Guitar Hero World Tour Cymbal Fix

I had heard many reports of the drum sets that came with world tour being defective. One guy I know can't get long streaks because the drum set just wasn't of high enough quality. When I set up my drum set it worked great! I was relieved. It seemed the build quality had improved. Not so fast.... Within a few days of some serious rocking out the yellow cymbal failed altogether. I was livid. I knew the stores wouldn't take it back, and it would be weeks to get it shipped and fixed, at a cost. So I did what I do best... I voided the warranty.

I figured the cymbal was a pretty simple piezoelectric device, and anything wrong with it was an easy fix for a geek and his soldering iron. So I set to work. My cymbal was totally non-functional, and broken is a certain way, your mileage may vary.

Step 1 Acquire testing ability.

Credit goes to this other instructable on drum set repair for the idea of using the mii freestyle as a test bed. You should start this up and leave it running. Whenever you need to test the cymbal, just plug it in, and see if it works. Very productive!

Comments

[Amoffa]

It Works it works it works. My yellow cymbal did not register any hits, was dead, did not work at all. I tried this fix and it works like a dream. I was shocked how well it responded. Thanks so much!

[darntoothysam]

I would recommend the aftermarket cables that you can get that are LONGER than the stock cables that way the problem doesn happen again!

Here;s a utube video showing the installation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar46G7IyWAM

And here's where you can buy a pair of cables:
http://krazeekrazees.com/selected-krazees-part/cymbal-cable-p2.php

Hope this helps out some people!
Thomas

[moschme]

 Hej SpinozaQ,

Thanks a lot for this guide - It worked perfect for me!

Cheers
Moschme

[websherpa]

Same issue here and this instructable was very helpful in pointing me in the right direction (gotta love the Internet), though my fix was rather more simple since I used a continuity meter to test for continuity between the piezo and the female socket. 

There is a very, very small amount of copper connecting the black ground plate to the female socket's pin. mine had a hairline crack which is probably a stress crack that widened and opened the cuircuit  very shortly after we started playing the cymbal.  I would consider this an engineering defect, the PCB was etched with too narrow a connection here at a high stress point.  In any case I just scratched off some of the green resist from the PCB and used a bit of copper braid wire to create a "stitch" between the pin and the board (on the side opposite the hairline crack).  Even a solder bridge (extra solder bridging the gap) would work for some time.

[sperna]

My yellow cymbal wasn't working. If I switched them the orange one didn't work when plugged in to where the yellow one was. So I took it all apart to look for bad solder joints, broken wires, etc. Instead it ended up being the 90 jack where the yellow cymbal gets plugged in. Strange... it's a molded plug but it was bad. I replaced it with a 1/8" mono plug from Radio Shack and it works great again!

[kussfamily]

both my cymbals don't work. I inspected wires/piezo/jack and everything is fine. Is there somewhere else that could be causing the problem?

[ingba]

i think i have the same problem as aleettzz. my left cymbal does not any connection to the drum kit at all. even if i switch the yellow n orange cymbals, the cymbal on the left does not register any hits while the one on the right works fine. so there isnt a problem with the individual cymbals but possibly the wiring or some processing chip inside. any suggestions how to solve this? im not really good with my hands so the easier the solution will be much appreciated.

[SpinozaQ]

You are correct. Your problem is most likely inside the drum kit itself. This instructable does not cover the insides of the drum kit. If you are not "good with your hands" you're probably not going to be able to fix it yourself.

[Raven3000]

I found this awhile back and I really didn't think soldering new wires would ever work. However, I got really fed up about two days ago with how my cymbals were not registering hits (brute force needed on one, the other would never be consistent to how I was drumming). After soldering BOTH cymbals, they work absolutely perfect, I had to turn the sensitivity down on both. The cymbal I had to use brute force on and maxed on sensitivity (20), was turned into a cymbal where I could now lightly tap it and have it set on the lowest setting (1).

I named my cymbals too! Ultra Rigged 3000 A & B
=)

[SpinozaQ]

Ha. I haven't read these comments in a while. I'm so happy other people found the instructable helpful. I'm not sure why this fix is so good. There are some theories though... ( I should get a decent oscilloscope and verify them. ) One theory is just using better wires and connecting them "closer" to the output, rather then allowing them to go through the circuit board helps a bit. The other is that if both sets of wires work once everything is re-soldered you'd actually get two signals going to the output. I'm not sure how the drum kit is designed, but if the plugs are capacitively coupled like most audio equipment, that could boost the signal it "sees" quite a bit.

[CraimerX]

My cymbal is cracked and it won't regeister well as the cymbal is struck. How do I fix that?

[wantie002]

I'd love to know how I can fix a new connector jack to the wire that emerges from the left hand (yellow cymbol support). The jack became disconnected and them my son stripped the whole thing down so not much to do except find a way of reconnecting a new jack. Would it be possible to buy an already wired jack and then dismantle it at the other end to see how it is connected inside the support?

[mikemaul1]

The appears to be bad cables in the drum kits for the yellow cymbals. The audio jack fails and then the cymbal will never work. I fixed this by purchasing a mono audio cable from Radioshack, part number 42-24220A, cut off one head, cut off the old head on the drums and solder the ner head to the cable. This cost $4 and some time but it worked.I purchased one with a head on both ends so I could replace both cymbals if the other fails in the future

[xxjosh]

I tryed what you said to do and it has not worked for me. Have you got any more tips on what to do. Also i have uploaded this images could you tell me iff ihave done this right ?

