New strumbar uses a magnet???

[Stevenam81]

Does anyone have a pic of the strumbar in the replacement models? Or has anyone even seen the new design. After reading this post I'm very curious.


The "microswitch" are not the final revision. The "nicest" ones I've seen have magnets and induction coils (not unlike the kick pedal). That's where my money is for "most reliable", no physical friction or contact at all.

Does anyone have any info or photo evidence of this.

[Qweets]

yes someone actually opened up their replacement guitar I remember seeing it in the tech forums and it is indeed a magnet thing, t here is no touching involved.. They probably got the idea from the magnet thing they use for the bass pedal.. Should be the best way I think.

[Stevenam81]

Nice! If it responds quick enough for me to strum fast notes I want one. I found that I have a first generation model with the metal pieces. Mine has been working fine so far but it hasn't been played much. I'm worried it will eventually crap out. It is really loose. I hope the newer ones are tighter.

[MrNazraq]

Nice! If it responds quick enough for me to strum fast notes I want one. I found that I have a first generation model with the metal pieces. Mine has been working fine so far but it hasn't been played much. I'm worried it will eventually crap out. It is really loose. I hope the newer ones are tighter.

I strongly advise that you play the crap out of it right now and break it so you can get a replacement before the 60-day warranty is up. You don't want to be stuck with a broken gen-1 guitar and then have to just buy a new one for $80 because you didn't play it for the first 2 months...

[aj2good4you2]

yes someone actually opened up their replacement guitar I remember seeing it in the tech forums and it is indeed a magnet thing, t here is no touching involved.. They probably got the idea from the magnet thing they use for the bass pedal.. Should be the best way I think.

anyone know what thread had the replacement guitar pics? i searched through about 4 pages of posts and couldnt find any pics of the new strum mechanism.

[xlr8shun]

anyone know what thread had the replacement guitar pics? i searched through about 4 pages of posts and couldnt find any pics of the new strum mechanism.

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showpost.php?p=166083&postcount=22

[aj2good4you2]

awesome thnks man

[Stevenam81]

ok, now i remember seeing a pic of it. There is a thread somewhere in this forum with a close up pic. I didn't know that one was the one that supposedly uses a magnet. That is cool. Hopefully we'll start hearing more about the quality of these models. This one could be a winner.

[TreoRock_]

This is really interesting.... So what? we can only get this new guitar if we send back the old one? I mean there are no bundles out there from where we can get this new guitar? If so I'm just going to open my guitar and check what I got. This is really lame! They should just recall the whole thing and send out good ones.

[Maggot_Brain]

I strongly advise that you play the crap out of it right now and break it so you can get a replacement before the 60-day warranty is up. You don't want to be stuck with a broken gen-1 guitar and then have to just buy a new one for $80 because you didn't play it for the first 2 months...

Go here and vote for a 1 year warranty!

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=12453

[Stevenam81]

Go here and vote for a 1 year warranty!

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=12453

Yeah, I think I'll vote. Whether it actually does any good or not. I believe that if they are claiming this game will last 3 - 5 years due to DLC that they should at least give us a year on the instruments.

[Stevenam81]

Anyone know where that post is with the big good quality pics of the new strummer in the replacement guitars. I remember seeing it a couple of nights ago. The thread was closed. Now I can't find it. So if anyone knows where this thread is or knows where I can find a good pic of the new stummer please let me know.

[Keebler]

Try the link posted earlier in this thread.

[Stevenam81]

I tried that link as soon as it was posted. It does show a couple of pics but they are small. I am hoping to find that thread with the huge pic of it.

[Stevenam81]

I am hoping to start hearing some reviews of the new design. It looks good. I just want to see some people say that it plays flawless and doesn't miss notes in long sections of fast notes. I'm thinking about calling in for a replacement today.

[HypodermicMD]

Hmm, if I KNEW I was going to get the magnetic version I'd replace right now. My strum is already going out after about 2 hours of play. I am thinking I will wait until closer to the 60 days. It might give better chances of getting the new rev, wouldn't you think?

[Stevenam81]

Hmm, if I KNEW I was going to get the magnetic version I'd replace right now. My strum is already going out after about 2 hours of play. I am thinking I will wait until closer to the 60 days. It might give better chances of getting the new rev, wouldn't you think?

