new problem among guitars: overdrive?

[endlessly]

so I've been hearning new guitars have great strum but overdrive is terrible
my guitar seems to take anywhere from instantaneously-5 seconds to set off the overdrive and has to be held at a 90 degree angle

anyone else have this problem with their replacement?
what did you do about it?

[mtitelbaum]

so I've been hearning new guitars have great strum but overdrive is terrible
my guitar seems to take anywhere from instantaneously-5 seconds to set off the overdrive and has to be held at a 90 degree angle

anyone else have this problem with their replacement?
what did you do about it?

Greetings from the corner of ***** and Moan.

I'm waiting for my 4th replacement for this very problem.

---Matt

[dwtaylor99]

I've noticed the same problem with my Xbox 360 Rock Band guitar. I've reverted to playing with the wireless guitar from Guitar Hero 3.

[Zero3ffect]

It's not really a NEW problem and I'm guessing that less than 10% of the RB guitars have perfectly working overdrive activation.

[endlessly]

I'm reluctant to replace it since these other people who has been replacing it has been getting the same overdrive problem with each guitar they get

[photokid1970]

My controller acted this way right out of the box. I just ordered my replacement yesterday. Maybe I should have waited, huh?

When I would turn mine 90 degrees it would activate after a few seconds at first... then I would have to wait for a green or red note so I could shake the neck with my left hand a little bit... something would 'click' inside the guitar and then it would go into Overdrive.

Sounded like the motion sensor just wasn't connected or something...

[Kyle11268o]

Yup - I've gotten two replacements that both have this issue. Frustrating. Either goes off whenever it wants, or you have to hold it up for about 5 seconds (very convenient!)...

[Jaacar]

I purchased two bundles on release day (Nov 20) and both guitars had that exact problem - goes off on it's own or has to be held almost straight up until I stand on my left leg and bounce four times while spinning in circles. Oh yeah, I have to bark like a dog too. All in all, not too distracting to anyone else (or myself) trying to play.

Not a new problem, but certainly crappy. However I have found that you can press the 'back' button on the controller to set it off when you want it to go off. Unfortunately I haven't found a fix for the 'it goes off when it wants to' problem. I've sent for my RMAs but I'm not holding my breath. I'm from Canada so apparently we don't count when it comes to broken peripherals. They have our money, they don't need to support us.




BTW, there was a bit of sarcasm in this message.

[mtitelbaum]

Here's my email to customer service about this problem (sent 12/25, 11:30pm). Still no response.

I'll let you all know if I hear anything.

---Matt

----------------------------------------

To whom it may concern:

My original guitar and all 3 of my subsequent replacements have had issues with the tilt sensor. All of them have engaged seemingly at random, triggering Overdrive without me desiring it. As a Guitar Hero fan, I never had similar problems with Guitar Hero controllers, so I don't think this is simply "user error".

Am I the only one with this issue? I understand that there was a design defect in the strum bars, but is there also one in the tilt sensor as well? What can I do to get one that works? What happens if I don't get a working guitar within 60 days of purchase? Will the warranty be extended?

This is really disappointing, since the software itself is so awesome. It is also disappointing that only the early customers who had issues with replacement got compensated for their hassle with free games. How many times do I need to request a replacement guitar before I am similarly compensated?

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Matthew Titelbaum

[Apulo]

As I posted in my own thread, my brand new PS3 wireless guitar does this also, right out of the box.

[endlessly]

I would've rather had them just fix the strum bar in my guitar for me and take longer
since my original had a perfect tilt sensor :(

[MisterSchulz]

My first guitar would not activate Overdrive no matter how low, then high I would tilt it. So i sent for a replacement, which I got today. Unfortunately the replacement has the same problem and will not activate on a consistent basis.
Guess I have to send for another one again... hoping they fix it.

[metalkorn]

Just got rockband today and im experiencing a faulty overdrive tilt sensor also. i have to hold it up and shake it about to register. I don't know if i should ask for a new one if they are shipping people guitars with faulty sensors.

i guess i can always use the GH3 guitar, or use the back button

[CRX]

Mine just auto activates as soon as the overdrive bar is full enough to be activated. its starting to really cheese me off. I think I am just gonna tear it apart disconnect the tilt sensor and add a footswitch to the guitar like I did to my gh2 contoller!

[endlessly]

bah lame controllers

[Clive_Winston]

Mine is like this too...well soemtimes. Most of the time it works OK.

[il_postino]

I also have this problem with the replacement guitar I received. Even though the xplorer guitar seems so much smaller now, the fender has been put aside for the time being until I hear if they have fixed this problem.

