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I've noticed some differences between my two pads, and I just got a third with more differences. Here's some documentation.

A - made in Thailand
B - made in ?? [blank box]
C - made in Taiwan

A has a square d-pad slot/membrane, and originally had a low density brown foam (degraded and replaced with mousepad foam, visible in pic),
B and C have an octagonal d-pad slot with a round membrane.
The d-pad in a still has an octagonal shape even though it sits in a square slot.

A and B have a round impression on the center of the d-pad face,
C is just smooth in comparison.

The 2 part PCBs in each are all slightly different.
C has smaller screws holding it together.

Yes, B is broken and missing a cord. The d-pad has broken around the edges and just falls out, the cord was used to repair a Control Stick with a damaged cord.

Back-A.JPG (310.15 KB)

Back A

Back-B.JPG (296.21 KB)

Back B

Back-C.JPG (313.01 KB)

Back C

Int-A.JPG (347.55 KB)

Int A

Int-B.JPG (353.91 KB)

Int B

Int-C.JPG (342.02 KB)

Int C

Interesting find. All I know is the standard controller is pretty poor, especially the buttons which seem to stick after a few months of use. It's part of the gaming console business model though to put out gamepads that need constant replacing. I have a couple of PC gamepads I bought for $20 about 5 years ago that still work like new today.

Mine looks pretty similar to your B and C inside (and is made in Taiwan); one notable difference is that the d-pad has a threaded hole in the middle to screw in a joystick attachment (which I do not have, sadly).

sms_pad.jpg (13.22 KB)

Sega Master System control pad.

Whats the gender bender for, Ben?

Looks like a parallel to ~~DB9~~ DE9 deal to me.

We ought to put all of this somewhere, like perhaps http://www.smspower.org/Hardware/ControlPad ...

Yes, it's a parallel port adaptor to allow you to use the controller in Windows (using PPJoy or similar). It's the only photo of the controller I had to hand.

I have 2 controllers, one has the circular inpression you described in the dpad, and the other smooth. Both are made in China.

Also check this topic for the SJ-15 control pad model with wire coming from the side
http://smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5787

The D-pads are an easy fix, have repaired dozens of these. I use "chinese" food containers. Cut to shape (with hole in centre of course), remove the rest of the d-pad retaining plastic. You can buy plastic super glue (actually it is just ordinary super glue, but it has an "activator" pen), scratch up both sides of the plastic to be glued together, clamp together and allow to dry. Also get a hole punch and with thin soft plastic (something like the plastic dividers in your folder) punch out 2 plastic discs and stick these on top of the 2 button contacts, this will stop the plastic cross in the button cutting into the contacts.

Author	Message
DMEnduro Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 393 Location: Australia	Variations of the standard Control Pad, Model - 3020 Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:06 am
	I've noticed some differences between my two pads, and I just got a third with more differences. Here's some documentation. A - made in Thailand B - made in ?? [blank box] C - made in Taiwan A has a square d-pad slot/membrane, and originally had a low density brown foam (degraded and replaced with mousepad foam, visible in pic), B and C have an octagonal d-pad slot with a round membrane. The d-pad in a still has an octagonal shape even though it sits in a square slot. A and B have a round impression on the center of the d-pad face, C is just smooth in comparison. The 2 part PCBs in each are all slightly different. C has smaller screws holding it together. Yes, B is broken and missing a cord. The d-pad has broken around the edges and just falls out, the cord was used to repair a Control Stick with a damaged cord. Back-A.JPG (310.15 KB) Back A Back-B.JPG (296.21 KB) Back B Back-C.JPG (313.01 KB) Back C Int-A.JPG (347.55 KB) Int A Int-B.JPG (353.91 KB) Int B Int-C.JPG (342.02 KB) Int C

RetroRalph Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 138	Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:53 am
RetroRalph Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 138	Interesting find. All I know is the standard controller is pretty poor, especially the buttons which seem to stick after a few months of use. It's part of the gaming console business model though to put out gamepads that need constant replacing. I have a couple of PC gamepads I bought for $20 about 5 years ago that still work like new today.

benryves Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 366 Location: Purley, England	Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:46 pm
	Mine looks pretty similar to your B and C inside (and is made in Taiwan); one notable difference is that the d-pad has a threaded hole in the middle to screw in a joystick attachment (which I do not have, sadly). sms_pad.jpg (13.22 KB) Sega Master System control pad.

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1402 Location: Adelaide, South Australia	Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 12:50 pm
	Whats the gender bender for, Ben?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 8984 Location: London	Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:36 pm Last edited by Maxim on Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
	Looks like a parallel to ~~DB9~~ DE9 deal to me. We ought to put all of this somewhere, like perhaps http://www.smspower.org/Hardware/ControlPad ...

benryves Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 366 Location: Purley, England	Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:13 pm
	Yes, it's a parallel port adaptor to allow you to use the controller in Windows (using PPJoy or similar). It's the only photo of the controller I had to hand.

albino_vulpix Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 247 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:17 am
	I have 2 controllers, one has the circular inpression you described in the dpad, and the other smooth. Both are made in China.

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 6320 Location: London, UK	Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:24 pm
	Also check this topic for the SJ-15 control pad model with wire coming from the side http://smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5787

omp Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 211	Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:44 pm
omp Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 211	The D-pads are an easy fix, have repaired dozens of these. I use "chinese" food containers. Cut to shape (with hole in centre of course), remove the rest of the d-pad retaining plastic. You can buy plastic super glue (actually it is just ordinary super glue, but it has an "activator" pen), scratch up both sides of the plastic to be glued together, clamp together and allow to dry. Also get a hole punch and with thin soft plastic (something like the plastic dividers in your folder) punch out 2 plastic discs and stick these on top of the 2 button contacts, this will stop the plastic cross in the button cutting into the contacts.

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