When I made my MV2FS ready for home-use, I also added a ball top to my Neo Geo CD Controller Pro. This was supposed to be handled in an article in 2018, but it somehow got lost. Anyways, here it is:
The SNK Neo Geo CD Controller Pro (aka kidney bean stick) doesn’t have a regular ball top like the arcade stick. Instead, it has an indented head, probably to rest your thumb on.
I never got used to it and eventually bought a Sanwa LB-35-K ball top to replace it. Because the stick rotates freely, I couldn’t just unscrew the old top. I had to open up the controller and secure the other end with a big, flat screwdriver (for example, the coin-sized Anex AHC-1511 screwdriver bit).
However, I didn’t know this back then and accidentally removed the snap ring (e-clip) to take the whole stick out. This is not needed at all if you just want to replace the top, but a good opportunity to clean the whole assembly. Before I put the stick back in, I attached the new ball top. I didn’t screw it too tight though and can still swap the top without having to open the controller again.
And this is the order to put it back together:
First, the spring. Next, the white plastic sleeve to hold the spring down. And finally, the snap ring. In case it jumped away before, and you’re in need of a replacement, it’s a 4 mm e-clip.
This looks and plays much better:
Hello,
I’ve been trying my hardest and the flattop wont spin to be dissasembled by locking the screw, are you sure the old balltop is possible to change?.
The top is really very tight and you need a good grip and some force to loosen it. But you can see from the photos above that you can change it…