gc-forever - Gamecube/Wii Forums

Hi!

Does anyone here have experience replacing worn thumbsticks? I mean, have any of you changed the left thumbstick because of damage in the rubber?
I'm trying to find good quality replacements for my wavebird and thought you guys might have some recommendations to make.

Thanks!

Replacing thumbsticks are pretty easy. iFixit has guides for both the analog and C sticks. It's as simple as removing the board and popping them off.

EDIT: Being the idiot that I am, I completely missed the main point of the post.

In my honest opinion, the regular sticks are the best. I've seen identical clones of GC sticks on places such as Gaming Generations and NESrepairshop.

I think he's asking about what kind of sticks to use and where to find them. I don't know myself as my wavebirds are in great shape so I've never needed to look into it.

Personally I like to use the wii's classic controller or classic controller pro thumbsticks as replacements.

Here is some useful information that I don't think is common knowledge: This is based solely on my experience but the wii's numbchuck thumbstick is not a perfect fit for the wavebird c-stick for some reason. It moves around ok but will get hung up in one of the indents and stick there until you move it enough to release back to the neutral position. They do however work just fine for the left analog on the wavebird. This only happens with the wavebird as a normal wired gamecube controller will accept the wii numbchuck thumbstick as a perfect replacement for both the left analog and the c-stick in my experience.

I was using o.e.m. red wii numbchucks if that helps and of course your experience may differ from mine but I have done this swap on six different wavebirds and ran into this issue everytime. Good luck and if the wii analog stick is not your cup of tea any of the readily available gamecube replacement sticks found on ebay and amazon are of an acceptable quality and don't seem to vary much from the different vendors I've purchased them from.