Post by: sicknasty413 on November 02, 2007, 02:19:00 PM
Well, as the story goes, I purchased Guitar Hero 3 for the Xbox 360 on Wednesday. Being impressed by the guitar's sheer sexiness, I was ready to rock it out. But, to my dismay, my yellow button was unresponsive!
After some troubleshooting, I came to the realization that the fret board (the long black shaft with the green, red, yellow, blue, and orange buttons) was a little loose. So, as any xbox-scene member would do, I took it apart! Some of my findings will come later in this tutorial, as I believe them to not be the direct cause of unresponsive buttons; I don't want to confuse anyone.
Without further ado, my Guitar Hero 3 Guitar Fix
* Please ignore my lack of proper guitar vocabulary *
-Supplies-
Guitar Hero 3 Guitar
Torx driver
T8 bit (I think that's the size)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11338.jpg)
-Step 1-
Removing the fret board from the guitar:
This step is very simple. Simply flip the guitar over and push the lever from one side to the other (left to right.. up to down.. depends how you're looking at it). This will unlock the fret board, allowing you to pull the fret board away from the guitar.
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11339.jpg)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11340.jpg)
-Step 2-
Unscrewing 2 screws:
In this step, you remove 2 screws using your T8/torx driver. They're located here-
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11346.jpg)
-Step 3-
How the fret board/guitar works:
Basically, there's a green PCB (Printed Circuit Board) on the end of the fret board with 8 "golden" points. In the receiving end of the guitar, there are 8 metal pins. When the fret board is inserted into the guitar, the 8 metal pins in the guitar make contact with the 8 "golden" points on the fret board. We'll be working with the green PCB.
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11343.jpg)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11345.jpg)
-Step 4-
Finding the "tabs":
Basically, the green PCB is secured by 4 tabs. There are tabs in the bottom left corner, bottom right corner, upper left corner, and upper right corner. What were gonna do is move the PCB IN FRONT of the tabs. By "in front," I mean in the direction of the guitar (if it were being inserted into the guitar) The tabs are indicated by the red arrows-
"Bottom" tabs:
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11348.jpg)
Different angle:
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11347.jpg)
"Upper" tabs:
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11352.jpg)
-Step 5-
Moving the PCB:
So here comes the actual fix. Since you already removed the screws in step 2, all you have to do is carefully pry the 2 halves the fret board open. As in, grab the "top" of the fret board and pull it upwards; Grab the "bottom" of the fret board and pull it downwards (This may be easier to do with just 1 hand, seeing as how you'll need the other). With your free hand, grab/finagle/move the green PCB in front of the tabs. I found it easier to do the "bottom" of the green PCB first, then do the "top." It should look like this-
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11353.jpg)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11355.jpg)
*Notice- the tabs are no longer present because they're located behind the green PCB*
-Step 6-
Putting the fret board back together:
Now that the green PCB is in its new position, make sure the fret board is securely and properly closed. Now take the 2 screws from earlier that you removed and screw them back in. Now slide the fret board into the guitar, kick on your 360, and test it out!
IF this doesn't work, you may want to completely take apart the fret board and take a look at the wiring inside. I found this-
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11333.jpg)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11334.jpg)
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11336.jpg)
Although it looks as if the "pins" are strategically placed, I'd double check.. perhaps even remove the wiring from them to get this-
(IMG:http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i293/sicknasty413/Guitar%20Hero%203%20Guitar%20Fix/SNC11337.jpg)
Well, that's all I got. I surely hope I've been of help!
Enjoy rocking it out with your fixed guitar!
Cheers!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Post by: yaazz on November 03, 2007, 08:13:00 AM
Post by: josh256 on November 03, 2007, 11:17:00 PM
Post by: Wireless Geek on November 04, 2007, 04:40:00 PM
I thought from day 1 that the detachable neck was a bad idea. What exactly were they thinking? My intention was to possible just hard wire the sucker. I think I'll start first here.
Well done!
Post by: mike8519 on November 04, 2007, 04:49:00 PM
Post by: BoNg420 on November 04, 2007, 06:18:00 PM
Post by: commandersafi on November 04, 2007, 07:29:00 PM
QUOTE(BoNg420 @ Nov 4 2007, 07:54 PM) 
Maybe they will make addon necks in the future? Something to make the guitar look different
That would be awesome
Post by: sicknasty413 on November 06, 2007, 08:41:00 PM
And holy crap to the amount of views this thread has gotten! Almost 8000 in just a few days!
