*NEWER STRUM?* Popped open my guitar [Archive] - Rock Band Forums // Rock Band®

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Qweets

11-22-2007, 04:25 PM

Well I popped open my guitar because the rebound isn't like I want it, it feels too loose so I was gonna rubberband it. Now my guitar has been working perfect since I got it and I and my friends have put over 20 hours of use on it already and its still perfect, I believe I got the newer versions that they are probably replacing the broken ones with. Seems this one the strum tab touches a plastic spring loaded tab thingy and that signals the strum, and its super solid I don't think these little strum mechanisms would break.

Here are pictures to show what the strum looks like. Sorry if a few are blurry camera doesn't like to focus super close up.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i129/qweets/strum2.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i129/qweets/strum3.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i129/qweets/strum1.jpg

rcurll

11-22-2007, 04:38 PM

Could someone post pictures of a broken strumbar with the same pictures as posted? Maybe there is a visual difference between models?

admanimal

11-22-2007, 04:42 PM

Well I popped open my guitar because the rebound isn't like I want it, it feels too loose so I was gonna rubberband it. Now my guitar has been working perfect since I got it and I and my friends have put over 20 hours of use on it already and its still perfect, I believe I got the newer versions that they are probably replacing the broken ones with. Seems this one the strum tab touches a plastic spring loaded tab thingy and that signals the strum, and its super solid I don't think these little strum mechanisms would break.

Check the date on the bottom of your RB box if you still have it. If yours is really a newer model, the date should be in October sometime at least.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 04:53 PM

alright gonna look for that date.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 04:55 PM

sticker said 16-OCT-07

HellishFiend

11-22-2007, 04:55 PM

for the record my box had a sticker that said 10/7/07. My strum bar is not working properly but I have not opened it up yet. Dont know if I should or not.

admanimal

11-22-2007, 04:58 PM

sticker said 16-OCT-07

Huh interesting. I had two bundles...one from Sept. 27th and one from Oct. 13. The 9/27 guitar had a bunch of issues like a bad tilt sensor, broken effects switch, not being recognized at all by the 360 sometimes...so basically I never used it long enough to break the strummer, and now I'm waiting for a replacement for it.

The 10/13 one I have been using and I'm up to the last tier in expert solo tour and it still works great (and I actually prefer it over my GH2 XPlorer now).

morik_trask

11-22-2007, 04:59 PM

Check the date on the bottom of your RB box if you still have it. If yours is really a newer model, the date should be in October sometime at least.

So basically, if you pre-ordered, you're most likely screwed. If you bought it in a store at midnight, you're probably OK.

This would actually make sense for mine. The one I bought at Wal-mart is perfect. the pre-ordered one has a messed up strum bar. I'll look at the dates when I get home. I bet the pre-orders were all manufactured first though.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 05:03 PM

mine was actually pre-ordered... and it works perfect although my drums do have that thing where if you try to drumroll real fast it just cuts out.. not a big problem since I don't play on expert or anything yet.

admanimal

11-22-2007, 05:04 PM

So basically, if you pre-ordered, you're most likely screwed. If you bought it in a store at midnight, you're probably OK.

This would actually make sense for mine. The one I bought at Wal-mart is perfect. the pre-ordered one has a messed up strum bar. I'll look at the dates when I get home. I bet the pre-orders were all manufactured first though.

If you are talking about an in-store pre-order then maybe, but if you mean an online pre-order then the exact opposite is true, since copies need longer to go from the manufacturer to the store than they do if you order on line. Case in point: my 9/27 bundle was purchased at Target at 8am on 11/20. My 10/13 bundle was an EBGames.com pre-order.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 05:13 PM

think its worth getting drums replaced since I can't drum fast rolls on them?

SteppinRazor

11-22-2007, 05:14 PM

Interesting.

Blurriness aside, this looks like a production unit to me, where the other one I've seen an autopsy photo of, with the little metal strips for contacts, looks very pre-production IMO.