[XxFiZZLERxX]

you can just press the back button/select button

[Hindesite]

I have similar issues. I'm on my second guitar, getting ready to order my third. First one had strumming issues. This second one's strum bar works great but overdrive almost always activates instantaneously. It's really annoying. Better then the strum issue, but I'd still classify it as game-ruining with how big of a part overdrive plays in band success.

Guess I'll still be using my Les Paul for the time being. =/

[DarthJer]

Count my thread (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18581) too!

You can add two useless headset adapters on there too.

[Huff-daddy]

I'm having the same issue with the overdrive as you guys are having. It's really weird. I can hold the guitar straight up, but it doesn't seem to go off until I'm not strumming.

Also, my replacement occasionally thinks that the strummer is stuck in the down position even though it shouldn't be. I don't want to, but I'll probably be returning this one soon too as I am worried about running out of warranty time.

[mtitelbaum]

To whom it may concern:

My original guitar and all 3 of my subsequent replacements have had issues with the tilt sensor. All of them have engaged seemingly at random, triggering Overdrive without me desiring it. As a Guitar Hero fan, I never had similar problems with Guitar Hero controllers, so I don't think this is simply "user error".

Am I the only one with this issue? I understand that there was a design defect in the strum bars, but is there also one in the tilt sensor as well? What can I do to get one that works? What happens if I don't get a working guitar within 60 days of purchase? Will the warranty be extended?

This is really disappointing, since the software itself is so awesome. It is also disappointing that only the early customers who had issues with replacement got compensated for their hassle with free games. How many times do I need to request a replacement guitar before I am similarly compensated?

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Matthew Titelbaum

The response:
-----------------------------------------------
Hello Matthew,

Thank you for contacting EA Support.

How do you hold the guitar when you are playing it? If you keep it tipped upwards at all, you could be triggering the tilt switch without realizing it. We suggest that you try to hold the guitar horizontal or with a little bit of tilt to it. When ready to activate overdrive, move the guitar back down to horizontal position or a little bit below and then tip it all the way back up and see if it triggers for you.

Please feel free to contact us back again or visit our help site at help.ea.com

Sincerely,

Elysia
Customer Support Representative III
Electronic Arts
-----------------------------------------------

Way to really answer my questions EA! THANKS! So, you can't tip your guitar upwards AT ALL when playing it? Really? Who the heck plays guitar like that?

The good news, though, is that my fifth guitar's overdrive seems to work. The bad news is that I think the strum may be wonky on it.

<sigh>

---Matt

[nixican]

As if another "Me too" reply was needed....

Me too!

I returned my first RB package to Circuit City 4 3 days after opening the box due to the double strum problem and faulty bass foot pedal. Out of the box the new package I bought was faulty in the overdrive dept. I bought this set at GameStop and Im pretty sure that they wont be so kind as to take the game back for me. I guess its on to EA's return dept.

I use the Select button to get the overdrive to kick in but it sucks when I have to wait for a sustained chord in order to pull my strum away long enough to hit the button without screwing up my timing. I have hit the select button instead of strumming way too many times. It sucks to lose the 4x multiplier so often.

[nixican]

As if another "Me too" reply was needed....

Me too!

I returned my first RB package to Circuit City 4 3 days after opening the box due to the double strum problem and faulty bass foot pedal. Out of the box the new package I bought was faulty in the overdrive dept. I bought this set at GameStop and Im pretty sure that they wont be so kind as to take the game back for me. I guess its on to EA's return dept.

I use the Select button to get the overdrive to kick in but it sucks when I have to wait for a sustained chord in order to pull my strum away long enough to hit the button without screwing up my timing. I have hit the select button instead of strumming way too many times. It sucks to lose the 4x multiplier so often.

What really sucks is I really LOVE this game! It is so much stinkin fun to play with a bunch of people!

[biggdogg40509]

i also have overdrive issues, when it wants, most of the time unless i raise, lower, or jerk my arm in to a funky situation.
My guitar also has was seems to be pieces of something floating around inside of it (sounds like pieces of plastic) and it just rattles around..this was straight out of the box.
since i had been logging mad time on RB, my main 360 RROD'ed too so i can wait for the guitar to come in 2 weeks while the 360 will be gone too...
i have been reduced to playing my kids' in the office and my home office is a lil too small for the wife and i to "rock out"

[cybermousey]

Just adding to the list:

My 1st replacement guitar, came with overdrive problems as described in the very first post.

