| Issues with ( and a fix for ) Guitar Hero III Controller on the Xbox 360 |
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While this really isn't a deal, I thought I would post it here to let our users know about this issue and how to resolve (hopefully). I just got my Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero III w/ the Gibson Wireless guitar. Got it home and started playing, and to my amazement, wasn't working properly. For the most part, the Green button wouldn't work 50% of the time, and iffy on couple of the others. I did some searching and found out others are having the same issue. What looks like what happened is maybe a light layer of oil or other substance has gotten on the contacts. Here is the fix (works for me so far):
What you will need it some Isopropyl Alcohol and Q-Tip. Now take the Neck and the Base apart and dunking the Q-Tip into the Alcohol, swab on top of the gold contacts on the end of the neck that slides into the base, and also swab the tips of the pins inside the base. Let it dry for couple of minutes and reassemble. Load up the game and see how it works. I have played a few songs through and haven't had an issue yet with it.
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Issues with ( and a fix for ) Guitar Hero III Controller on the Xbox 360 Wednesday, 31 October 2007 © 2008 - Gaming Dealz Powered by QuoteThis © 2008
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Comments (34)
  written by Corey Koltz, October 31, 2007
Well did another 15 songs and so far, so good.
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 written by Joe, November 01, 2007
So i did just that - worked for a few songs and then it died again this morning - or well 10% mess up with green button. So you think you have to do this once a day :-P
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written by Corey Koltz, November 01, 2007
When I originally tried it, worked for all the songs (about 15), I tried again at two different times yesterday, another 15 songs, and the last time 10 songs, and the only issues I had was my playing. But it registered everytime I pressed any of the buttons. I used 92% Isopropyl Alcohol which is a higher content, but I picked it up at Wal-Mart. I don't think it makes a difference though as the other which is about 70% should be fine. I would try doing the pins again on the base. But I will be playing it again later today and will post any changes, but it was really bad before the cleaning, as in about 50% of the green button wouldn't register.
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 written by BOO, November 03, 2007
This is bs. They should've made the guitar properly in the first place. Who came up with the stupid idea to have the guitar come in two pieces?
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written by BOO, November 03, 2007
This is bs. They should've made the guitar properly in the first place. Who came up with the stupid idea to have the guitar come in two pieces?
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written by Corey Koltz, November 03, 2007
It is like the Wammy bar in GH2 on the 360, it should have worked from the beginning. I even emailed Activision who stated in their GH3 issues area that it isn't their responsibility. Well last time I checked, they were the distributor and really up to them to check everything out before it shipped.
I did have it happen once more, but for a second and then was fine after that. I did calibrate the controller also, not sure if that will help or not. But will probably clean it again since it has worked flawlessly until then. Maybe some more oil or whatever is still inside. report abuse
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 written by Kyle D, November 05, 2007
The bottom line is that none of us pay $99.99MSRP for defective product. RedOctane should be standing behind their POS wireless guitar and start manufacturing and offering solid-body replacements for their mistake. I shouldn't have to swap anything with alcohol or attach 3M J-hooks with rubber bands to make it work. That is why we pay $100 for the damn guitar and game together, right?
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written by Corey Koltz, November 06, 2007
As I mentioned, I emailed Activision about this very same thing and you are right, RedOctane/Activision and whoever should make sure that when somebody spends any money on a product, that the product works. I haven't even heard yet if RedOctane has acknowledged the problem yet which it is a problem. Even if this tip helps, it shouldn't be necessary.
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 written by A intrested reader, December 15, 2007
Ya i was down on money when the game first game out
so what the heck wait for X-Mas (maybe santa will bring it  ) any way so its almost X-Mas time and im wanting a Wii so i can get GH3 but after hearing all the defects in it......i dont know :- Im glad people actually be nice and tell other people about defects in products =D well i might get it any way by the time i buy it might be better (but shouldnt be screwd in the first place) i agree with they guy saying that they should test befor shiping well thanks alot guys. report abuse
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 written by manonthemoon, December 17, 2007
Just unpacked my GH3 for Wii gettng ready to rock but frustrated cuz the guitar doesnt work at all. nothing happens tried everything slapping blowing changing wii remotes but still nothing. sucks!
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written by Corey Koltz, December 18, 2007
This is for manonthemoon, Totally sounds like a completely defective unit. I would take it back to the store immediately. I have not had any problems with my Wii version of GH3 outside of the mono sound which in all honesty I get more annoyed with the controller making the mistake noise instead of the TV since I don't have two controllers for the Wii so can only play single player. It is cool that the guitar itself makes the noise, but gets distracting.
