Stratocaster (fixed) VS Les Paul

[MrCreamyT]

Well, I received my replacement Start today and was happy to be able to finally play with it again now that I've familiarized myself with the game a bit more. However, it definitely seems that they could combine some features of both guitars for this game to make a much, much better instrument.

First off, the solo buttons are awesome. Learning solos from songs like Blackened are actually fun now, as you don't need to spend forever learning how to move your hand to tap them and have to strum again if you slip up. It's also much more like playing real guitar, where if your timing is off on a tapped note you really don't need to strum again...

The left hand buttons took a little getting used to, but I think I like them a little better overall. Maybe a little too much resistance, and the bumps on the yellow button could be a bit more present..but other than that they seem good.

The strum bar, however, is far far worse...even now that it works. Slow songs are fine, but faster ones are unbearable. Maybe this takes getting used to, but playing Run To the Hills on expert is just plain irritating on the Strat. I strongly dislike the lack of any clicking whatsoever, or the up/downstroke distance. I would do anything to have the les paul strum bar stuck right in there.

Also, overdrive/star power is a HUGE problem with he strat. I was really hoping my original was just defective, but apparently that part at least wasn't. Star power goes off ALL of the time without me moving the guitar at all...and when I move to activate when I want to I have a hard time with it. I've had 0 complaints with the Les Paul, never goes off when I don't want it to, always does when I do.

So I would say in my eyes...

Left Hand Buttons - Strat
Strum Bar - Les Paul
Overdrive - Les Paul

[Nate Finch]

I strongly dislike the lack of any clicking whatsoever

I totally can't understand actually *wanting* the thing to click. That was the most annoying thing about Gh - the damn click-click-click from the strum bar. I absolutely love the silence of the new one.... why would you want it to make noise?


or the up/downstroke distance.

This I understand, and also dislike. I feel like I have to really force the strum bar pretty far to get it to register.


Star power goes off ALL of the time without me moving the guitar at all...

This is really just a function of the angle at which you hold the guitar. I don't have any problems with over drive going off by accident for me, unless I'm playing sitting down.


and when I move to activate when I want to I have a hard time with it.

I think most people who are used to the Les Paul don't hold the strat in the over drive position long enough. It takes a full half a second or so to register. It's annoying, but once I figured that out, I've never had a problem activating it.

[zerogeo3]

My second Strat is perfect. No problems playing slow or fast songs. It is much smoother and more realistic to play on, as there is no clicking on the strum bar. I even traded my LP with a neighbor so I wouldn't have that crappy little toy in my den. See he had his replaced same time I did, and both guitars = bliss. :cool:

This is why I hope if they are patching the LP to work in RB, they make it so I can use my Strat for GH games, because now that I have a set of WAAAAYYY better guitars, I want to use it all the time. I think I would rather use my old X-plorer over the LP. Just my opinion though...:eek::D

[Graybeard]

To help you out with your star power/ overdrive issue, I have found that if you have the guitar tilted ( much like you would with a real guitar ) it doesnt seem to be as responsive. I play with the guitar head level with the guitar body ( not downward just level ) and it has NEVER not gone into Overdrive. I have a couple of friends who play like you ( tilted guitar ) and before they use overdrive they have to point the head of the strat down then back up again. Also hold it straight up for prolly a sec. longer than you would a GH controller, I hope this helps ya out bro I havent had that problem but I do know people who have had it.

[terRize]

I really enjoy the strat. Love how the buttons are flush to the neck as it makes it much easier for me to slide my hand around and not lose my place. The solo buttons are great as well.

The strum bar I like that it doesn't click. But as to why people may want it: I used it to help me keep my rhythm going. Not sure anyone else used it for that reason, but the lack of click in the strat definitely threw me off at first.

I also have the overdrive problem. I'll have it parallel to the floor and it still goes off. I'm wondering if it has to do with the tilt of the face, as my friend who has a gut going has the most problems with it just activating for no reason.

Overall though I do prefer the look and feel of the strat. Just a few minor annoyances that hopefully get ironed out as they get further along. I personally feel the overdrive is broken in mine, but I'm going to wait to RMA mine as I'm hoping they definitively fix it :)

[MrCreamyT]

The clicking helps alot with rhythm in faster, more complex parts. It lets you hear what rhythm you're actually playing, as opposed to you being slightly off and hearing that you're totally on. Personally, I think it feels less realistic because of that combined with the fact that plucking a string with a pick offers resistance. You can feel and hear it.