[tenineteen]

Same here, got my RB box last night and the guitar's overdrive is...unpredictable to say the least. I honestly thought I wasn't doing it right until I read this thread, so that's good at least. Looks like it's the BACK button for me. :/

[AVC808]

i had a guitar on launch day that worked great. overdrive was perfect, but the upstrum stopped working and had the double downstrum issue. got it replaced and the strum is now perfect, but overdrive doesnt trigger when i need it to. i have to hold it 90 degrees for a couple seconds before it registers, and it doesnt even register all the time. requested another replacement and that strum bar was glitchy and again the overdrive sensor was poor. that guitar is going back to EA and I have to keep my original replacement for now. pretty disappointed. I'll probably request another replacement again. Hope the third time (third replacement) is the charm.

[rwthib]

Have two guitars (bought two sets) and both work fine except for overdrive.

Is it worth sending back and trying a replacement?

(And is EA still sending out a free game?)

[AVC808]

Have two guitars (bought two sets) and both work fine except for overdrive.

Is it worth sending back and trying a replacement?

(And is EA still sending out a free game?)

i think it's worth it to have 100% working equipment, but make sure you use the express method to get it replaced. that way you dont have to send yours back until you have the replacement in hand. that way if the replacement is just another piece of junk, you can send the replacement back and start the process over and request another replacement. meanwhile you hold onto semi-satisfactory guitar until you get a 100% working replacement. i think it's just so sad though that we cant even trust that the replacement coming to us will be a 100% working and reliable piece of hardware.

[Kung-Foo]

My first guitar did the same thing, it would work randomly, seeming to not go off at critical times......such as when a band mate failed out. I would stand there waving the thing like a bloody idiot and nothing would happen.

[grenade01]

my overdrive does not work at all. no matter how i hold then tilt or shake it. I can only activate it by pressing the select button on the body. Ive never once been able to activate it by tilting it =(. Im not sure if i feel like returning it or not. i got long fingers so its not too hard to hit with my pinky... but my friends are irritated by it.. so im considering it

[Peytah]

I've noticed it too, but it never happens when I'm playing while standing or sitting upright. Only when I get lazy and slouch while sitting.

[paulzy]

Add me to the list of bad overdrive guitars. The other thing I notice is it feels like it has been "reassembled". It creaks like the screws are not in right or something. It feels very shoddy. My guess is they are refurbishing the broken strum bar guitars and introducing this whole new problem. I just cracked the box last night and before I even plugged it in I noticed it felt strange.

My friend has a ps3 version of the guitar and he says his feels solid, and there are no overdrive probs.

[tenineteen]

I've just gotten used to hitting the BACK button on mine..it's right near the strum bar, and after a bit of adjustment, is easy to hit at a critical time. Not quite as exciting or interactive as the tilting, though.

[zanzabez]

I had the same problem with 12, yes 12 gutairs right out of the box, here was my situation...


I bought RB when it first came out, opened the box and everything worked perfect! I then broke my bass peddal and went through the return process...yeah took about a month for the peddal...

While I was going through the return process my buddies and I wanted to get another gutair we decided to buy another game package so we got it, to our suprise the gutair was broken right out of the box, no overdrive when tilted...

As I knew this might be a probelm while I was goint to pay for the box at best buy the cashier asked me if I wanted the 2 year replacement program for an extra 20 bucks, I asked what the limmitations were and she told me there were none, I read over the packet and yeah, no conditions other than abuse isnt covered, so I got it...

now to the story again...

I took the gutair back and they swaped it no questions asked...again same issue

swaped again, no questions asked...hooked it up and the fret buttons didnt work....

swaped again, wammy bar broken out of the box...

swaped again ... no overdrive

swaped again ... no overdrive

swaped again ... no overdrive

store out of copies ... went to another store

swaped again .. green fret button didnt work

you guys get the idea...at anyrate I kept swaping it out now I have 2 gutairs that work perfectly and have no issues...

I would recomend buying from best buy because they accualy honor the replacment plan and the 20 bucks is worth it as you arent mailing the broken stuff off and you arent waiting for the replacments.....the store is...


So that being said....I am suprised how many copies that are out there that have defects...

no wonder why you are waiting for months for a replacment, they probaly have thousands of defectitive to replace.

At least they replace it, but the replacment process bites, you have to essentaly pay for the replacment and when they get the broken part back you get your money back (held money same diffrence)

At least its replaced however.....

[t_prothro]

Bought mine at Toys-R-Us, and they wouldn't offer a warranty on it. On my second guitar and still no overdrive. I'm not in too bad of shape since I have two GH2 guitars, but I'm going through the steps because I the look and feel of the RB guitar, and I prefer to use that.

Hopefully this won't take forever to get sorted out.

on a side note... I wonder why GH2/MS was able to develope and distibute a higher quality piece of hardware than EA and Harmonix. This was a AAA game from the begining and it should have recieved all the support it needed to deliver a quality product.

