Scratch-built Guitar Hero controller

[Crowquill]

I'm going to start working this weekend on a scratch-built guitar controller for Guitar Hero. I'm going to use several arcade buttons and parts for this.

After trying to figure out how to make this work, I realized that I have enough materials around to at least make a rough-looking prototype. If everything works out as well as I hope, I'll make a newer, cleaner version (that's probably wireless).

The guitar body is going to be plywood sandwiched between two sheets of hardboard. Cut-away sections of the plywood should give me enough hollow area to mount the electronics (a solderless-hacked Playstation 1 Dual Shock that has a broken right analog stick). The neck of the guitar will be 1-1/2" PVC pipe cut in half. I'm then going to use sheet metal over the top of it to mount the buttons.

In the end I'm going to use Sanwa or some other snap-in Japanese pushbutton as they have a very shallow mounting depth. For now I'm just going to use the buttons off of my Agetec Dreamcast Arcade stick.

The strum bar you can see in the diagrams below. I'm going to have it pivot so that it's balanced between two leaf switches. This should let it both spring back to center and trip the appropriate switch when moved.

The whammy bar is going to be a lever that is mechanically connected to the analog stick on the hacked pad.

I wanted the body to be both unique and easy to build, so I'm copying the boxy guitar used by John Flansburgh of They Might be Giants. I'm guessing it's custom. A flying-V might be easier to build, but wouldn't be near as stylish.

[DarkBubble]

 Awesome pick for a body!  I've considered doing this later myself, assuming that I get the game and actually get good enough to warrant a custom job.  I'd maybe go with the Gretsch Billy Bo.

I don't know what kind of switches I'd end up using myself.  I know I'd end up building my own buttons for sure.  I was thinking about doing something a little different, replacing the buttons with sectional frets or something, allowing the switches to be oriented across the neck, rather than down it.  I play guitar (poorly), and the button setup has never felt natural.  Maybe I just need smaller buttons with less spacing.  I have small hands.

Anyway, good luck with the project and I really hope to see a step-by-step.

[BradC]

I'm not sure if it will work. If you've ever started up Guitar Hero with a regular controller plugged in, it will tell you that you need a Guitar controller to play.

I don't know how it can tell the difference, if there's an extra piece that it checks for, or if there's something missing. You might want to do some research into it before attempting to put this together.

It sounds great and I hope it works to see how it's done. Good luck.

[SavannahLion]

I'm not sure if it will work. If you've ever started up Guitar Hero with a regular controller plugged in, it will tell you that you need a Guitar controller to play.

Which console and which version?

In the first version of GH on the PS2, I believe you couldn't use a PS2 controller, it had to be a PS1 controller, which the OP is doing anyways. If you just plug in a PS1 controller, you lose strum. To trick the console into thinking it's a GH controller, short LEFT on the D-pad. But all the button inputs change if you do that. So a lot of testing would be in order.

In later versions of GH, I've read on some sites the game allows PS2 controllers.

I don't know how other versions on other consoles are set up.

It's strange, I have GH for the PS2, complete with guitar accesory, but I've never bothered to open the package. hhmm, I suppose one day I should get around to trying the game out. 

[Strokemouth]

It's strange, I have GH for the PS2, complete with guitar accesory, but I've never bothered to open the package. hhmm, I suppose one day I should get around to trying the game out. 

Sacrilege!

I'm actually planning my entire cab as a Guitar Hero theme. I'm planning on putting in a couple PS2 -> USB adapters, using my PS2 guitars as I prefer the 360 version, and loading up Frets on Fire in addition to the usual emulators. I haven't seen anyone do this before, so no one steal my idea! 

Watching this thread closely...I'm anxious to see how well it works!

[Crowquill]

All-in-all this project isn't that difficult from an electronics standpoint. All it is is a glorified gamepad. The fret buttons are just digital...buttons. The strum bar is just a moving actuator that hits two switches not too different from your average joystick. The only one that's a little more complicated is the whammy bar which is a rotary analog controller. The solderless PS1 hack is easy (thanks Spiffyshoes!). I've already done 3 of them (2 for my  MAME cab controls and 1 for my home-build DDR pad). That's why I have spares. Every time I walk into a GameStop I check to see if they have any revision A Dual Shocks. $3.99 for an interface can't be beat.

