Strum Problem Fix

[joshuarshultz]

I want YOUR guitars to be fixed. Not next weekend, after all of your college friends and family go back home since thanksgiving is over, but NOW. What fun is it playing Rock Band with broken guitars? Unless you like to play every song on easy, if at most.

HOW CAN I SIT AT BEST BUY TOMORROW NIGHT FOR 13 HOURS FOR BLACK FRIDAY WITHOUT ROCK BAND?


I AM 100% SURE THIS WILL FIX ALL BROKEN STRUMS. THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE, EASY FIX, ANY ONE CAN DO IT

A quick note to all of those who have broken drums, If I run into this problem I assure you I will take a personal responsibility to fix it.

1. Please get a screw drive (electric = 100 X faster) and nail filer
2. Unscrew the screws from the back of the guitar, remove the battery cover, and batteries (please try to remember which screws go where, or else you may reseal the guitar and find out you drilled through the plastic cover)
3. Once open, it makes it easier if you disconnect the top piece by unplugging the battery connection. It plugs right back in. Just be gentle, we dont want more problems.
4. Now lets get to the fun part. Have your eyes make their way to the strumming machinery.
5. Note the following, if you strum down, it actually pushes up (from the inside-of-the-guitar perspective)
6. Figure out what you are having problems with (down strum, up strum) and correlate them to the correct part of the electronics of the guitar.
7. THIS IS THE KEY STEP. WHEN YOU STRUM A NOTE, TWO THIN PIECES OF METAL ARE PUSHED TOGETHER. THESE PIECES HAVE A SLIGHT RAISE IN THEM, THIS IS THE PROBLEM.
8. For many of you, the connection may not even be made, which you will notice immediately. For others, it will look as if everything is fine, but I BET YOU THIS WILL STILL WORK.
9. Take the nail filer and file a bit of each piece of the raise metal on the 2 pieces. Do not wear away all of it, just rub it about 5-10 each. Test the connection again, just to make sure the pieces are still touching.
10. The problem is occurring because of these connections. They may not be made at all or when they are made they are not exact. Meaning the rub against each other multiple times when you strum and in turn = no music is hear or your whammy cuts out.
11. Close the guitar


THE FINAL STEP IS SO IMPORTANT: CALIBRATION. DO THE OPTION WHERE YOU MUST STRUM THE NOTE. NOT WHERE YOU GUESS WHERE THE SOUND IS IN RELATION TO SCREEN OR A PRESET OPTION.

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. ONCE WE FIXED THE GUITAR, IT STILL DID NOT WORK WELL UNTIL THIS WAS DONE.
IT MAY HAVE TAKEN 5 CALIBRATIONS UNTIL WE FOUND THE EXACT ONE BUT IT WORKED.


In case you dont believe me let me tell you my specific story

Before
1. Notes no longer register
2. Whammying a note, while holding down the st rummer, and it shuts off
3. My brother, who has beaten GH 1 GH 2 GH 3, GH 80 on expert and only plays stuff on that level could not even play hard without missing at least half the notes. (2 Stars at most)

After
1. Notes register every time
2. Holding down the strummer does not kill my whammy note
3. My brother has played expert and gotten 5 stars on the past 10 songs he has played. IN A ROW.
4. He has assured me that any notes missed are his own fault and this problem has now been fixed.


I WANT YOUR GUITARS FIXED. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO SEND THEM BACK UNLESS IT IS FOR ANOTHER REASON. WE ALL SPENT SO MUCH MONEY AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR THIS TO OCCUR.

PLEASE CONTACT ME ON AIM joshuarussels ASAP with any questions.

[joshuarshultz]

A better explanation may be needed for some about the specific reason why this problem occurs.

The best way to explain it that the raised parts are dirty and could not even be good for making a proper connection. When you file it down a little bit, you expose new contacts = amazing connection.

[StrangeDays]

Interesting...if the raised parts are dirty, do you think blasting them with compressed air would help?

[admanimal]

A better explanation may be needed for some about the specific reason why this problem occurs.

The best way to explain it that the raised parts are dirty and could not even be good for making a proper connection. When you file it down a little bit, you expose new contacts = amazing connection.

How long have you been using this guitar since you fixed it? I am wondering if it is possible that the connection could just get bad again and you'll have to file more and more, etc. until it just won't work at all.

[Huskie]

Any way for you to provide closeup pictures of the metal pieces?
Others might be able to follow it better.

[joshuarshultz]

for a few hours. i don't think they get worn out often, i just do not think they were done properly.

However you do have a very good concern, I would just sodder ( i spelt that wrong) a piece of small piece of circle piece of metal on each and you are back in business.

