Customer Reviews

Logitech Xbox 360 Wireless Guitar Controller

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That was my first thought upon unboxing Logitech's Xbox 360 Wireless Guitar Controller. The second thing I noted, as I lifted it out, was that it is very heavy. This is no cheap plastic toy! This is a solid, well-constructed, replica guitar. And the quality shows.

Inside the box, the guitar is well protected for shipping with bubble wrap and cardboard spacers. Of note is the fact that this is a one piece unit. This completely eliminates the connectivity issues between the neck and body, as sometimes seen in guitar controllers that come boxed as two pieces. The guitar measures 33.75 inches from tip to base, with a slightly larger body than my Guitar Hero World Tour guitar, which measures only 31.25 inches in length (see the photo I posted with this review). This extra length pushes the fret buttons up a little bit, but I did not find this to be an issue. I store my guitars on a stand, but if you use a guitar bag or case, be aware that it might not fit. Rounding out the included accessories are a user manual, a quality strap, some batteries to get you up and playing fast, and an adapter for older style Xbox 360 headsets.

IMPRESSIONS
The guitar itself is modeled after Guitar Hero guitars, with the raised fret buttons and the neck slider feature. Keep this in mind if you are someone who prefers the look of the Rock Band guitars, with their in-line fret buttons. The chrome detailing, including tuning pegs and bridge, and use of real screws in the white pick guard lends an authentic look, effectively disguising the Start (bridge) and Star Power buttons (pickups) while keeping them functional. There is even an authentic looking nut between the headstock and the neck. The Star Power button sits right under the ball of your hand, so it's easy to press down on while strumming (you can also still rock Star Power with a neck tilt). The strum bar is the best I have ever seen on a guitar controller. It has exactly the right tactile feel, and is responsive yet quiet. One of my fret buttons makes a bit of a clickety-clack when I hit it, but I am hoping this goes away as it wears in. Overall, this is a quiet guitar, allowing for more enjoyment of the music.

COMPATIBILITY
I have tested this guitar with the following Xbox 360 games that I own:

* Band Hero: Yes
* Guitar Hero Van Halen: Yes
* Guitar Hero 5: Yes
* Guitar Hero World Tour: Yes
* Guitar Hero III: Yes
* Guitar Hero II: Yes
* Rock Band The Beatles: Yes
* Rock Band 2: Yes
* Rock Band: Yes

CONCLUSION
This is a quality guitar controller that I would recommend to any serious gamer who wants to add authenticity to their music games. It is a joy to play.

I love Rock Band (RB) and play it with my friends often. We're very happy with MadCatz wireless 2-strum bass, but haven't found a nice upgrade replacement for the guitar. With an entry price of $200 and no chance to test it out in a store (and no reviews), I took a chance & pulled the trigger on this beaut.

First, it's a gorgeous, balanced and a substantial piece of equipment. I was wary not to dent the walls or my friends while walking around with it. The strum bar is perfect! (no noise, quick spring-back) I also love the hidden and easy location of hitting the back button with your strum hand (something RB guitars have never done well), as well as the hidden start button below the whammy bar. It's not full-size, but is substantially larger than the regular plastic guitars that come with Guitar Hero (GH). In fact, I fell in love with everything about this guitar... except the actual fret buttons.

The fret buttons are the exact same size as those that come on standard GH guitars, but they're further up, so your fingers are at more of an angle to hit them. The wood fret board is much wider/larger than the plastic versions, so it's also much harder to reach around to connect with the actual buttons. This is where RB buttons are much easer to hit, though I personally prefer the protruding GH buttons in general, for this piece, they don't work. In fact, several times, without removing my finger from the buttons, it would not register a chord depending on which part of the button was being pressed. Instead of my scores getting better over time, they were always lower. It may be something others can learn to adapt to, but it was a deal-breaker for me (after 7 hours experience) and I have to send it back. My friends had the same problem - we all loved the look, feel, strum & design of this guitar, but the fret buttons failed us.

So, what could have been so wonderful (a 5-star love affair), is being sent back (down to 3-stars). I'll patiently wait for the next upgrade installment (deep purple color, please!) and continue to play on my multitude of puny plastic toy guitars until then.


[For background as we all have personal preferences, my current favorite controller is the GH-3 guitar (got it with Aerosmith). The RB standard controllers are good for bass, but their strum bar & back button locations don't compare. I played GH 5 & RB Beatles while testing this controller.]

