Im considering an aiab but im not sure about the joystick. At first sight i wanted to go with the Sanwa JLF but what do you guys think about the IL Joystick or the Perfect360 ? (i only play MK)
Well I can tell you the differences.
The Sanwa JLF is a very precise joystick, so your movements with it must likewise be precise. Its what I call a high entry joystick because it takes a certain amount of competence and practice to use it well. It feels much looser than a tradional American style joystick and gives much less feedback. It also has a much shorter throw than american sticks. I have tried the JLF with various gates including the octagonal,circular and square gates and in my opinion the JLF is at its best with the stock square gate. All the other gates make it feel just less precise than it does with the square.
This stick is a favorite amongst many tournament players because of its accuracy. Once you put in the time to adjust and learn how the JLF works it is an amazing joystick and will never let you down. But its not for beginners.
The I.L. Eurojoystick(or Competition as it was renamed by Happ controls) is the American standard joystick that is found on most arcade cabinets in the U.S. It uses a battop as opposed to the Sanwa which uses a balltop. It is a very different animal than the Sanwa. It is much bigger both in terms of the shaft and the base that mounts underneath the panel. In comparison to the JLF's looseness the I.L. will feel very stiff. It snaps back into neutral very quickly and gives a high degree of feedback while playing.
It to is a very accurate joystick, however it isnt as precise. What I mean is that you can get away with alot more variation in your execution and still get the move your trying to get on an I.L. than you can on a Sanwa. The I.L. gives you a bit more margin of error than a Sanwa does.
The I.L. does not use a restrictor plate/gate the way the Sanwa does, rather it relies on a HUGE Square actuator that makes contact with the microswitches as you move the stick. While you can kind of feel the corners due to the square actuator, its nowhere near like how your feel the corners with a square gate on a Sanwa. For the most part the I.L. feels 90% circular with a hint of the corners. In my opinion this stick is far more easily adjusted to by the beginner because of its flexibility with regards to inputs.
I would stay away from the perfect 360. Thes 360's today are made by Happ controls and like everything else, theyve messed them up horribly. The originals were balltops made by Wico and they were pretty good. But once Happ bought Wico out the quality on the 360 went downhill. for awhile actually AIAB wouldnt even carry the 360 or anything made by Happ because they just werent up to AIAB's standards. I didnt even know they started carrying them again.
