« Review: Various Sanwa Denshi JLF Custom Parts By Paradise Arcade Shop »

Various parts including custom Sanwa JLF gates, springs, microswitches, and actuators.Many arcade stick folks uses the stock JLF lever from Sanwa Denshi. If the JLF breaks down after many sessions of doing lightning loops, Sako-based Ibuki combos, or 100% HD combos, people can replace them with the same goods. What would happen if someone wanted some change, some variety in their JLF? Variety is the spice of life.

I was given a smorgasbord of parts courtesy of Paradise Arcade Shop over at Hawaii that I can replace on my regular JLF including microswitches, tension springs, and actuators. This roundup of parts will see if they are worth installing and using.

Before proceeding, some of the parts reviewed require careful disassembly of the JLF unit. For those new into disassembly, I recommend watching these instructional videos (1, 2)

Microswitches

American arcade stick levers were known to feature microswitches from Cherry. They work on JLFs as they are sized like the stock OMRON switches. Like the Sanwa Silent microswitches, they will stay attached when setting the JLF gate.

The original switches have a very noticeable click as well as some give when moving around. For Cherry's D44X switches, they do have a click as well but not as loud as the OMRONs and also have a smaller resistance force. The D44X switches seems to perform as well as the OMRONs but much more smoother as there is no apparent give in practice unless you examine it carefully.

Another microswitch set is from Taiwan company Zippy and their VM-5 microswitches. These switches have a radical difference from both Cherry and the OMRONs, specifically its very light resistance. A soft touch will activate these switches easily which can be beneficial to some who want more instant action. The light resistance also means it's smoother than the D44X.

In practice, both microswitches did well on confirmed movement inputs but the Cherry got the slight edge due to its consistency when I move my JLF. The Cherry switches certainly earn itself as a great alternative to OMRONs. Due to the Zippy's design of having a looser action, I noticed some unintended inputs when performing various combos in Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver. 2012 but it's in very specific occasions.

Actuator

This element of the JLF lever helps activate the microswitches. As a stock JLF, this actuator is black but the models received are of many flashy colors differentiated by overall size as each actuator is bigger than the original unit (.5MM, 1MM, 1.5MM, 2MM, full set). One of them is the same diameter used for the Sanwa Silent JLF kits.

Unfortunately aside from the .5MM unit, most of the actuators are more or less unplayable on the stock OMRON microswitches. The big ones activate the microswitches even with the slightest lean of the lever. It's really annoying to encounter this in most of the units. There is good use for the bigger actuators with the Zippy and Cherry switches as they make the overall stick sound a bit quieter. If you are sticking with the stock switches though, the .5MM actuator is the way to go.

Springs

The tension of the JLF and most arcade stick levers are maintained by springs inside. These custom springs provided do very as they range from being looser (.5 pounds) to extremely heavy (9 pounds). For the heavier springs, they might be great for those who might not like the looseness of the original stock JLF. Installation will initially be complicated due to the E-Ring holding the actuator and the spring.

Unless you have strong hands and might make accidental inputs, springs weighing 1.5 pounds to 4 pounds is perfect for most folks while everything else beyond can be excused. There weren't any noticeable issues in terms of accidental inputs.

Aside from the heavier springs, the lighter .5 pound spring is great for those who might have been struggling with moving their JLF. Beginning fighting game players who have sticks should try this out to get comfortable with doing various motions.

Springs available: .5 pounds, 1.5 pounds, 2 pounds, 2.5 pounds, 3 pounds, 4 pounds, 6 pounds, 9 pounds

Gates

While there are various restriction gates from various groups, Paradise Arcade Shop provided their own set of circular and octagonal gates to replace on a Sanwa JLF. Replacing the original square gate found on stock JLFs will seem unusual but check out this video on how to easily remove and replace.

The gates are smooth with no unusual gaps in the construction. Performance wise, both gates work well when doing more common special moves such as SRKs motions, 360s/720s, and KOF-style super commands. They definitely work as intended and for a lower price than the competition, both are worth it!

Conclusion

While you can find parts from Sanwa in multiple arcade part websites, Paradise Arcade Shop does have stuff players can expand on improving their game from the hardware side, specifically their JLF lever. While there are some items in their collection that are somewhat lacking, the rest deserve the players' interest as they perform absolutely well. They also provide a tasty chocolate macadamia treat with every order so why not get parts from them!

Product links can be found throughout the review. Some of Paradise Arcade Shop's products are available on Focus Attack.