So, my birthday went by (a long while ago, actually), and a few friends said that they'd drop 50 bucks for me to get something I wanted.
So... I finally cashed in and got a MadCatz SE Fightstick yesterday. Out of the box, it's a nice stick. Some of the things I found awkward using a pad got a lot easier. (Hakumen's dash j214C cancel and Tsubaki's charge cancel to kara throw are the two most prominent.) Of course, on the flip side, I'm jump cancelling a lot of things where I intend to 236. Gotta work on that. It'll need new buttons and a new stick, but that'll be later.
However, two things. It doesn't like my computer, and it doesn't like PS2 games. Blah.