Little concern about the guitar..

[Megan321]

I went to Best Buy yesterday and the guitar for Rock Band was messed up. The strum bar only worked when you strum up, not down.

I know that when things like this are put out for a demo, people, particularly kids, do not take care of it. But it seems to me that the strum bar could not get messed up that easily.

I really, really love the Rock Band guitar, but this kind of made me concerned that there's a chance all the guitar's could get messed up easily :-/

Whaddya guys think?

P.S. I just want to take this opportunity to complain that I have to buy a Rock Band with a WIRED guitar when it comes out. How incredibly lame is that?

[MrMet2087]

its cause the guitar is broken, it hapened at my wal mart as well

[Tender-Surrender]

This has been stated many times, but the demo units are Pre-Production, so they aren't as good as what you are going to get out of the box.

[MrMet2087]

also yes i agree with you i hope they are not that flimsy, but it was said that the demo guitars are exactly what it seems, demo guitars lol. and the real guitar will be more durable

[milesodanglers]

I went to Best Buy yesterday and the guitar for Rock Band was messed up. The strum bar only worked when you strum up, not down.

I know that when things like this are put out for a demo, people, particularly kids, do not take care of it. But it seems to me that the strum bar could not get messed up that easily.

I really, really love the Rock Band guitar, but this kind of made me concerned that there's a chance all the guitar's could get messed up easily :-/

Whaddya guys think?

P.S. I just want to take this opportunity to complain that I have to buy a Rock Band with a WIRED guitar when it comes out. How incredibly lame is that?

Exact same thing happened at my best buy and along with the guitar being broken the yellow pad on the drums was smashed and broken too. I hope that the actual instruments we are going to be getting will hold up well, because i dont wanna be in the middle of a song or something and one of them breaks if you know what i mean.

[NotorietyH]

P.S. I just want to take this opportunity to complain that I have to buy a Rock Band with a WIRED guitar when it comes out. How incredibly lame is that?

Not very, oh wait was that supposed to be a rheotorical question?

[skyehill]

I went to Best Buy yesterday and the guitar for Rock Band was messed up. The strum bar only worked when you strum up, not down.

I know that when things like this are put out for a demo, people, particularly kids, do not take care of it. But it seems to me that the strum bar could not get messed up that easily.

I really, really love the Rock Band guitar, but this kind of made me concerned that there's a chance all the guitar's could get messed up easily :-/

Whaddya guys think?

P.S. I just want to take this opportunity to complain that I have to buy a Rock Band with a WIRED guitar when it comes out. How incredibly lame is that?

Two of my local Best Buys had to take down the Rock Band demos last week because all of the equipment was broken. That's just pathetic if it only takes a week or two to completely destroy the guitar and drums. Hopefully the final product isn't so fragile.

[logicalnoise]

I guess people not in the know owuld be worried but teh truth is teh final versions should indeed be damn near indestructible. The on tour demos were worn down a lot but never failed at their jobs. We've seen numerous blogs on all the hard work they've put into teh instruments.

[seafisch]

You know how, when you browse the used games at GameStop, you see cases that look like they were used as a doorjam, cutting board, washboard, and all sort of other abusive uses, and then when you ask to see the disc, it looks like it was used in a game of frisbee played by blind people on a field made of steel wool? That's what some people do to their own property, stuff that they paid for. So if they have that little respect for their own stuff, you think they really give a crap about stuff that isn't theirs?

Not to mention HMX has stated that the demo units are pre-production models, not up to the quality of the units that will be sold at retail.

[Sairynn]

...it looks like it was used in a game of frisbee played by blind people on a field made of steel wool?...

:D awesome!

I've never understood how people break **** so easily. I've never even scratched any CDs, DVDs, or game discs.

[Megan321]

Alrighty, thanks for all the replies guys; you gave me my answer.

But, ya know I still don't get the whole wired guitar thing. Maybe you guys are sick of people complaining about it, but it really does bug me.

I really, really want to get this game when it comes out, but I seriously considered waiting for Feb when I can get the wireless. I just can't take wires. I don't see why more people aren't really ticked off cause of it. I cannot take wires!

