Arcade Cabinet Parts Checklist: What to Source Before You Start Your US Build

You finally decided to build your own arcade cabinet. Maybe you have been dreaming about it for years, or maybe you stumbled down a YouTube rabbit hole at midnight and convinced yourself it was totally doable by the weekend. Either way, welcome to the hobby that is equal parts rewarding and humbling.

Here is the truth nobody tells first-time builders: the build itself is not the hard part. The hard part is showing up halfway through with sawdust on your hands, realizing you forgot a critical component, and watching your momentum grind to a complete stop. It happens to almost every beginner who skips proper planning on their arcade cabinet parts sourcing.

This guide is here to fix that. Before you cut a single board or order a single screw, this checklist will walk you through every major component category you need to source upfront. You will learn which parts are most commonly overlooked, why quality matters more than price on certain components, and how to avoid the expensive mid-build hardware store runs that derail so many first-time projects. Print this, check it twice, and build with confidence.

Why Sourcing Everything First Is the Only Strategy That Works

Every first-time arcade builder has a version of the same story: the cabinet frame is together, the excitement is peak, and then progress grinds to a halt because one small connector is missing. That single part, if it needs shipping, costs you days. If it’s backordered, it costs you weeks.

The problem runs deeper than forgetting one item. Arcade cabinet parts don’t live in one place. Mixing sourcing channels without a plan is a reliable path to incompatible connectors, mismatched voltages, and a pile of return labels.

First-time builders also tend to fixate on the “hero” components: the PCB, the joystick, maybe the monitor. The connectors, crimp terminals, mounting hardware, and finishing materials barely register until they’re urgently needed.

The cheap-parts shortcut compounds all of it. Budget placeholders feel smart until one fails, ships separately, and doubles your spend before the cabinet is even playable.

A printed checklist solves every one of these problems. Confirm you have it, then build. That sequence is the whole strategy.

The Brain of the Build: Sourcing Your Arcade Machine PCB and Electronics

Your arcade machine PCB (the game board, often called a JAMMA board) determines your button count, harness type, monitor signal requirements, and power draw. Lock this in first; skip it and you’re guessing.

Pick your platform early:

• Original JAMMA PCBs run specific titles; sourcing can take weeks depending on availability
• Multi-game boards play dozens of games from one board; easier to source domestically
• Raspberry Pi or MAME-based setups offer maximum flexibility but require more wiring planning upfront

Each path has different lead times, so choosing late costs you time.

Once your board is confirmed, match your PSU voltage specs exactly. A mismatched PSU is one of the most common ways builders fry brand-new hardware on first power-up.

While ordering, add a spare fuse kit and voltage regulator to the cart. They cost a few dollars now and feel priceless at midnight during a build session.

If importing a board, confirm it supports 120V/60Hz before purchasing. US household current will not forgive the oversight. Builders starting from a DIY arcade cabinet kit often find that sourcing a domestically compatible board from the start eliminates this headache entirely.

Arcade Stick Parts and Buttons: Quality Counts More Than You Think

With your PCB locked in, the next sourcing step gets personal fast. Arcade stick parts are tactile in a way that no other component is; the feel of a joystick and button under a player’s hand is the experience. This is not where you save $12.

Pick the right joystick type before you build. The three common options are 8-way, 4-way, and optical sticks. Your PCB and intended game library determine which is correct. Classic maze games like Pac-Man need a 4-way; fighters and shooters want 8-way. Swapping a joystick after the panel is assembled and painted is a headache that ruins an afternoon.

Button count and sizing matter equally. Fighters typically use 6 buttons; classic titles run 3 to 4. Full arcade control panel kits may also include trackballs or spinners, each requiring its own wiring path. Before ordering buttons, confirm your panel’s hole diameter. Both 28mm and 30mm sizes are common, and enlarging an already-cut hole is a rebuild, not a fix.

Order 10 to 15% extra buttons. Microswitches fail, colors scratch during installation, and a spare set costs almost nothing compared to a second shipping order.

When possible, source joystick, buttons, and mounting hardware together. Bundled arcade stick parts from a single source means confirmed compatibility and fewer loose ends to chase down.

The Part Everyone Forgets: Wiring Harness and Connector Hardware

The JAMMA harness connects your PCB to every button, joystick, and the monitor in a single ribbon of wires. Builders obsess over hero components and realize on assembly day they never ordered it. Don’t be that builder.

Harness quality matters more than it looks. Cheap harnesses use thin wire gauges that cause intermittent signal failures, making controls randomly stop responding mid-game. Quality harnesses use correct AWG-rated wire and labeled connectors, so troubleshooting takes minutes rather than an afternoon.

Before buying, verify compatibility with your specific PCB fingerboard. The JAMMA standard uses a 56-pin edge connector, but proprietary boards differ, and an incompatible harness is useless.

