Les Paul Guitar Mods?, opening and plans Options

[Garrett19]

I searched but came up with nothing i was just wondering if there was a tutorial for disassembling the Les Paul Guitar Hero 3 Guitar because if not i can make a tutorial along the way because i am going to be opening it in the next few days. I hope to add another start and select button, closer to my hand. And also turn off the tilt for star power because it sometimes goes off when i don't want it too and just use the new select button i put in. I was wondering if the guitars neck being able to unlock and come off. If this will get in the way of any of the mods i am thinking of doing. Even though i have no idea what the circuits look like in there i still hope do this. Help is appreciated or any tips. Thanks in advance.

[Lotus289]

I made a tut for opening the guitar. It can be found here http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=629331


Also, I found the "Back" button activates star power without tilting the Guitar. I'm thinking you could just disconnect the tilt sensor and use only the "Back" button. But I've never tried it so I don't know for sure if it'll work.

[Garrett19]

I made a tut for opening the guitar. It can be found here http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=629331
Also, I found the "Back" button activates star power without tilting the Guitar. I'm thinking you could just disconnect the tilt sensor and use only the "Back" button. But I've never tried it so I don't know for sure if it'll work.

That is what i planned i just put select button on accident but ya i just opened it and going to get to buttons in a little bit and put them in will have pictures in a few hopefully.

[Garrett19]

Got it all finished up today. Started with tracing out where i wanted to put the start and back buttons on the guitar.

Then cut out he holes.

Through the buttons in there.


Then i wired them up.

Then finished result. Which i am very happy with The back button is the closest to the ground and the start button is right above it.

So my middle finger is right over the back button and pointing finger right over the start button.

When red smds arrive next week i am going to put those in and then im also going to put a switch to turn off the tilt for star power, i thought i could do it on the menu of the game but i can't. Or i just can't seem to find it.

[Eddie_the_Hated]

Very clean & utilitarian. Can't wait to see the SMDs in action.

[Garrett19]

I opened up the guitar again and i don't know where the tilt is located on the guitar or where the tilt for the star power comes from because i want to put a switch to it but can't locate it. Thanks in advance.

[RDC]

The tilt sensor is a 3 Axis Accelerometer, IC5 on the board. The one in the GH2 controller had different sensitivity settings, and on it's highest one it was basically useless unless ya really tossed the Guitar it wouldn't kick off. If I could find the data sheet on the thing in the GH3 controller I could see if it was the same way and show ya what needed to be done to wire it to it's max sensitivity, provided it has that ability. The only real option ya have now is to kill the power to the Acceleromter or disable the 3 axis it uses, and either of those could either not work or just make the thing act tarded and possibly cause it to go off when ever it felt like it.

[x3ro]

I feel stupid, but I can't get the back button on the controller to activate star power... IS there something I'm doing wrong here?

[RDC]

I feel stupid, but I can't get the back button on the controller to activate star power... IS there something I'm doing wrong here?

Aside from not having the SP meter full enough to use? If it is then your Guitar may have a bad back button.

[PadMasta44]

I haven't seen the button, but if it's anything like a 4 terminal tactile switch, then you may want to make sure you're soldered to the correct contacts. Use a multimeter to check that the when you press the back button you installed if it connects, then go deeper, and check that the original back button is actually making a connection when pressed, if not, try using the original back button in a game to determine if it works. If it works in a game, (try playing something straightforward which allows you to use the button as means of pausing so you can do it several times)

If it works in the game, then you have soldered to the wrong contacts on the controller board


-PM44

[Grandpasmurf]

Here is mine

A while back I promised a Guitar Hero Self Playing Guitar so I went about creating an optical array that could read data from a PC and translate that into button input on a guitar hero guitar. Now I could of went all out and used a USB Dev kit but there is a few reasons I went this route for one this is a low cost project Dev kits would of put this out of range for most people. I wanted this mod to be low tech easy enough for anyone to accomplish.

Here is a video of the guitar playing by it's self
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZn58wtATiU

I have a tutorial here
http://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php?topic=12707.0

This post has been edited by Grandpasmurf: Jan 31 2008, 05:22 AM

[PadMasta44]

I've had this idea before, haha
Using the color or vertical alignment of the image (button to play) read by optical sensors, then sent through timers and then activating switches accordingly.
But it presented programming tasks I didn't have the patience to learn. Haha
Ya little programmerrrrr
Good work.


-PM44

This post has been edited by PadMasta44: Jan 31 2008, 05:41 AM

[Grandpasmurf]

I've had this idea before, haha
Using the color or vertical alignment of the image (button to play) read by optical sensors, then sent through timers and then activating switches accordingly.
But it presented programming tasks I didn't have the patience to learn. Haha
Ya little programmerrrrr
Good work.
-PM44

Thanks VBA is really easy to learn.

[Garrett19]

The tilt sensor is a 3 Axis Accelerometer, IC5 on the board. The one in the GH2 controller had different sensitivity settings, and on it's highest one it was basically useless unless ya really tossed the Guitar it wouldn't kick off. If I could find the data sheet on the thing in the GH3 controller I could see if it was the same way and show ya what needed to be done to wire it to it's max sensitivity, provided it has that ability. The only real option ya have now is to kill the power to the Acceleromter or disable the 3 axis it uses, and either of those could either not work or just make the thing act tarded and possibly cause it to go off when ever it felt like it.

Ya i was hoping to just cut the power to it with a switch so i could still have the tilt if i wanted but i usually just use the button i put in but most people who play my guitar still use the tilt so that is why i want to put a switch to it so i can have both tilt and just the back button for me when i play. Thanks in advance.

[x3ro]

I haven't seen the button, but if it's anything like a 4 terminal tactile switch, then you may want to make sure you're soldered to the correct contacts. Use a multimeter to check that the when you press the back button you installed if it connects, then go deeper, and check that the original back button is actually making a connection when pressed, if not, try using the original back button in a game to determine if it works. If it works in a game, (try playing something straightforward which allows you to use the button as means of pausing so you can do it several times)

If it works in the game, then you have soldered to the wrong contacts on the controller board
-PM44

I haven't soldered anything. I'm just trying to use the damn factory back button on the guitar. It works in the menus, going back like it should ,but everytime I've tried to activate star power with it, it didn't work. I'll try again tonight.

Also, stupid starpower kinda goes off whenever it wants. Frustrating to say the least.