Otherwise in general, Activision is stinking up the release. Compared to EA which is offering Free up front replacement guitars (with use of a credit card) for defective units on Rock Band, Activision hasn't even stated a thing to the public to my knowledge yet. One more note, I read in another post that a person used a knife to scrape the contacts on his guitar and now it works (because he didn't have isopropyl alcohol). I highly recommend not using a knife (or other sharp object) as you could damage the controller itself and void the warranty. You might get away with very light sand paper or something similar to remove whatever is on the controller. Just make sure you clean of the residue dust with something (like isopropyl alcohol  )
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 written by Todd, December 25, 2007
I just opened my GH3 Wireless Bundle. I was so pumped because its the only thing I really really wanted. The strum bar wont work I can only strum up NOT DOWN. Which made gameplay near impossible. I am so mad because I have work all week and this weekend and all next week and will have no time to play. I have not tried giving it a good smack though maybe I will do that.
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 written by John, January 02, 2008
My sons got this for Christmas from their Uncle in a distant state. It worked fine for the first week, now the orange button does not work, even after trying all the little fixes. The box is long gone and no receipt. What do I do now?
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written by Corey Koltz, January 02, 2008
To contact RedOctane/Activision. Also, NEVER throw away the box! I always keep boxes for everything that I purchase for video game consoles. I know it might seem like wasted space, but when you trade it in, you will usually get more value back from it. Anyway, here is the URL and short amount of info:
http://www.redoctane.us/support-center/ Here is what the website says: Guitar Hero III Game Support Activision Customer Support Internet: http://www.activision.com/support Our support section of the Web has the most up-to-date information available. We update the support pages daily, so please check here first for solutions. If you cannot find an answer to your issue, you can submit a question/incident to us using the online support form. A response may take anywhere from 24–72 hours depending on the volume of messages we receive and the nature of your problem. Note: Please do not contact Customer Support for hints/codes/cheats; only technical issues. Note: Internet support is handled in English only. Note: The multiplayer components of Activision games are handled only through Internet support. Phone: (310) 255-2050 You can call our 24-hour voice-mail system for answers to our most frequently asked questions at the above number. Contact a Customer Support representative at the same number between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), Monday through Friday, except holidays. Please do not send any game returns directly to Activision without first contacting Customer Support. It is our policy that game returns/refunds must be dealt with by the retailer or online site where you purchased the product. Please see the Limited Warranty contained within our Software License Agreement for warranty replacements. report abuse
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 written by Kevin, January 08, 2008
I too have experienced major disappointment with my wireless guitar. The guitar worked fine for a couple weeks, then I noticed the orange button flickering off for a brief second during chords, cutting them off. Eventually this problem extended to the red button, then the green and eventually the blue fret button. It got worse, to the point that certain frets would stop registering for a period of about 10 seconds, making gameplay extremely frustrating. I have not yet tried the q-tip solution, though I have found that it helps to an extent to forcibly secure the guitar neck as far into the body as possible, using rubber bands or tape.
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 written by Becca, January 12, 2008
My xbox 360 ( gibson X-plorer controller) does not strum correctly! I can only strum up not down, and therefore on games like rockband i cannot set my difficulty to hard of expert
 I cannot use the d-pad for this either. Any helpful ideas?
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written by Corey Koltz, January 13, 2008
With the Xplorer controllers, the issue is the switch on the inside and you have to make sure it is attached properly and also hold it in with a little rubber band. I have three of those guitars and hasn't been an issue, but my RockBand guitar does that which I have to call and get it replaced.
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 written by Clint Huffman, January 14, 2008
I had a problem with the wireless guitar not holding notes. I would hit 98% on of the notes, but get a 3 star rating because half the time when I held down the fret, it wouldn't recognized that I held it down. I did the cleaning of the connectors as mentioned above, but still had the problem. Eventually I read over the manual and it mentions to remove the XBOX from metal object. My entertainment center is metal (I think), so I moved the XBOX 360 out of the entertainment center and it works flawlessly now. I don't know if it was combination of moving the console witin 3 feet of the guitar or moving it away from the entertainment center. In any case, it's working thanks to all of the great posts here. Thanks!
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 written by THIS JUST ISNT RIGHT, January 30, 2008
i just bought a 360 guitar hero3 bundle with the wireless guitar. it is not working properly either. when i try to hold down the green and red fret at the same time on long notes, its not recognizing that im actually holding it down. when i tried plugging in the actual wired guitar that i got with guitar hero2 it worked fine. so im going to return it tomorrow and get just the guitar hero3 game only and use my other wired guitar that came with guitar hero2.im not going to use alchol or knifes on something i just purchased, that could make my warranty void. they really need to recall all these wireless guitars before peoples warranty runs out and then there stuck with a guitar that doesnt work. some people might not even realize that there guitar is not working properly , if there not really use to playing the game. they might just think there terrible at playing. good luck to all who purchased this piece of crap wireless guitar.