That part I understand is just preference, but the overdrive is a huge issue. I should be able to hold my guitar like a normal guitar without it CONSTANTLY going into overdrive. Maybe something is wrong with the one they sent me. Maybe it's just because I play it higher up (bottom of the guitar body is at my belt..but this is how I play regular guitar/bass), but it was never an issue before, and it makes it very hard to get high scores.

[TheBends]

I think the exact opposite. The Buttons on the Les Paul and much better because of the finger memory. I mean i like the tapp solos, but the top buttons don't have enough traction to get back on the tempo as fast as I want and the reason i haven't beat outlaws song yet.

Overdrive is harder to use i suppose, but if you think about it, do you mess up your streaks when you throw it up and down real fast. Almost everytime. If you put it up nice and slow(it forces you to), you keep your fingers in postition and your multiplier.

I love the strum bar because i have fat fingers... yeah.

[BriGuy]

Also, overdrive/star power is a HUGE problem with he strat. I was really hoping my original was just defective, but apparently that part at least wasn't. Star power goes off ALL of the time without me moving the guitar at all...and when I move to activate when I want to I have a hard time with it.

There is a super easy fix:
http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=13523

[piggy171]

those of you with the overdrive problems, i had this problem with my first guitar, in addition to strumbar problems. It is defective. my new guitar works fine. with the old one, i actually had it activate with the guitar parallel to the ground during a long break in the notes when i wasn't playing anything at all or even moving much. then other times it would not activate if i wanted it to. the new guitar does not have this problem. I wish there was an option to calibrate how far you have to tilt before it goes off.

[TheWabbit]

Real guitar doesn't click, neither should fake guitar. If you need to keep rhythm, you need a drummer.

The LP's are well known for their overdrive sensitivity issues so its interesting that some strats are doing it too. My strat (version 2.0) is actually very good about not going off unless I tilt it up.

My strat just need a new paint job and it will be perfect.

[Lilia]

I like everything in the strat but the strum bar, and really, I don't mind terribly that it doesn't click, but the clicking on the les paul helps with my precision, I know if it was me who flubbed the note or lag or what, I don't need it after calibrating a TV to being just right, but calibrating without that les paul is fairly difficult because I have to manually adjust the time and go back and forth until I get the right results.

That being said, the strat's up and downstrum seems a bit off to me, not just in terms of distance, it doesn't always register when I only partially let off the downstrum so I can keep hitting the notes fast, which definately makes things difficult.

[derrikirred]

I love the Strat. The LP is too small, the clicking is completely obnoxious, and the star power deploys without me hardly moving.

[sporkBrigade]

New suggestion for those who like the click. Got my replacement yesterday and was playing with a buddy of mine, who complains a lot about the lack of a click as well. For giggles I had brought over a pick and was trying it out. It was taking me a while to get used to, but I really started to like it. I let my buddy try it out, and he just fell absolutely in love. There was something about striking the bar with the pick that brought his timing back into line, much more how the GH guitars click.

In another thread, it was brought up that the timing of your strum has to be based near the resting position of the strum bar, or the center. On the old guitars, this is easy, since there's a click. People time there strumming based off of that click, it keeps them in time. It's strange, but a lot of GH veterans have trained themselves to rely on their strumbars feedback for their timing. So when that lick and resistance at the center is taken away, I think the average person is trying to base their strums off the next available source of feedback, which is when the bar hits it's maximum downstroke and "pushes" back. But technically, you're lagging behind the actual strum by doing this. Because of the timing window, you might be okay for most of the song. But when things speed up, things get hairy.

Here's my point. By using a pick, you are stricking the bar instead of pushing it. You're feedback has just changed. You now receive feedback when the pick strikes the bar, and this is going to bring you much closer to the "timing" of the guitar itself. You won't be pushing the bar at all, which will only mess up your timing. And, as a little added benifit, there's even a little audible click when plastic hits plastic. Not as bad as the GH guitars, but still seemed to help bring his timing back into proper alignment.

