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[Lotus289]

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for what might or might not happen to you or your Guitar in doing this mod.  Also, in removing the Warranty, you will in fact void your Warranty.  That's not my fault either. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

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After tiring of the endless clicking of the strum bar on the Guitar Hero 3 Guitar, and not having a tut on how to open it or fix the clicking, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.  So here's how to open up the new Guitar, and also how to quiet it down SIGNIFICANTLY!  (Though it won't be completely silent)

Starting off, the tools of the trade. You'll need a T10 bit, a small Phillips Screwdriver, and a Xacto Knife.  Also a magnet to get the screws out and a set of pliers never hurts.  You'll also need some "padding" material if you wish to quiet the Guitar a bit.  I used the soft side of some sticky-back velcro.

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture013.jpg)


Next we get our guitar.  You'll have a front...

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture001.jpg)


..and if you flip it over, you'll find a back too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture002.jpg)


First off you have to remove the strap (pretty self explanatory), the neck, and the faceplate.  Instructions are as follows in the pic.

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture003.jpg)


Ok, now that the big pieces are taken off, we have to do the forbidden task; Voiding the Warranty.  There's a T10 screw under this sticker, it must come off to get the Guitar open.

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture004.jpg)


I prefer to cut out a hole (hence the X-acto) rather than remove the sticker completely.  But that's just personal preference.  


Sealed:

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture005.jpg)


Open:

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture006.jpg)


Now, remove the 11 T10 screws holding the top and bottom together.

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture007.jpg)


Once they're all out, you can pull the top and bottom apart.  BUT BE CAREFUL!  There's a power wire and the board / wires for the neck that are still attached.  They must be disconnected before the shell can be completely separated.  The 2 red wires are a simple quick disconnect, however mine was covered in glue that had to be removed before I could disconnect it.  The plug for the Guitar Neck simply slides out and out of the way.  Once those 2 pieces are removed, this is what you'll have:

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture008.jpg)






Now that the Guitar is open, you can do whatever you please.  Cut it up, add LED's, etc...  But my goal was to quiet the Strum Bar.  If you noticed before the Guitar was taken apart, there's a little bit of "play" in the Strum Bar.  This is the Strum Bar rocking back and forth between the 2 strum buttons.  If you remove that gap, there'll be A LOT less clicking.  


To get to the Strum Bar assembly, you'll have to remove these 8 screws with you small Phillips screwdriver.  HOWEVER, when you take them out, make sure you know where each screw came from, they're not all the same size and you want to make sure they go back into the correct place.  

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture009.jpg)


Once all the screws are out, you can lift up the board and see the Strum Bar as well as the 2 buttons it hits when being used.  These 2 white buttons click themselves and I doubt you'll ever be able to get rid of that.  But if you look at where the 2 white buttons hit the Strum Bar, there's a small gap.  If you fill that gap in, A LOT of the clicking will be gone.  As you can see in the pic, I put a small piece of the Velcro on the bottom of the Strum Bar.  Any type of padding will do, just so long as it fills the gap and it's relatively soft.  

To get the Strum Bar out, simply lift up the board, remove the 2 "tower" lookin' things on either side and the Strum Bar will come right out.

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture012.jpg)


Here's a close up of the Strum Bar out of the Guitar.  On the bottom you can clearly see the piece of Velcro used to pad it.  

(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture010.jpg)
(IMG:http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Lotus289/Xbox%20Pics/GH3%20Guiter/Picture011.jpg)


Once you have it padded, just put everything back together the same way you took it all apart; only backwards. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


Hope this helps everyone out, and enjoy the new quieter Guitar.  I know I am.

This post has been edited by Lotus289: Nov 13 2007, 03:10 AM

[qweewqaz]

cool!

[Vatamin R]

nice tut...now to find some velcro....

[heffe2001]

I'm definitely going to have to do this one, wonder if the same mod will work on one of the xplorer guitars?  My wife complains to no end about the clicking on both of them (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif).

[snow rider221]

won't the velcro make the strum bar much more sensitive though?

[brandogg]

I tried a similar mod, and yes, it made the strum bar much more sensitive, and would actually make it stay in place a lot of the time, so I undid it. The game should be "cranked to 11" anyway, drowning out the noisy guitar.