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 written by john, February 06, 2008
doesnt work for me
but i dont really mind the only problem with mine is on r,y,b and r,y power chords you have to strum up haha >. report abuse
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 written by A Concered Gamer, February 28, 2008
I tried fixing my guitar neck with rubber bands, it worked a bit more but the red button isnt going as it should. I feel that it broke or is dying on me. I tried to warranty it but it seems I lost the reciept that I placed with the warrant (What the hell.). And now I dont know if I can get a new one, this realyl grinds my gears cause I got this when it first came out and now it does this to me?
If anyone has any information to getting a new one or anything, please reply. report abuse
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 written by Brian, March 02, 2008
GH3 for the Wii. Yellow button didn't work on first try. Rubbed finger nail polish remover all over the connectors on the neck and base with a que tip. Let it dry for a couple minutes, put the guitar back together and it works perfect now.
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written by Corey Koltz, March 02, 2008
While it doesn't seem to be working for everybody, I am glad it is for some people. I get a lot of traffic from this thread and really surprised we haven't heard anything from Activision or RedOctane in regards to the issue as I think it is imore severe since it is happening to so many.
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 written by Bizsnatch, March 13, 2008
I just strung 2 of my girl's hair ties together and stretched them across the back. Holds that neck on tight. Haven't had that issue since.
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 written by spoons, March 15, 2008
Mine wasn't working aswel and it was the connection between the neck and the body so i just pushed in the neck as far as would go and just superglued the neck in place and it works a treattry that. probably ruined the warranty on it but hey it works they didn't seem to want to help me anyway so f*** them haha
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written by Corey Koltz, March 21, 2008
Well I got my new copy of the working Wii version of GH3 and decided to load it up, now to find out my Wammy bar isn't working. So now I have to decide if I should open the controller to void the warranty or contact Activision. Why couldn't these people take more time in creating a better controller!
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 written by JScotty, April 07, 2008
To anyone that is still reading this thread...
I found a site that gave a step-by-step walkthrough on how to fix this permanently and efficiently. I do not remember it, I'm sorry, but I can give you the basic overview. Take the neck off the base of the guitar. At the bottom of the neck remove screws until you are able to slightly pry the neck apart. You need to be able to move the gold connectors of the neck. Once its loose enough to move the connectors, slide the green connector board IN FRONT of the tabs that it normally set behind. I did this and my guitar is now flawless. No more rubberbands. report abuse
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written by Corey Koltz, April 07, 2008
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/i...pic=628006
Seems simple for the most part. report abuse
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 written by Will, April 07, 2008
i have the wireless 360 controller and the green, red and yellow buttons are not working. i have tried EVERYTHING to get it to work but no luck. i think it is time to say hello to Mr.Hammer.
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written by Corey Koltz, April 07, 2008
I haven't tried the link just above your post, but looks like it should do the job.
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written by Will, April 08, 2008
tried it, i hate my life
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written by Corey Koltz, April 12, 2008
Hmm, Well if I see any other solutions, I will post them here. Hopefully I will get a chance this weekend to try the fix myself and see if it works. I am getting sick of the GH2 guitars myself.
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 written by Christian, May 28, 2008
I've had my guitar for 6 months now. I'll consider myself a heavy user, and I've tried everything mentioned here plus more. It is failing again. I came up with the following conclusion. Many people state that its because the connection is too loose from the pins to the green board on the neck. Which is true. That fixed my problem, by simply duct taping the neck down. Same as crazy glue, wedging a credit card, rubber bands, etc. Since I use it so much, and so much pressure is being put on the golden connections from the pins, they have dug through it causing no connection. That is visible with the naked eye. I don't know what connection does what, but there's 8, from right to left 7-5-3-1 on the top, and 8-6-4-2 on the bottom. My 4th connection has the biggest grove, followed by the 8th and then 2nd. My yellow fret button is what always failed me. The blue occasionally. So how did I improve my connection? I made a direct connection. Too keep it short, I opened both guitar and neck and with some thin insulated copper wire connected the two. Of course I will never be able to break the from the guitar, but I have no use for that feature anwyays. Since then, fret buttons have been truly flawless. estunum@msn if you want to see pics on how it looks.
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