Crafting a Custom Controller

The primary purpose of this post is to document my reasoning behind my choices for the controller mods I will be using for my Yoshi moving forward. Controllers are expensive, and building ones that are really good can take a lot of time, so I want to make sure that I have something to reference in the future when my controller inevitably breaks or fails in some way causing me to need a new one.


Currently I have 3 full controllers and a bunch of spare parts.
  • Charcoal controller - This is a custom one I built earlier this year. The shell is a sanded down charcoal color with rounded edges around the analog stick. This one has especially deep notches for shield dropping, as well as a few I had for Pichu-specific techs like UPA. It also has fancy purple glitter buttons that I got for Christmas last year. The right trigger is having serious issues with the digital press, I think it is a spring issue. The analog stick is very worn down, and the stickbox is too. It is really good at dashing back, but the snapback is horrendous, so I don’t want anything to do with it.
  • Japanese White controller - I just bought this one off of Amazon, it’s in mint condition. I’ve tested the Analog stick, and it’s so-so at dashing back, and the snapback is super good, making empty pivots very easy.
  • Spice Orange controller - I just bought this one off of Amazon too, it’s not quite in mint condition but it’s still very very good. The shell has a few marks on it, but there’s no noticeable wear on any of the analog sticks, buttons, or triggers. It’s better at dashing back than the Japanese White controller is, and about the same at doing empty pivots.
All of these considered, I think my Frankenstein controller that I will be using for Yoshi is going to consist of the following:
  • Spice Orange controller’s stickboxes and cord - This one was both good at dashing back and doing empty pivots, so it’s the clear choice.
  • Japanese White controller’s analog sticks - Mint condition analog sticks. While the Spice Orange controller’s sticks are in very good condition, I’d rather start completely fresh.
  • Japanese White controller’s button pads - Mint condition as well. No other reason.
  • Charcoal controller’s buttons and triggers - These are the fancy purple glitter ones that do nothing except look really cool.
  • Japanese White controller’s shell - Having a white shell with the purple buttons is gonna look super cool.
Before I put all of those together for good, these are the mods that I’m going to be applying to the controller to help me perform all of the necessary Yoshi ATs to the best of my abilities.’
  • Remove analog input from right trigger - I want to be able to Parry more consistently, and removing the lightshield from play on this trigger will make that way more doable. Right now I use the right trigger to wavedash, shield, waveland, and tech. By taking out the analog input, I’ll no longer be able to lightshield, so I will need to start using the other trigger for that. I'm aware I could just trigger trick, but I sometimes setups at locals can be finicky with Native Control, so I'd rather avoid that issue completely.
  • Remove digital button press in left trigger - Currently I only use the left trigger to L-Cancel, and so removing the digital input won’t break that, in fact it will make it impossible to accidentally trigger the tech window when L-Cancelling. Since I got rid of analog inputs on the other trigger, I will be using this for lightshielding, which also means I will need to start using this trigger for my shield drops when I’m using them as a movement option (I’ll still use hard shield for when it’s being used as a defensive option).
  • Shield drop notches on both sides - This one is obvious, I just want to be able to do the Axe-method shield drops on either side of the controller.
  • Remove Rumble Pak - I hate rumble, and turning it off on each setup I go onto is annoying.

Tada! Here's the finished result, it sure is a beaut:

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