I will state it is a very sensitive guitar, but just play if smoothly. If you want to rock out hard i suggest playing GH 1 or 2 for the time being.

[atomic_il]

I'd like to know what caused the contacts to go bad rather than just fix it... maybe it was a film on the metal during manufacturing or something... but if it's caused by being played, then that's a huge problem!

I'll try this later.

[joshuarshultz]

Any way for you to provide closeup pictures of the metal pieces?
Others might be able to follow it better.

i know, to do that i have to take apart the guitar again. I am hoping somone else will be able to take a few when they do it. If not tomorrow morning I will snap a few.

[admanimal]

I think I am going to wait to get my replacement guitar and see if they changed anything about the design before I modify my other, currently still working guitar.

[atomic_il]

oh and thanks for the post :)

[admanimal]

If you look through the "one of my instruments is already broken" thread, there is a picture of the guitar opened up in there somewhere.

[Dimebag_]

Could you post pictures etc..

[Cvette54]

I would like to say that I opened my guitar to try this fix on it, when I did I found that my strummer does not do a metal to metal touch. Mine has a piece of plastic that pushes on another piece of plastic to make the strum. Everything looks fine but my guitar does not strum down at all, the up strum works perfectly tho. Both sides look identical. Sorry I dont have a digital camera to take pics and post or I would, any one else whos inside looks like this and has the same problem please post pics and someone please post pics of this metal inside theirs as well for comparision.

[HeXcoda]

Does this fix strummers that register fine, but get jammed in the up or down position and don't return to neutral fast enough on their own?

[Stevenam81]

What do you mean by "Holding down the strummer does not kill my whammy note"?

[joshuarshultz]

i would def. take a look into what i posted because that could be because the two pieces are touching way too much and dont return to their original state fast enough. it could even be possible that the two raised pieces get caught on each other because they were not originally constructed properly. This would result in the guitar being signaled to continue to repeat strumming

[joshuarshultz]

i mean that sometimes when you whammy one of the long notes people tend to keep their strum bars held. well, a lot of times the guitars are hitting it correctly and as you are wahmming and are positive you are NOT restrumming, it fails the note all of a sudden.

[Ganjasmugglin]

Here are pics of the contacts. My original post is on page 13-14 in the broken periphreals thread.

[Stevenam81]

Oh, I see. I never do that. I always strum once. I would think keeping it held would kill the whammy anyway, but I guess it doesn't. After playing guitar for 12 years, I'd never keep the strum bar held. lol. That isn't strumming.

[spacecowboy]

as much as i'm tempted to try to fix it, i'd rather take advantage of the warranty

also, there is no way the strummer got dirty in the time i was playing it before it died. as a guitarist, it's habit to wash my hands before i play, and i play in an open, well ventilated room

[Keebler]

Here are pics of the contacts. My original post is on page 13-14 in the broken periphreals thread.

Wow, I just got a great idea on how to fix the strum bar.

1.) Unresponsiveness: looking at those pictures of the guitar's innards: if you make the white tabs on the strum bar longer, they will touch the metal contact sooner, which should make it easier to play. Adding a few layers of super glue and allowing it to dry should extend the length of these white tabs and result in better performance.

2.) Lack of rebound: it looks like you could wrap a rubber band around the middle white tab of the strum bar and then a nearby screw tube/hole, one rubber band for upstrum and one for downstrum. I bet you the strum bar will be much springier after that.

I'm curious to see if this will work for anyone.

[Cvette54]

Does this fix strummers that register fine, but get jammed in the up or down position and don't return to neutral fast enough on their own?

So I decided to take mine apart and see what was going on. I have a different strum mechanism from what is pictured. I do not have a camera to take a pic and post what mine looks like. I decided to play with the back off to see what was happening. Well I started a song and the down strum worked ok for a few mins then it started to get unresponsive. I looked at the strum mech. while i was strumming it and I found that on my guitar, instead of metal contacts, the strum bar has the plastic finger that touches another plastic finger on this tower and that finger moves in and out and i assume that by moving in it activates the signal to produce a strum.

Well this plastic finger was sticking after the strum and not returning to its original position. I poked and proded around for a little bit and realized that it was not an issue of too much pressure on the finger causing it to stick. I went down in the basement and found some spray lubricant thats a dry lubricant for metal and plastic. I sprayed some of this on the little finger and let it sit for the 5-10 mins the bottle recommends for proper drying and maximum lubrication. I put the guitar back together and started the game back up, and now I have been playing happily with my strat for several hours. Anyone who wants to open up their strat that is having problems and has the same innards as mine has, I would recommend a little lubricant on this finger coming out of the tower on each side for keeping the strum from sticking.