If I had to guess, I bet the infamous demo unit guitars look just like the 'metal strips' mechanism photos in the other thread.

These photos do look much sturdier, much more well thought out as far as we can see.

Does your camera have a "Macro" or "Macroscopic" setting, that would help it take photographs at 6 inches and stay in focus. Some more photos would be appreceated.

morik_trask

11-22-2007, 05:19 PM

The close-up picture button usually has a little flower-looking thing on it.

And yes, I was thinking of in store pre-orders in my earlier post.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 05:21 PM

the one thats really bright is the clearest one I could get and yeah it does have a close up macro setting but like it still didn't work well.. I really don't wanna open it back up seeing how it takes FOREVER. Should be able to see just how it works with the clearer pic, just a little plastic tab thing that gets pushed inward towards a spongy pad and it pops back up like its spring loaded.

admanimal

11-22-2007, 05:23 PM

think its worth getting drums replaced since I can't drum fast rolls on them?

If you're really sure they are broken, then might as well do it now before the 60 days are up and/or EA starts getting pickier about what they replace.

the one thats really bright is the clearest one I could get and yeah it does have a close up macro setting but like it still didn't work well.. I really don't wanna open it back up seeing how it takes FOREVER. Should be able to see just how it works with the clearer pic, just a little plastic tab thing that gets pushed inward towards a spongy pad and it pops back up like its spring loaded.

Now I'm curious so I'm going to take mine apart...I'll try to get a good pic.

SteppinRazor

11-22-2007, 05:25 PM

Thats cool, dont open your guitar back up on our account. I'm sure somebody else will do it soon.

Do you think that foam bit is for rebound/recoil or for sound dampening? Or do you think that is what the spring is for?

admanimal

11-22-2007, 05:30 PM

Now I'm curious so I'm going to take mine apart...I'll try to get a good pic.

Aaand now that I see how many screws there are and since it's 2:30 am here...I think I'll check it out tomorrow.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 05:45 PM

hmm the foam stuff isn't like foam its like a super soft sponge like I believe its there for sound dampering I didn't even think of it that way till you said something if I took that off I'd probably get the clicky sound.. I like the clicky sound... hmm lol

Anthonysandoval

11-22-2007, 05:57 PM

the inside of my guitar looks exactly like the one in the pics, and its still broken

Qweets

11-22-2007, 06:00 PM

did you see anything in yours to make you know for sure it was broken? like is the strum not touching the tabs or are the tabs broken!?

Anthonysandoval

11-22-2007, 06:04 PM

did you see anything in yours to make you know for sure it was broken? like is the strum not touching the tabs or are the tabs broken!?

everything makes contact just fine, and it will work occasionally, but eventually will stop working, almost as if its stuck, because even down on the dpad wont work. i already have EA shipping me a box to replace it.

Qweets

11-22-2007, 06:07 PM

Hmm the D-pad not working as well sounds a bit more technical like as if there is an actual wiring problem.

Anthonysandoval

11-22-2007, 06:09 PM

Hmm the D-pad not working as well sounds a bit more technical like as if there is an actual wiring problem.

yeah, ive tried dissecting the insides, but its simply not worth my time if EA will replace it for free, and i have my explorer to use in the mean time

Ultrace

11-22-2007, 06:22 PM

Check the date on the bottom of your RB box if you still have it. If yours is really a newer model, the date should be in October sometime at least.
This gives me extra hope. We gave our strat a pre-Christmas test for half an hour and it was fine, but I've definitely had some concerns about the long-term use. Our box was dated 10/22, so hopefully we got a later model from a good factory... We have 2 GH3 LPs (360) anyway, but I want to use the strat and that effects switch! :)

willko

11-22-2007, 06:23 PM

i haven't opened mine up yet, but the date on the box says october 12th and mine died after a day. it was an in-store pre-order too

NotorietyH

11-22-2007, 06:34 PM

Wouldn't opening p a broken guitar invalidate the warranty? Just saying, in case EA decide to charge you for your replacement when they get your broken guitar and see it's been opened.

