How to Fix a Hori EX2 Fighting Stick

Unscrew the six screws on the back of your stick, and place the screw inside. Remove the metal back of the stick.

Find the points where the buttons are soldered into the board. Unsolder all these points, melting and sucking the solder. Each button has two points. Make a note of where on the control board each point is, as you will be resoldering to them later.

Once all buttons are unsoldered, you should be able to gently pull the circuit boards free and gain access to the buttons. Pressing into the tabs of the buttons with the flat part of your screwdriver, letting your remove the buttons in place.

Peel off the decal on the front of your stick, using the razor blade to make a decent peeling point. Peel the decal slowly, taking away as much of the glue as possible. Rub (dry) any of the remaining glue out. This allows access to the six screws on the front of the stick; remove them now.

Remove the front plate from the stick. You can very slightly use the rotary tool or file to file the button holes down; this will make installing the new buttons significantly easier. Note: This will create metal shavings that need to be carefully contained and disposed of.

Replace and rescrew the front cover. The new buttons will be able to be pushed into place; push until you hear a snapping sound that indicates they are locked in. The pins on the rightmost (or all) buttons will have to be bent down to make room for the circuit board.

Cut out 12 1-inch-long pieces of your wire. Strip each end. Then solder one end of the wire to each end of your buttons, bending the remaining free end of the wire up to save space and reach for the control board.

Solder the free ends of the wires to the spaces used previously by your buttons on the control board.

Replace the back cover by screwing it back in.