200 bucks for a fake guitar? What!

That was my first thought (one that I think can be easily overcome by how nice this guitar is) but the next hurdle is a tough one (it's orange, no, it's bright orange, I'm overcome by the sheer orangeness of it).


That said, the important question is... is it worth it?

Short answer? It depends.

It is easily the best fake guitar you can get right now (if you can overlook the orangeness!)

Also (one huge plus) I must mention the battery life, I've used this guitar for possibly 60-80 hours and still using the same battery.

I have a real guitar (ESP Kirk Hammit) and the fact that this is a real weight and real feeling guitar, I could not be happier with this aspect (though it may turn some off).

If this were a real guitar, I would say "It plays fast", meaning the fret notes are very easy to hit, smooth like butter. Easily the best feeling you can get with a fake guitar.

The strum bar is nice (but NOT silent), and the whammy rocks.

Cons:

It's somewhat of an indulgence due to its price (but if you play 10 hours a month, it comes out to about 2 dollars an hour for the fun, if that's worth it to you, than sure, grab it).

If you play 10 hours a week, that's over 500 hours a year and less than 50 cents an hour (which means you SHOULD buy it). We all know how bad a fake plastic guitar is and how long they last (if you have kids good luck having it last over a year or two).

The BIGGEST con of course is that the xbox version is BRIGHT ORANGE! BRIGHT ORANGE! lol

You'll get over it (somewhat).

Pros:

Best Fake guitar. I even put a real guitar strap on it (Planet Waves Rock Star).

Feels real (the weight of it is to be appreciated).

Responsive (rarely do I miss a note with this thing, it is just so smooth, and very hard to go back to using the super light fake plastic guitar (GHWT or RB2).

Looks Amazing (aside from the ORANGENESS) from the nice maple neck to the very nicely done bridge. this thing just looks real. I also love the d-pad.

This thing just makes playing these games all the better. If something happened to mine I'd buy it again (and hope and pray a black version comes out or someone figures out a way to get rid of the orangeness!)



What Would Be Cool? If the buttons had an option where you could work on building your calluses while playing guitar hero (so you can play your real guitar).


Also (as an aside) yes this guitar works on guitar hero and rock band (I've played every game quite thoroughly with this guitar and they all work flawlessly).

Do check it out (obviously if you only play rock band or guitar hero 3 hours every 3 months, this is not for you, but if you play every weekend or a couple hours a day, do get it, it makes it that much more fun.)

If you're a fan of virtual musician / band video games and you're using the original plastic guitar you'll love this thing. The extra weight they've added makes it much easier to play, especially when you're standing up. It makes a big difference to hold something that is heavy enough to stay in place while you play. The strum bar is quiet and bounces back very well (better than the original) and the fret buttons are much more quiet. They are not silent, but it's an improvement.

A few comments have been made about the fret buttons being a bit difficult to reach. In my opinion, while they are harder to find with your fingers at first, it makes it a bit more realistic. Finding the right strings on a real guitar takes a ton of practice, so if the idea is to make the game more realistic, then they've succeeded. If you have smaller hands, however, I can see how this would be a challenge.

Four starts because it's not quite as amazing as they describe it and for nearly two hundred dollars, it should be freakin' amazing. Rock on people.

Just to sum up at the beginning (just in case you do not want to read my old man rant) the short short version of my review is, if you play RB or GH on a regular basis, then buy this guitar. If you are a casual player, then stick to the plastic standard issue version. If you would like to know more about my experience with this fine piece of equipment, then read on my friend.

Heavy and Orange. The first 2 things that come to mind when most people review this beauty of a guitar but I say to you, my people, there is much much more behind this sweet guitar if you can look past those 2 things.

I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan, so the orangeness of the guitar does not bother me at all. As for the weight of the guitar, it's all in your play style. Yes if you are one of those players that just has to stand while playing guitar, it could be an issue for you as that strap can be a burden, however if you are like me and play while sitting on the couch or in a chair, it's not an issue.

The strum bar is damn near completely silent, at least compared to my old plastic guitar that lasted about 2 years before the down strum was so unreliable I could no longer play rock band/guitar hero, which prompted me to buy a new guitar. Checked my local EB Games and the stand alone Guitar Hero World Tour guitar was freakin $70. I thought to myself for $20 more I can get that sweet lookin Logitech guitar I saw on Amazon. Made of wood instead of plastic, better strum bar, and just better looking overall I figured what the hell and got the best damn guitar I ever had. I have my original old as the hills wired GHIII guitar, which still works amazingly, my sorta kinda maybe if it feels like it working GHWT wireless guitar, and the Logitech guitar. The Logitech is by far the best one I have had the pleasure of playing however not all will agree with me.