Sorry if my discription is not all that great on whats inside, im not an engineer by any means, but I do have a history taking apart plastic guitars and fixing malfunctioning parts lol.

[admanimal]

People who know whether their strummer mechanism is the plastic one or the metal one should post what date is on the sticker on the bottom of their RB box. This way we know which is the newer way of constructing them, and therefore, in theory, the better way.

[eeenvyyy]

I created a diagram of the inside. Please look at the other images posted in this thread to get an understanding of what my diagram represents. Below is a description of what is happening inside my guitar and most likely everyone else's guitars.

My downstrum was strumming multiple times for me on a single stroke. I decided to take a look inside the guitar and I found a difference in my guitar between the contacts on the upstrum and the contacts on the downstrum. On the upstrum, the contact farthest from the white strum bar does not move when the two contacts are forced together. However, on the downstrum (opposite side), the contact farthest from white strum bar bends as the strummer is pressed. After looking closer, I found a small foam piece that sits between that outside contacts and a case stud with a screw in it (one on each side). The foam on the downstrum side is crushed in my guitar and no longer puts pressure on the outer contact allowing the contact to bend away from the strum bar as the other contact is forced on it. This bending allows the contacts to remain touching longer than they should and allows them to rub as the strum bar is released back to the home position. This rubbing is what I'm guessing is causing the multiple strums.

Please look at my diagram I'm linking along with this post. The red box is the foam. The green lines are the contacts on the downstrum. Again, look at the other photos posted in this thread and compare them to my diagram to get the orientation.

If someone else who has taken their guitar apart could look to see if their outer contact is bending too then we might be able to confirm the defective foam being the culprit.

Diagram Link (http://www.envysoft.net/strumbar.gif)

[Ganjasmugglin]

I JUST POSTED PICS ON PAGE 21 ABOUT THE STRUM BAR THAT IS BROKEN ON MY 360 GUITAR. i READ ON THIS SITE THAT YOU COULD OPEN THE GUITAR BY UNSCREWING ALL THE SCREWS AND TAKING A NILE FILE OR IN MY CASE A ROUGH END OF A MATCHBOOK AND FILE DOWN THE CONTACTS ON THE DOWNSTRUM MECHANISM INSIDE THE GUITAR. IF YOU FILE BETWEEN THE 2 METAL PIECES ABOUT 5-10 TIMES AND BLOW THE DEBRIS OUT IT WILL WORK PERFECTLY. I DID THIS 3 HOURS AGO AND IT WORKS PERFECTLY. ALSO I MIGHT ADD IT IS NOT AS SENSITIVE AS IT WAS SO YOU KILL 2 BIRDS WITH ONE STONE. I ORIGINALLY WAS NOT GOING TO REPLY BACK BUT WITH ALL THE COMPLAINTS THIS IS THE BEST FIX FOR THE PROBLEM. ITS 100% GUARANTEED TO WORK. AND IT WONT VOID ANY WARRANTY. DO THIS CAREFULLY AND IAM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYONE MESSING UP ANYTHING ELSE BECAUSE OF IT. YOUR WELCOME. OH BTW THE DATE MINE HAS IS OCT THE 9TH OF 2007

[breki]

I'm not a very patient person and it isn't the first time I had to pop something open to fix a problem. (Had the whammy bar problem with the GH2 X-plorer, fixed that one.) This is just a suggestion as to what the problem is so I could be wrong but, ANYWAY...

Like Cvette54 I popped open the guitar, plugged it in, and then watched myself strum and then looked up at the screen to see if my downward movement registered at all. (I was in the main menu.) Every so often it wouldn't register anything and other times it would do a double strum. Now I had my suspicions that it wasn't dirty like joshuarshultz thought so I didn't file anything, rather I suspected that the screw was loose. The little one on the bottom (look at the picture.)

http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=94&d=1195674742

This meant that every so often it would tip up a bit when you strum and it wouldn't connect and every so often it would tip down and hold the contact longer, creating a double strum. Another consideration is that over a few hours of play you've been hammering on the poor screw enough to set it loose. I imagine if you were to be a leftie (or a person who strums hard upwards) that the other side could go loose just as easily.

The point is that I didn't file anything nor spray anything. I loosened the screw, held the part in different places, screwed it back down, then plugged it in and did another test. Finding a satisfactory place I put the whole thing back together and was back to playing the game like it was meant to be played.