The trickiest part is building a case that is solid and that the electronics can mount in. I've read and re-read the post over on the Guitar Hero forums about the Elmo Guitar mod. This is one reason that I knew the PS1 Dual Shock would work.

I'm not sure about GH1, but in GH2 both PS1 and PS2 dual shocks work fine. As mentioned, the controller is recognized as the guitar by shorting left on the d-pad. I've even tested this with a simple spring clamp when LEFT is held down when starting a song, all the buttons remap to the face buttons. When starting a song without it held down, all the controls are mapped to the shoulder buttons and up and down don't strum (it strums automatically when your press the buttons). I'm actually considering shorting out LEFT through a switch so that it could also function as a standard pad. I'm not sure what games that would work with, but Frequency and Amplitude come to mind. IIRC, they use the shoulder buttons. I'm not sure if you can re-map that. BTW, anybody else notice that the interface of the game is basically Frequency/Amplitude with Karaoke Revolutions' backgrounds?

Below is a rough diagram of how I'm thinking the whammy bar will move the interor analog stick on the stripped-down pad's circuit board. In theory, I guess you could just replace the analog stick from the controller with potentiometer. Would probably be some tricky soldering, though.

SavannahLion--Play the game already! It's one of the most fun games to come along in a long time. Simple enough to pick up and play right away, but even the hard level can be quite challenging.

Watching this thread closely...I'm anxious to see how well it works!

You and me both. I'm guessing there will be some trial-and-error despite my planning and lovely diagrams. 

[Strokemouth]

I'm actually considering shorting out LEFT through a switch so that it could also function as a standard pad. I'm not sure what games that would work with, but Frequency and Amplitude come to mind. IIRC, they use the shoulder buttons. I'm not sure if you can re-map that. BTW, anybody else notice that the interface of the game is basically Frequency/Amplitude with Karaoke Revolutions' backgrounds?

I don't remember exactly what the control layouts were like for Frequency/Amplitude (despite the insane number of hours I've spent on both!), but I seem to remember preferring to use L1 for left, D-pad for middle, R1 for right. Or maybe it was using one of the face buttons for middle...it's been too long! I do remember there being the option to use square, triangle, circle for the buttons as well, so that may be an option. What are you thinking as far as moving from track to track? Strum bar?

[Paladin]

In case you haven't seen it, here's a guy that converted a real guitar:

http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/05/how-to-build-your-own-custom-full-sized-wireless-guitar-hero-controller/

[BradC]

I'm actually planning my entire cab as a Guitar Hero theme. I'm planning on putting in a couple PS2 -> USB adapters, using my PS2 guitars as I prefer the 360 version, and loading up Frets on Fire in addition to the usual emulators. I haven't seen anyone do this before, so no one steal my idea! 

You just stole MY IDEA! I've been planning to do this as well because I also hadn't seen anyone do it. Oh well, I guess we can both do it. 

Crowquill, I didn't mean to imply it couldn't be done, I didn't know you had already done some of them. I just knew from my experience that booting up GH on my PS2 with a regular controller plugged in wouldn't let you get very far. That's interesting about shorting out the Left D-pad. I'll keep it in mind if I ever get ambitious enough to try and make my own controller.

[Knievel]

My GH cabinet has been on paper for almost a year now. May the best/quickest man win.


Good luck with the custom guitar. I've looked into it a couple of times but haven't got around to it yet.
I'm still considering converting my Epiphone Vee-Wee over. It's close to the original GH guitar size but of course it's a real and therefore has a nice feel/weight.

Here's a pic of it hanging behind my bar...

[shardian]

I'm still considering converting my Epiphone Vee-Wee over. It's close to the original GH guitar size but of course it's a real and therefore has a nice feel/weight.

For the love of all that is good and holy, don't destroy a nice guitar to make a game controller! It was bad enough what the guy in the above post did.
If you are going to make a GH controller, find a trashed Fender or something.

Hacking a nice guitar to make a GH controller is the equivalent of taking a mint classic arcade machine  and chopping it up to make a console emu machine. 

[Knievel]

Yea I was going to buy another one off eBay for $50 or whatever. But anyway my guitar is far from a mint nor is a classic.