[Kazer-X]

I also have a guitar with a bad overdrive sensor. It works maybe 30&#37; of the time. I usually end up hitting the back button.

It's really frustrating when playing songs with a lot of strumming like Dead on Arrival. Hardly have time to press the back button with songs like that so I end up missing notes.

Putting the guitar at a 90 degree angle and jumping up and down works but >_> well that's just terrible...

[Chwahna]

Tilting failed after a day on my original. Tilting didn't work at all on the replacement I got a few days ago. I'm going to send in the replacement, but in the meantime I'll use the back button. Which isn't in the most convenient location when playing lefty flip.

[Yodaok]

I'm also added to the list that overdrive doesn't work on their guitar. At first I thought maybe there was something in the software that wouldn't let you engage it anywhere you wanted to, but then thought that doing that would be very stupid. My overdrive works when it feels like it. I can hold the guitar upright for half a song and it won't ever go off. Other times it goes off on its own. I've just sent for my 1st replacement guitar. I'll be sure to test it before I send my old one back. Everything else on the old one works except the overdrive. I rather have everything else work than get stuck with a stum that doesn't work right or a broken whammy.

[inque]

Very n00b question, but, how does one know if you have activated Overdrive or not?

I tried playing Rock band (PS3) over at my buddie's house just last weekend and this convinced me to go out and buy a ps3 and the game today. But was just curious on what happens to the screen when over drive is activated, because in Guitar hero, I know the notes turned all blue when starpower was activated. I tried tilting the guitar whenever the gold bar underneath was full and noticed nothing different on the notes or the game is not telling me that overdrive is activated. But I remember, at random times, the frets were turning gold?

Sorry I'd just like to know so I can inform my friend if he has a defective guitar or not, and also for my case when I buy my own set 8)

[styx420]

actually guys i dont know if youve tried this but take your guitars backing off and try to play with it then using the tilt sensor. mine worked without one flaw once i did that... so im thinking that the pressure the screws are applying might be jamming the sensor. although i dont understand why this didnt happen in the previous versions of these guitars this seems to be whats going on. mine was acting very strange so i took it apart, cleared out all the hot glue strings that were crossing over inside and my strummer went into full force again and now im just trying to see exactly how i might be able to fix the whole overdrive issue....

[mystikal]

actually guys i dont know if youve tried this but take your guitars backing off and try to play with it then using the tilt sensor. mine worked without one flaw once i did that... so im thinking that the pressure the screws are applying might be jamming the sensor. although i dont understand why this didnt happen in the previous versions of these guitars this seems to be whats going on. mine was acting very strange so i took it apart, cleared out all the hot glue strings that were crossing over inside and my strummer went into full force again and now im just trying to see exactly how i might be able to fix the whole overdrive issue....

My husband and I recently received our replacement guitar and the overdrive wasn't working at all. After researching that many people had the same problem we decided to take a look ourselves. As STYX420 says...we took the backing off and check the sensor. My husband that has some knowledge bout electronics found which one was the sensor. Unscrewed the sensor chip and switched it in many different ways and finally the outcome of it was that we turned it upside down, tested it again...AND WA-LA....It worked...it now activated the overdrive when tilted. SOOO AWSOME....I don't know if anyone wants to try...but the chip is right next to the strum bar and it is set vertically at compareson to the other chip boards that are laying flat. It's small and screwed in with 2 screws that have a wide head to keep the chip in place....if anyone trys this ...hope it helps....:)

[Kazer-X]

Very n00b question, but, how does one know if you have activated Overdrive or not?

I tried playing Rock band (PS3) over at my buddie's house just last weekend and this convinced me to go out and buy a ps3 and the game today. But was just curious on what happens to the screen when over drive is activated, because in Guitar hero, I know the notes turned all blue when starpower was activated. I tried tilting the guitar whenever the gold bar underneath was full and noticed nothing different on the notes or the game is not telling me that overdrive is activated. But I remember, at random times, the frets were turning gold?

Sorry I'd just like to know so I can inform my friend if he has a defective guitar or not, and also for my case when I buy my own set 8)

For guitar, the green and orange note sections of the note chart will turn yellow with a sort of wavy design when overdrive is on. The guitar icon on your health meter on the left as well as the circle next to your multiplier will look like a sparkler. Also, your overdrive meter will be depleting itself.

[Hindesite]

This problem is huge. I've been stuck with a Strat that has an instantly triggering Overdrive for weeks now, still waiting on the replacement. :mad:

What the hell, EA? If Red Octane can make a working toy guitar, why can't you?

[FatD]

Add me to the list.

Spontaneous overdrive. Not terrible. I can hit select, even though it sucks.