[Bakkster]

Alrighty, thanks for all the replies guys; you gave me my answer.

But, ya know I still don't get the whole wired guitar thing. Maybe you guys are sick of people complaining about it, but it really does bug me.

I really, really want to get this game when it comes out, but I seriously considered waiting for Feb when I can get the wireless. I just can't take wires. I don't see why more people aren't really ticked off cause of it. I cannot take wires!

I like wires. It saves me from needing to buy batteries, or from my performance dying because somebody turned the microwave on.

Of course, you can feel free to do what you want.

[logicalnoise]

Alrighty, thanks for all the replies guys; you gave me my answer.

But, ya know I still don't get the whole wired guitar thing. Maybe you guys are sick of people complaining about it, but it really does bug me.

I really, really want to get this game when it comes out, but I seriously considered waiting for Feb when I can get the wireless. I just can't take wires. I don't see why more people aren't really ticked off cause of it. I cannot take wires!

I don;t know maybe because many musicians still need wires and lets face it wires are a part of every day life. Most people see it as a part of the experience. I can dig my wireless lespaul but a 5 dollar usb extension made the xplorer just as good.

[Megan321]

I like wires. It saves me from needing to buy batteries, or from my performance dying because somebody turned the microwave on.

Of course, you can feel free to do what you want.

I assume a wireless guitar would come w/ a rechargable battery, getting new batteries every time would get ridiculous.

And I have not had this mysterious microwave situation, and I constantly use a wireless controller for my 360 :-)

I just have noticed that while using my GH2 guitar the wire gets increasingly obnoxious to the point I would like to hang myself with it. And although there may be reasons I'm not aware of that their releasing Rock Band this certain way, for right now I think it's a ripoff that we can't get wireless guitars until Feb.

[DrBeau]

But, ya know I still don't get the whole wired guitar thing. Maybe you guys are sick of people complaining about it, but it really does bug me.

My understanding is that your beef should be more with Microsoft than Harmonix. I've heard that MS wireless certification and technology is a pain. I mean, PS3 and Wii are easy as they use an established short-range wireless protocol (Bluetooth - which has it's own issues). I'm not sure what MS uses.

[darkhorse09]

I assume a wireless guitar would come w/ a rechargable battery, getting new batteries every time would get ridiculous.

And I have not had this mysterious microwave situation, and I constantly use a wireless controller for my 360 :-)

I just have noticed that while using my GH2 guitar the wire gets increasingly obnoxious to the point I would like to hang myself with it. And although there may be reasons I'm not aware of that their releasing Rock Band this certain way that, for right now I think it's a ripoff that we can't get wireless guitars until Feb.

the reason why they are wired is because microsoft is charging an arm and a leg for their wireless technology. it's not to punish people, it's just that bill g. wants some more of my hard earned money. it will happen, but think about it this way-if you were playing in a real band, it's extremely expensive to have wireless guitars, mics, etc. idk, i love fender and it adds to the "realism" for me.

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xbl gamertag: darkhorse09

[Sairynn]

My understanding is that your beef should be more with Microsoft than Harmonix. I've heard that MS wireless certification and technology is a pain. I mean, PS3 and Wii are easy as they use an established short-range wireless protocol (Bluetooth - which has it's own issues). I'm not sure what MS uses.

MS uses their own proprietary technology; I think it's based on 2.4GHz stuff but it's just different enough to be a pain. Activision paid MS to use the technology, which is why the Les Paul controllers are wireless. Harmonix either couldn't pay, didn't want to pay, or had some problem with the wireless signal that made the wires necessary.

Wireless would be nice but as long as the wires are long enough I don't really care. The lack of a need for batteries is nice.

[Bakkster]

Wireless would be nice but as long as the wires are long enough I don't really care.

Since the controllers are USB, you can extend them up to 15 feet with extra cable. If you need it longer, throw a USB hub halfway down and get another 15 feet.