CantaloupeDog

11-22-2007, 06:41 PM

That mechanism is definitely different than the one in mine and yes that looks WAY more stable than whats in mine, hopefully my replacement gets here soon, as for pictures of the old style i posted some in the thread for already broken intruments

kururu

11-22-2007, 06:46 PM

mine is 10/13/07 from bestbuy. all instrument works great so far :x

MysteryMan

11-22-2007, 07:30 PM

Where are you guys seeing the date on the box?

jordan15b

11-22-2007, 07:36 PM

i popped mine open too due to my wammy spring snapping and destroying stuff inside the guitar now it wont strum so im waiting for a replacement

they cant tell if you opened it it doesnt have any stickers or anything like that

xsoulbrothax

11-22-2007, 07:40 PM

Hm. My box is October 24th. Grabbed it w/o a preorder.. I'm pretty sure there's no correlation between preorder/walkin and the date on the box, though.

AVC808

11-22-2007, 08:19 PM

Hm. My box is October 24th. Grabbed it w/o a preorder.. I'm pretty sure there's no correlation between preorder/walkin and the date on the box, though.
so is yours broken or working fine?

i have two ps3 bundles, 10/23 and 10/24. so far no problems, but we've been pretty easy on the instruments because of all the horror stories. we want this to last through the holiday weekend :)

Angry_Games

11-22-2007, 08:23 PM

10/24/2007

strumbar broke after 5 songs

mine was an off-the-shelf purchase at Target in southern Idaho.

seafisch

11-23-2007, 12:43 AM

The date on the bundle box is Oct 11, but the box the guitar came in has 27907CT on it, which I'm assuming is Sept 27. Anyway, mine has a faulty strumbar, so it's replacement time. Nice quality control...

thebillyman

11-23-2007, 12:43 AM

yeah, the model's are definitely different. The other ones have these small thin metal pieces that get pushed together.

Kohlbot

11-23-2007, 01:36 AM

As far as the warranty goes, nowhere on the guitar itself does it say that it will void any warranty. And from what I know from the Better Business Bureau, they cant get you for opening the guitar because nowhere on the guitar does it at all say anything about voiding anything. On another note I got out the box that the guitar came in and found that the date said, "28307CT." If this is truly the date that the guitar was manufactured, then without a doubt it is one of the pre-production demo type units that were first created for testing. I'm not going to assume anything but I'm thinking MTV/EA/Harmonix just decided that there were no issues with this guitar, but I have had issues with this guitar. I was having the strum problem like a lot of outer users, so I decided to open it up, twice actually. The first time I opened it up I tried to put a piece of tape behind the metal contact that is being touched with the first contact. That didn't work very well. So I opened it back up, took out the tape and actually used a fingernail file to file down the contacts just a little and blew it out with compressed air and it has been working great the last 5 hours straight. Still the same I have a replacement on the way.

Dillius

11-23-2007, 01:56 AM

Mine was a preorder, dated october 8 on box, strum bar broken within 6 hours.

toefer

11-23-2007, 02:20 AM

When everyone says their guitar is broken, does it just not work at all, or is it just not really responsive? Mine still registers strums, but not when I strum fast, which is why I consider it broken, because I figure if you can't strum fast enough to play on expert, then it's just not right.

Also, the number on the actual box the guitar came in isn't the date, or at least I don't think it is. Mine was 23407CT, and I doubt they were putting these things together in April, and if the CT is for OCT and its supposed to be OCT 23 07, with a bonus 4 thrown in, then that's wrong too, because my RB box says Oct 7th.

Add one more to the theory of pre-orders being earlier units, because the 2nd box I picked up from Target, as a gift, is Oct 23rd.

MajorYoshi

11-23-2007, 02:33 AM

I'm also curious about this as I don't know how everyone strums.

Do you hold it like a pick? tap down with your thumb? pull up with a finger?