But whammy bar broke. Waiting for a replacement.

... terrible.

[geo2n2]

This problem is huge. I've been stuck with a Strat that has an instantly triggering Overdrive for weeks now, still waiting on the replacement. :mad:

What the hell, EA? If Red Octane can make a working toy guitar, why can't you?


Same here. Every replacement has been like it. Completely ruins the game. I'll be RMAing again soon.

This hardware is a disaster.

[ntguy]

I have not experienced this problem with my PS3 guitar. Just lefting the neck at about 10 degrees triggers overdrive on it.

[endlessly]

my 2nd replacement has better overdrive now but not the best
it listens to me about 2/3 of the time

[freakspeak]

I bought Rock Band for my PS3 last thursday and right out of the box the guitar has the same problem with overdrive as everyone has posted (activates randomly and even if you hold it vertical for 10 seconds, has 50% failure to activate).

[brokenoverdrive]

I bought it last night (1/14/08) from a local retailer, and overdrive is screwed up right out of the box. Like many others, I have to hold the guitar up for a long period of time before it kicks in. I'm going to attempt a DIY fix, warranty be damned.

Also, what's up with lack of a USB hub in the PS3 version? When paying $170 for a toy, you kinda expect everything you need to be in the box. My daughter was pretty disappointed that she couldn't play with us. Unbelievable.

[wxforecaster]

My husband and I recently received our replacement guitar and the overdrive wasn't working at all. After researching that many people had the same problem we decided to take a look ourselves. As STYX420 says...we took the backing off and check the sensor. My husband that has some knowledge bout electronics found which one was the sensor. Unscrewed the sensor chip and switched it in many different ways and finally the outcome of it was that we turned it upside down, tested it again...AND WA-LA....It worked...it now activated the overdrive when tilted. SOOO AWSOME....I don't know if anyone wants to try...but the chip is right next to the strum bar and it is set vertically at compareson to the other chip boards that are laying flat. It's small and screwed in with 2 screws that have a wide head to keep the chip in place....if anyone trys this ...hope it helps....:)

A before and after pic would be great here. Like you, I pulled apart the strato guitar and my GH 2/3 guitars so see what the difference was. The switch works (as I understand it) based on a reed switch of sorts that moves in response to gravity. I think the sensor 'works' but is located/installed incorrectly, such that it's already "tripped" in the slightly tilted position thay any normal person would hold their guitars at.

Again, as an electrical engineer you gotta ask was the left hand (China) talking to the right hand (Harmonix) at anytime during and after development? Did any Harmonix employees actually happen to *PLAY* rock band for an extended period of time? Any normal manufacturing company pulls a product off the assembly line 1 every thousand or so and tests it for quality control.

These problems aren't isolated, so I'm simply baffled. As for why the RMA guitars have the same problem -- open your instrument. They haven't changed the design. They're just picking another one off the line with the same design flaws and sending it out.

Evan

[nachonator15]

1) haven't seen any moderator post any reply to this post..
2) All issues that we are seeing are due to making the product in china= poor quality
3) mine has less than 10 days and it already doesn't work. piece of sh**t
4) $125 credit card hold??!? you've got to be kidding me, I already paid $170 for this game... we should put a hold on you...
5) for Christ sake is a $170 game, let's work some quality into the product
6) come on moderators tell us why they are breaking, when you plan on fixing it and how you plan in satisfying your customers.

[Ronnieballer]

My overdrive is not good. I like to play with the neck tilted up a bit, and for that reason overdrive turns on randomly. Sometimes I try to hold it out straight but again when I try to turn on the OD, it takes up for 8 or 9 seconds it seems. Didnt know if it was just me or not. I guess NOT.

[Misha67]

Misery loves company, so here's my ME TOO!

Got it on the 16th and, whereas I absolutely positively love the game, this tilt sensor nonsense is driving me nuts. Everything else on my Strat works perfectly, no complaints there at all, but activating the tilt sensor is like rolling a pair of dice. Sometimes it works, but only if you lift it up so hard that your shoulder dislocates and hold it there for ages (which is, as one might guess, a bit uncomfortable if you're trying to pull off a solo at the same time) and even that isn't guaranteed to work. I don't know HOW many times I've finished a song with a full Overdrive meter because I couldn't get the damn thing to trigger no matter how hard I tried.

Then, to add insult to injury, sometimes it'll go off at random if I'm sitting down while playing. Soon as the Overdrive meter is half full, bam!, it goes off by itself. Which isn't quite what I'm looking for, particularly not if you're coming into a long guitar rest, but it still beats hitting every Overdrive combo in a song and never get to use it.