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. But I also remember hearing that all replacements sent out will be the newer design. It's just that we didn't know what design that was at the time. An EA supervisor said they had found the problem and corrected it. They said that all replacements sent out will feaure the new design and should have no issues. They sounded pretty confident about it. After seeing the pics of the new design and hearing that it uses magnets I can see why. I'm still not 100% sure that it uses magnets. I have only read that people "think" that it does. I'm very interested in how it works. I'm hoping to see more pics and hear more opinions about reviews. Like you, if I knew for sure I would be getting this one, I'd call right now.

[davidshek]

I'm still not 100% sure that it uses magnets. I have only read that people "think" that it does. I'm very interested in how it works.

It's not magnets. It uses Superconductors and Anti-Gravity!!1!!1!!one :cool:

[tbradshaw]

After seeing the pics of the new design and hearing that it uses magnets I can see why. I'm still not 100% sure that it uses magnets. I have only read that people "think" that it does. I'm very interested in how it works. I'm hoping to see more pics and hear more opinions about reviews. Like you, if I knew for sure I would be getting this one, I'd call right now.

Sure, I can try to explain this. I'm a software guy, so if my vocabulary is rough and there are any physics and/or electrical engineers on here, feel free to correct anything I have wrong.

The fundamental principle used is Faraday's law of induction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction) which states that the induced electromotive force in a closed loop is directly proportional to the time rate of change of magnetic flux through the loop.

So, in the ultra basic sense, they use a powered coil (shown in the picture to the side of the switch with a little foam around it) with a known "electromotive force". A change in magnetic flux in the loop will change that measured "electromotive force". So, they put some magnets in the switch, such that when the magnet gets near the coil it changes the magnetic flux through the loop which in turn changes the "electromotive force". This measured change is used to trigger the switch.

The best real-world example I can think of that you have probably seen is the way that traffic lights are often triggered. You'll often see a zig zag pattern of little cuts in the asphalt when you come up to a stop sign. Those are also wires that have a small current that is altered when a large metal object comes near (since that effects the magnetic flux in the wires). I learned about them because it's kind of a pain when you drive a little mostly-plastic crotch rocket because you've gotta drive right over the middle to try and make enough of a change in magnetic flux that the light will trigger. I wanted to know why, and also why some places sell a big magnet to put on the bottom of your bike to make it trigger these lights better.

The core reason this is much better than the microswitches that we've seen is that the switch should never "bounce". The first, tweezer-like switches can rub together and--thanks to friction--pop apart just a tiny bit as they slide across each other. When they recontact, the switch will hit again. With an induction based switch, there's no way to generate a "false" double signal (that I know of), because the threshold is solely based on proximity of the magnet to the coil. You'd literally have to move the magnet farther away and back in order to switch it again.

Update:

Here is the appropriate wiki article for induction loops (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop). It's worth mentioning that induction loops are primarily used to detect metal (like the car example). It is assumed that the switches use magnets simply to make detecting the little bit of metal in the switch easier. To an induction loop, a magnet looks much better than a correspondingly sized hunk of metal. I haven't gotten a replacement guitar yet, and so I can't personally say with 100% certainty.

[Riboflavin]

my launch day guitar stopped registering down strums this past weekend. gonna have to put in for a replacement here this week in order to make sure i get a new one by Christmas Vacation.

[ktm450exc]

Over on Shack News (shacknews.com), in one of their many Rock Band articles, someone posted a few pic's of the old and new strum switches.

Here's the article link (http://shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=50104) then scroll down for a user named .ka`boom.zZz.

Now if there were a way by which comparing guitar serial numbers or part numbers, to figure out what guitars are using the new switches.

[Stevenam81]

tbradshaw, thank you for the informative post. I called support and was told that they are sending out 4th generation guitars as replacements. So I should be getting one of these newer designs we are talking about.

[TuRDMaN]

lol, the game's been out for what, 2 weeks, and they're on 4th gen guitars already? Pretty sad... at least they're trying to fix the problems.

[o0MeTaL0o]

considering that the launce product was pretty crappy, and they are correcting the problem... they get brownie points.
But they are replacing the product with a well thought out design that is ALOT less likely to break at all is phenomenal!