I actually use my middle finger and tap the strum bar up unless I've got a bunch of 8th note trips or 16ths to play where I strum up and down.

I've found that with the new guitar, it's very, very hard for 16th notes to register when I tap it up twice (I'll do that when there are only two or three in a row). It almost always misses the second or third ones.

To make sure it wasn't me just being off, I tried some of the problem songs again with my GHIII controller and I cranked through them without a problem. Went back to the new guitar and tried again and failed again.

So, my question would be: Is the guitar just not that good for the way I strum or is it broken?

thx!

toefer

11-23-2007, 02:36 AM

I'm also curious about this as I don't know how everyone strums.

I down strum 100% of the time. Usually I have my hand open, and hook my fingers around the bottom of the guitar body, to kind of anchor my hand, and then just tap with my thumb.

blgage

11-23-2007, 02:51 AM

for the record my box had a sticker that said 10/7/07. My strum bar is not working properly but I have not opened it up yet. Dont know if I should or not.

oh sh1t thats the date on mine. and i can't open it till the 15thish of december. Well, even if my parents bought on launch day, (def later, they're not like that) i'd still be under warranty until 1/20/08. Plus i have an xplorer to use and drums and mic lol. ZOMFGZORZ111111!1111! I CNAT AIWT!11!1111!!1 TEH LEETINESS!!1!1!1!

ReplicantSeven

11-23-2007, 02:53 AM

Well, I have the newer strum also, and mine still broke. Downstrum is dead in the water. Up works fine.

Xervai

11-23-2007, 03:10 AM

10/21 everything works like a charm.

zepplinmike

11-24-2007, 03:06 AM

sorry wrong post

ddarko

11-24-2007, 05:47 AM

I took apart my strat to try and apply the fix but also discovered that I have a different looking switch. I've posted some close up shots below.

Although my strat works it still misses some strums or double strums which is quite irritating. There is also a great deal of dead space at it's resting state since the strum bar does not make contact with the internal switches at rest. As a result the switches end up getting hammered by the strum bar instead of simply being pushed in and makes it difficult to play faster notes. At the moment I'm thinking about adding some material to the little tabs that make contact with the switch to reduce the dead space. At this point I think I actually prefer the other type of switch that actually let's you see the switching mechanism.

Anthonysandoval

11-24-2007, 07:10 AM

we are trying a new method today. we are swaping the switches so that the down strum is up and up strum is down, hopefully that works ok for now, it will basically only be used by people playing easy/medium

Stevenam81

11-24-2007, 07:22 AM

djbarg

11-24-2007, 07:43 AM

Has anyone thought of taking apart a different guitar (say from Guitar Hero 1) and swapping out the fret assembly? I don't know if that's even possible, but the connections 'should' be the same.

Just an idea.

My strum bar is definately broke, it sometimes won't register correctly, and I have a replacement on the way.

Superchivo

11-24-2007, 08:13 AM

Anthonysandoval

11-24-2007, 08:20 AM

Ardrikk

11-24-2007, 09:18 AM

I strum by pushing the strum bar down with my thumb, 100% of the time, and I have the rest of my right hand underneath the whammy bar so I can use it easily.

My white QC sticker is dated 10/18/07 and after about 5 and a half hours of beautiful play, my strum bar started randomly double strumming (or sometimes triple strumming, I think). It does it in menu selections in both the XBox 360 Dashboard and the menus/lists of songs in Rock Band, too.

The up strum still works and I also have a GH2 Xplorer guitar, so we've been upstrumming when there have been 4 people playing and I also requested a replacement from EA late Tuesday night. Though so far UPS is saying they've only received the billing information and not the actual product to ship to me.

Qweets

11-24-2007, 09:39 AM

well mine actually broke now and this totally sucks..

k_luva

11-24-2007, 09:47 AM

And STILL...silence from HMX....Black Friday is over boys....come on out with it! AND TELL THE FLIPPIN TRUTH...I can respect the truth...

mikeoley

11-24-2007, 10:30 AM

The jury is still out on the STRAT for me. I played it for about a total of 20 hours and it was working relatively fine...then all of a sudden last night the dreaded doubled strum began to happen.

