Rock Band Instrument Repairs and Modifications

The Rock Band (and Guitar Hero) instruments for the school video game club get used a lot, and we've had some casualties. Here are some quick and cheap fixes and modifications we've done.

Edit: Here's another Instructable on repairing the strum bar for a Rock Band guitar.

Step 1 Whammy bar not springy?

A common issue with the guitars is the whammy bar spring mechanism breaking. Someone came up with the idea of wrapping an elastic band around the strap peg and around the whammy bar. The strap still fits on, and the tension ca be adjusted by winding the elastic more or less.

Comments

[GBrafford]

When my whammy broke I used one of my daughters hair bands on the inside of the guitar and it's less visible and much more durable than a rubber band as they are much thicker. :)

[djwhitey123]

yeah ima try that too....but first i need a daughter

[MisterHay]

 I have a few daughters, so there's no shortage of hair bands around my house :)

[MisterHay]

Good idea, I'll have to try that.

[abadfart]

how about a star power stomp box

[MisterHay]

Yeah, I even have a foot switch all ready for that, just haven't gotten around to it. I don't think I'm motivated enough to make it look like a stomp box though...

[abadfart]

well then you get around to it id love to see my friends rock band guitar starpower doesn't work

[juicy2000]

hey the mic i got with my rock band wouldnt register so i called the number they sent me a new one. any ideas on what i could do with the old one? to fix it maybe or to make somethin with it.

[MisterHay]

The mic is basically two parts: the mic itself and the little analogue to digital converter. If you plug the USB end into a computer and it is recognized as an audio input device, then the converter is probably okay and you can do something like this or just solder in a connection to use a different mic with that converter.

If the converter is bad but the mic is good, you can solder a 3.5 mm male end on it, and plug it into your computer sound card as a microphone. Or else solder on a 2.5 mm end and plug it into your xbox controller.

[Brother_D]

I think I'll try this on my drum kit...