[mxmarks]

I was glad to find this thread as I found a busted Rock Band yesterday - kinda ruined my first real experence of the game. I couldnt "strum" picking style at all - and when I mashed the bar with my thumb I SORT of got response. Sad thing is I heard the kid before me say "Ill stick with Guitar Hero." Ugh.

But as much as I understand this is "pre-production" units - what are the chances that the guitars WE get will be this poor? I know Harmonix SAYS they wont be, and if there is ANY company in the world I take the word of seriously it's Harmonix - but has any review version or anything mentioned this?

And more importantly - has anyone played BOTH the Best Buy demo, AND stopped out to a RB Tour Stop? Are the guitars the same?

Any real comparison beyond "because they say so" will make me feel a lot better...

[darkhorse09]

Since the controllers are USB, you can extend them up to 15 feet with extra cable. If you need it longer, throw a USB hub halfway down and get another 15 feet.

nice idea...too bad i don't live at wembly stadium :( lol, jk.

[Frederf]

I assume a wireless guitar would come w/ a rechargable battery, getting new batteries every time would get ridiculous.

If you would have assumed the same thing for the Guitar Hero 3 w/ controller bundle. You would have been wrong. I'm pretty sure the RB Stratocaster (wireless) takes 3 barenaked Engergizer AA's.

[Mistersh0w]

I went to Best Buy yesterday and the guitar for Rock Band was messed up. The strum bar only worked when you strum up, not down.

I know that when things like this are put out for a demo, people, particularly kids, do not take care of it. But it seems to me that the strum bar could not get messed up that easily.

I really, really love the Rock Band guitar, but this kind of made me concerned that there's a chance all the guitar's could get messed up easily :-/

Whaddya guys think?

P.S. I just want to take this opportunity to complain that I have to buy a Rock Band with a WIRED guitar when it comes out. How incredibly lame is that?

I was at a Best Buy yesterday as well, the guitar was just as you described it. It only worked when you strummed up... And one of the drum sticks was kinda broken... I hope Harmonix sends them new guitars. It would be a shame for new peeps not familiar with RB be turned away because of shabbily treated guitars...

[Bakkster]

I was at a Best Buy yesterday as well, the guitar was just as you described it. It only worked when you strummed up... And one of the drum sticks was kinda broken... I hope Harmonix sends them new guitars. It would be a shame for new peeps not familiar with RB be turned away because of shabbily treated guitars...

Send them an e-mail. They want to fix them, but need to know what locations need to be fixed. Look at the post in the Announcements section.

[MaineDrummer]

Upset over a wire? Not me

I don't spin around when I'm playing so not problem there.
I don't try to leave the room with the guitar on my shoulder again no problem there.
I play standing in front of my TV not from the front yard so NP there.
I don't need to ever worry about feeding my guitar batteries. A plus in my mind.
Every other electric item in my house has a wire not to mention the big tub of wires
used in set-up of my RL band. I'm sure in 10 years all the kids will laugh at us because we had to use wired stuff but until then I'm gonna hunt down those same kids now and laugh at them for having poop in their pants. (My gawd, where do I come up with such ideas??)

Waiting a few extra months over a wire? Have fun with that.

Please shoot me if I use the word poop ever again on these boards.

Thanks!

[dragulaAC]

I was at a Best Buy yesterday as well, the guitar was just as you described it. It only worked when you strummed up... And one of the drum sticks was kinda broken... I hope Harmonix sends them new guitars. It would be a shame for new peeps not familiar with RB be turned away because of shabbily treated guitars...

That right there should answer anyone questioning why their demo equipment is broken. If you break a drumstick playing the game, you are rocking out way too hard. These demo's take some serious punishment. My sg guitar is still in mint condition from when I bought it the day GH1 came out...and I have quite a bit of game time invested in the series. Granted the whammy may be slightly less springy than new. I can play expert without much difficulty, however GH3 tier 8 is giving me a few problems, but then again I have a life outside the game too.:D :rolleyes:

[KingofQUEEN48]

Im so sick of people and thier opinions on the demos, who cares! we all know it sucsk cause its a demo so no more threads like this...please!