Fortunately, the Select button works fine and predictably. Not so fortunate is the fact that it's a tiny bit distracting having to reach down with your pinky to set it off if you're shredding like crazy on a Metallica song. Either you throw out the multiplier that you've been working your bum off for by fumbling around for the button mid-riff, or you wait for a sustain or rest. And there aren't a lot of those around as you move up in difficulty.

Send it back? I suppose I could, the warranty is certainly still good on it, but from reading this and other threads on the subject, there's precious little point in doing so. Either you'll get another exact duplicate with the same faulty sensor that they apparently can't find it in themselves to fix, or you'll get a crappy refurbished old version with a faulty strum bar/whammy/fret button or whatnot.

Listen, Harmonix: It's not the user, nor is it a few broken guitars slipping through the cracks of QA, that much ought to be clear by now, judging by the number of people all over the country having the exact same problem. It's faulty design, the damn things are broken right off the assembly line, so no amount of sending out clones of the same faulty design is going to help. I really AM trying to help here. You'd save yourselves AND us a lot of heartache by fixing the problem with the actual component, rather than sending out replacement Yugos hoping they'll turn into Cadillacs while in the care of the USPS.

It's still a Yugo, dammit!

/Rant over.

Still, even with me being more than just "mildly" annoyed by the ChiCom POS sensor (we can only hope that they use the same QA dept. for their Armed Forces), this game is absolutely awesome. I love it, I can't put it down and I'm having more fun than ought to be legal.

I thought you should know that as well :)

But please, PLEASE fix those faulty tilt sensors!

[Bullitt24]

I got the same issues

[TrulyEnraged]

Not sure if you guys know this but there's 2 tilt switches in the guitar...one for right handers and one for leftys....You could always switch them around to see if that helps or tape them together? I found with my overdrive problems would be to tap the guitar with the palm of my hand while still strumming the note....seems to kick it in overdrive when it's tilted up. I think it's just a sticky switch

[wxforecaster]

Do *all* the guitars have two switches? I'm convinced by listening to the rattle and looking inside that mine does not -- which in that case I can't even make an adjustment because I'm lefty and my wife is righty and well -- I can't even get a 2nd f-king guitar for my PS3 til April. As for hitting the select button, again I'm left handed and not being double-jointed, this is impossible.

I love how my TAC wireless guitar for my PS2 has hit every star power on all 4guitar hero games since I've owned the thing. I busted them both open to see the differences in sensors -- it's like night and day in terms of construction quality. Better yet, the TAC wireless guitar with double fret (ahead of its time), cost me $50! So I digress.

I appreciate Harmonix's willingness to replace defective equipment no questions asked, but I have yet to see a single post from the company stating they actually fixed the issues at the factory. Instead, we end up with each others refurbs that have the same design flaws. The only one profitting out of this is the shipping company. I happen to own a business and this just mind-boggles me the amount of millions wasted in swapping out crap with crap. Will it ever end or will Harmonix simply go out of business because one million RMAs put them under? I have actually dealt with overseas manufacturing. Making the "mold" for a piece of electronics isn't as bad as it sounds (hence why we go to eastern Asia to begin with) -- they have the experience and inexpensive tooling capabilities. It's not their fault -- they're making the guitars, drums, etc..with exactly the specs given to them. So, why not fix the couple of 25-50 cent issues, shut down the assembly line for a week, correct the problems (tagging the instruments with new IDs), and please the masses with an outstanding, quality product line that will spread like the plague for years to come? No one is asking to make the guitars out of wood instead of plastic. We're asking that simple 5-10 cent parts are correctly assembled, anchored, screwed down and tested in a live setting.
A few thousand dollars spent in creating a new mold would profit millions in user-end product sales.

This bad publicity is growing quickly. I know a lot of people who would have killed to get Rock Band over the holidays who are now saying "forget it -- I played it over at so and so's and I can't see spending that much money for a defective/incomplete product". What a shame. This product really has a chance to revolutionize gaming, bring families/friends/online gaming closer together, and get more people interested in music. Look at the ingenuity of the forum members here with all the hacks/mods -- these are some extremely BRIGHT people who Harmonix should be looking at seriously for positions in product design/testing.

Bottom line: RB is simply undertested and released too early to compete with GH III. You got the video game itself dead on (not surprisingly) but missed the boat on how it's going to be played. Time is quickly running out for you to turn this around with the myriad of instrument flaws that are massing by the thousands. My only hope is that the stand-alone instrument delays are because they ARE addressing these issues.

Sorry for the rant. I've owned a clarinet that goes back 5 generations and still plays like the day it came out of the factory.