I came here and read some forms and came up with my own fix which was really simple. If you've opened your guitar and looked at the strum unit you'll see tiny reeds of metal that touch together which activate a strum. The top one in my instance wasn't touching unlike the bottom (while the strum bar was in the rest position).

Solution: I just took a post card cut off a tiny piece, folded it in half and then slipped it above the top metal reeds.

Works great for the time being.

I am pretty cranky about how flimsy and poor these guitars look inside though. They really couldn't have come up with a better way to do it then this?

But that is my only complaint. Everything else rocks my face off.

Formica

11-24-2007, 10:41 AM

And STILL...silence from HMX....Black Friday is over boys....come on out with it! AND TELL THE FLIPPIN TRUTH...I can respect the truth...

Don't you think everyone deserves a Thanksgiving weekend, including Harmonix? There isn't much more they can tell us that we haven't already figured out ourselves. Why not let them relax for another 48 hours before they come back to the fray? It took 12 hours for my strum button to break, and it's quite disappointing because I really like the new style of fret buttons, but that's the way it goes. EA and Harmonix clearly knew about the issues and at least had the infrastructure ready to go on launch day to handle the de facto recall.

Let 'em eat turkey sandwiches and watch football till Monday.

AdamBomb629

11-24-2007, 10:46 AM

Don't you think everyone deserves a Thanksgiving weekend, including Harmonix? There isn't much more they can tell us that we haven't already figured out ourselves. Why not let them relax for another 48 hours before they come back to the fray? It took 12 hours for my strum button to break, and it's quite disappointing because I really like the new style of fret buttons, but that's the way it goes. EA and Harmonix clearly knew about the issues and at least had the infrastructure ready to go on launch day to handle the de facto recall.

Let 'em eat turkey sandwiches and watch football till Monday.

This could also speak to why they have such a fast replacement system in place.

ImaAsian

11-24-2007, 04:19 PM

:confused:
I

Although my strat works it still misses some strums or double strums which is quite irritating. There is also a great deal of dead space at it's resting state since the strum bar does not make contact with the internal switches at rest. As a result the switches end up getting hammered by the strum bar instead of simply being pushed in and makes it difficult to play faster notes. At the moment I'm thinking about adding some material to the little tabs that make contact with the switch to reduce the dead space. At this point I think I actually prefer the other type of switch that actually let's you see the switching mechanism.

yeah i have the same problem, it occasionally misses strums on faster notes. how can this be fixed?

Granteezy

11-24-2007, 04:25 PM

For the record...

My box is dated Oct. 16 '07, and my strum bar is toast, as well as overdrive activation.

nitroman28

11-24-2007, 06:26 PM

mohkilla

11-24-2007, 06:45 PM

if they couldve made the Rockband guitar with click noise and worked perfect i wouldnt give a damn about the click, i like it actually, but trying to make a non click ended up with tons of defective controllers.... if the click is the prob, add it..be my guest i dont care!!

ImaAsian

11-24-2007, 06:50 PM

thats true i like the click better than no click. maybe thats the worse mistake they made for this game.

ddarko

11-24-2007, 08:11 PM

What model # is your guitar? It's on the sticker on the back.

Model#: 822152

KaYotiX

11-24-2007, 08:50 PM

I hate the clicking noise, its so annoying. Im glad they got rid of it. Also my Strat has been working flawless since i got it.

Qweets

11-24-2007, 09:20 PM

KaY I was like you, I thought I got lucky and had a flawless strat, then it just went to crap out of nowhere =\ lets hope the new batch of guitars aren't craptastic.

lineous

11-25-2007, 08:15 AM

... I tried some of the problem songs again with my GHIII controller and I cranked through them without a problem. Went back to the new guitar and tried again and failed again....

yeah, the whole "not registering" thing happens to me as well... I have the non-contact switches as well, so....