Let me get into the differences between the Logitech and the GH standard issue. For the record I do not like the RB version of the guitar. I like GH instruments better than RB however as for the software I like RB better than GH. To this day I still play RB2 almost every day and I have not played GH5 or GH4 in a long long time. Personal preference, but that's just me so you know where I am coming from. The fret buttons on this guitar are further apart than on a standard issue GHWT guitar, however I prefer them as I have long fingers and found it easier to play as my hand did not get as cramped from playing on the Logitech as compared to the close frets of the standard issue GHWT version. My wife and daughter however have smaller hands so they could not play the Logitech as well as the standard issue version. The frets are quieter when pressed than the standard issue version but you can still hear them while playing solo, however when my daughter is playing drums the clack of her drums is much louder than the frets so I don't notice the fret noise at all while playing as a band. I also felt the star power button(yes I said I like RB better to GH gamewise however I first started playing GH not rock band and just can not bring myself to call it overdrive or whatever the hell it's called in RB. Please forgive this old man... :D) was much easier to hit on the Logitech than on the standard issue. The neck of the guitar is wood, has a nice smooth finish and caresses the hand like a woman's thigh, and the body of the guitar is solid with a nice, smooth to the touch, glossy finish. After 2 weeks of playing the Logitech I can no longer play the standard issue guitar as well as the Logitech. As I said before I like the frets on the Logitech better than the standard issue as I was able to play faster and more accurately than the standard issue guitar.

My only complaint about the Logitech is the whammy bar. It not that it sux or anything, it's just it feels like a piece of plastic just like the standard issue version. Works just like it is supposed to and all, but when you hit the whammy of the Logitech it feels no better or different than the standard issue, however that is a minor complaint on my part. Everything else on the Logitech is so much better than the standard issue I find it strange they did not upgrade the whammy at all other than make it look more shiny than the standard issue version. Bottom line for me it was $20 more than the standard issue version of the guitar but vastly superior and enhanced my play and enjoyment of the game. $20 difference for a much better guitar was an easy decision for me, however some folks would rather take that $20 and buy 4 happy meals at McDonald's or whatever so its up to you and how often you play RB/GH. If you are a casual player I would not recommend this guitar as it is really not needed, however if you play often like me it is worth the extra $$.

I play Rock Band exclusively - but I prefer the GH guitars. I've been playing RB since 2007 and about every 4 months or so, I'd replace a GH guitar controller as they wear out and variety of problems occur. My thought in getting this Logitech controller was that 'you get what you pay for' and I wanted to get something that would last a bit longer than 4 months.

The guitar arrived yesterday, I popped open the package and started up RB. Worked great. I've read other reviews where people are noticing the fret buttons are spaced further apart than others - I /guess/ I can agree to that, but its hardly noticeable in my opinion. I really do like the placement of the aux buttons (back & start)... very similar Overdrive button placement to what the GH World Tour controller had. Wammy feels good thus far.

After about 2 hrs of playing last night, I started to notice issues with the strum bar. Downstrums were not consistent; upstrums were fine. After 3 hrs of playing, I was noticing that the fret buttons started to become troublesome; even though I was holding down the frets, minor adjustments (rolling your fingers on the fret) would cause the fret to stop registering and I'd lose my note in the game. After 4 hrs, I started to notice further problems with the strum; the irksome 'double-strum' syndrome as well as additional problems with downstrumming.

So this morning I picked up the guitar (still love the weight & heft of it) and thought perhaps I was just having a bad night. Now the strum is bad in both directions and the fret buttons only register 75% of the time. I will admit this feels like a very well made product... but its like a Jaguar; looks real pretty but the key pieces of functionality ain't there. (sorry to all you who love Jags)

Anyway, this will go into my collection of plastic guitars and I'll probably just spend more money on something else in the future. My advice to anyone CONSIDERING purchasing this item (I picked it up for $87 and free shipping) is focus on the MadCatz products instead. Logitech apparently (see other reviews) has this product at 'end of life' so if you experience the same problems as I have, you'll be SOL. (outta luck).

Love the weight, not happy with the frets or strum.