The whole point is that the Vee-Wee is small, and it's usefullness is limited.
I've seen the full-sized guitars that have been hacked with a GH controller and it just doesn't seem right.

[Bloinkxp]

  Maiden Baby!

Seriously, a pawn-shop guitar would be perfect.  Most of those rascals are shot...

[SavannahLion]

It's strange, I have GH for the PS2, complete with guitar accesory, but I've never bothered to open the package. hhmm, I suppose one day I should get around to trying the game out. 

Sacrilege!

Be nice, I pick these things up when a good sale comes in. I've got three Bongos for the Gamecube, Two soft DDR PS2 pads, PS2 vibrator, two PS1 screens, and a bunch of other nicknacks and none of them I've ever opened. I can't ever seem to get around to playing them.

[shardian]

PS2 vibrator

Is this one of those strange japanese import accessories?

[SavannahLion]

PS2 vibrator

Is this one of those strange japanese import accessories?

It's the Trance PS2 Virbrator that's used for REZ. I was never able to pick up a copy of REZ though.  I intended to use the game and vibrator to introduce my then-GF to the wonderful world of gaming. 

[Crowquill]

Little-known fact: The trance vibrator also works with Space Channel 5 II. It's part of the "special edition" package for PS2. Rez was a great game even without the peripheral. Used copies of REZ are fairly pricey, used copies of SC5 aren't.

Due to space considerations I've tried to stop picking up things that I might play one day. I do still have a sealed Taiko Drum Master set, but that's in addition to the 2 that we play. $10 for the game and controler I couldn't pass up. I bought them out of the three they had.

I'm a sucker for game peripherals. I still play the Saturn sometimes to play 2-player light gun games. That's probably why I got sucked into this aspect of the hobby.

[SavannahLion]

Little-known fact: The trance vibrator also works with Space Channel 5 II. It's part of the "special edition" package for PS2. Rez was a great game even without the peripheral. Used copies of REZ are fairly pricey, used copies of SC5 aren't.

Did not know about SC5, I'll have to look into that.

REZ prices aren't too bad. I'll pick one up and sneak it into the house one of these days.

[Crowquill]

REZ prices aren't too bad. I'll pick one up and sneak it into the house one of these days.

In the grand scheme of things they're not very expensive, but these days 90% of the older used games are under $10 and most games are worth less than $5 in trade-in. Paying $30 for a 5-year-old game just SEEMS high. In the past I've had a history of picking up obscure titles that end up being cult favorites. Most have prices similar to this. Now I'll probably never own Tomba or Panzer Dragoon Saga again.

Since I don't own Amplitude, I was reading up on it on Gamefaqs. Square,Triangle, and Circle are the rhythm buttons while X is power up. It might take a little getting used to, but the neck buttons on the guitar should work for it. The strum bar would jump between instrument parts. The whammy bar will be for freestyle. I just think it might be cool to use it with more than the two games. Then again, there are still 2 Guitar Hero games scheduled to come out this year for PS2. DDR would be like chord practice on the guitar.

Just out of curiosity, anyone else notice that the presentation of Guitar Hero is basically the scrolling bar of Amplitude/Frequency over the stage scenes from Karaoke Revolution?

EDITED TO MAKE SENSE. SHOULDN'T POST WHEN I'M HALF-ASLEEP!

[Strokemouth]

My GH cabinet has been on paper for almost a year now. May the best/quickest man win.

Crap. And I thought I finally had an original idea. It looks like I probably won't be able to get to finally starting my cab as I'll be closing on a house in a couple weeks and funds are probably going to be going towards house stuff. So, I'd be happy to toss around a couple ideas I had for it if anyone is interested. Umm, just don't use the name "Arcade Hero." I already made the logo for the marquee and sideart. 

And Crowquill, it sounds like Amplitude and Frequency would be pretty good with the guitar. It might take a bit getting used to pressing down to move to the right track, etc, but it could be pretty cool. And I did notice the similarities between GH and the previous Harmonix games. But, I think devs are pretty limited as to how they can present a rhythm game. Osu Tatakae Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents is probably the most original I've seen, but I ended up hating that game anyways.

[SavannahLion]

REZ prices aren't too bad. I'll pick one up and sneak it into the house one of these days.