I agree with commandersafi.. new/custom necks would be friggin' sweet!
Cheers!
Post by: edgekrusher187 on November 06, 2007, 09:57:00 PM
Post by: fred333 on November 07, 2007, 11:44:00 AM
Post by: thedutch on November 08, 2007, 11:51:00 AM
And I am very pleased with the results
Just two things I'd add, for novices like myself who want to do this:
Use a T10 torx screwdriver bit, not T8. A full set cost me $12 at Lowe's, you can prolly find one cheaper!
Take out the first four screws instead of just the first two, it'll give you a little more room to do it.
Now the neck fits tightly with the body, doesn't budge, and plays perfectly! I'm so happy! Thanks for posting this!
Post by: sicknasty413 on November 08, 2007, 01:05:00 PM
Removing more screws is fine.. I just did the minimal amount.
I'm glad it worked out for you! Have fun being a rock star!
Cheers!
Post by: Birdy2k2 on November 08, 2007, 08:21:00 PM
This post has been edited by Birdy2k2: Nov 9 2007, 04:23 AM
Post by: dattack on November 15, 2007, 10:04:00 AM
Does anyone see this as an issue?
Im curious if to much stress is being put on the pins, since the guitar neck is very tight. I had to press pretty hard to lock it in.
Post by: PvtPepper on November 15, 2007, 04:39:00 PM
Post by: CPU64 on November 15, 2007, 09:23:00 PM
In order to avoid future problems like that, I just went ahead and made my own guitar, no strum bar, no fret buttons. But 6 strings, Oh yeah!
http://media.putfile.com/First-guitar-test
Post by: Birdy2k2 on November 15, 2007, 10:11:00 PM
Post by: mindsweepur on November 16, 2007, 03:40:00 PM
QUOTE(Birdy2k2 @ Nov 15 2007, 11:47 PM)
I haven't been able to fix the Yellow Button coming on when I down-strum Green+Red. So I'm at a loss there.
Mine does the same thing and then when I hold blue+yellow I have to strum up as well. local store keeps putting me off since they don't have any guitars. also there are 2 other combinations, when I hold down 2 buttons they don't strum at all but all buttons by themselves work fine, I'm at work right now and I can't remember what all my faulty combinations are, our problem seems a little different than the others. I know on scorehero they have a whole lespaul problem thread but I've seen nothing to help people with our problem. If you figure anything out please post I will as well.
Post by: Mistercurly on November 27, 2007, 07:04:00 AM
Guitar hero web page
I am going to give this a try tonight and see if it works
Post by: Teksu on December 15, 2007, 12:26:00 AM
Post by: Frosty Fresh on December 15, 2007, 01:31:00 PM
Post by: andyc240 on December 16, 2007, 11:59:00 AM
Post by: CaptainChaos on December 19, 2007, 05:51:00 AM
Thanks Heaps
Post by: XMarmot on December 19, 2007, 07:24:00 PM
Thank you thank you thank you. Both my GH3 guitar and the RockBand guitar started acting up. Your fix worked great on the GH3 one. RB one is GOING BACK. But I don't like it that well anyway- MUSHY!!!
One thing to note is that if people have trouble getting the neck back together, check that the wiring harness isn't in the way of one of the screws going back in.
THANKS AGAIN!!!!
Post by: DeWeapon X on December 23, 2007, 06:58:00 PM
I opened up the body of the guitar, and then the neck. You'll find a circuit board similar to that found on the neck for the body.
I just cut the circuit boards off, after tracing the leads in the circuitry to match up which wire goes to which and then marked accordingly.
So then I just stripped each wire after pulling them apart from the ribbon form to make it easier, and soldered and taped them off. I ran into a successful ending, except I have lost response for the blue and yellow buttons, which I am going to work on later when I have time. But yeah, this also works if you want to just make sure it is a no-fail direct connection from button to wireless transmitter.
I think that the whole detachable neck thing is personally a bad idea. It's not like people will necessarily do it, I could see if the guitar was much bigger, then it would need that option possibly, but with a small guitar, I think it was a rushed end-development decision that needed to be thought through a lot more.