Evan

[davebc1963]

my piece of sh!t guitar won't even turn on

[Gnarly_Nate]

I just received a replacement guitar for the my launch day guitar that stopped registering down strums. This new guitar worked perfectly for about 20 minutes and now the overdrive sensor barely/rarely works.

Also, the whammy bar makes a clicking noise when it returned to rest position - sounds like a spring. It is annoying but functionally works well.

It is strange that they would have this many problems with manufacturing guitars when they've already made them for two previous games.

[EdgeKrusher187]

Gnarly_Nate,
harmonix did not make the guitars for GHI - GHIII, RedOctane made them. I'm having the same issue with the tilt sensor. I opened my guitar and noticed that right above the strum bar (if holding neck to the left) there are 2 tiny little tilt switches. No matter where I put them, even if I tape them both vertical I can't get Overdrive to trigger. I can hit the select button, but as was said before that's a pain in the ass once you get past the middle stages of Hard. I'm waiting on my 4th guitar. if this one doesn't work I'm going to get my money refunded and return the damn game straight up the ass of EA. Harmoix is not the problem, MTV games is not the problem, EA is the ****ing problem like usual, always going for the cheapest way to make a product, and intentionally making that product suck becuase they went cheap and pushed the project to fast. If I don't get a working guitar I will never by an EA branded game again, not even one by BioWare one of my most favorite developers. **** it, if they want to be greedy and take the incarnation of Satan's money let them fry in their own hell.

[ENAK]

I had the same problem, so i took the cover off the guitar, and found that a plug wasn't plugged in. I plugged it in and it works fine now.

[ATJaguarX]

I'm having the same problem. Sometimes I can tilt it 10 degrees and it works perfectly, other times I have the damn guitar pointed up 90 degrees, shaking it and jumping in place to get it to deploy. At that point, it's pointless since you just screwed up your 4x combo.

I'm on my 2nd guitar (upstrum stopped working on the 1st). I had no problem with overdrive on the first guitar, you could actually here the tilt sensor in the guitar as you picked it up.

I wasn't aware of the ability to use the "back" button to deploy the overdrive. I'll have to try that out. I'll probably RMA this piece of crap soon.

[BriGuy]

This may be helpful for those with oversensitive tilt sensors:

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13523

[Crymsonnite]

seriously, i got the wireless and it won't activate at all
i have to back button
and i play lefty so i like to whammy to hit the back button, well they messed with that too
so now, overdrive doesn't work, and the whammy doesn't go as far

[PacoL250]

seriously, i got the wireless and it won't activate at all
i have to back button
and i play lefty so i like to whammy to hit the back button, well they messed with that too
so now, overdrive doesn't work, and the whammy doesn't go as far

I have the same issue although whammy is fine and only the back button works.

I will RMA my guitar unless I can find a fool proof fix for my tilt.

[hallowethe]

My guitar refuses to go into overdrive...it takes at least 15 seconds of random flailing to make it go. I've settled to simply pressing the "Back" button to go into overdrive.

[Flumpf]

Straight from the box, no amount of rock pig contortions would make my PS3 guitar activate overdrive, so I've had to train myself to use the 'select' button as EA consider me some sort of subhuman refuse as I'm not American or Canadian and are refusing to honour the warranty, despite there being NO mention of geographical warranty limitations anywhere within the supplied documentation.

Ok, that could possibly be the world's longest sentence, but I'm absolutely furious at being treated like I'm a worthless piece of crap by EA/MTV/Harmonix after spending a small fortune on their product. I just want what I paid for, a guitar that works (as on top of the overdrive thing the strum thing randomly decides just not to register the odd note here and there.)

Caveat emptor.

[itoT]

wowww, so many of us have the same problem but until now there's no real tech support here...am i in a right thread?

[BTD1980]

Same problem here...my new Strat is definitely harder to activate than my original that came with the game. I have figured mine out but yours may vary. I have to start with the guitar parallel to the floor AND (here is the key) if I tilt the face forward a bit it works like a charm. The key is to not have the face tilted toward the sky but to have it tilted toward the ground. Perhaps it would be easy to flip the sensor upside down so this would work the other way (which is probably more typical of how most people hold the guitar-resting on their stomach.)

Anyway, give it a shot, see how it works.

[cdstein]

Add me to the list (PS3 console). The first guitar strummer went after about a month - too bad because overdrive worked perfectly on it. RMA'd it and my second guitar strums great (much better than the first one), and overdrive works ~95% of the time. Being picky, I put in another RMA only to get one with no overdrive at all. Sending that one back and just keeping my second one. Between this and the whole compatability issue with GH, EA has really botched this release.

[Shadowboi]

My guitar is also fairly messed up.

Strumming seems mostly fine (although i don't really like the rock band strum bar, but that's not important), but i can't activate overdrive!!!