Stock up on these consumables now, because they vanish mid-session:

• Quick-disconnect crimp terminals (both 0.110″ and 0.187″)
• Heat shrink tubing
• Cable ties

Label every connector before routing cables through the frame. Re-threading a harness through a fully assembled cabinet is miserable. Ten seconds with a marker prevents an hour of regret. If you’re running a 4-player setup, the connector count multiplies fast and labeling becomes non-negotiable.

CRT vs. LCD: What to Know When Sourcing Your Arcade Monitor

With the harness sorted, your next big decision is the display, and it shapes the entire look and feel of your finished build.

CRT or LCD? CRTs deliver that authentic scanline glow that makes classic titles look exactly as intended, but new units haven’t been manufactured in years. Sourcing a good CRT means hunting used markets, and condition is a gamble. For most first-time US builders, an LCD is the practical call: easier to find, significantly lighter to mount, and no degaussing ritual required. Modern multi-game PCBs output HDMI or VGA, and a quality arcade LCD handles both without fuss.

One critical fit check before you order anything: measure your cabinet frame opening and confirm the monitor dimensions match. A one-inch mismatch means fabricating a custom bezel or boxing up a 40-lb display for a return.

For JAMMA setups specifically, a standard PC monitor often won’t accept the 15kHz RGB signal that classic PCBs output. You’ll need a dedicated arcade LCD with 15kHz input support, or a scan converter like an OSSC or RetroTINK. If a scan converter is part of your setup, order it alongside the monitor, not after you realize the signal won’t handshake.

Don’t treat mounting hardware as an afterthought. Brackets, bolts, and rubber grommets for vibration isolation should be sourced as a set with the display. Browse monitor and display options before finalizing your cabinet frame specs so every measurement lines up before a single screw turns.

Marquee, Bezel, and Artwork: The Finishing Touches That Take Longest to Arrive

Custom marquee art and cabinet vinyl decals are almost always the last thing builders order and the first thing that stalls a finished build. Specialty print vendors routinely run 1 to 3 week lead times on custom graphics. Order yours at the very beginning of the project, not when the cabinet is assembled and you’re itching to plug it in. Artwork is pure waiting time; let it run in parallel with your build.

A few things to confirm before you order:

• The bezel is a separate part from the marquee. It frames your monitor, is often sold independently, and must match both your monitor size and your panel cutout. Confirm fit before the cabinet is assembled, not after.
• Backlighting matters more than people expect. T8/T5 fluorescent tubes or LED strips both work, but warm-toned LEDs can wash out certain ink colors on your printed graphic. Source the correct color temperature alongside the artwork itself.
• Grab your application tools now. Squeegees, application fluid, and a heat gun are cheap and easy to forget until you’re standing over a vinyl roll with no way to install it.

If you’re working from a decorative backlit marquee proudly manufactured in the USA or a full size arcade cabinet kit, verify upfront whether artwork is included or sold separately. That single answer reshapes your sourcing list considerably.

The Overlooked Arcade Cabinet Parts That Stall Builds Mid-Stream

Artwork and marquee sorted? Good. Now let’s talk about the parts nobody puts on their first draft list, the ones that cause that sinking “I need to stop building and order something” moment.

• Coin door, mechs, and wiring tap. The door, coin mechanisms, and harness tap are all sourced separately. Missing any one piece means a decorative hole in your cabinet.
• Speakers and speaker grille. Audio runs through the JAMMA harness, but speakers (typically 4-8 ohm, 5-10W) and grilles often ship from different vendors. Order both together.
• T-molding. This plastic strip protects plywood edges, requires a router slot, and is ordered by the linear foot in your cabinet’s color. Invisible until it’s missing.
• Leg levelers. A 4 player DIY arcade cabinet on an uneven garage floor will rock constantly. Retrofitting levelers after assembly means tipping 150-plus pounds. Source them first.
• Cabinet cooling fan, fan grill, and finger guard. PCBs generate real heat inside enclosed wood boxes. A 12V fan is cheap; a fried board is not.
• Fasteners. Screws, carriage bolts, barrel nuts, wood glue. Flat-pack builders who skip this category discover the problem at the worst possible moment.

Buy Quality Parts Once: The Real Cost Math of Cutting Corners

Small parts add up fast. So does replacing the cheap ones.

A budget joystick runs about $8. A quality Sanwa or Seimitsu equivalent runs about $25. That $17 difference feels easy to skip until cheap microswitches start misfiring three months in and you’re pulling the control panel apart for a repair that takes longer than the original install. Spend up once, skip the disassembly.

Shipping compounds the problem. Two separate $15 shipments to replace a failed button set and a flimsy harness erase any savings you thought you’d captured. One complete order beats two frustration orders every time.

There’s also a resale angle. A cabinet built with name-brand internals holds its value. A cabinet stuffed with no-name parts depreciates the moment someone asks what’s inside.