But yeah I might post pictures of the end result once I figure out why two of the eight wires aren't fully going through.
Post by: sicknasty413 on December 26, 2007, 11:32:00 PM
To all that have found this useful, you're very welcome. I hope you've been living your dreams as a rock star!
To all that have not found this useful (have there been any? lol), I'm very sorry! Good luck finding a solution.
Sorry I haven't really kept up with this thread!
Anyway, happy holidays and happy new year everyone!
Post by: chocolatecheese on January 14, 2008, 08:42:00 PM
Post by: xerxes3rd on January 17, 2008, 06:29:00 PM
Post by: B0N3D on January 19, 2008, 09:59:00 AM
Post by: planet_captain on February 05, 2008, 12:03:00 AM
Post by: Kamakazie on February 18, 2008, 06:21:00 PM
Post by: geeksunny on March 08, 2008, 03:32:00 PM
My friends and I decided we're just gonna rip the thing open and hardwire it. There's no need for a detachable neck in the first place, anyways.
This'll be fun!
Post by: dreddy71 on March 26, 2008, 12:03:00 AM
it is a shitty design...
Post by: ljm180 on April 04, 2008, 12:21:00 AM
Post by: Chronomicon on April 06, 2008, 06:31:00 PM
I'm happy to report that I was able to complete this fix in about one minute flat, I used a pair of household scissors instead of a screw driver to remove and replace the screws and it worked fine. My guitar neck no longer wobbles and all the buttons respond great.
You're an internet hero, way to go.
Post by: shhhx on May 04, 2008, 02:33:00 PM
Have anyone had the same problem? thanks for the answers and sorry about my english
Post by: xXBooshXx on May 04, 2008, 03:05:00 PM
Ok thanks, cause yeah, I did this fix, and it worked for about a week, then instead of just the yellow button cutting out, now the red, yellow, blue, and orange buttons cut out So now I'm stuck with a faulty Les Paul, a faulty Xplorer (badly made, whammy bar came off), and a crappy Fender (one of the messed up Rock Band models).
Post by: timbo101 on May 13, 2008, 02:15:00 PM
QUOTE(xXBooshXx @ May 4 2008, 02:41 PM)
Ok, so our "PCB" has little holes drilled into each little gold circle I think due to too much pressure put on them by the closer location to the sensor things. So I hope you guys know about what's goin' on, cause I have no clue. Oh and just because this is the newest post, don't disregard the guy's post before me
Ok thanks, cause yeah, I did this fix, and it worked for about a week, then instead of just the yellow button cutting out, now the red, yellow, blue, and orange buttons cut out So now I'm stuck with a faulty Les Paul, a faulty Xplorer (badly made, whammy bar came off), and a crappy Fender (one of the messed up Rock Band models).Have not done the fix described int his thread, so Guitar is still standard, but on looking at the connectors in the neck I found that they too have in pin holes drilled in. I think I'm going to attempt to tin the connectors to see if that fixes it.
I noticed the the pins in the main body seem awfuly sharp (like needles). I suspect that this and the neck moving in the joint while being played may be wearing out the connectors in the neck. if this is the case then this is just going to keep happening. (Very poor design in my opinion)
Post by: sicknasty413 on May 17, 2008, 03:13:00 PM
For those who have -not- found this tutorial useful, I apologize. Best of luck!
Post by: 350_pimp on June 03, 2008, 09:07:00 PM
Post by: panthersqb8 on June 15, 2008, 07:32:00 PM
Post by: HackerSupreme on June 17, 2008, 11:16:00 AM
Post by: Daryl0 on June 25, 2008, 08:08:00 PM
my green fret constantly wouldn't register as being pressed (the contact at the base of the neck is probably dirty so it was making poor contact) but the extra pressure seems to force it to make decent contact.
@panthersqb8 and anyone who has the issue with the neck not snapping back in place:
it won't lock in by just pushing it but if you hold the release switch all the way open you can force it in enough and manually close the switch all the way.
i just hope the next model doesn't have a removable neck....
