Rock Band Guitar "Rubber Band" fix/mod

Spread the word:
DIGG THIS!!!

Ever notice how the "strummer" on the official Rock Band guitar feels kinda loose? Notice how when you strum the guitar it doesn't always respond and causes you to miss notes? Want to try to fix/improve your controller yourself and avoid sending it in for repairs? If yes, then read on!

Tools required for the job:
Philips Screwdriver
2 small rubber bands (small enough to squeeze your pinky finger)

1) Turn the guitar so it is face down, unscrew all of the screws on the back of the guitar, EXCEPT for the ones underneath the sticker, and on the neck of the guitar.

2) Take the back cover off the guitar, and you should notice where the strummer is immediately. There are only two small sponges being used to re-center the guitar strummer. Obviously, these sponges can't handle the job properly and this needs to be corrected.


(also, carefully tighten ALL of the screws around the strummer if they are loose)

3) Do you see the two sets of "hooks" or "latches" on the strummer and on the case itself? Hmmm, I wonder why those are there? They look like they were designed for a reason, but nothing is attached to them. I know! Let's attach some small rubber bands to these hooks, and see if this helps improve your guitar solos.



My wife found these rubber bands, not sure what purpose they were used for or where she got them, but they did the job. They were small enough to squeeze my pinky finger. Maybe you can use the same rubber bands that are used for braces. If the rubber band is too small, you can end up with a stiff strummer, if they are too big though, try "doubling them up" like a girl would with a hair tie. If you leave the rubber band on too loose, it could fall off, so use your best judgment.

As soon as I put my controller together, I fired up Rock Band, set my skill to expert and I was able to pull off 100% solos with this mod/fix! I Hope this helps someone else out and good luck!

Geez with those nubs there it looks like maybe that was the original intention and they were just left off when manufactured. Good trick though...worked for me.

Originally Posted by grapeape

Geez with those nubs there it looks like maybe that was the original intention and they were just left off when manufactured. Good trick though...worked for me.

I can just picture a manufacturing supervisor banging his head against the desk after he found that one thing that was missing from the blueprints... Of course after the factory made 100 000+ units :3

cya
Raziel-chan

I wish he had the actual size of the rubber bands listed or maybe a photo with one next to a size reference, like a penny, in its unaltered form. If I see any I will post back where I bought them from.

Later,

Alex

Yeah, the manufacture definitely missed those rubber bands, i would hope they didn't think that those sponges would hold up to all the strumming you have to do. I would take it back.

Just to let you know, this does not always work.

I got my Rock Band bundle yesterday, and upon opening it, the guitar double strummed when going down, and triple strummed when going up. I was mad pissed. I opened it up, did this rubber band trick, and had no success. I got very small bands, the strum bar seems more sturdy and returns to the center, but it still double and triple strums when going up or down.

I can't do a damn thing about it either because I'm in Canada, and EA will not warrant anything outside the USA right now.

I'm off to buy an Xplorer today, I'm not waiting another month to not be able to play the guitar parts on Rock Band because the peripheral manufacturers cannot do a good job on their controllers.

EDIT: And just to let you know, those sponges have very little to do with the double strumming issue. If you look at the top and bottom of the strum bar there are little contacts that hit when you go up or down -- It looks like the contacts are so cheaply made that they are contacting, slightly coming off, and recontacting, making for a double strum or triple strum. Plainly put, this guitar was made incredibly cheaply.

Originally Posted by hankchill

Just to let you know, this does not always work.

I got my Rock Band bundle yesterday, and upon opening it, the guitar double strummed when going down, and triple strummed when going up. I was mad pissed. I opened it up, did this rubber band trick, and had no success. I got very small bands, the strum bar seems more sturdy and returns to the center, but it still double and triple strums when going up or down.

I can't do a damn thing about it either because I'm in Canada, and EA will not warrant anything outside the USA right now.

I'm off to buy an Xplorer today, I'm not waiting another month to not be able to play the guitar parts on Rock Band because the peripheral manufacturers cannot do a good job on their controllers.