I'll start by assuming that you've already decided that you want the most realistic controller possible when playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band. So taking price out of the equation, how does the Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller perform? Very well, although not quite perfectly.

CONSTRUCTION & APPEARANCE

From the moment you unbox it, you feel that this is no plastic toy. It is larger than any standard-issue GH controller by the length of the headstock (the far end where the tuning keys are). Note that this means that it will not fit in the GH gig bag, so storage may be a concern for some. Made of solid wood, it is also quite heavy - you'd better keep a hand on this beast when turning around or else bye-bye lamp. While the quality materials and solid construction are the foundation of the controller's authenticity, note that they also potentially make it a poor fit for younger kids.

In terms of appearance, the pictures don't do its color justice - its body is painted with an aggressively day-glo orange gloss paint. Everyone's tastes will differ, but this struck me as something that only a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan could love. For the price, I would have rather seen a more traditional black or else even a multi-tone sunburst that further ups the look and feel of an actual guitar.

PERFORMANCE

The performance of any GH controller begins and ends with the strum bar, in my opinion. The Logitech's strum bar is top-notch, allowing for precise control during up- and downstrumming at any speed. On the other hand, the buttons are not quite as responsive as I would have liked them to be - very good, but players looking to gold-star song after song may be frustrated. This may be partially due to the size and length of the neck as well - I found that I had to swing the neck upward to properly position my wrist to reach all of the buttons (again, another issue for kids and other players with small hands). I also have to take issue with Logitech's claim that the fret buttons "don't 'clickety-clack'". On the contrary, they're among the loudest ones that I've ever encountered, but this shouldn't be very important to most players.

Logitech continued to improve on secondary button placement with this controller. For example, the start button is concealed as the bridge. More importantly, the Star Power button is concealed as the pickup next to the strum bar. More convenient than prior controllers, but still not perfect (attention guitar controller designers: the obvious placement is on the back of the headstock so that you can use the thumb of your button hand). Luckily, the sensor that feels when you tilt the guitar is the most responsive and accurate one I've ever used - finally, you can reliably trigger it when you want it but also won't have so many accidental instances, either.

Left-handers are already used to the tremolo (whammy bar) being in the way, so that's nothing new to deal with here. However, Logitech placed the XBox dashboard button so that it rests under your forearm when you're playing left-handed. On more than one occasion, I've accidentally paused the game by pushing down a little bit too much. Again, not a deal-breaker, but something to consider when making an investment like this one.

I used the Logitech with Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Guitar Hero 5 and found the performance to be consistently very good with each game. RB fans should note that the hammer-on bar is not usable with that game (as has always been the case with all GH-branded controllers).

CONCLUSION/PROS & CONS

Logitech has a great track record creating PC peripherals and all sorts of gaming controllers. This wireless Guitar Hero controller is no exception. A few minor design issues notwithstanding, it's a fantastic controller, marrying an authentic feel with very solid performance. Assuming you can handle the price tag, this is the one to go get.

Pros:
* Solid, quality construction
* Great performance thanks to a top-notch strum bar and Star Power sensor

Cons:
* Large and heavy for kids and players with small hands
* Fret buttons aren't best-in-class reliable (i.e. the GH III Les Paul)

It seems incomprehensible that Logitech would take the time to build such a heavy and well put-together piece of equipment, ensure sound body construction, turnable guitar pegs and even a false bridge, and fail in the ways that are actually important.

#1 - Fret This
The biggest and most glaring problem with this guitar is the fret design, feel, and functionality. This and the strum bar are like the most obvious parts of what I think should be considered when taking the time to build a guitar controller, but I guess I have to explain it when talking about this one.

I understand that when building guitar controllers, it is all about trade off. Do you make the frets raised or flush, loose or sticky, how far apart do you space them? The first thing I noticed when I took the guitar out of the box was how far apart the fret buttons are spaced. However, I then realized that thinking they were spaced further apart than the normal Guitar Hero guitar controllers is just an illusion created by the extra width and length of the neck of the guitar. The problem is that even though the guitar is the largest controller I have ever used, the buttons are the same size as every other guitar controller from the Guitar Hero people. If you're going to make a larger guitar, make the buttons larger too. They don't have to be abnormally large, but it makes it very difficult to do hammer-ons and pull-offs when the frets are spaced as they are.