I also noticed that the non-engaging distance was too great. I placed a mm thick piece of puffy tape on the part of the strum bar that connects with the switch so that the switch registers sooner and more acurately, but even that doesn't help me.

so, unless a better guitar comes out (like the GH one) I may be out of luck... or I'll just return the whole thing

Lovecraft

11-25-2007, 02:28 PM

Ya, I have this model, with the plastic switches and the 'cap screws' holding them in place. I can't see anything amiss, yet after playing for a short time, strumming gets rapidly worse then unusable. So I think that the theory that this is a new strum that won't break is shot out of the water.

For those who are asking 'how' people strum, that's a moot point. As soon as you go out to a menu and try to use the strum bar to navigate up and down the problem is readily apparent; you won't be able to move in one direction or another. it's simply stopped registering movement. Since the plastic switches are very captive, I can only assume that maybe with some use they are bending, or the contacts within are not working.

I would really like to use this guitar rather than my 'old' Xplorer, so I hope to hear from Harmonix next week. :cool:

XactRecords

11-26-2007, 01:29 PM

Anyone having a problem with the wammy bar not working but still functioning? For example my wammy bar still has spring and feels correct when I use it. However it won't bend notes like it used to so I can't fill up my overdrive meter, etc. It really sucks. Wondering if anyone else had this problem?

AnonymousSkull

12-01-2007, 12:00 PM

Remember that Red Octane owns the patents on the GH guitar controller, so Harmonix had to use a different switch system to avoid a lawsuit. It's certainly possible that Red Octane went through many many revisions of strum bar contacts before they got the current one, which works fabulously.

My first RB guitar, which I'm sending out Monday, has the two metal prongs that touch together, and died on the second day of use. The sticker on the RB box was Oct. 12, 2007. Drums seem to be working fine.

I have not taken apart my new RB guitar, but when I push the strum bar up and down, I can see the black foam, so I know it's different than my original one. It's working fine after two days, we'll see if it continues to work.

Note that both my first and second RB guitars have the exact same product numbers on the sticker on the rear of the guitar.

bart2712

12-02-2007, 12:07 AM

ok, just for info, maybe thisll help someone out...i have one of the newer model strats. I know this cuz one day after i got my bundle the downstrum stopped working correctly and so did the d-pad(seemed to be recognizing it as if i kept pressing strum bar constantly in rapid succession), so i took my guitar apart to do the contacts fix and found the same thing he showed in his pics. I took the one whole switch piece with the plastic out that controls the downstrum, but not the strum bar assembly, then put the switch piece back in, put the guitar back together and now downstrum seems to work fine ever since. Only real issue ive had at all with it is that its very sensitive on downstrum so i seem to have to just gently tap it on a rapid succession of notes...if i hit the strum bar too hard on those notes itll miss one in the middle somewhere every time, but if i gently touch it quickly i hit every note.

Lady Siara

12-02-2007, 12:29 AM

oh sh1t thats the date on mine. and i can't open it till the 15thish of december. Well, even if my parents bought on launch day, (def later, they're not like that) i'd still be under warranty until 1/20/08. Plus i have an xplorer to use and drums and mic lol. ZOMFGZORZ111111!1111! I CNAT AIWT!11!1111!!1 TEH LEETINESS!!1!1!1!

Which brings up a concern for me..
If you get this as a christmas gift, and any of my instruments break, will the warranty last or will it have long expired? >_> I don't wanna get screwed and stuck with broken instruments.

Nekura20x6

12-02-2007, 12:38 AM

This would actually make sense for mine. The one I bought at Wal-mart is perfect. the pre-ordered one has a messed up strum bar. I'll look at the dates when I get home. I bet the pre-orders were all manufactured first though.

Nope - I waited at midnight and got one of the open switch models.

There is a difference in the two models, most notably the fact that the new one has closed switches instead of the open reed contacts for the strum bar.

RockBand.com