Post by: scars4eyes on June 29, 2008, 04:04:00 AM
thanks
-larry
Post by: sephoratrading on July 01, 2008, 07:49:00 PM
Not to say that it is hard to repair the part of the guitar as it is just a simple transfer from the ribbon cable, but judging by most of the comments here that might be a little over the top for the average tinkerer.
My solution is to check the contacts and clean them first. Mine had worn down slightly without moving the PCB and I don't rock that hard, just do it a lot. So here is my solution.
1) follow the instructions for taking the neck apart. Just some Torx screws and two phillips holding on the button board.
2) pull the whole button, cable and contact plate assembly out.
3) wipe off the black contacts on the blue rubber piece, just a dry cloth will do. Just try not to create too much static.
4) wipe off the contacts on the button board with the same method, I found that there was some dust and grease on mine from playing with dirty hands.
5) Inspect the cable, especially around the hole they punched, I agree that is a ridiculous way of anchoring the cable, I am surprised they don't have 1 in 5 guitars coming off the line dead because of it. Maybe they did and that is why they were in short supply.
6) Inspect the contacts in the base contact plate. They will most likely be worn. My first suggestion is to rub them a little bit, perhaps with some soldering flux if needed. Remember to wipe off the flux first if you are not going to add solder. It should burn off any gunky non-conductive stuff though. If they still don't seem like they will work, use a VERY small amount of solder to replenish the ability to conduct electricity. Putting GOBS on is BAD. Not only do you risk leaking into the other contacts, but if the surface is not flat you could bend pins or there could be so much solder that there is not enough power to go through it and then you still have the same problem with connections.
7) Also be sure to inspect the pins on the guitar body and perhaps wipe or scrape them off a bit. Solder probably is not good to be added to the pins. Unless the pins are dirty there should be no need to mess with them.
My personal opinion for all of this is if you are not good at soldering, then don't try that method, get a friend to do it. If it is required that is. If you think are good at soldering and you really suck, then you are going to mess up your controller. If you don't want to waste the time and you take the advice of this article and move the PCB, you will eventually totally destroy your connection plate and then you are SOL.
I hope this helps.
This post has been edited by sephoratrading: Jul 2 2008, 02:52 AM
Post by: sephoratrading on July 01, 2008, 07:52:00 PM
Works like a charm now.
(IMG:http://myweb.wit.edu/dicksonm/images/GuitarHeroControllerFix.jpg)
Post by: mjemec on July 29, 2008, 06:33:00 AM
So I followed the first post and it works like a charm. Thanks for the fix, now I can continue playing properly (although I prefer playing Rock Band these days).
Post by: superbond2 on August 06, 2008, 11:07:00 AM
Anyways, I've tried you fix and can't seem to do it right. I bought my guitar used online (BIG mistake) and it didn't work from day one. I've tried many low fi fixes, and finally stumbled upon this one.
I can't seem to get the PCB in place. The bottom part requires a ton of force to move into place, i think i can get it there but i am afraid of damaging it more.
The top PCB doesn't move at all there is no way i can move that end at all, am i doing something wrong, or is it possible to move one end only?
Post by: mjemec on September 14, 2008, 09:10:00 AM
Post by: xrkahn76 on October 18, 2008, 12:15:00 AM
Post by: BonerDoner on September 22, 2009, 09:55:00 PM
Mine had a really unresponsive green fret. I thought it was totally broken at first, but tried this 1 minute fix, and now it works great!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS IS SUCH A SIMPLE AND ELEGANT FIX!!!!
Post by: JTPaintball on September 23, 2009, 09:00:00 PM
Thanks a bunch man!
Post by: ssj4android on March 06, 2010, 06:23:00 PM
QUOTE(350_pimp @ Jun 3 2008, 10:07 PM)
i did just like the directions said, but when i tried to put the neck back in place, it won't snap back
Same. I think they changed it to try to fix the issues with the buttons not registering. They must've moved the contacts closer. Additionally, there are no longer pins punching holes through the wires.
But now there are holes in the contacts and my yellow button has ceased to function properly. I'm going to try to put a bit of solder on them.
There was some glue on the cabling near the bottom of the PCB as well, I'm not sure if that was there in the original revision. Just use a bit of force if it's stuck.
Post by: jimmy-laws on May 28, 2010, 09:28:00 AM
Post by: me2611 on May 30, 2010, 07:14:00 AM