Where to get used Rockband instruments?
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Howdy. I’ve played Rockband 2 and 3 for many, many a year on PS3, and finding this website and installing customs has got my roommates and I back on the kick of it for a number of months now. However, the age of our instruments is definitely starting to show somewhat. One of our guitars has a flaccid whammy, weak strum, but good frets, the other having kinda sticky buttons but good strum and whammy, and the third having great buttons and whammy but completely destroyed strum bar. Our drums are starting to have issues with the kick pedals, but with one working guitar, a mostly working drumkit, a working microphone, and a working keyboard adapter, we still have quite a lot of fun with it. But it’s obvious these things won’t last forever, not to mention that I’m also looking to get into playing it on Xbox 360 instead, simply for the ease of installing customs.
I suppose the question is, really, where should I look to get some instruments, or better yet, parts for the ones we have now?
I highly recommend this site for replacement strum bars (I’ve bought two already): https://www.bytearts.com/strumfixplus
For replacement instruments – second hand shops, facebook market place, and apps where people sell stuff that they don’t want.
I can’t help with replacement buttons or whammy bars though …
Facebook Marketplace – I get just about everything from there (the rest from local pawn shops). I think I’ve picked up around 20 guitars in the last year alone.
Another tip: I have multiple ads running in a few ‘video game buy/sell’ groups, the ads basically say “In search of Rock Band / Guitar Hero guitars”, the ads themselves have brought me a handful of free guitars and people selling different kits and collections.
Here’s the my latest marketplace purchase from August 30th, the 2007 Peavy Riffmaster.
Keeping the content Canadian since 2017!
SomeOldGuys: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/someoldguys
MrPrezident: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/MrPrezidentI highly recommend this site for replacement strum bars (I’ve bought two already): https://www.bytearts.com/strumfixplus
For replacement instruments – second hand shops, facebook market place, and apps where people sell stuff that they don’t want.
I can’t help with replacement buttons or whammy bars though …
Ooh, definitely gonna check that out. I’d love to get my guitar with a fucked strum bar working again, it’s one of the Stratocasters with the rosewood fretboard and the automatic calibration sensor..
Facebook Marketplace – I get just about everything from there (the rest from local pawn shops). I think I’ve picked up around 20 guitars in the last year alone.
Another tip: I have multiple ads running in a few ‘video game buy/sell’ groups, the ads basically say “In search of Rock Band / Guitar Hero guitars”, the ads themselves have brought me a handful of free guitars and people selling different kits and collections.
Here’s the my latest marketplace purchase from August 30th, the 2007 Peavy Riffmaster.
I didn’t even think about posting a classifieds ad. I’ll get around to that.
I always order from Ebay and so far it’s all been pretty great.
I would do that, but I feel like I’d get gouged on shipping. When I’ve bought actual guitars online, it always ends up costing an extra 20-30 bucks to ship it.
A cheaper route may be to look at your local thrift stores, yard sales, craigslist, etc. These will be rarer but every now and then they pop up. Last week I saw a PS3 wireless Fender guitar with some scratches that still worked at Goodwill for $7. Unfortunately I don’t have a PS3. I guess it depends on how desperate you are to find them; they are readily available on eBay but are more expensive, secondhand stores and marketplace ads are usually cheaper but will take longer.
Id like to second, third and fourth everything the chaps above have written. I have always used Guitar Hero instruments but the theory remains the same. Keep an eye out for replacements (for replacement parts/spares you cant buy anywhere – such as the motherboard), and get hold of replacement switches etc. online. They are REALLY easy to repair once youve done it once. Ive repaired so many now and you can even put foam inside to quieten the strum etc. whilst youre at it. There are a few good videos on YouTube about doing it. Dont chuck an instrument out for something that can be fixed quite easily – these instruments are becoming rarer and more valuable over time. Love the fact youre back showing love for RB again with your mates though. Awesome stuff!
A cheaper route may be to look at your local thrift stores, yard sales, craigslist, etc. These will be rarer but every now and then they pop up. Last week I saw a PS3 wireless Fender guitar with some scratches that still worked at Goodwill for $7. Unfortunately I don’t have a PS3. I guess it depends on how desperate you are to find them; they are readily available on eBay but are more expensive, secondhand stores and marketplace ads are usually cheaper but will take longer.
Yeah, I’ve just popped into a local thrift store and found an RB1 or 2 drumset for $5 today. Didn’t have a pedal, nor does it support my pro cymbals, but it seems seldom used and works well, so I’ve been using it happily, even without the support for pro drums.
Id like to second, third and fourth everything the chaps above have written. I have always used Guitar Hero instruments but the theory remains the same. Keep an eye out for replacements (for replacement parts/spares you cant buy anywhere – such as the motherboard), and get hold of replacement switches etc. online. They are REALLY easy to repair once youve done it once. Ive repaired so many now and you can even put foam inside to quieten the strum etc. whilst youre at it. There are a few good videos on YouTube about doing it. Dont chuck an instrument out for something that can be fixed quite easily – these instruments are becoming rarer and more valuable over time. Love the fact youre back showing love for RB again with your mates though. Awesome stuff!
Where do you go to find replacement parts? I ordered two of the Strum Fix Plus’es that Doa recommended, but I’d like to know where I could find replacement fret buttons/whammy bars, if such things exist.
Completely agreed there. I always love to at least attempt to fix something before deciding to huck it in the bin, especially when the quantity of such item is so limited, like with my CRTs, older consoles, and now, especially my Rockband instruments.
Yeah, it was a really big part of our gaming sessions for quite a few years before, for some reason or another, we took some hiatus.
Speaking only of GH instruments, having not yet taken-apart a RB version but imagining that theyre very similar, the circuit boards are custom made, so if anything goes wrong with one of them you cannot order a new one. You either have to replace it with one from another spares version or you can try to repair it yourself. Shop around for any sort of tiny switches and then get some 0.2mm insulated copper wire, which you then solder onto the switch connectors and run directly to where theyre needed, bypassing or bridging the printed board connections. For example, by doing this Ive successfully wired the Volume and Pickup Selector on an old real electric guitar I am converting to use in-game to the Start and Select buttons on the motherboard and in doing so have ditched the entire circuit board they put in for the start and select buttons. They work an absolute treat too. You CAN replace the tiny switches on the circuit board for the GH frets too – watch this short video to see a rather messy but successfully example of how to do it and what to replace them with –
Speaking only of GH instruments, having not yet taken-apart a RB version but imagining that theyre very similar, the circuit boards are custom made, so if anything goes wrong with one of them you cannot order a new one. You either have to replace it with one from another spares version or you can try to repair it yourself. Shop around for any sort of tiny switches and then get some 0.2mm insulated copper wire, which you then solder onto the switch connectors and run directly to where theyre needed, bypassing or bridging the printed board connections. For example, by doing this Ive successfully wired the Volume and Pickup Selector on an old real electric guitar I am converting to use in-game to the Start and Select buttons on the motherboard and in doing so have ditched the entire circuit board they put in for the start and select buttons. They work an absolute treat too. You CAN replace the tiny switches on the circuit board for the GH frets too – watch this short video to see a rather messy but successfully example of how to do it and what to replace them with –
Ah, fun stuff. Reminds me of fixing PS3 slims with dead Wifi chips. (The chip is soldered to the motherboard, and due to the PS3 Slim’s poor ventilation, often gets ruined by the console overheating, so you have to reball it or replace the whole mobo.) I guess I’ll keep an eye out for guitars at thrift stores to part out.
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