Xbox controller mods

[Flechmen 0]

I posted this over on the Steam forums too:
This was a project I've been working on for a while and I finally finished it. Thought the steps might be useful to other people that don't like the feel of a standard Xbox controller.

I am a PC gamer, the only reason I'd play a console game is because it's an exclusive and my friend's want to play it with me.
Since I can't plug a decent mechanical keyboard and mouse into an Xbox, I decided to modify the Xbox controller to make it more bearable.

I started out wanting to replace the squishy, spongy buttons with clicky tactile switches, then I saw these Scuf controllers (which are probably a much higher quality product) and thought that'd be a great thing to add too.

Now, use of this controller may or may not be against the terms of service of some games. I am not responsible for you getting into trouble.
These modifications do not give you any tactical advantage that a normal controller or a Scuf controller would not otherwise have. I should note that Scuf controllers are competition approved, so I figure this should be OK.
Oh, and this will most definitely void your warranty!

Anyway, legal stuff out of the way.

You will need:

• An Xbox controller
• Torx T8 Security Driver (Look on Ebay or Amazon)
• Dremel (my chinese knockoff "Dremel" did fine, look on Ebay/Amazon)
• Soldering iron with a VERY fine tip (something more expensive than $30 at Radioshack)
• Thin wire (an 80 pin IDE cable will do fine, your motherboard probably came with one, you're probably not using it)
• 10 position DIP switch (link...these are hard to find)
• Tact switches, and lots of them (I got 100 on Ebay, link)
• Epoxy glue
• Solder (60/40 resin core is fine)
  

So, our fist step is to dismantle the controller. There's lots of tutorials on doing this.
You'll end up with the case, and the internal board, along with all the buttons. The buttons all come out individually, but the Dpad stays attached to the top case.

On the circuit board inside, you'll notice each of the buttons corresponds to two black pads. One of these pads is always "ground", and most of the surface of the board is ground. A closer look will show which pads are connected to the pattern on the surface of the board and which ones have just one line coming off it and going elsewhere.
http://puu.sh/2EMnB.JPG

Please note, this is a newer  controller... I don't advise trying this with an older one, they're more complicated.

So, first things first, we're not using these black pads anymore, at least not for the A, B, X, Y and Dpad buttons. I left the home, pause and resume buttons as the rubber squishy type.

So, carefully dremel it off
http://puu.sh/2EMsh.JPG

So, the next part... I can't really describe it.. there's many different ways to go about it.
Somehow, we need to attach our tact switches to where these pads are, and have them make electrical contact.

One option, is to take the leads of the switch and bend them under it, then solder it to where the pads are.
You can also dremel the area around the pads and solder one end of the switch down to ground, then run a thin wire to where the other pad goes.
I went for the latter option, this person went for the first option. Use whatever makes more sense to you.

http://puu.sh/2EMCa.JPG
http://puu.sh/2EMNd.JPG

The Dpad buttons were structured a bit differently, so it was easier for me to solder those ones down.
Later I also added epoxy to keep them held down.

Now, I did end up taking each of the buttons and dremeling the bottoms of them down. You may find that the buttons are more hair triggers or don't go down at all if you don't.

If that's all you want, you're done! The Dpad is MUCH nicer with tact switches and the buttons feel much nicer as well.

Now, for the Scuf-style buttons on the bottom.
Scuf has a really nice mod, and a lot of people really like having the additional buttons on the bottom of the controller. The issue I see with it, is once you order it you can't really change what the buttons are.
So, for this we're going to use some DIP switches to make it so our buttons are selectable.

I wanted two buttosn on the bottom, and I wanted to be able to assign the A, B, X, and Y buttons to either of them, but I also wanted to be able to assign a down-press on the analog sticks to them.
So, the 10 position dip switch allows us to assing the A, B, X and Y buttons to either of the bottom buttons, or the left analog stick to the left button, and the right analog stick to the right button.

On one side of the dip switch, bend all of the even numbered pins inward slightly, all of the odd numbered pins outward slightly.
Solder some thin wire across the pins so that all of the odd ones are connected and all of the even ones are connected.
Then, take a lenght of 6 wires (if you're using an IDE cable, this is easy), and strip the ends off. Solder switches 1 and 2 together, and solder a wire between them. Repeat with switches 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8. On switches 9 and 10, solder just one wire to each.
http://puu.sh/2EN0T.JPG

I used a diamond cutting wheel on the dremel to cut out a place in the back of the battery compartment for the DIP switches, then epoxied them in place. Be very careful with this, I got one switch filled with epoxy and had to start over.
http://puu.sh/2ENbs.JPG

Now, find a suitable place for your bottom buttons, somewhere you can use them comfortably. Drill a small hole there.
On two tact switches, solder on two small peices of wire. Feed the wire through the holes, and glue the switch in place, as seen in the previous photo.

Connect one line from the left switch (looking at it from the inside of the controller) to the even numbered switches, solder the right to the odd numbered switches. Leave the second lead from each of these long for the moment, they'll need to connect to ground.
The wires going to switches 9 and 10 need to go to their respective analog stick buttons. Seperate those wires from the rest and route switch 10 up to the left analog stick, and switch 9 to the right, on the underside of the controler. Solder them in place on the leads there, as shown in the image. Also solder the ground leads for the bottom buttons at this time.
http://puu.sh/2ENlw.jpg

Put the board in place and route the 4 wires to the top side to connect to the A, B, X, and Y buttons.
Wire 1/2 will go to A, wire 3/4 to B, wire 5/6 Y and wire 7/8 to X. This will keep the wires as tidy as possible. I think I reversed X and Y on mine.
However you attach these should be fine, just make sure you're not soldering them to ground!
http://puu.sh/2ENsU.jpg

Now.. the hard part.. carefully re-assemble your controller.

Mine wouldn't go back together quite all the way.. the DIP switch assembly was just a little too thick and makes it come undone a little. This doesn't bother me, but you might want to find a different place for the DIP switches if it bothers you. Forcing it may damage the chip on the circuit board.
http://puu.sh/2ENwO.jpg

Your finished product should be a fully functional controller!
Switch | Button | function
1      | Right  | A
2      | Left   | A
3      | Right  | B
4      | Left   | B
5      | Right  | Y
6      | Left   | Y
7      | Right  | X
8      | Left   | X
9      | Right  | L3 (pressing down the left stick)
10     | Left   | R3

Not sure if this will help anyone, but I sure had fun with it!

 

[NovaCaine† 0]

so what did you do exactly? I'm unclear as to what you did to the controller. I dont see a diffrence at all to the pictures except taking it appart.....

[foxbunny† 1]

This inspires me to look into modding my keyboard for a more tactile experience.

[Flechmen 0]

so what did you do exactly? I'm unclear as to what you did to the controller. I dont see a diffrence at all to the pictures except taking it appart.....

I replaced the buttons with clicky ones that feel nicer mainly, and added two buttons on the bottom that can be mapped to any of the buttons on the top