[Steve171]

My best buy didnt even have a strat,it had the crappy gibson sg controller because it had a ps2 demo for it out

[Feigned]

Trust me, I just played on one of Strats that will be in the retail boxes, and there's nothing to worry about.

I played on the Tour and in my local Best Buy, so I feel your pain on the problematic strum bars. However, the one I played on at Harmonix strummed better than any other guitar I've rocked.

[LesPaul5391]

Trust me, I just played on one of Strats that will be in the retail boxes, and there's nothing to worry about.

I played on the Tour and in my local Best Buy, so I feel your pain on the problematic strum bars. However, the one I played on at Harmonix strummed better than any other guitar I've rocked.
Putting that fear to bed makes me want RB even more. Thanks for the info.

[Magnet]

Trust me, I just played on one of Strats that will be in the retail boxes, and there's nothing to worry about.

I played on the Tour and in my local Best Buy, so I feel your pain on the problematic strum bars. However, the one I played on at Harmonix strummed better than any other guitar I've rocked.

Did you do any songs with fast parts where you had to alt-strum (up-and-down rapidly) for parts? If so, how did that work out? Could you keep a streak easily? That demo guitar gave me some bad impressions that it probably shouldn't have.

[Feigned]

Did you do any songs with fast parts where you had to alt-strum (up-and-down rapidly) for parts? If so, how did that work out? Could you keep a streak easily? That demo guitar gave me some bad impressions that it probably shouldn't have.

There was one song I played that required a lot of alt-strumming. However, I was playing bass. My brother who also attended the interview was on lead and experienced a little trouble at first, however, this was related more to the narrow window in which you could hit the notes and not the controller. Once he figured out the timing, he was chugging away without any problem.

[Magnet]

Okay, thanks for letting me know!

[Megan321]

Thanks again for all the replies guys, you have me some useful info.

I really hope Harmonix did some fine tuning to the guitar before release since it seems several people have found the exact same problem as me. (And thank you for saying "It's a freaking demo!" so many times, I really hadn't got the point the first several times I read that.. ;-) )

[Thrashdragon]

I played a couple of songs on a Walmart demo last night, my impressions of the guitar:

The strum bar is very stiff without a lot of play in it, but it takes very, very little pressure to register. I was able to strum it, thumbslap it, and do the "push it with my thumb as if it was another controller button like GH3 requires", and all of them worked just fine. Took me a couple of notes to get used to, but worked like a charm once I got it down.

The body is thin, nicely shaped and very solid. I was pretty concerned after reading posts about the lightness and the flimsiness of the Strat, but in all honesty it felt fine to me. The neck felt solid. The weight was perfectly fine.

The inlaid fret buttons didn't cause me any trouble at all. They worked fine, gave enough feedback, and I never lost my place. The solo buttons I was too chicken to try (I gathered an audience pretty quickly once I started playing it), but they should be fun...they are pretty close together so getting my big hands in there will be a challenge, but it's no worse than playing the high frets on a real guitar.

An elderly woman stopped and watched me for a minute, then said "My grandson just loves these games". I abashedly replied with, "Me too, although I'm probably too old for this..." She cut me off and said, "You're never too old." She did, however, decline to join me on the drums.:D

[iNiGhTmAr3]

Well, I went to Wal-Mart in Farmingdale today to play Rock Band.
It was AWESOME!

The guitar was worked in though, which caused it to not work properly but the drums were still in excellent condition. It was annoying because I would strum a note and then it would strum again by itself, so I would almost fail out for most of the song.....

Does anyone know why it was doing this?

Also, sometimes the guitar wouldn't work at all, but it was because the wires were messed up. I had to push the wire in more into the guitar and then it would work.

I liked the buttons and fills and everything, but I have to get used to it. I was still pulling 90% on hard, but I would've done a lot better if the guitar was working properly. Just the "invisible" strumming and wire issues were annoying, but I still had a lot of fun with the game and the song selection was awesome.


