Lots of good general soldering tips here. If the DualShock 4 PCB is half as complex as the DualSense PCB, good chance you scratched a trace whole removing the s

Lots of good general soldering tips here. If the DualShock 4 PCB is half as complex as the DualSense PCB, good chance you scratched a trace whole removing the sticks. If you can locate the damaged area you can jump it with a bodge wire (think of it like a wood bridge that broke in the middle so you can't walk across, and you make a small path with planks enough for one person to still cross, restoring the connection). Also make sure you didn't introduce a GND short, you may need to cut a trace in 1 or 2 spots in addition to jumping the damaged area if you did. I had a hell of a time getting out the first analog stick on a DualSense and ended up damaging the PCB. A multimeter in continuity mode is a must here for checking that the signal travels the expected path or finding the issue if it doesn't. It is most likely fixable, it was in my case, though it may take you a few days of troubleshooting. Also I would recommend a desoldering gun if you're going to do this a lot, analog sticks are very difficult to remove with just an iron. Often just the tiniest bit of solder clings to the pins in the holes and it won't budge. A hot air station could also work, but these have a tendency to melt all surrounding plastic before the solder and IMO are a last resort. Look at the traces that go to the stick or that are near that area, look for scratches.