[Raven3000]

The black cord is in the wrong position. Put it next to the white one.. Here is a picture of mine so you get an idea.

[cowboyebfd]

the wires from my cymbals are rip out from the device that plugs in the back of the cymbals where you can unplugs and plug back in. Is there any way i can fix that or what can i do?

[easyeee]

Easiest way around the whole, "broken/snapped wires at jack input" =

Situation
U don't have a spare Male 1/8th jack.
U know how to solder, got the gear.
Butchered the old Male jack or other.
Can't be bothered stuffing about.
Want a somewhat permanent fix.

Simply use some wire (e.g vehicle speaker wire) to lengthen existing snapped wires. maybe another 50-100mm or more. measure twice, cut once.
Remove underside rubber protector from offending cymbal.
Neatly cut speaker wire to length. Both ends.

Cut Cymbal side as close as possible to jack.
Strip back maybe 10mm or more.

Speaker wire same as above.
Use Earth, black line along speaker cable, for Earth connection.
Positive for Positive.

Solder speaker wire ends directly onto Chip.
There are 3 solder points for this operation.
Very bottom is earth.
Top left is power
third is connection unused in situation I bypassed(buggered jack point)

eg; of solder point orientation.
Power Connection
1 1
Earth
1

2 Internal wire from Drum-kit end is Power
3 External wire is Earth.

Before soldering test correct orientation of wires using MII play.
If incorrect fix it....
Solder the correct ends together. Problem solved.
Put it all back together.

There are some basic steps not included like splicing wires together etc, if u can't do the basic I think u maybe in the wrong place

either that or I am.
Cheers

[maryberno58]

Did you find a solution to your problem? I think I have the same one. The wires cam out of the plug that plugs into the back of the cymbal. Just the wires are hanging out of the cord. What can I do?

[Bozie]

the spot where i plug the cord is broken. in the little small hole for the plug under the wires came off accidently while i pulled on the cord. Do you have instructions on how to put back the small tube thingy under the wires?

[aleettzz]

i need helppp!!!!!! with thisss guys i got these problem .My drums doesnt have the sensivility problem the right cymbal doesent work but i isnt the cymbal it is inside the drums kit or it can bee to the plug, because i change the cymbals and stils that side of the base of the cymbal that doesnt work

[nilcan]

thanks for this fixed my broken orange cymbal by following these instructions, although mine was a broken connector so hard wired it dirrectly to the 3.5 jack plug. top rockin!!!

[SpinozaQ]

Yeah, it's really just two wires from the kit to the piezo electric. Any way you can wire them up and get them connected will work. When I soldered to the cymbal's 3.5 jack connectors on the circuit board I made sure I melted it real good to get a solid connection to the jack itself.... I actually think this may be the "core" of the problem.... I want to add a "pre-step" in the instructable and have people just do that first, and then test it. Maybe I'll have time this week. ha.

[deano1985]

hi i was just wondering how i would fix my yellow cymbal!! the wire has come out of the adaptor which connects to the cymbal!! i think its just a case of putting it back in the apadtor but i have no ideas how!!!! please help!

[SpinozaQ]

Can you send me a pic? or post one here. I'm not quite sure what you have broken.

[nealass]

is there a resistance on the wire from the cymbals to the board in the drum pad? that one snapped for me, but splicing did not fix it.

[SpinozaQ]

All the wires are pretty standard throughout the kit. They have nominal resistance. Repairing them with any wire should work just fine. You should test for continuity. If the drum kit has continuity, then the problem is inside the cymbals.

[solutions engineer]

Great guide. Fixed my defective Cymbal pad! Thanks for sharing.

[hammerhead300]

Thanks for the guide. I have a few lengths of female-to-male audio extension cable with 3.5mm jacks that I'm not using, I'm wondering if it'd be possible to solder the female jack directly to the piezoelectric and forego the small PCB. If you can help me with this, I'd really appreciate it, I've been bummed about my drum kit not fully working since I bought GHWT and really want to get it fixed.

[SpinozaQ]

That should be possible.... However the drum set uses a mono 3.5 mm jack and plug. Your extension cables are likely stereo.... So you want to ensure you connect both the middle, and the base of a stereo jack to the ground, and connect just the tip to the signal ( red ). Should work fine though.

[gamerfreax]

sorry for asking tons of question. but can i use any wire?

[gamerfreax]

Hi, could you please take a picture of the whole cymbal cause this makes me confused

[SpinozaQ]

Once you open up a cymbal there is only one interesting area right in the middle. The rest is just plastic. This is a close up of the piezoelectric element at the center of the cymbal once you open up the back of it.

[gamerfreax]

on the other picture where did you put the tape?

[SpinozaQ]

Yeah... my apologies. I did not take a picture of me holding/taping the two wires from the cymbal to the drum set plug. I will add that later today when I get home. The basic idea is this. After you solder your own wires onto the piezoelectric element, you just "touch" them to the plug coming out of the big drum set. The same plug that you would normally stick into the side of the cymbal. That plug has two conductors, one at the base, and one at the tip. The black wire goes to the base connector, the red wire goes to the tip. You are just doing a quick test to see if you made the connection correctly, and the piezo works.

[gamerfreax]

Please, or take a video. If you take pictures do it buy step by step. And please send it too me. I got this problem thingy. I didnt care about the warranty.