I hope someone to clarify this whole thing up. It doesn't seem to be a software issue since I couldn't get the xbox dashboard to even register a down movement (or get a double) at times. Hopefully my little experiment puts a little light on this. But I gotta get back to playing, so adios!

BTW: Oct 19th 07

[eeenvyyy]

Ok, the red piece in my last post that i thought was foam is more of a rubbery piece. It was not crushed like i originally thought, but instead had slid down. The whole piece that holds the contacts and the wires going in from the back to connect the contacts pivots on the other screw (the one i didn't label in my original diagram). After rotating that piece counter clockwise so that the outer contact was touching the case stud and rubber spacer (labeled originally as the foam spacer), the outer contact no longer bends. I'm putting it all back together now and I'm going to go give it a try.

[robhimself]

I created a diagram of the inside. Please look at the other images posted in this thread to get an understanding of what my diagram represents. Below is a description of what is happening inside my guitar and most likely everyone else's guitars.

My downstrum was strumming multiple times for me on a single stroke. I decided to take a look inside the guitar and I found a difference in my guitar between the contacts on the upstrum and the contacts on the downstrum. On the upstrum, the contact farthest from the white strum bar does not move when the two contacts are forced together. However, on the downstrum (opposite side), the contact farthest from white strum bar bends as the strummer is pressed. After looking closer, I found a small foam piece that sits between that outside contacts and a case stud with a screw in it (one on each side). The foam on the downstrum side is crushed in my guitar and no longer puts pressure on the outer contact allowing the contact to bend away from the strum bar as the other contact is forced on it. This bending allows the contacts to remain touching longer than they should and allows them to rub as the strum bar is released back to the home position. This rubbing is what I'm guessing is causing the multiple strums.

Please look at my diagram I'm linking along with this post. The red box is the foam. The green lines are the contacts on the downstrum. Again, look at the other photos posted in this thread and compare them to my diagram to get the orientation.

If someone else who has taken their guitar apart could look to see if their outer contact is bending too then we might be able to confirm the defective foam being the culprit.

Diagram Link (http://www.envysoft.net/strumbar.gif)

I wish I could take mine apart and preempt the problem but as things are working fine now I don't want to do anything that'll ruin it. It's been working fine for the past two-three days with different levels of wear (i.e. pounded on expert to slowly being strummed on easy). I even got a 100% on I Think I'm Paranoid on expert.

It just seems like it'll be a matter of time before mine breaks, especially after reading everything on this thread and after hearing something loose rattling around in my guitar.

In regards to the frequency of the problem, I think the most recent poster with the plastic finger/tower/etc probably is an exception as most of the issues have been with those with the metal contacts. Running into an issue might be inevitable but the people that have been running into them the past day might be getting the flawed or more likely prone to fail models (like the GH2 xplorer guitar, the whammy issue was the one with the ethernet jack at the bottom).

EA/HMX might announce something to that extent in the near future hopefully to maybe clear things up. If there was anything externally, maybe the production date sticker, model/serial number or any kind of identification to see if your guitar has the metal contacts or these plastic ones then the problem could be narrowed down.

[Qweets]

Mine strums just fine and registers everything but the rebound is terrible, its just super loose and shakes around, I'm curious if someone could fix the rebound on theirs and tell us how to do this as I wouldn't mind cracking it open if someone had a surefire way to make it more springy?

[RkBndDrmr]

YAY! My strum was having serious problems. I tried the file fix and now all is well..so far. I'll update if it changes.

Was easy yo do. Don't be afraid to try if your having issues.

[joshuarshultz]

GREAT NEWS MAN!

if your thing is lose you need to open it up still, you will notice where it is lose because it is most likely not in place correctly or missing a screw. OPENING IT UP WILL ALLOW YOU TO SEE WHAT IS GOING ON.

[Halfazedninja]

Yeah I had the little metal pieces in there and filed them down and it worked perfectly. I just played for like an hour after fixing it and so far so good. I'm very good at fixing pretend instruments apparently, I had to fix my whammy on the xplorer too.

Just hope the drums don't go :)

Thanks again!

[thetrout]

Wow, as ludicrous as it all sounds, this worked like a charm on my guitar! I was failing out of Black Hole Sun before the fix and after the fix I got four and a half stars. Scary but true, folks! God bless nail files.

[thekobun]

will this fix void waranty?

[JB4GDI]

It doesn't seem like there's any sticker or something that says "void if removed" so I guess as long as you don't start hitting it with a hammer when you open it, you'll be fine.

-Jaime

[Qweets]

I tried opening mine up, took every screw out but it seemed like some magical force was keeping it closed, I didn't miss any screws how the hell do you pop the thing open?

