Well, after my Afterburner died out, I kind of stopped playing DDR.  So I tried fixing it (finally) the other day, but to no avail.  Now, would anyone here happen to know how I can.. erm.. turn my Afterburner into a viable pad again?  Or perhaps, have a spare pad I can buy?   

how about telling us what's wrong with the pad?

Well, let's just say it's permanently broken now... due to various causes.

What kind of pad do you want to build?  I haven't build a pad in forever, and that one turned out pretty crappy because I only spent $10 on parts because I'm cheap and don't care enough about DDR to invest heavily in it again, but pads are deceptively easy to build if you just go with a simple design like CF's or BeatGear's.  I built mine using the CF design from scrap wood, a spare control box, and $10 in wood glue, masking tape, and drywall screws.