The second problem with the frets is their shape. They are almost rectangular, which isn't a problem, but the fact that they have sharp sides is. What this means for someone like me, who plays on Expert, is that when I have fast hammer-ons of pull-offs, it's hard to slide my fingers down or up the neck of the guitar. I'm sure in time it is something I could learn to adapt to, but it seems like something that wasn't even considered. A smart guitar controller would be easy to use for people playing on beginner, but be advanced enough to meet the needs of someone playing on expert. The frets should have been more tapered at the edges, and either closer together, of just generally bigger to accommodate faster finger movement.

Lastly, as far as the frets go, I have also already experienced problem with the blue button not registering when playing a chord. This is something that takes time with the guitar hero controllers to break in, but honestly, we're about four years past the release of Guitar Hero 2, it's time these people designing the controllers get with the program. From the get, Rock Band guitar controllers have never had problems with the fret buttons. They are plagued by their own set of problems, but the frets are something they do absolutely right.

#2 - Strummer? -- I don't even know'er!
There isn't a whole lot to complain about as far as the strum bar goes. It is stiff like I like it (that's what she said?), and there is a satisfying click when you strum (I know a lot of people prefer the silent strum bars, and I understand that, I'm not knocking this guitar for trying to please people on both sides of the aisle). This next part is going to be difficult to explain. I, and I don't know how many others do it like this, strum THROUGH the strum bar when I play. I guess picture someone playing the string of a real guitar, brushing their thumb against the string to play the note. That is how I play these guitar controllers. And while I have not yet had any trouble with over-sensitivity (strumming once and having the game read it as a double-strum when the strum bar springs back into place), when I strum through the notes, the controller makes a weird FLOINKing noise that is even more grating than the loud clicking that accompanies most of the first and second gen. Guitar Hero controllers.

#3 - A Little Rough Around the Edges
I understand that this controller was designed to mimic a realistic (albeit still scale) guitar. But when you're going to sacrifice comfort for realism, my question is why? I play for maybe an hour or so a day, using this controller has hurt my right wrist, left forearm, and the bottom joints in my fingers. The neck of the guitar has pretty hard and sharp edges, and when you are moving your hand up and down the neck a lot, it is going to hurt your fingers. I ended up taking sandpaper to the edges to round them out and make it easier and more comfortable to play. This was not difficult to do, but the fact remains that it is something that should have been taken into consideration when designing it.

Second, the butt of the guitar is the same way. While more rounded, there is no comfortable position to rest your strumming arm on the guitar without rubbing your forearm raw. Again I ended up putting a piece of foam held in place with double sided tape, to stop my arm from getting hurt. If you don't play on expert, you should really be fine with this guitar, and shouldn't experience very many problems, but this thing really wasn't built for the serious guitar gamer. That sounds dumb to say, but it's the truth.

The spacing of the frets, and how loose they are, makes it so that you want to press down hard on them to ensure that you don't miss chords because the guitar isn't reading you as pressing the button down enough, really has hurt my wrist as well. The longer neck and the spaced frets places your wrist at an awkward angle. This is the first guitar controller that really has hurt my wrist, and that is a problem. When there are so many stupid problems plaguing something you're going to be using a lot, you eventually start to see that it just isn't worth it to keep using.

In conclusion, if you don't play on expert, you will probably love this guitar. It's heavy, solid, and really cool. I mean it really is, I'm not denying it. But it really wasn't built with function at it's core. It's more showy than actually practical.

The first thing I noticed when holding this controller -- it does not feel like a controller.

No it feels like you're holding a real guitar. This is probably helped by the fact that it's made of wood and generally is a well built product.

I tried it with Guitar Hero and found that it responded well to the game and had no issues with playing. The little buttons midway through that are kind of pressed in I found no use for but I guess other people may find them to be useful.

It's a shame they didn't make real buttons at the bottom for base use in Rockband but I guess this really was built with Guitar Hero in mind so it's not a huge deal.

It's a quality guitar and works fairly well.

I bought this unit used. $250 is too much for a video game guitar. That said, this is far superior to the plastic guitars that come with the bundles or are otherwise available. I agree that it is a bit heavy, but if is built on a real guitar body. If you are considering playing guitar (particularly in a band) it is good practice for your shoulder. Get a padded strap and that should add to comfort. The buttons and pick control are so much smoother. I had a hard time playing HARD on the other guitars due to accuracy problems but this one is much easier. Added bonus for adults: it is too heavy for your kids to play so they won't beat it up or get it sticky.