Controller Issue(buttons) - please fix

[Plekto]

I've been having problems with my GH2 controller lately. Now, this is actually not an issue with my controller, but a problem with them in general.

Please use microswitches! I know it costs a few dollars more, but a great example of this is the strum bar on a GH2 contoller versus the knockoffs. What do you hear? Right - the official one has a click click of a little switch like you find in a mouse or joystick. This allows for a very precise breakpoint and feedback - you know when you activated it.

With those squishy contact switches(rubber with a contact in the middle that completes the connection - typical of cheap keyboards), you have no way to know if the key actually registered or not. You just mash and pray it registered. As a result, chords are harder than they should be.

Now, the strum bar currently does have one, but the bottons do not! This needs to be addressed. If you go to NKK and look at their switches, something like this would be a good place to start:

NKK part: UB15NKG01N (comes in 6 colors)

I modified my controller to have these switches and I can hit notes easily 2-3 times faster than the game requires, even in the hardest level on a PS2. Chords are a snap. They also are individually set into the neck so that no reinforcement from the bottom is required and absolutely bulletproof. The GH2 controller has a PCB board with those contact bottons on it - and if they get hit too hard, the entire thing can snap. With individual switches, you can easily reinforce the whole area and never have a problem.

[sa_nick]

Now, the strum bar currently does have one, but the bottons do not!

Do you mean the 5 fret buttons? I haven't had any troubles with mine, but I've read a few posts over on the other forums about people who have modded their fret buttons simply by putting thin pieces of cardboard behind the frets buttons so you don't have to hold them down as hard.

I'm not sure if that is related to the problem your talking about though.

[Plekto]

Yes, the buttons work reasonably well, but there's just very little precision. That you would have to do a mod to get them to work better shows a lot of the problem that you find with cheap contact type buttons. Good microswitches are like a typical mouse button. Positive confirmation of each click. Precise. Good for hundreds of thousands of presses.

It's so much better for them to spend the extra two to three dollars for the proper switches.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I have no problem with the frets the way they are. Plus, I really don't want more clicks. I hate the strum click, but I'm scared to mod it.

[the_spike]

I don't understand why chords would be harder to hit.

Do you mean that the buttons require more pressure to push down or are you lifting up after every chord or what?

[SoraRikuVGM]

I dunno, you really shouldn't fix what isn't broken.

[sa_nick]

Yes, the buttons work reasonably well, but there's just very little precision.

I don't think different switches could help with precision. And the mod I mentioned early would probably make it easier to screw up if you accidentally slightly tapped the wrong button. I'm with SoraRikuVGM and the_spike, especially about not wanting any more clicks.

[zankfrappa]

i dont have much of an issue with the buttons, but id like a fatter neck, nearer to the size of a real guitar as i think it would be just more comfortable to play.

[Plekto]

i dont have much of an issue with the buttons, but id like a fatter neck, nearer to the size of a real guitar as i think it would be just more comfortable to play.

This actually was my second complaint. I want the controller to be the same size and dimmensions as a real guitar. Make it look a little less like it was churned out of some factory in China and more like what it's supposed to represent.

But, yes - a real width neck. I get hand cramps from the GH2 controller because it's too narrow and I end up having to "claw" it.(after an hour of playing, your hand looks like a claw)

But microswitches, if they are done right, make no more noise than a contact button. Most of the noise is whether they are padded/dampened inside to keep the plastic from hitting when it rebounds. Oh - and yes, the microswitch on the strum bar is hideously loud. That should be dealt with.