style AES stick, those things feel smooth as fuck and much less expensive. Nice paint job by the way, you paint the Xbox too?

Dallas_Five · May 31, 2004

Tony_N said:
Forget the stick, that white Xbox is nice.

yeah i bought it from ViceMikey, a member here. He's the one that modded it and painted it and shit, so he gets the credit. I agree it's pretty pimp.

@Shirt in a Can- Yeah the parts are Happ. I ordered them from their website which was a little more expensive than Bob Roberts, but i could use a credit card. They did take a while to pick and ship the stuff though (understandable for such a small order, but still kinda annoying...).

I kinda fucked up the joystick paint job, but it still looks alright. I was gonna do white stripes ala the MVS overlay, but i got lazy. I should just try to find an SNK sticker or something...

Neon_Sonic · May 31, 2004

I was going to start a new thread about this, but I guess I might as well post it here. I bought this stick not too long ago and I'm pretty satisfied with it, except for one thing. Whenever I do an up or down movement when I've pushed the stick to the right, it seems to almost get caught or something. It doesn't move easily at all. If I move the stick in a circular motion, there aen't any problems, but this really gets in the way during gameplay. Does anyone else have this problem?

That being said, I'm pretty much convinced that I want to replace the stick and maybe the buttons, as I've had it for a while ago and I don't have the recipt to return it. My question is, what kind of skills are required to replace them? Keep in mind that I'm a complete newbie to all arcade parts. Is there any soldering involved? Basically, I just need someone to list the parts and skills necessary to do this.

I'll go ahead and read Shapermc's guide now.

Very nice work, by the way. I'm planning on doing something very similar. I take it you peeled off that thin, black plastic layer before you painted?

shirt · May 31, 2004

How much did the stick and buttons run you including shipping?

Kiel · May 31, 2004

Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't trade mine. :spock:

BeefJerky · May 31, 2004

Oh man, I thought this thread was going to be someone blowing up a Pelican (the bird).

+one

Metal Fatigue · May 31, 2004

I was going to do this for the fuck of it since Happ is about 10 or 15 mins from me

Only problem though, Dallas or anyone else who uses the Pelican, dont you find that the stick is too far from the buttons? It just seems to me there is too much space between them and almost giving the stick a feel like a lever you might use in a mech game, no?

Thats the one reason I havent done this yet, cant decide if that bitch is too far apart.

K hunter · May 31, 2004

NeoFight said:
I was going to do this for the fuck of it since Happ is about 10 or 15 mins from me

Only problem though, Dallas or anyone else who uses the Pelican, dont you find that the stick is too far from the buttons? It just seems to me there is too much space between them and almost giving the stick a feel like a lever you might use in a mech game, no?

Thats the one reason I havent done this yet, cant decide if that bitch is too far apart.

Yo, NeoFight i thought the distance between the stick and buttons are perfect. it's not much of a prob. me personally, i dont like the stick and buttons too close to each other.

Dallas_Five · May 31, 2004

Neon_Sonic said:
IWhenever I do an up or down movement when I've pushed the stick to the right, it seems to almost get caught or something.

that's what mine did too, plus a few buttons stuck. It was usuable but i just didn't like the feel at all. I'm sure quality varies from stick to stick, but overall the parts are cheap as hell, and aesthetically speaking, the thing looks like shit.

Neon_Sonic said:
My question is, what kind of skills are required to replace them? Keep in mind that I'm a complete newbie to all arcade parts. Is there any soldering involved? Basically, I just need someone to list the parts and skills necessary to do this.

Read shapermc's page. It helped me out tremendously and the few parts that may seem a little light on the details become way more apparent when you have the stuff in front of you. Basically though, you don't need to solder anything if you buy the .187 quick terminal disconnects to attach the wires to the button/joystick microswitches (but you NEED a crimping tool; pliers won't get them solidly attached to the small guage wire).

Neon_Sonic said:
I take it you peeled off that thin, black plastic layer before you painted?

Yep. It's some sort of shitty particle-board type substance under there though, so i sanded it real well and primed it before painting.

