Hey everyone, I’ve been playing Guitar Hero since the first one came out, and have an Xbox 360 that is kept alive so I can continue doing so. The guitar controller I have that’s in best condition has had issues with the green fret button for years now. When I went to play just now, it took several attempts just to launch the game from the Xbox home screen, so I finally decided to take things apart and look at it, however I think the fix I found can be accomplished without disassembling anything (though it requires basic soldering knowledge, and taking apart the neck of the guitar is very easy and will give you more room).
On the left is what the little contactor board originally looked like; note the divots in the center of each pad where the spring-loaded pins on the body of the guitar press against. The right one is the one that I experimented on, you can just barely make out the divots left in the bead of solder I put on each contactor. The contact pads seem to be too thin for how strong the springs for the pins are; a little solder gives the pins a fresh surface to make a good connection, and much more material to push through (even if the pin does wear all the way through, there will be enough solder surrounding it to make a good connection).
After ~2 hours of playing just now, no issues on any of the fret buttons!
Hope this helps someone! Rock on! 🤘🏾
Love this. If I could find a working damn Xbox 360 I’d love this more. Tried replacing the laser on mine but it didn’t seem to fix the issue loading the disc mine has. Won’t read any game to load it
If it’s just the lazer maybe this would work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUkQzOGZBa4
That’s too bad. It really was a fantastic console; it’s the last one I ever bought new, besides the 3DS.
When you say it doesn’t read disks, does it recognize the game title but fail to launch? Or it doesn’t see the game at all? If it’s the former, you may be able to find someone who has a working 360, put your hard drive in their system, “install” the game data to the hard drive, then put your hard drive back in your system.
MattKC modified his controllers to use an actual connector instead. Seems like a more permanent fix.
That’s pretty neat! I feel like the fix I came up with will last as long as I need it to (even if the pins wear through the solder, there will be a mountain of it piled up around the pin to still make contact), but if it ever dies again I’ll probably just hard wire it. This was the first time I took the neck off the guitar since ~2019 when I inserted the paper shim to get it to work as well as it did. Side note: paper shim no longer necessary.
Using lead free solder? Lead melts at a lower temp so that circuit will be safer from heat but it’s softer so it’ll wear faster from mechanical manipulation.
that circuit will be safer from heat
There is no logic or processing done on this part of the controller; each fret button is a membrane contactor that just completes a circuit, and this little board is just a landing spot for the wires going down. You’d have to be really heavy handed to damage it with heat.
Circuit doesn’t mean logic or processing, it means path for electricity. And that sure looks like that thin plastic stuff which can be burned if there’s too much heat.
Circuit doesn’t mean logic or processing, it means path for electricity.
~~I’m aware. That’s why I said there’s no logic or processing, and the buttons just complete a circuit. ~~
Edit: rereading both comments I think I see why you pointed this out; the reason I said there’s wasn’t logic or processing was to say that there weren’t any actual components on the board (like IC chips or anything) to be burnt out, meaning that if one were to damage the board via heat they’d have to straight up burn through the board and traces, which is of course possible but I don’t think will happen accidentally.
And that sure looks like that thin plastic stuff which can be burned if there’s too much heat.
Having actually handled the board, I’m confident that anyone who has used a soldering iron for more than an hour will not accidentally burn through or damage it. It’s cheaply made, to be sure, but not fragile or delicate by any means. I’d be more concerned about damaging the cables on the other side, but that’s also a relatively easy fix and not a problem if the board is left inside the guitar.