Rec Room Masters’ 2-player DIY arcade cabinet uses premium components engineered to work together, so there’s no compatibility guesswork, no mismatched pin counts, and no return shipping headaches.

The rule experienced builders follow: spend up on anything with moving parts or electrical connections (joystick, buttons, harness, PSU). Save on static cosmetic elements like trim and decorative hardware. That’s the math that actually works.

Your Pre-Build Sourcing Checklist: Print This Before You Order Anything

Here’s your master checklist. Print it, tape it to your workbench, and don’t place your first order until every line is accounted for.

• PCB / game board: Confirm operating voltage, JAMMA compatibility, and how many button outputs the board actually supports. Everything downstream depends on these three answers.
• Power supply unit + spare fuse kit: Match the PSU output precisely to your PCB’s voltage requirements. Grab a spare fuse kit at the same time; fuses cost pennies and always fail at the worst moment.
• Wiring harness: JAMMA or proprietary, correct AWG, labeled connectors. A well-labeled harness makes troubleshooting straightforward. A cheap one makes it miserable.
• Joystick(s): 8-way or 4-way depending on your game library. Verify the mounting plate fits your control panel thickness before ordering.
• Buttons: Confirm hole diameter (28mm and 30mm are both common), count what you need, then add 10 to 15 percent for spares. Make sure microswitches are included, not sold separately.
• Monitor: Measure your cabinet opening first. Confirm the monitor’s signal input matches your PCB output, and order mounting hardware at the same time.
• Scan converter (if needed): Classic JAMMA PCBs output 15kHz RGB, which most modern displays won’t accept without conversion. An OSSC or RetroTINK equivalent solves this; source it alongside the monitor, not after you’ve already wired everything up.
• Marquee artwork + backlighting: Order these at the start of your build. Print lead times can stretch one to three weeks, and LED strip color temperature affects how your printed art actually looks when lit.
• Bezel: Sized to your monitor dimensions and your panel cutout. Confirm both measurements before ordering.
• Cabinet vinyl / side art + application tools: Squeegee, application fluid, and a heat gun. The art ships rolled; without the right tools, it goes on bubbly and stays that way.
• Speakers + speaker grille: 4 to 8 ohm, 5 to 10 watts, sized to fit your grille opening. Audio is wired through the JAMMA harness, but the speakers themselves are a separate sourcing step.
• T-molding: Measure your cabinet perimeter, convert to linear feet, and add 10 percent overage. Order the correct slot width and your chosen color at the same time.
• Coin door + mechs + wiring tap: If your build includes a coin door, the door, coin mechs, and wiring tap are three separate items. None of them automatically come with the others.
• Leg levelers / floor glides: Four per cabinet. Garage and basement floors are almost never perfectly flat, and retrofitting levelers after assembly means tipping a very heavy cabinet.
• Cooling fan + finger guard + 12V power tap: Enclosed cabinets trap heat. A small 12V fan with a finger guard is cheap insurance against a PCB that runs hot and dies early.
• Fastener kit: If you’re building from flat panels, screws, bolts, barrel nuts, and wood glue are their own category. Running out of fasteners mid-assembly is a genuine full-stop situation.

Every item above has stalled a real build for a real builder who assumed it was already handled. Check the list twice, order once, and build without interruption.

Start Smart, Build Once

Every box checked on that list means one thing: you’re ready to build.

The single biggest predictor of a smooth arcade cabinet build isn’t your woodworking skill or your electronics knowledge. It’s whether every part is sitting in your workspace before the first cut. Print the checklist. Work through each category. Don’t pick up a saw until every box has a checkmark next to it.

When a choice comes down to cheap versus quality, choose quality on anything that moves or carries current. Joysticks, buttons, harnesses, and power connections all earn their premium back the moment you avoid a single replacement order.

Rec Room Masters stocks the core components US builders need, from full arcade control panel kits to individual arcade stick parts, all sourced domestically. No international shipping delays, no customs surprises, no waiting three weeks for a part that should have shipped in three days.

Your future self, standing in front of a completed, working cabinet, will have exactly one thing to say: “I’m glad I didn’t skip the checklist.”

Conclusion

Building an arcade cabinet is a rewarding project, but only when you set it up to succeed from the start. The builders who finish strong share one habit: they source everything before they touch a single tool.

Keep these takeaways with you as you plan. Quality components pay for themselves by eliminating replacement orders. The parts that get skipped, wiring hardware, connectors, fasteners, are the ones that stall builds at the worst moments. And a complete checklist is not optional; it is your build plan.

Ready to move from planning to buying? Start with your control panel, PCB, and monitor decision, then work down the list category by category. Rec Room Masters carries the core parts US builders need, in stock and ready to ship.

Check every box. Order once. Build the cabinet you actually imagined.