Arcade Button Alternatives?
As arcade buttons a fairly pricey to buy for a cheap DIY mod, I’m just wondering whether anyone has recommendations for a cheaper alternatives with good performance?
Not that I’m aware of, maybe the Livid breakoutboards and their grid buttons would be nice… NOW, you can get Sanwa buttons a lil cheaper than DJTT sells them (http://www.lizardlick.com/Sanwa-Pushbuttons_c_152.html).
Try www.arcadespareparts.com for pushbuttons too… they have Sanwa buttons for around $1.80.
From the name I would assume its something along the lines of B-stock… Maybe it’s trying though 
buttons are cheap - it just gets expensive when you need lots of them!
btw - this is quite an important DIY lesson being learned here… DIY midi projects initially seem a lot cheaper than buying something from a shop. The midi brains are usually the cheapest part… it’s the actual components, when added up, that end up causing the budget to shoot up. Factor in a nice case and your time and the savings rarely make sense.
point being; don’t try and cut too many corners by getting cheaper components… if you’re making a midi fighter clone then the arcade buttons are quite an important part! you’ll maybe save a few $$ but the ‘feel’ probably won’t be as good. Building a DIY midi controller shouldn’t really be about saving money primarily, it should be so that you get the ultimate personal controller… any money saved is a bonus imo…
all that said, there are some cheaper arcade buttons on www.dealextreme.com I seem to recall 
Agreed! I think I could do this for under £15 if the arcade buttons weren’t included. They’re the things bumping it up. In terms of time, I love learning about techy stuff and new things so I’d see it as learning and interesting rather thansomething that’s “costing” me my time.
On the case front, I have an old Sony mini disc player that’s about the perfect size that no longer works. Gonna open it up, rip the insides out and then give it a custom paint job and then build my controller in it.
Hopefully, it’ll look quite funky (or shockingly bad). I also considere doing the same but going for the super retro look by using old video recorders for the case with the insides ripped out
I started my controller late last year… what I do is just buy a bunch of components each month, on pay day. This way I spread the cost out over time and can more carefully plan what I need to get. It takes longer, but making a DIY controller takes loads of time anyway so what’s the rush?
aka - get the best you can afford!
btw - liking the minidisc/video recorder idea