[ReplicantSeven]

I'm having the same problem, I can't seem to open mine up. I unscrewed every last screw, checked twice, then a third time to make sure, and as the poster above noted, it seems like there is something still holding the guitar closed. I don't want to force it and break anything. Didn't anyone else have this problem? How did you get it open???

Many thanks!

[xlr8shun]

2.) Lack of rebound: it looks like you could wrap a rubber band around the middle white tab of the strum bar and then a nearby screw tube/hole, one rubber band for upstrum and one for downstrum. I bet you the strum bar will be much springier after that.

I'm curious to see if this will work for anyone.

i tried this last night, and again this morning.. while it does help, it (sometimes) causes more problems than before, most of the time the rubber bands will help get the strumbar back to a neutral position, however there are occasions i noticed that it actually makes it 'stick' worse in an up or down position (depending on righty or lefty).

a better solution would be to get rid of those foam pads and put in something that is firmer (to help with rebound) but still as soft as foam (to allow you to depress the strumbar completly).

i'll be taking my guitar apart again, for the umptenth time and trying to figure something out, not sure what i'll be able to accomplish seeing as how its thanksgiving and noone is open (to buy any supplies) but hopefully i have something around the house i can use.

thanks everyone for all the suggestions so far, if anyone else has any feel free to post them

[BassGroover]

I had the double strumming and down strum not always registering problem. Opened it up and just loosened and adjusted that little screw for the down strums and tightened it back up. Works perfect again!

I didn't have any problems getting the back of the guitar off. Did you take off all the screws on the back plate and the silver screws for the strap?

[aquamaster]

Will this fix my issue on my strat? The issue is that up strumming works fine but down strumming is very sloppy and kinda sticks in the down position so its hard to do fast sequential note loops without it missing a few.

[ReplicantSeven]

I had the double strumming and down strum not always registering problem. Opened it up and just loosened and adjusted that little screw for the down strums and tightened it back up. Works perfect again!

I didn't have any problems getting the back of the guitar off. Did you take off all the screws on the back plate and the silver screws for the strap?

Yes I took off every single screw. What version of the guitar do you have? Mine is the 360. Maybe they are different? It's like there is something inside holding the guitar together, like plastic snapped together. I can open up the guitar ALL around the edge, all the way around, but in the middle it's held together by something???

Any help please?

[Cvette54]

Yes I took off every single screw. What version of the guitar do you have? Mine is the 360. Maybe they are different? It's like there is something inside holding the guitar together, like plastic snapped together. I can open up the guitar ALL around the edge, all the way around, but in the middle it's held together by something???

Any help please?

Ok, I had the same problem taking mine apart too. You have to remove the screws from the white plastic on the front of the guitar and lift it up slightly and rotate it. There will be 2 more screws that hold the back of the guitar to the front. They are black just like the ones on the back. Remove these 2 screws and the back cover will come off with ease. just be careful to not lose the screws cause there is a bunch of them lol.

BTW, the sticker on my box has 10/19 as the date it was boxed up. And I'm the poster who had the plastic fingers and towers. Can anyone tell me if mine is the older version of the guitar or the newer version?

[Leodoc]

Ok, I had the same problem taking mine apart too. You have to remove the screws from the white plastic on the front of the guitar and lift it up slightly and rotate it. There will be 2 more screws that hold the back of the guitar to the front. They are black just like the ones on the back. Remove these 2 screws and the back cover will come off with ease. just be careful to not lose the screws cause there is a bunch of them lol.

BTW, the sticker on my box has 10/19 as the date it was boxed up. And I'm the poster who had the plastic fingers and towers. Can anyone tell me if mine is the older version of the guitar or the newer version?

I have the xbox360 guitar as well...taking it apart was not a problem for me...the guitar pretty much fell into two when all the screws were taken out....

Btw...this fix DOES work...still having hte activation of "energy"/"starpower"....can't get the stpid thing to activate outside of hitting the select button...

oh well...

[PlattenFaust]

Ok rockers - check this out.

I took apart the strat only to discover the depths of screwedness we are all in.

Let me preface this first by saying I am "The Gray Bush", and a 20+ year IT vet so I do NOT recommend you go off and violate your warranties by ripping apart your Faux Fenders.

1st - this issue can not be fixed EXCEPT BY CHANGE OF HOW YOU STRUM - the filing trick will only work for some units.
2nd - the way the sensor mechanism was constructed is simply rediculous
3rd - I hope I don't get banned 'cuz this game rocks!