Can't wait until Tuesday! :)

[Bakkster]

The guitar was worked in though, which caused it to not work properly but the drums were still in excellent condition. It was annoying because I would strum a note and then it would strum again by itself, so I would almost fail out for most of the song.....

Does anyone know why it was doing this?

Sounds like the damping on the strum bar got beat to hell. Send HMX an e-mail so they can fix that guitar.

[l337r3cru17]

Meg, I couldn't agree with you more.

My girlfriend preordered this for me for the 360. However, I have both the 360 and PS3 and decieded to get the PS3 version instead. I was pretty upset about the 360 not having wireless. I mean, it's a freakin 360... Also, I don't like the fact the PS3 doesn't have bluetooth but a wireless usb adapter for the guitar. Why would they do that? And why not have the microphone wireless too? Or the drums. Batteries can be recharged :D I suppose it would cost a good deal more for rechargeable instruments, but it's definately a good idea for the future. I'm really gonna be missing some XBL action, maybe I'll trade it in for the 360 version when it comes out in Feb? Who knows, I might love the PS3 experience and stick with it. I hope you can find some fun with it. In the meantime, I would say buy the package and go get a GH3 wireless controller. That way you have both lead and bass, and you have atleast one wireless guitar you can use when you don't want to get in a tangle ;) It's a lot of money for one game, but who wouldn't pay it for such a fun time!

On the other note of the demo guitars. I suppose I have a question for that matter. They rolled out less durable guitars for the demos. I guess I'm wondering why. Did they not have time to get the more durable parts together at manufacturing? Did they not know they would break this easily? Did they not want to spend the money for more expensive components? Good questions for me. I just think about the other guy's comment on how someone said they'd "stick with GH3." I mean, this experience is such a bigger and more indepth one than the GH series. And just because the guitar is hurting its image doesn't mean the game has only that to offer. That's what I love about RB, and why I've waited to buy it rather than the other. But to ship out demos and have them fail so easily is hurting their marketing campaign, I believe. Don't get me wrong, I love the demos, and am grateful they've done so much for the fan base. But, I think they might be hurting themselves in some situations.

I have no doubt the retail versions will live up to par. That is, of course, you have kids around you that like to destroy things :eek: :D

<3 Hmx

[admanimal]

The word is that the demo instruments had to be whipped up in short order, which is why they couldn't use final production versions.

[Megan321]

Meg, I couldn't agree with you more.


Yay! Finally someone agrees with me :-D But, ya know I'm kind of starting to change my mind. I read that the wireless guitars are going to require AA batteries, which is lame. I wish they could make them with rechargable batteries like the standard 360 controllers. I guess that's just too expensive or something.

I'll make myself get used to the wire I guess, I'll probably forget about it once I get to play this awesome game at home :-)

[weirdingway]

GH3 already has a wireless controller for Xbox360, and it's compatible with RB. What was the hold up that prevented at least the guitar from being wireless? I don't give me that battery cock and bull, the batteries will likely last a really long time (see wireless standard controllers).

[iNiGhTmAr3]

Sounds like the damping on the strum bar got beat to hell. Send HMX an e-mail so they can fix that guitar.

Yeah, I e-mailed them a couple of days ago lol.

[Frederf]

GH3 already has a wireless controller for Xbox360, and it's compatible with RB. What was the hold up that prevented at least the guitar from being wireless? I don't give me that battery cock and bull, the batteries will likely last a really long time (see wireless standard controllers).

Microsoft basically charged an arm and a leg and made it a complete PITA for HMX to make a wireless controller. HMX did make a wireless Stratocaster guitar, it's just an extra $20 or so due to passing along MS's huge wireless design fee. As a result the wireless Xbox 360 Stratocaster (wireless) is coming out sometime after release and for more money than the wired version. It was probably a very sticky point about the bundle costing $170 instead of $195.

I think the GH3 Les Paul developers had an easier time of getting MS to cooperate or some other reason.

[Ninegauger]

Am I the only one who prefers the wires so I don't have to worry about the damn batteries? If they were compatible with the Play and Charge kit I'd be interested but I don't like having to use batteries (unless you can charge them and play at the same time which you can't).