Repair attempt: Soul Caliber 2 fighter stick, opinions?

[atarilovesyou]

Well, I don't know if you've seen one of these but it's your standard, inexpensive eight button stick. I've had mine for years but they're acting up (actually, it's been a while now) and I've tried to replace them with better quality sticks (even up to an X-Arcade), but since I use it with my PS2, all the other sticks either exhibit lag issues or are microswitched and have a horrible feel to them.

 

I only use these sticks with older retro titles, like the Atari Anthology, Capcom, Taito...that kinda thing...Namco as well.

 

Mainly the issue is that it's missing inputs on the stick. You'll be playing Ms Pacman and when you need those quick stick inputs, sometimes it won't register. Or Galaga, you'll be pressing left and the ship will all of the sudden stop and you get killed. The sticks themselves are of course a bit 'looser' since I first bought them, but back when they were in stock we'd just get them replaced. That's not an option anymore, so I use kid gloves with them; no violence on these sticks, lol.

 

Any tips or ideas? I'm thinking just taking em apart and cleaning whatever contacts are in there. If there's any kind buttons in there that can degrade (boots, kinda like the old NES pads) then I might be outta luck. Thanks for any help and guidance!