The mechanism for recording strokes can only be described as a 5th grade science experiment where I made a telegraph machine. It is two thin strips of metal on a foam shiv acting as the return spring.
The contacts are SO close together that if you sturm too quickly in the same direction the contacts never open.

The logic from the controller mechanism PULSES the circut so if you hold the strummer UP or DOWN for a few seconds you get an additional hit as well.

So the trick is this - you MUST double strum on fast / close notes, and this is compounded by the fact that you can't strum TOOOO hard OR tooo soft or it will not register.

This is a TRULY analog system for making strums happen.

No amount of tinkering is going to resolve this, so my suggestion is to learn to play this as best you can and maybe they will come out with a better unit.

Or you can buy the wireless Gibson - my homie has that and it uses microswitches for strumming - NEVER misses a note.

hope this helps!

[ReplicantSeven]

Ok, this is interesting!

I got my guitar open thanks to the above mentioned hidden screws, and.....

MY GUITAR IS DIFFERENT INSIDE than the others mentioned above.

I actually have the strum bar hitting microswitches, not creating contact with pieces of metal. They are small, plastic microswitches, and the downstrum microswitch has gone bad. There's no amount of doing anything that's going to fix it, the microswitch is jacked up.

Guess it's going back for a new one.

This is really, really bad. I have to wonder how bad the next one will be, and how many times I'll be sending these back. This is plain shoddy parts, workmanship and design. It looks like a 5th grader engineered the strum bar function of this guitar.

[Cvette54]

Ok, this is interesting!

I got my guitar open thanks to the above mentioned hidden screws, and.....

MY GUITAR IS DIFFERENT INSIDE than the others mentioned above.

I actually have the strum bar hitting microswitches, not creating contact with pieces of metal. They are small, plastic microswitches, and the downstrum microswitch has gone bad. There's no amount of doing anything that's going to fix it, the microswitch is jacked up.

Guess it's going back for a new one.

This is really, really bad. I have to wonder how bad the next one will be, and how many times I'll be sending these back. This is plain shoddy parts, workmanship and design. It looks like a 5th grader engineered the strum bar function of this guitar.

Ok so I guess that is what you call those little things, micro switches. Well then thats what mine has inside, plastic microswitches. Mine didn't go bad, but was just sticking a little, so thats why I applied that lubricant to the finger. It doesnt stick anymore and registers everytime now. I just have to figure out the timing for the strum bar now and everything will be ok.

[Keebler]

What about using springs instead of those foam shivs? Will that help with rebound, but keep the softness?

[Qweets]

Mines microswitches as well, I only opened mine because my rebound wasn't what I wanted my guitar has worked perfect since I got it and it has WELL over 20+ hours played on it so far. Heres a pic


http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i129/qweets/strum2.jpg

[Cvette54]

Thats the pic of what mine looks like on the inside. Ever since I added that lubricant mine works fine, the rebound is an issue that I'm currently trying to figure out the best course of action to fix it that could come out if the guitar does break.

[Agent-Smith]

Does anyone know if you send the guitar in if you get the updated version with microswitches?

[tallmidget]

Wow...that's all i can really say...

this week i've been on one mission...and that was to get Rock Band.
I searched around on the internet and came across this website where they had a bunch of suggestions on how to get rb for cheap. so i tried findin all these coupons and well...i couldn't find em...so i had to do this special deal at kmart w/ $50 gift cards (buy one and u get a $10 gift card for free) i didn't even know if this deal was gonna work...cuz it has kind of expired..so my mom goes to kmart, succeeds in getting the gift cards, but now we have to buy rb at a kmart. so we called about 5 diff. kmarts, and eventually found one with one copy at a store about an hour away...well...they would only hold the game for us for about an hour..so we had to book it to get up there, and pray that no one else would buy it...so...we get there, they have it, we buy it, and we go to my friends house to play it on his 360. Let me tell u, it was pretty freakin amazing, drums worked fine, guitar wasn't my Les Paul, but, hey, it worked pretty darn well....and then the strum double strums randomly and then doesn't downstrum...so i'm like, oh my god...we go and get this and now the strumbar sucks...luckily i think i've found the way to fix it...(don't know though, haven't opened it, probly at my friends house or here tomorrow, by the "symptoms" i'm guessing microswitches) thank you for takin ur time to post a solution!!! otherwise, this would've been just a really crappy week over all...seriously, though, this is a REALLY crappy peripheral thats been thrown at us and i think the dudes at harmonix or whoever made the peripheral really couldve tried a little harder...seriously...wow...

[IAOA001]

Okay, I'm going to take the sissy route about this and hold off on taking my Strat apart for the time being, and hope my vague descriptions will strike a chord, if you will.

