Same here. It’s sturdy enough that it stays put. And certainly glad it doesn’t spring back to the middle. 
That would have made it much less useable.
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Well, it is build by hand… Naturally there will be slight differences across units.
To an unrealistic expectation of hand build instruments being completely perfect across the entire range. 
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likely if you complain enough, they will send you the part so you can swap it. or possibly you can purchase it. they make the joystick in a module format, so they should have these parts.
not sure how easy it is to swap (obviously they could answer that) but my hunch would be it’s likely attached to another circuit board via a cable header. so you’d just need to detach that and attach the new one. just a guess though…
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Good tip. I’ll message them back. Thanks.
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If you unscrew the bezel, the module drops away from the front panel. The stick is long enough to prevent the joystick module from slipping out of reach. One cable appears to terminate in a header, I assume the other does as well. I wasn’t able to read the value on the pots without more disassembly, but it appears that replacement modules can be bought from eBay/AliExpress for $10-$15 or so.
After reassembling everything (screwing the bezel back in place), I found that I have enough tension to keep the stick steady. I don’t know if that means that bezel pressure is an intended part of the design or if this just means that another plastic part will wear down over the next few weeks.
Either way, replacing the module with a new or modified module should be fairly straightforward.
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Yeah my joystick is solid, I did have an issue where I had to open mine up and adjust the trapezoids range as when it was hot out the manual mode stopped activating.
Some of us have sloped racks where that would not be an issue, though.
that’s true, I forgot about those things. I guess maybe it’s on the user to test it out before committing to buying rack ears and changing their setup. or maybe Erica could point that out on the rack ear purchase page…
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I do wonder if the joystick lubrication might tighten up a little with time also? I have had mine since launch and I can put the joystick in the highest position, lift the syntrx and give it a little shake and it stays put… although I never remember having any problems with looseness with it.
One possible solution is to find a lubricant that is viscous enough to hold against gravity, but won’t attack any of the internal parts or make a mess inside the Syntrx. Possibly a strategically placed piece of ultra-thin felt, or even some thin UHMWPE strips.
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There are anti-lubricants such as colloidal silica. One of its applications is to increase friction. Obviously you’d only want it in the right places. Anybody want to run the experiment ?
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When mine’s less “new”.
It probably makes more sense to experiment with some spares and keep the OG unit as a backup.
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I hope so.
I just tried rotating the stick around its range of motion a few times to see if that would help… but it just made the whole thing looser. Now it fails to hold over a wider range of motion. I guess I spread the lube around, but it didn’t make it more viscous.
I got this reply from Erica regarding spare joysticks:
We unfortunately don’ts ell the parts separately ourselves - we buy in bulk from the manufacturer, but we don’t have them available in our shop. The part number: Joystick FTF-100A-M4-N01. You can find one here: 1PC FTF-100A-M4-N01 360 Degree 2-axis Sealing 10K Joystick Potentiometer | eBay
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It looks like it would be pretty easy to swap it out, but then you’re gambling on the replacement being better than the one you’re removing.
Also warranty.
Yes.
My eyesight’s crap and I’ve not soldered anything for >10years. It’s satisfying to do, but too fiddly for my diminishing patience. But I’m also a hoarder so I’ll probably buy a spare stick soon, so I can hand it all off to someone skilful. After the warrantee.
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I’m sending mine over to them for the input mod and asked about this and received an answer that for around 35€ they will swap the joystick as well. I was told that they don’t have those in the shop and will have to get a spare from the factory.
Now that I think about it I’m not sure it bothers me enough to have it replaced bcs I’m streamlining my setup anyways and will have the Syntrx on a table from now on.
What are your thoughts?
edit: They would have to send the Syntrx to the factory for the operation.
I decided not to have the joystick replaced. It’s not that droopy by my standards lol.
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you’re for sure gambling when you buy it. but I think once it’s in hand, you could likely tell if it’s going to be better, before committing to the operation. guess you could re-sell or return it at that point, if it doesn’t work.
yeah that’s more involved than I was hoping it’d be. didn’t think there’d be any soldering at all, just pulling some cables. that’s a bummer.
