Hey guys. I had some extra time and thanks a Madcatz XBLA controller clearance sale, I decided to polish up an old war horse. I used the PCB board inside the X360 controller to give new light to my old Mas Arcade Stick. This stick has been good to me and a lot of other serious arcade stick users in the past. But some of you probably have never heard of it or the company. So I would like to give a little personal history before I go into the details of the mod.

Mas Systems has been around for well over a decade. Their orginal claim to fame was for their Super Nova system, which is like a portable arcade. It came with two sticks and all the connectors needed to hook up a JAMMA board to a TV. But more importantly, they were one of the first American sellers of top quality arcade sticks. We are talking early 2000's; before Hori sticks were sold in American, getting Sanwa parts was difficult and only way to get Happs parts was to order directly from Happs.  X-Arcade was and still is a laughing joke for fighters, so Mas was the only choice. And it did not disappoint.

I ordered my Mas around 2003 for about $125. The site didn't and still doesn't have a way to order online. I had to call and tell a lady over the phone my full order. The stick type, button type, layout, color buttons desired and art layout. Overall the Mas is a grand American style stick and many tournament players (who had the money) considered it a must buy. The PCB board was a little poor but it was quality built and had Happs arcade parts. But over time Hori put out the Tekken 5 stick in American (their first PS2 stick here), customs got more popular, and Sanwa/Seimitsu parts are now easier to obtain. And just like that, the Mas popularity faded. But people still represent at tourneys. The photo below is old school legend John Choi winning Capcom Vs SNK 2 and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo at Evo Championship 2k8 on a Mas.

So my mod is pretty straight forward and simple. The thing I tried my hardest on was wire management. I think I did an ok job, I've seen much better. I used terminal strips for the first time. It's a great idea and insist everyone to use them. Basically if I ever wanted to change out the PCB; I would unscrew and remove that side, leaving the wired buttons and ground untouched. I switched out for blue buttons and used that useless "Digital Analog" button for the dashboard. The pictures will show more than what I can say. Thank you for reading.