HOWTO:VSHG mod using official 360 wired controller

Naturally, it'd be preferable for most of us to perform the DPDT switch mod, but some of us live in areas where the only documented common ground 360 pads don't seem to be available. That is, if you can find third party 360 pads at all. So a plain 360 mod would seem like the easiest way to go about it. I apologise for the blurry pictures. Cameraphone etc.

Now on first glance, there looks like there is a ton of space for one to work with inside the VSHG. But once you open it up, you'll realise there really isn't. At least, not enough to fit an official 360 controller without modifications.



What you want to do, is partially fit the 360 controller through the hole where the wires come through from the VSHG pcb. However, you'll notice this hole is slightly too small to take the 360 pad. So what you do is you take a file and use it to widen the hole.



It doesn't have to be particularly neat, as long as you'll be able to fit the pad through. Eventually it should look like this.



To test fit, you need to insert the pad from the underside of the stick, fit the right trigger through first and then the thumbstick should follow.



The left thumbstick and trigger will simply sit in the area where the old VSHG pcb was. This is how it should look like if done right.



Now since we don't have one of those magical common ground 360 pads, we're going to have to perform some extra modding. Pop off the restrictor plate on the stick and take out the microswitch assembly. You're going to have to cut the traces.



Just take a file and turn it on it's side to grind through the copper so that it no longer conducts electricity. It'll look like this when you're done. Just solder to the microswitches themselves.



The same thing needs to be done for the button board for the top row of buttons. What you want to do is cut the ground trace for each button except the first. Then you need to scrape a little bit of the green stuff off and expose enough copper to solder to to act as ground for each button. You'll notice I scraped some off in the upper left hand corner even though that was completely unnecessary since you can just use the regular grounding hole.



Then you solder wires to your pad using the diagram from the first post of this thread. I used 20 gauge stranded wire for the buttons and 24 gauge solid core wire for the directions. (Remember, hot glue is your friend.) Wire up the microswitch assembly and button board as well since it's easier to do that now. You'll notice I've used quick disconnects for the buttons. While this isn't at all necessary it makes it easier since it means after this step you no longer need to solder. I really just wanted an excuse to dig into my bag of QDs.



Now you need to insert the wires and microswitch assembly through the bottom of the stick before passing the 360 pad through. This might be a slight pain and hopefully you'll avoid having a rat's nest on the other end like I did. Then replace the button board and screw it back in. Another thing you might notice is that I've at this point, spliced the VSHG cable to the 360 pad for aesthetic reasons. Just solder the same-color wires together and you'll be fine.



Put the microswitch assembly back on the stick and replace the restrictor plate. Then wire up the buttons (hopefully you labeled the wires unlike me.)



Tape/hot glue the 360 pad into position, and arrange the wires such that they don't interfere when you close the stick up. Close the stick and (if you spliced the original VSHG cable like I did) you'll have a VSHG that externally looks identical to a regular VSHG but works on a 360.

At this point maybe you'll notice that apart from the PS button, nowhere on the stick does it explicitly mention PlayStation. Probably because the VSHG pcb is really just a regular USB gamepad pcb with 13 buttons. Just something interesting to take note of. Haha.

 

nice tutorial.

 

You are awesome.