Dallas_Five · May 31, 2004

Shirt in a Can said:
How much did the stick and buttons run you including shipping?

$35.85. Not as cheap as i had hoped...

@Neofight: The stick and buttons are kinda far apart, but for me it just took a bit of getting used to. I've never felt that they are so far apart that you feel like you are doing seperate things with your left and right hands (like in a mech game as you said).

RAINBOW PONY · May 31, 2004

What Arcade Stick needing game uses 8 Buttons?

Dallas_Five · May 31, 2004

DARK_ANDY said:
What Arcade Stick needing game uses 8 Buttons?

None that i know of. But 8 holes=8 buttons.

Also, with the eight buttons you can go 4 across for a Neo style layout or 3 and 3 for CPS1/2 games.

RAINBOW PONY · May 31, 2004

Makes sense, but I've always preferred the 2 rows of 2 buttons for the 4 button games.

Sundance · May 31, 2004

slerch666 said:
You can tell he's a gamer, take a look at the floor on the second picture! 3 controlers and at least the makings of a system from what I can tell.

Nice mod, btw.

Yeah...and 2 of the 3 controllers are old systems (Genesis & SNES) so he's obviously been gaming for some time and possibly enjoys playing the classics occasionally. :glee:

DanAdamKOF · May 31, 2004

Sundance said:
Yeah...and 2 of the 3 controllers are old systems (Genesis & SNES) so he's obviously been gaming for some time and possibly enjoys playing the classics occasionally.

I spy, with my little eye... a USA GBA game box above the 3-button Genny controller, right?

Regardless, very nice mod, makes me want to buy and mod the GC version...

EDIT: http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/danadamkof/detail?.dir=/Misc&.dnm=d039.jpg
Note the red "IMPORTANT" box and accompanying text, and next to that the text saying you can only sell it in North America.

Neon_Sonic · May 31, 2004

I read Shapermc's guide and this is looking a lot easier than I anticipated. As a little summer project, I'll probably be ordering the parts sometime soon and trying my hand at not screwing this up. If I'm feeling adventurous, I might do a slick paint job, as well.

I opened up mine out of curiousity earlier and saw what the problem was with the joystick. On the main "shaft" there's a spot where the plastic goes out a bit and the metal that the stick pressed on was sliding off of that and getting caught. It wasn't easy to get to, but I put some electrical tape around it and it feels infinitely more smooth. I'll probably end up still modifying it, though.

FormlessOne · May 31, 2004

BeefJerky said:
Oh man, I thought this thread was going to be someone blowing up a Pelican (the bird).

+one

Came for the bird guts, stayed for the +1

twalden · Jun 1, 2004

Here's mine. I got one of the universal ones used from Gamestop. I put a new control panel overlay on it and changed out the stick and buttons. I actually like it better than the MAS sticks now and it's a heck of a lot cheaper then a MAS too.

shirt · Jun 1, 2004

Pelican universal = $50 at Gamestop

Happ part plus shipping = $35

total = $65

Yep, cheaper than MAS.

Is it worth the extra $30 for the MAS. No fucking clue.

Kiel · Jun 1, 2004

Shirt in a Can said:
Pelican universal = $50 at Gamestop

Happ part plus shipping = $35

total = $65

Yep, cheaper than MAS.

Is it worth the extra $30 for the MAS. No fucking clue.

I think your math is a little off there.

But then again I havent gotten a college credit for math yet...

roker · Jun 1, 2004

Shirt in a Can said:
Pelican universal = $50 at Gamestop

Happ part plus shipping = $35

total = $85 <<<fixed!

Yep, cheaper than MAS.

Is it worth the extra $30 for the MAS. No fucking clue.

yeah . . .

Anyway 85 is a bit expensive, if you're in the market for one system, but considering it'll be useful for 3 systems, then 85 is actually a good deal.

X-Arcade = overpriced

MAS is expensive, but there's no taking away from the nice heavy bulkiness of it. But I paid 100 bucks for a Neo Geo Stick that has no applications on any other system, so I'd say this is the most cost effective way to go about it.

and btw, it looks gread D5

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