Sometimes it just randomly deploys, other times it deploys when i lift it, sometimes i have to hold it upright for a few seconds, and sometimes it activates as i give up and put it back to regular position. And then of course there are the times (3/4 of the time) when it doesn't activate at all.

This is a major problem, but i'm not sure if i should try to get a new one, as it could just come back worse.

Edit: Looking back at the older pages, i also remembered the strange whammy bar noise when it returns to rest position....not that that's an important problem. Or maybe it's meant to be that way.

[WMKillaman]

I thought my guitar was messed up when I started playing, untill I see everybody has these problems. RMAing it seems like a waste of time cause the better half of the RMA storys I read had to do it more then twice and not fixing the issue..


A before and after pic would be great here. Like you, I pulled apart the strato guitar and my GH 2/3 guitars so see what the difference was. The switch works (as I understand it) based on a reed switch of sorts that moves in response to gravity. I think the sensor 'works' but is located/installed incorrectly, such that it's already "tripped" in the slightly tilted position thay any normal person would hold their guitars at.

Again, as an electrical engineer you gotta ask was the left hand (China) talking to the right hand (Harmonix) at anytime during and after development? Did any Harmonix employees actually happen to *PLAY* rock band for an extended period of time? Any normal manufacturing company pulls a product off the assembly line 1 every thousand or so and tests it for quality control.

These problems aren't isolated, so I'm simply baffled. As for why the RMA guitars have the same problem -- open your instrument. They haven't changed the design. They're just picking another one off the line with the same design flaws and sending it out.

Evan
Exactly.. You have to make the changes yourself cause they will not do t for you...
The link in \/this quote has a good pic. The tilt sensor would be held in by the two screws. The tape is not nessary, you can angle your sensor down (after loosening the screws) and hold it in place using only the rear screw to clamp it down.. Once i did this there has been NO accidental and it works everytime.
I am on my 1st guitar and I am now 99% happy with it. (I also had to put micro switches in it for the strummer)


This may be helpful for those with oversensitive tilt sensors:

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13523

[DarkJ3JB]

Had this problem on all 5 of my guitars..... I just use the select botton now gets the job done

[XjrBuddhaX]

2 sensors in the guitar... Open Guitar, right next to the strum there is a small board that looks like it has 2 Capacitors on it. These have ball bearings in it which completes the circuit when tilted.. Ball bearing aren't making contact..... Or make contact at a time you don't want it too. No fix, just horrible design.

Replace with Guitar hero Guitar, Only fix that I found will work...

Cheers

[angry_jonny]

I finally gave up on mine and returned it for a refund (Target, whoo hoo). I just didn't want to bother with the mercury switch mod.

I love RB, I really do. But the peripherals -- even this wireless strat, in light of all the trouble with the release guitars -- feel like beta versions for a future product. I'm not really tempted by GH4, except for this one thing, but it's a biggie. If you're going to have a peripheral-based game, they need to be rock solid, and these aren't close.

[Malthyus]

Okay, I've been reading up on the guitar's having poor overdrive as mine is experiencing this problem, but check this out:

Originally I bought Rock Band for the PS2 with the full bundle. This was back in March '08 and it all worked perfectly. No issues with any of my instruments except that every now and then (like 5% of the time at MOST) the guitar's overdrive would be over sensitive and I chalked that up to me holding it a little too far up while playing (about 45 degree angle maybe 30). Recently I bought a PS3 and I even played RB on it for the PS2 and nothing changed, I was still having a blast.

Now here's the kicker:

This past weekend (August 26th), because I now have a PS3, I purchased RB for the PS3 and traded in my PS2 version. NOW I have overdrive when the game wants me to have overdrive. I have to use overdrive on notes that are held, I cannot strum. Either that or I have to push the "Select" button on the guitar to activate overdrive.

SO, with that in mind, I'm thinking that the blame is being misplaced in the peripherals and that it's a software issue. My guitar worked just fine on RB for the PS2 whether I was playing on a PS2 or a PS3, but RB for the PS3 seems to have an issue multi-tasking by sensing strums AND overdrive at the same time. It is my most sincere hope that EA will take a look at this post and release an update SOON that fixes this issue as I am certain the problem is software, not hardware. For those of you who have a PS3, see if you can rent a PS2 version of the game and check it out for yourself. If this isn't just an isolated incident then maybe EA will listen to a unanimous public.

[GooberScotsman]

I've had a messed up overdrive that didn't even work and a whammy bar break two weeks after my purchase

[DaddyO]

Thanks to previous posters, especially those with pictures. Rather than get another malfunctioning guitar through EA, I fixed it on my own.