Two warnings. The feel of using a pick is new, and probably will mess you up at first. If you muscle through it, though, it stops being a problem. Also, you will have to relearn how to double strum, since double strumming is completly different with a pick. But if you really hate not having that click, I suggest you give this a try. Picks are also insanely cheap, you really don't have much to lose.

[MrCreamyT]

Real guitar doesn't click, neither should fake guitar. If you need to keep rhythm, you need a drummer.

The LP's are well known for their overdrive sensitivity issues so its interesting that some strats are doing it too. My strat (version 2.0) is actually very good about not going off unless I tilt it up.

Yes, real guitars dont' "click", they play a note EXACTLY when you strum. I play real guitar, I play real bass, I'm well aware of how they work. The problem is, when playing fast passages with no click, you dont' hear what you're playing, you're hearing the guitar perfectly on even if you're slightly off, and it gets annoying.

Please don't talk down like that about keeping rhythm, I'm pretty good at that. I maintained a top 200 position in guitar hero 3 expert career for as long as I played it (350ish now I think, haven't played since RB came out). Even with the lack of clicking I do pretty well in RB. My trueskill has me in the top 50, and for songs that actually uploaded I have placed high (top 50 in GGAHT on XP). I'm not trying to show off, but I am justifying my claim to prove that I don't "just suck and can't keep rhythm."

Also, I was unaware of any "widespread LP sensitivity issues." I had no "adjusting" problems with it, and it NEVER goes off when I dont' want it to. I literally have the strat one activate when I'm literally not waving it in any way.

[DesiredFX]

There is a super easy fix:
http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=13523

Due respect for your efforts, BriGuy, but anything where the last step is "and tape it in place" is not something anyone but Larry the Cable Guy should consider a "fix."

Since I'm still in-warranty, I'd rather let EA deal with it. If they see enough of the Strats come back because of tilt sensor problems, they'll certainly do something about it in future revisions.

[batsu336]

The clicking helps alot with rhythm in faster, more complex parts. It lets you hear what rhythm you're actually playing, as opposed to you being slightly off and hearing that you're totally on. Personally, I think it feels less realistic because of that combined with the fact that plucking a string with a pick offers resistance. You can feel and hear it.


A lot of people seem to like the clicking and say that it helps them keep time. I think it acts like a metronome that a lot of beginning music students use to count the time.

[DansNutz]

The strum bar, however, is far far worse...even now that it works. Slow songs are fine, but faster ones are unbearable. Maybe this takes getting used to, but playing Run To the Hills on expert is just plain irritating on the Strat. I strongly dislike the lack of any clicking whatsoever, or the up/downstroke distance. I would do anything to have the les paul strum bar stuck right in there.

Also, overdrive/star power is a HUGE problem with he strat. I was really hoping my original was just defective, but apparently that part at least wasn't. Star power goes off ALL of the time without me moving the guitar at all...and when I move to activate when I want to I have a hard time with it. I've had 0 complaints with the Les Paul, never goes off when I don't want it to, always does when I do.

Couldn't agree with you more. I was one that couldn't wait to get rid of that stupid clicking noise but it seems to be MUCH better than the strat...even it's replacements. And overdrive just plain doesn't work. I don't think it has anything to do with a defective guitar. I think it's just a crappy design. Hopefully Harmonix/EA are taking these suggestions under consideration and improving future releases of their equipment.

With that said.....the game is great. Lived up to my expectations. Just wish the equipment was half way useable.

[BriGuy]

Due respect for your efforts, BriGuy, but anything where the last step is "and tape it in place" is not something anyone but Larry the Cable Guy should consider a "fix."

Since I'm still in-warranty, I'd rather let EA deal with it. If they see enough of the Strats come back because of tilt sensor problems, they'll certainly do something about it in future revisions.

The tilt mechanism is so simple that there will hardly be any variation between guitars. You can return 100 of them and they will all tilt at the same angle. One of the beautiful things about this mod is that it's not permanent. If you did this mod but later needed to return the guitar, just remove the tape and screw the sensor back in place. Your warranty will be safe.
I suggested taping because if you went too far with it or not far enough, you can lift the tape up and reposition it easily. You could always use a glue gun or something if you want to get fancy, but taping is a perfectly legitimate and elegant fix.

For the record, my inspiration was MacGuyver, not Larry the Cable Guy.