If your linkage is sorted (do this before fitting any fancy gearshift), and the stop plate's correctly adjusted (may need repositioning slightly to get 3rd-2nd sorted), there should be no reason why you can't select any gear without hassle.
I find I only miss second on a stressed gearchange , or when I rush it, normally in chilled mode, I pause a brief moment where neutral is and it slips straight into second with a gentle push. My first bay gearshift was pure psychedelic soup with a Russian roulette action....sometimes you found a gear...othertimes you found one of infinite neutrals, usually when trying to hillstart on the steepest hill you have ever faced, this combined with a badly adjusted handbrake means you have to borrow your passengers foot. Once adjusted they work ok
I have the EMPI shifter. It had a worn shift plate and I improved it by fitting a strip of steel one side of the rectangular hole. I Originally could set up for having first and second OR third and fourth. Now all four are available but if I fail to make a suitably smooth move from third down to second it tries to go for reverse as the bar that blocks reverse had to be replaced a while back as it fell out and vanished.
