SANWA Black Joystick

I used the SANWA JLF-TP-8YT to replace the broken joystick in my MadCatz TE stick, and it worked perfectly. Installation was quick and easy, and it fit exactly like the original part without any issues. The quality feels identical to what came stock with the stick — smooth, responsive, and built to last. It restored my arcade stick back to the way it felt when it was brand new, which is exactly what I was hoping for. There wasn’t any improvement in performance because it’s essentially a direct replacement, but that’s exactly what I needed. Everything feels natural again, with clean inputs and reliable movement during gameplay. If you’re looking to fix a worn-out or broken stick, this is the exact part you want. Highly recommend it for anyone maintaining their MadCatz TE or similar arcade sticks!

Replace Arcade 1-up 8-way joy sticks with these. Much improved feel and reliability. Night and Day difference. Wiring is different, these have a common return for the four switches. Must replace the 8 original wires which are two wires for each switch. With the connector on the left (bottom view) wires are as follows. Yellow - Right, Green - Left, Red - Up, Org - Down and Black common. It does not seem necessary to wire all the common returns, I replaced the JST 4-way 2.5mm connectors and just wired one return connection which left three empty pins across the two four pin connectors. If you just cut off the old Joystick, just connect one of each pair to the new black return. Will save up to buy more and replace more of the originals.

There's a reason I've purchased three of these. They're reliable and smooth. While not top-of-the-line Sanwas, they're more than enough for most users. Installation is a breeze - although you may have to top- mount them if using a thick wood panel. And the restrictors are easy to remove and rotate. I even added a GRS mechanical restrictor on mine with little trouble. Keep in mind that if you're using one of the encoders off here, you may want to pick up some of the five pin cables with headers on both ends. Otherwise, you can use the included cable and crimp on some quick disconnects. I will be buying more of these in the future for new projects.

I ordered this stick about a year ago to replace a failed Arcade 1up stick. It’s worth it’s weight in gold, it allows flawless inputs and returns to position with a super sturdy and quality feel. Still works fantastic and by the way it is very easy to install. If you are installing this in a Arcade 1up cabinet, you may need a separate wire kit to accompany this stick. The wire kit is under 10 dollars so no big deal. You will see some reviews that say this is a fake Sanwa . Not true, don’t be fooled because it says made in China. This stick is legit for fighting games and I highly recommend it.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: still being used in 2025. great for custom fight sticks

Works fine, much lighter movement compared to the original. At first I could not get these to work with the double 4 wiring harness in the machine so I decided to cut the ground circuit to each switch and solder on the old joystick connection. Perhaps there is a better choice to replace units with 8 wires , these only have 5 wires, or perhaps my initial wire attempt was wrong but either way they work. Not sure if they will be more durable but for the price I sure hope so.

Great joystick for the price. switches felt responsive and easy to install.

I bought the Hori fighting stick to play Street Fighter 6 at launch. The default joystick with a Sanwa octagonal gate got the job done for two years until recently. The gate now falls off mid match and I was losing matches because of it. I saw a review for the fighting stick I own that said the Sanwa joystick was compatible with it so I bought it. It is easy install due, a basic Phillips and flathead screwdriver is needed to remove the default joystick. The Sanwa joystick comes with clips that lock in the octagonal gate so I don't have to worry about it falling off during matches. It also feels sturdier than the default joystick and my inputs are coming out easier.