It seems like I'm having a completely different problem than the others posted here. First, let me start off by saying that I have the PS3 version, with a date sticker of October 18, '07. With my guitar, it isn't a problem of notes not registering or the strum bar sticking. My problem is that my strum bar is TOO sensitive. I have to hit it just right, somewhere between a feather touch and moving it more than 10-degrees from the neutral position. Obviously, if I don't make contact, it's not going to do anything, but if I strum too hard, like pushing the bar to the maximum up- or down-stroke position, the return motion will register as an additional strum.

First, to those who have confirmed their controllers use the micro switches, are you able to compare them to the Gibson controllers from the Guitar Hero series? Do they make an audible clicking noise when the switch is activated? I was expecting the controller to respond just like my GH guitars, but it's not even close. With my Strat, both strumming motions are very smooth, though the bar itself feels stiffer than I had anticipated. The motion is completely silent, leaving me to believe that I've got either metal-to-metal or plastic-to-metal-to-metal contacts. I've been able to five-star most of the songs so far on Expert, as I've been doing with the Guitar Hero series, assuming I hit the strum bar -just right-, so it's unlikely my timing is at fault. Even with fast notes or strumming up and down, I don't have a problem so long as I keep a judicial amount of concentration controlling the strum bar exactly.

Basically, what this long post is asking, is if anyone has had a similar problem with an annoyingly too sensitive strum bar, and if they've been able to fix the problem at all. Normally I wouldn't mind opening the guitar myself, as I've done with older GH controllers to both paint the body and do some minor repairs/inspections; I just don't want to find myself up an unpleasant river without a paddle, after reading all the problems people have been having with their guitars. Keeping your warranty intact is a good thing.

[ReplicantSeven]

No, the microswitch variety of RB Strats do NOT click. It's not the "clicky" kind of microswitch you had on GH controllers, it's a soft spring loaded lever kind of switch.

It's really a BAD switch to use for this controller, and especially with how the strum bar is designed to contact the switch. It's pathetically poor design.

"Hey I have a great idea! We'll put this loose teeter-totter design in the middle, and let people go hog wild banging it back and forth to hit these sensitive microswitches."

Duh.

[ZenZen]

I posted another fix in the "Guitar Finally Died" thread. Not quick, very permanent, and totally voids your warranty....

linky: http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=10073

[blakbuzzrd]

I used Sanwa SW-68 microswitches in mine. They are silent (no clicks!), pin-point precise, and built to withstand the kind of beating that only a billion Japanese kids playing Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter can deliver. They're normally found in Sanwa OSBF pushbuttons, which are standard choices among discerning joystick builders.

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/9735/sanwabuttonswitchlg3.jpg

Here's how they look in my Strat now:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3392/finalplacementei6.jpg

I finished the mod and handed it to my wife to try. Now she doesn't want to play on the Les Paul, because "it isn't sensitive enough."

I'm working on a tutorial for anybody who cares to try it, because you do have to do a bit of courageous snipping and such to make the things fit appropriately. The result was well worth it to me.

[ZenZen]

oooh those are nice :)

good job!

[blakbuzzrd]

oooh those are nice :)

good job!Hilarious! I just looked at your mod, and we were clearly channeling the same impulse, right down to the battery compartment mod. Here's mine:

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7941/outerbatteryviewdn1.jpg

Did you realize the battery compartment was in the way first, or did you try to reassemble it and wonder why you couldn't make it fit? I was definitely in the latter camp. :rolleyes:

[ZenZen]

pfffft! Naturally I figured it out when I went to close it all up!

It was one of those "cripes.... what now eh?" moments.

[blakbuzzrd]

Hey ZenZen, how's your fix holding up? I'm getting weird upstrum issues, and have repeatedly tested all connections and replaced three switches trying to fix it. Sometimes upstrum doesn't work, and then suddenly it really works great. It's murder trying to play the fast strumming in Green Grass and High Tides in Expert.

Are you getting anything like this using those Cherry switches?

I wonder if I have the switches situated too close to the strum, so that sometimes the downstrum is still activated when I upstrum. I don't think that's the case, but I'm trying to take every possibility into account.

[ZenZen]

Hey ZenZen, how's your fix holding up? I'm getting weird upstrum issues, and have repeatedly tested all connections and replaced three switches trying to fix it. Sometimes upstrum doesn't work, and then suddenly it really works great. It's murder trying to play the fast strumming in Green Grass and High Tides in Expert.

Are you getting anything like this using those Cherry switches?

