Infuriated by replacement guitar controller

[DesiredFX]

I finally got my replacement--almost two weeks since requesting it--and, like some other people's, it hasn't improved my situation at all.

As some people have said, the fret buttons are incredibly loud, which is annoying but not a functional issue.

The real problem is that the tilt controller for overdrive is perhaps 5% functional. In the short time I've been using the replacement controller, I've tried to trigger it about 20 times and have only had a handful when it actually triggered anywhere near when I wanted it to.

What prompted me to come online and write was that I was just in an online game where the bass player failed out and I had enough energy to revive him, but the controller would not trigger. I tilted it up, then held it vertical, then shook it gently, then shook it less than gently and it never went off.

In the meantime, I couldn't really be playing notes, so the whole band failed out while I was trying to do a simple process to save one of the guys.

As far as I'm concerned, this situation has gone from "bad" through "extremely bad" to unacceptable. I mean, this is STRAIGHT UP BULL****.

I wait two weeks for this thing and they don't even do me the courtesy to make sure it works out of the box? This isn't like the strum bar failing after a couple hours--this thing did not work without additional "urging" more than one time in the four or five songs I played.

And now my options are to let EA tag my credit card again or wait until my controller makes it back to Michigan via UPS Ground during the holiday season.

Oddly enough, still no word on when that free game opportunity is coming my way.

Can you say "strike three," EA? With all the sports sims you do, I think you'd be familiar with the term...

[RX King]

The X-Plorer is your friend.

[Ghengiscahn]

I am getting pissed too. I just got my replacement guitar and the dongle just blinks. does anyone know what that problem is.

[DesiredFX]

The X-Plorer is your friend.

You haven't looked carefully enough--I'm a PS3 user and have been shafted by two malfunctioning guitar controllers, plus incompatibility with any other controller but the Strat.

Yeah, I'm a happy freakin' camper.

[Magnet]

I think Overdrive not working properly is a much better problem to have than a non-functioning strum bar. All these guitar controller models for Guitar Hero and Rock Band are notorious for a portion having tilt activation problems while the rest work fine. If you're frustrated with not being able to save band members, maybe a good idea in the meantime would be for them do play on lower difficulties since the tilting isn't working properly. At least you have the option of using third-party guitar controllers on the game too if you'd like.

[JWG]

Same issue here.

Ordered my replacement guitar on 11/21, just got it today 12/4.

Didn't even get to test activating overdrive. The strum bar is worse than my first guitar. While it is sturdier and feels more solid, it doesn't strum quickly in fast sections. I'm missing notes because the 2nd/3rd/4th strum doesn't register.

Strumming up and down helps some, but doesn't resolve the issue. I jsut requested my 2nd replacement guitar tonight.

I really hope the 3rd guitar is better. I love the game and appreciate EA/Rock Band's efforts, but this is still frustrating as hell and difficult to deal with.

I'm thinking of returning the game and waiting 6-12 months until all the issues are resolved. Maybe going with Rock Band 2 and buying GH3 for now.

[DesiredFX]

I think Overdrive not working properly is a much better problem to have than a non-functioning strum bar. All these guitar controller models for Guitar Hero and Rock Band are notorious for a portion having tilt activation problems while the rest work fine. If you're frustrated with not being able to save band members, maybe a good idea in the meantime would be for them do play on lower difficulties since the tilting isn't working properly. At least you have the option of using third-party guitar controllers on the game too if you'd like.

No, as I said, I don't have that option.

And the guy I was dealing with who failed out was playing on Medium.

In reality, I was better off with the broken strumbar, because only the downstrum was broken.

I'm quite frankly through with any excuses being made about this problem. I was okay with the strumbar issue because I could see QC not catching a problem that wasn't likely to crop up untl several hours of use, but when they're sending me a replacement controller--no matter what the volume of controllers they've had to replace is--someone should be making sure EVERY SINGLE ONE works as designed out of the box, and from the reports I'm hearing--bad strumbars, still, broken whammy bars and tilt sensors--nothing of the sort is happening.

[toefer]

I ordered 11/21, got it today. So far the strum has worked very well, after about 3 hours of play. We'll see what happens in the next few days. I'm holding off on sending back my old guitar, in case this new one breaks, because I'd rather hold onto my original one, if both are broken, simply because it feels different. I don't know if anyone else noticed with theirs, but the neck on my old one feels a little different. I swear it's also slightly darker in color, the glossiness seems a little different, and the buttons make much less clicking noise.

If the new strum holds up, I'll gladly trade the soft clicking noise away for a strum bar that works like it should. Its a minor price to pay, considering I generally play with my speakers loud enough to drown out the drumming, let alone any noise the guitar might be making.

I forgot all about the tilt feature for overdrive, as I've gotten in the habit of hitting select with my pinky (it was much easier when singing and playing guitar at the same time to do that, instead of tilting, while sitting). I'll give that a test tomorrow, to see if I have that problem too.

[DCfella]

I got my replacement today. The strum bar works so far but yeah, I noticed that it's pretty difficult to get the overdrive activated. I thought it was just me too. Hope this isn't a bad sign.

[Magnet]

No, as I said, I don't have that option.

You don't have what option?

[DesiredFX]

You don't have what option?

Using a third-party guitar controller--I'm on a PS3.

But I'm over my grumpy now. The initial frustration had me pretty snippy for a while there.

[King_Nuthin]

My overdrive seems to take a little more of a heavy tilt to activate, at first this was annoying because I was used to the hair-trigger OD that my GH controllers had but now I can rock out the whole song and know that it won't accidentally go off until I really want it to which is a plus. I don't know if this is the problem other users have had or not, but I think its one of those things that makes the Strat harder for experienced GH users to get used to but ends up being more rewarding once you have gotten used to the controller.

[Maggot_Brain]

The X-Plorer is your friend.

And yet, the $170 you paid included a guitar!

[DesiredFX]

King_Nuthin, neither of the Strats I've had had anything like a hair-trigger, but I also had a wireless controller for GH on the PS2 that took a little more tilt (and one that took NO tilt), but nothing like what the current Strat is doing.

My real gripe here is that it was such an obvious issue within two minutes of playing the game that I'm amazed they would send it out as a replacement for someone who was already having problems.

And to look over the Tech Support section, I'm far from the only one who had trouble with the replacement.

[DCfella]

After playing about 10 songs on my replacement guitar I received yesterday, I've concluded that I am now going to need a THIRD guitar sent to me. Like the OP, my overdrive hardly ever works. I've swapped out my old(with broken downstrum) guitar with the new one in the middle of songs and confirmed that overdrive function is pretty much busted. It almost never works when I want it to and yet comes on randomly when I don't expect it to.

Why are these things so cheaply made....