Hello, Pigshead.
I've got the T.16000M FCS, recently upgraded from the HOTAS X. It takes some getting used to, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
It's quite good, with only a few true negatives: button-placement on the throttle doesn't feel like it's ever going to stop feeling weird; I apparently can't lock the twist-action on the joystick without opening up the case and improvising something (I don't want to); and it badly needs some way to tell where the zero-position is on the throttle (I shall have to bodge together a slidey-clicky-thing at some point).
ED's controls menu refers to buttons on both joystick and throttle by the same names, which can be awkward when trying to work out which button you assigned to what function. Everything works fine, it's just harder to understand the menu, if you've forgotten what function went where.
Keeping the FCS plugged in when not in use can sometimes make certain other games misbehave (a Windows driver issue, maybe?). Unplugging the FCS and restarting affected titles resolves the issue.
Other than that, it's proved to be a huge improvement all round, once I finally got all the controls laid out in likeable fashion. Loads more buttons and switches, enough for almost anything. I haven't had it long enough to address long-term reliability, but it feels more solid than the old HOTAS, so I'm reasonably optimistic.
I had no problems loosening up the throttle: the tension bar is accessible without opening the case - and the screw loosened up long past the point where I would have thought it would just fall out. In this case, it didn't need the third-party lubricants others have suggested.
The new joystick travels a lot further than the old one and feels a little stiffer, so there is that bit of a learning curve - but it's been a rewarding learning curve, rather than a pain, with my sense of control over my ships slowly becoming a bit more fine-grained and precise with time.
On the whole, it's been good fun for me. I recommend it.