I wonder if I have the switches situated too close to the strum, so that sometimes the downstrum is still activated when I upstrum. I don't think that's the case, but I'm trying to take every possibility into account.

No problems at all actually. The cherry switches are working great! My biggest problem right now is having to ask my wife to rescue me and bring me back into the game working our way thru Hard BWT.

Geez she hates that :)

[DJiiiii]

I commend anyone for writing a diy like this.

However, I would rather NOT SHAVE my parts down. I prefer the idea of adding a thin slice of paper to make the contact thicker. If you guys don't have that FIX on this board, PM me. I have pics. But here is the idea:

The EASY SOLUTION. For most of you, this will work perfectly. It is all I needed. I took a very thin piece of rubber adhesive that has 3m on the back, cut it down to the exact length and width of the "contacts". Or you can use paper, which a few others have used, as their "shims". I think paper is an ok choice, but put some double sided scotch tape on it. Don't use normal printing paper from your copier machine. Use a thin "card stock". Like a magazine cover, or a greeting card. Not too thick though. Make sure you the double stick tape on the right side, you'll figure out which side is right, once you take apart your guitar and strum it. You don't want the contact to stick to the other contact. You want the paper to stick to the contact on the other side.


With the paper mod, my guitar will still be covered under warranty, in case of extreme difficulties down the line.

[ZenZen]

I commend anyone for writing a diy like this.

However, I would rather NOT SHAVE my parts down. I prefer the idea of adding a thin slice of paper to make the contact thicker. If you guys don't have that FIX on this board, PM me. I have pics. But here is the idea:



Ya know, most normal people would rather not go about cutting their peripherals apart and what not.

For some strange reason, I have popped open every different guitar controller I have owned thru the GH franchise and now Rock Band.

If you want to know the truth, I honestly think I was just waiting for an excuse to open mine up and start changing things to suit my tastes. Call it a sickness, but for some reason I get a little charge out doing weird ass things like that.

[MarcoPoko]

I like the Strat much better. It feels more like a real guitar (size, solo buttons, effects swithc, and close frets). I like the strum bar design, it is easier to use a pick to play.

But unfortunately mine finally took a dump tonight after a weeks use. Luckily I completed Hard mode before it died. But I will be trying the fix tomorrow.

[jgranto]

I experienced the strum bar issue, took apart the guitar, then found this thread. I fixed the issue, but as I put the guitar back together, noticed a loose part. I _think_ the part is for the tilt sensor; it is a small plastic cube, about the size of a small Lego... 1cm x 1.2cm x 0.8cm, with a single small plastic nub on one side. I cannot for the life of me see where this piece goes. Can someone help me out? Basically, I need a someone to provide a picture of the guitar interior with a "YOUR PART GOES HERE" sign...

Attached is a picture of the part (next to a penny for scale).

[blakbuzzrd]

I experienced the strum bar issue, took apart the guitar, then found this thread. I fixed the issue, but as I put the guitar back together, noticed a loose part. I _think_ the part is for the tilt sensor; it is a small plastic cube, about the size of a small Lego... 1cm x 1.2cm x 0.8cm, with a single small plastic nub on one side. I cannot for the life of me see where this piece goes. Can someone help me out? Basically, I need a someone to provide a picture of the guitar interior with a "YOUR PART GOES HERE" sign...

Attached is a picture of the part (next to a penny for scale).Your picture didn't come through. Based on what you describe, though, it sounds like you have a microswitch-based strum mechanism, and it's one of the strum microswitches that's come loose in the case.

[webduelist]

****DO NOT DO THIS FIX****

This fix will fix your guitar but is not the best or brightest way to do it.

What you need to fix it properly.

Masking tape (and something to cut it)
Screw driver
Tooth Pick

If you look at your downstrum contact you will notice that it is bent, this is what is making the downstrum not function or act weird. the problem is the pad behind it is too small and after so many strums the contact gets bent. here is how to fix that problem.

Step 1.

Open your guitar

Step 2.

Cut Masking tape into little peices about the size of the pad.

Step 3.

push the bent contact forward gently with the tooth pick and place a peice of masking tape behind it (sticky side faceing pad.)

put about 3-4 peices behind the contact.

Step 4.

Repeat on opposite strum microswitch (for people who cant figure it out its the up strum side now)

if it is not done it will bend after so much play and you will have to reopen your guitar to fix it.



small pad
---------------] this contact is bent and is the problem
---------------] this contact is fine leave it alone.
____Strum Bar____

[MANWHORE]

HOW DO YOU KNOW WICH MODEL GUITAR YOU HAVE?? THE NEW OR OLD..:confused: