Need to find a new Guitar for Guitar Hero 3

January 30, 2008 8:43 AM

I have Guitar Hero 3 for the Xbox 360, and think I might have broke the guitar (buttons are unresponsive at times, sometimes there's merely a lag, which is very frustrating). I thought it might be low battery at first, but putting in fresh ones didn't help (I even got the rechargeable pack, to no avail). So now I'm thinking of getting a new guitar for the game, but can't find where to buy one for the XBOX 360 anywhere. Is the guitar available?
posted by bronxteacher to technology (12 comments total)

What kind of tv do you have? A lot of plasmas and older LCD TV's have a delay. You can adjust for delay in the program. Google "guitar hero delay" for more info.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:59 AM on January 30, 2008

I have an older TV (not an LCD), and when I first played the game there was no delay at all. I played it for probably a month before problems started occurring. But I'll google the delay issue just in case.
posted by bronxteacher at 9:10 AM on January 30, 2008

Get warranty service done on the guitar. Call Activision (or whoever released it this time around)
posted by ijoyner at 9:12 AM on January 30, 2008

You might want to call them up and ask for a replacement. Breaking that early doesn't seem like regular wear and tear, unless you were really wailing on it.

Just make sure you specify you want a 360 guitar, or they might send you the wrong shipping box.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2008

When I bought the game, it seemed that there were two ways to get a guitar controller: buying the bundle with the game and the GH3 wireless guitar ($100) or buying the GH2 wired guitar ($70). Browsing a few retail websites, it seems that this is still the case.

The GH2 guitar didn't have a well-placed button to trigger star power (tilting the guitar always seems to break my stride), so I ended up buying two copies of the game, and then selling one copy to someone who already had two GH2 wired controllers. Since the game sells for $60, you could actually get a good price on the guitar, if you found a willing buyer.
posted by aneel at 9:28 AM on January 30, 2008

This is (anecdotally, through friends) a fairly common problem with the wireless guitars (thankfully not mine). The connection between the neck and the body is sometimes loose, and doesn't connect properly after some use. Warranty/replacement is your best bet.

Also found this repair video thingy after googling:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/how-to-fix-your-wireless-guitar-hero-3-guitar/3462105036

Might be worth a shot. IANAWGE (I am not a wireless guitar expert) -- attempt at your own risk...
posted by liquado at 9:34 AM on January 30, 2008

I'm not sure if they make 3rd party controllers for the 360, but if they do, I will caution you not to buy one. For any reason. I made this mistake on the PS2 version and the controller that I got was not only sub-par in terms of quality, but the setup was so much different that everybody who played on it noticed immediately that it was more difficult to play with. Furthermore, the differences between it and the bundled one was so drastic that playing on Expert was basically impossible after the first few sets, and it also tired my hands out a lot more. DO NOT buy anything but an official one if you have to end up going that route and can't warranty it as others have suggested.
posted by baphomet at 9:38 AM on January 30, 2008

Setting the delay is in the game options menu.

In any case I agree with calling up Activision. The internet said there were many problems with the first batches GH3 guitars (the wireless ones with the detachable necks.) Maybe you have one of those.
posted by sevenless at 9:38 AM on January 30, 2008

Seconding neck issues. On my wii guitar I have to hit the neck kind hard to get the buttons to work after detaching the neck.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:48 AM on January 30, 2008

If it's not a delay problem (ie, unresponsive buttons), try to remove the next and re-attach it. Make sure the face plate isn't getting in the way. There should be a good and solid 'click' when you get it in place. If you think you might have to return the guitar to the manufacturer, DON'T open it up. You'll void your warranty. I know Harmonix offers an expedited repair service (they get a credit card number and then send you a guitar. If you don't return the broken guitar, they charge you) so Activision may do something similar.

You can order just the guitar off of eBay pretty easily (I just got an extra Rock Band strat this week to paint up). Lots of places like GameStop will buy the unopened game back from you for a few bucks, so that can help reduce the overall cost. Talk to the guy behind the counter to see what he can work out. You can shop around on this as I've heard of different staff in the same store giving different prices.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:42 AM on January 30, 2008

To answer your specific question, no. The individual wireless Les Paul 360 controller is not yet on sale. Back in November they announced they would be in early 2008, but I suppose we are not there yet. Here's an auction on ebay but the price is already at $73 + $15 shipping and it doesn't end for two more days. Might as well get a new game bundle at your local store and sell the game for $30.

So, yeah... give Activision a call about getting a replacement.
posted by yeti at 11:49 AM on January 30, 2008

Ha! In Australia, you can pretty much *only* get 360 (and Wii and PS3) guitars. PS2 guitars, on the other hand, have been sold out for weeks, and won't be back in stock until January... mid-January... end of January at the latest... ok, February... no, definitely mid-February...
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:27 AM on January 31, 2008