EDIT: And just to let you know, those sponges have very little to do with the double strumming issue. If you look at the top and bottom of the strum bar there are little contacts that hit when you go up or down -- It looks like the contacts are so cheaply made that they are contacting, slightly coming off, and recontacting, making for a double strum or triple strum. Plainly put, this guitar was made incredibly cheaply.

@Hankchill: I had the double strum error occasionally on mine and made it go away. Try comparing your guitar to mine for a reference of how the sensor should be positioned. The makers of the controller are apparently shipping the guitar with the positioning screw for the sensor too loose, causing the entire sensor assembly to rotate when it shouldn't. If the sensor moves too far away, you won't register anything at all when you strum, if it moves too close, you get double strums. Use the below picture as a reference to solve the problem. My guitar works perfect now, so if you can make everything look like mine, hopefully yours will work just as good also. Just make sure the screw is tight so the sensor won't move again, but be carefull not to over-tighten or you could strip out the threading in the case. Doing this combined with the rubber band trick should make everything better.


@alexandertyler: My wife said you can get those rubber bands at most 'dollar stores' and they are in the "hair tie" section. They are rubber bands for little girls hair (my 5 year old daughter). Just get the smallest size you can find. Here is a picture to help you out:

You can use bands smaller than this even, just depends on how tight/stiff you want the strummer to feel.

Tried readjusting the sensor assembly and tightening the screws.. No luck. It still double-strums on me.

It seems like an incredibly cheap way of sensing the strum, not surprised it doesn't work very well.

Looks like EA won't be able to get me a new one until December 18th...

Oh well, at least I went out and bought an Xplorer.

EDIT: Allrighty, I decided to take another peek at it, this time nice and close. I loosened the strum sensors, and then with a tiny screwdriver, turned the sensor as far as it would go, pushing against the foamy pads that are where the bigger screw lies, and tightened it in that position. After doing that for both strum sensors, I fastened 'er up, gave it a shot, and whaddaya know NO double strums at all. Managed to 5 star 3 songs straight without a problem. I wonder how long it'll hold up for, if it'll end up getting loose at all. Either way, looks like I can fix it now Thanx for all your help.

It looks as if the forgot to place springs on those latches and posts. And those foam pads are actually to reduce noise of the plastic on plastic when you strum. The original GH 1 and 2 had it too.

Those switches they used are a lot cheaper than the ones in the old guitars. They are very similar to old school arcade leaf style switches used for the buttons and joysticks as well as in pinball machines which still use them.

Most arcades use Cherry switches now as they are more reliable and tend to last longer.

I guess the advantage to these is you can clean them when they start to collect dirt or corrode. The one in the old guitars are switches I have never really seen anywhere. At least not easy to find and replace anyway.

But they with out a doubt left out some small extension springs.

Kinda like this.

another possible solution would be rubberbands that are used in orthodontics (for retainers or braces).

one thing to remember is that they will eventually dry-rot and fall apart or snap, so you'll have to go back in there once again.

an interesting mod would be to see if one could remove the leaf switches and replace them with better cherry microswitches. i have a bunch lying around since i play street fighter competitively and thus replace the microswitches on my arcade joysticks... food for thought.

Why does my rock band guitar controller look anything but this

That must be the revision they made to their guitars in an attempt to make them perform more reliably. How does that strummer feel/work? Does it still mess up like the previous one? I personally prefer to use the Guitar Hero controller over the Rock Band one even with all of the fixes.

the fact is it works well. I haven´t had any trouble.
But sometimes i feel i need to strung very hard to reach the notes.
i was planning to do the rubber band tunning in order to have a stiffer strung bar.

Yes it must be a revision. My first Rock Band guitar had the leaf switches and when one of them broke (during Green Grass and High Tides no less) I RMA'd it and got the one with magnetic switches back. No real noticeable difference in the strum bar for me. My first guitar had no problems with the strum bar. My only complaint is now I can make it more sensitive by placing bits of paper under the leaf springs (and the buttons seem so much louder now). Oh well.