Seimitsu LS-32 Pivot Cylinder (Light Blue)

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1. Perfectly fine part. Not worth upgrading to metal! Will fit in Zippyy cocktail joystick base.

   There's been a lot said about the LS-32 over the years.
   
   I think it's a fine joystick as is. The basic design has been around for over 30 years and it has been kept to near-original manufacture quality through careful engineering. I've detected close to no difference between the Panasonic and Omron versions of the LS-32. They seem virtually the same to me in performance. That's a relief because Panasonic microswitches are no longer produced for Seimitsu joysticks!
   
   I have done slight mods over the years to make it easier to disassemble the LS-32 when I need to service it. Those mods consist of throwing away the C-clip and replacing with a 3/8 inch E-clip that can removed repeatedly without special tools AND clipping part of the subguide so that I only have to remove the 4 primary base screws to remove the substrate of the LS-32! Those are small mods to avoid things that would continue to be headaches for removing the LS-32 from a joystick base or doing basic maintenance of the control lever.
   
   I've never had to replace a pivot on an LS-32 but then I've taken care of my Seimitsu levers. Now that I'm using joysticks more regularly again, I relube them about once or twice a year.
   
   The LS-32 pivot as it is doesn't need to be replaced with a metal part. in fact, I think the metal pivot may actually damage the plastic -32 base!!! As long as it's lubricated well, the existing plastic pivot should last for the lifetime of the joystick. I can't imagine the pivot WOULD EVER have to be replaced unless there's a freak accident or the lever owner NEVER re-lubes the pivot!
   
   When you do service the LS-32 joystick lever, you should re-apply grease to both the pivot and the pivot cavity AFTER removing the existing pivot grease on the piece and cavity. The -32 pivot cavity has indents in it that hold extra grease. The theory is that it should allow longer periods between relubrication AND better performance. The Hori Hayabusa reverses the Seimitsu method and has the indents on the pivot piece itself!
   
   I'll be honest -- the LS-32 is not the best-rotating joystick out there but it's still good. I think from my experience that both the LS-40 and Hori Hayabusa rotate somewhat better. By better I mean that the LS-40 and Hayabusa rotate a bit more freely with less effort. That's mechanically and not in-game experience. I don't think the rotation factor has made the LS-40 work better as a fighting game lever for me. I still prefer the LS-32 over the LS-40 for fighting games.
   The LS-40 pivot, btw, is NOT identical to the LS-32 pivot. It is shaped differently and is a significantly larger piece than the LS-32 pivot! There's actually very little in common component-wise between the LS-32 and LS-40 besides shared springs, common mounting plates, and mounting plate screws.
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   I did mention the Zippyy cocktail joystick in my headline. The short shaft Zippyy is a near-direct clone of the LS-32. If you replace every major shaft part BELOW the pivot,the Zippyy practically becomes an LS-32-01 and you observe virtually ZERO difference in performance between the Zippyy and LS-32. I bought the LS-32 pivot as an experiment to see if the pivot makes any difference for the Zippyy. I have another Zippyy similarly modded to near-LS status that still retains the original Zippyy pivot piece.
   
   The big difference between the Zipppy and LS-32 pivots that's directly observable is that the Zippyy pivot is black plastic while the LS-32 pivot is light blue. A less noticeable fact is that the LS-32 pivot is slightly rounded on top while the Zippyy pivot is basically flat on top. As of this moment, I have yet to observe a noticeable difference in rotation performance between the 2 pivot types. It's nice to see that they are interchangeable and fit the pivot cavities of the opposite joystick base. GeorgeC on Sep 13th 2023