In the grand scheme of things they're not very expensive, but these days 90% of the older used games are under $10 and most games are worth less than $5 in trade-in. Paying $30 for a 5-year-old game. In the past I've had a history of picking up obscure titles that end up being cult favorites. Now I'll probably never own Tomba or Panzer Dragoon Saga again.

That's true. But I guess that's the nature of the beast. You'll always have speculators and horders artificially driving the price up for OOP games. As good as Atari's Tetris is, is it really worth $100+? It's one of the many games I'll never own except on HDD.

[DrumAnBass]

Hmm very interesting... I have a thashed  Aria ProII with a warped neck taking up space in my garage... Same body shape as this (but in horrible condition):



I will be watching to see what you come up with Crowquill!

[BradC]

My GH cabinet has been on paper for almost a year now. May the best/quickest man win.

Crap. And I thought I finally had an original idea. It looks like I probably won't be able to get to finally starting my cab as I'll be closing on a house in a couple weeks and funds are probably going to be going towards house stuff. So, I'd be happy to toss around a couple ideas I had for it if anyone is interested. Umm, just don't use the name "Arcade Hero." I already made the logo for the marquee and sideart. 

I'm actually not planning on building an entire cabinet dedicated to GH, I was just going to put the PS2 to USB adapter in the front of the cabinet, so that the GH controllers could be plugged in to play Frets on Fire. So I won't steal your name idea.

I only have my cabinet and most of the computer components, but I haven't had time to do ANYTHING with it yet. It will be a month or so before I get going on it.

[Crowquill]

It's starting to look like this project will be dragging out a bit longer. I'm having second thoughts about sacrificing my Dreamcast stick's buttons, so I think I'm just going to hold off on the buttons until I can order the Sanwa buttons from Ponyboy. Yesterday I picked up most of the other materials I needed, though.

I picked up the PVC pipe, some wood to use for the strum bar and assembly, and a 1-1/2"x1/4" strip of poplar for the frets (I can now add "real wood frets" to the list of features).

I also picked up a lever assembly for a toilet to use as a whammy bar (I'll be using it inside-out so the metal bar is on the outside). It already has a built-in pivot/mounting point and a limited range of movement that I think will work well when actuating the analog stick. It's not super heavy-duty steel, but I think it'll work OK for this project.

I've now spent a whopping $14 on materials. I still need to pick up a cheap guitar strap and nuts (judging from Guitar Center's webpage, it'll probably be around $7). It looks like the total cost for this project is going to be right around the $40 mark. So in other words, I could've just ordered a wired one from RedOctane. The flip side of this is that for about another $10-15 in additional parts I'll have enough scrap left over of everything to build at least 1 more custom guitar.

I also stopped by a local thrift store to check for a toy guitar. To my surprise I found one for $3. This one was a Radio Shack toy that has enough buttons on the neck to originally function like a cheap electronic keyboard. The PCBs that the buttons activate should be pretty easy to solder to. I'll still have to build a strum bar, but it'll be a decent side-project to this one. While not as big as the GH guitars, it's still bigger than the Elmo toy. There are 5 different colors of buttons (repeating) that run down the neck, so I can rearrange them to mostly match the GH layout. The only compromise will be purple buttons instead of orange. The buttons are a little small. At first glance it almost looks like someone glued jelly beans onto it.

I also stumbled upon something else at the thrift store that might work well as a guitar body: candy tins. The most promising is a Russel Stover one with a hinged lid. It's roughly 9"x11"x1.5"  with beveled corners. Should be thick enough to hold the assemblies and electronics without being as deep as most tins. I also picked up one that was roughly 12"x5"x1.5" that was Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Cremes. I figured it might be worth a try for 50 cents each.

Tomorrow I hope to have enough time to "rip" the PVC pipe into halves and start making the strum bar assembly.

[Strokemouth]

stuff

Awesome, take pics! 

[loadman]

stuff

Awesome, take pics! 

Indeed..

Ps You need to fix up your link to this thread from your POST today from the main forum 

[Crowquill]

I'll take plenty of pics as I make it through this learning experience.

PS...Link fixed. Thanks for mentioning it. it seems at 2am I can't spell U-R-L.

[loadman]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I was inspired

 



Check out my post here about how I made it:
http://forum.guitarherogame.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=23386