 What a Blast!! |
| Review Date: December 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bob Dog, Maryland |
For perspective, I am an "accoustic" guitar player (mid-range "Taylor," without electronics). Slow to adopt new technology, I finally purchased a Wii console for my family this Christmas. So we would be ready to go as soon as the wrapping paper was ripped away, I also had "Wii Fit with Balance Board" on hand, as well as a copy of "Guitar Hero III" to use with the "Logitech Wii Wireless Guitar Controller." Basically, the entire family has been playing Wii for most of the last 48 hours, and "Guitar Hero" for most of the last day. I will incorporate comments from my daughter who has never played guitar, as well as from my son who plays electric guitar and has used other guitar controllers and is more accomplished with the games. (He plays most often at the "Hard" level, with occasional strolls into "Expert.")
My controller started right up right away the first time without any problems. Its easy to set up using the Wii controller that comes with the basic console. If you are reading this review, its because you want a high quality experience, so you want your guitar to look and feel like the real thing. Hard wood maple neck. Dark rosewood fretboard. Mother of pearl-like "Logitech" logo on the lower neck. Chrome throughout. It is a very realistic, high quality. If you want the plastic "toy," for your six year old, I suggest getting something cheaper and smaller. It was a very sweet moment, taking this beast out of the box.
I commented to my son that the neck might be slighly shorter than an actual electric guitar, but he said that this controller (entire unit is almost 34" top to bottom) actually has a longer neck than most typical Guitar Hero controllers! For folks who have never played guitar, or are familiar with the "el-cheapo" plastic devices, and people with smaller hands, you will notice that one of the costs of realism is that it may be more difficult for you to get your fingers around the neck. But the five buttons and slide are easy to get used to. Even my daughter (5' 4" - never played before, but with good hand eye coordination) was able to work the neck with her left hand with no problem. (We are all right handed. I don't know what the options are for you lefties out there....If you don't mind the location of the "whammy" bar, I guess you just flip it upside down.) You will need the strap that comes with it, because it weighs alot just like the real thing.
The traditional black picking area over the glossy white is very classy. It is shiny, hefty, and totally cool. This is the kind of gift you want to get your child to guarantee a "wow" moment when it comes out of the box.
My son thought the strum bar was a little longer than he'd seen in other controllers (almost 3 1/2 inches long), which allows plenty of freedom to move the right hand all over the place, and still have some bar to work with. I suggested he learn to strum with up and down motion to prepare for the lightning fast songs, but he is still getting great speed with the Logitech strum bar just strumming as fast as he can with a downward motion, and its relatively quiet.
The buttons work nicely. My son assured me any issues I was having were due to me, not the mechanics of the buttons. And I think he calibrated the timing of the "notes" for a little earlier strumming (using the Guitar Hero software) than I would have preferred. Nevertheless, I'd say the buttons work just fine. Logitech's write-up on the Amazon website is spot on, except perhaps for the sounds the buttons make. Again, it was probably me - my son was playing more difficult songs, and making fewer clicks. But I personally have no problem with sounds coming from the buttons. Just like I have no problem with the sounds my fingers make travelling up and down the base strings on my accoustic Taylor. This may be the software more than the controller, but I like the fact that when you mess up big time, the controller emits a gentle twang; nothing too harsh.
This product is consistent with other Logitech products I've reveiwed in the past. If you take care of them, fidelity is never an issue.
I've got to tell you, for this accoustic player, hitting a few hundred "notes" in a row, tilting the neck up to the sky to activate the bonus and feeling the vibration, fooling around with the "whammy" bar, etc., is hella fun. The star power button is disguised as the pickups, and the "+" button is the bridge. Basically, with the styling and color of this guitar, a little more practice, and a little less shaving, (I already wear glasses), I'll be an Eric Clapton look alike!
And thats what its all about people.
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Now that's quality
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| Review Date: March 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: P. Boylan, Oakland, CA USA |
If you get this guitar then you won't want to let your kids use it.
I've tried a few guitars now including the Rock Band 2 guitar, older Guitar Hero guitars, and a lower quality Intec guitar.
This one is by far is the best quality.
It is clearly designed and built with authenticity and quality in mind.
The construction is amazing. It's made out of metal and wood.
You would not notice from the photos, but the fret is made of solid wood, and guitar body is also solid (not hollow) like the other guitars.
This feels like a real guitar with minor modifications to work with Rock Band/Guitar Hero. I'm sure there are some plastic parts in the mix, however it would hard to find them. As a result, it's a bit heavy.
I tried to explain to my kid that this guitar was too heavy for him. Really, it might be. He didn't buy it. If an earthquake were to knock our house down, this guitar would still be usable.
I have been using it with Rock Band 2 and it works fine.
This guitar has a slider mechanism built in to the fret bar, which I believe works with Guitar Hero, but does nothing for Rock Band. Since I do not use Guitar Hero right now, I don't know how well that works.
For use with Rock Band, I certainly would have preferred to have a the extra solo fret buttons instead of (and in place of) the slider.
These can come in handy for the more complicated solos in Rock Band 2.
Although I've noticed that simple alt-strumming (strumming up and down) can actually work better on some faster solos.
The second solo frets (that are not on this guitar) are also very helpful for little fingers that sometimes accompany little people (kids).
The strum bar, while not quiet like some have mentioned, isn't noticeably loud. If you crank the volume to a "normal" level, there is no way you would ever notice.
The buttons are fairly easy to press. They are similar to the normal fret button on the standard Rock Band 2 Guitar. They have a much better feel than the other cheapo guitars that can be a bit difficult to press.
On the cheaper guitars, more pressure is required to hold the button down. For one button it might not be that bad, but for "chords" or if you hammer-on and off the notes you're holding more than one button at the same time and it can be more stressful. That just makes the game less enjoyable.
This guitar does not have that problem, the buttons work without requiring too much force.
However since the button spacing is similar to the normal (not solo) fret bars, they are a bit wide for small hands.
For younger kids (~10 and under), I think the closer spacing of the solo fret buttons on the Rock Band 2 guitar would be the best bet.
If you want a very good quality guitar then this one is a good choice, particularly if you want it as a second guitar for older kids or adults, or for use as a bass.
As a bass, I don't think you'll find a better one.
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Awesome Game Guitar
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| Review Date: April 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Hamer, Texas |
| This thing is like a real guitar. Realistic materials and weight. unfortunately the high buttons (closer to the strum button) only work with Guitar Hero. Everything else works great with Rock Band as well as Guitar Hero. |
All in all a very nice
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| Review Date: January 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Soar, |
Feedback from playing with this a little more than a week:
- Compatible with all games that a normal guitar hero guitar would be compatible with (including all versions of guitar hero and every version of rock band except the first)
- The strummer is quiet, but not silent like a rock band guitar controller
- The frets make a sort of "click-clack" noise when pressed...I found this to be useful but some people may find it annoying
- The touchpad on the guitar controller is less sensitive than the normal guitar hero guitars, however I found this to be more useful as I find the normal guitar hero guitars overly-sensitive
- The "-" or "starpower" button is actually the bridge right next to the strummer, similar to the starpower button on newer guitar hero guitars
- Whammy bar worked fine
- Looks very nice, but also heavy because the neck is made of wood
- The wii remote slot/cover on the back is a nice idea to hide the wii remote and it also worked nicely
- Also included was a decent strap similar to the ones included with normal guitar hero guitars
All in all a very nice piece of equipment, I'm not sure that I would pay full price for it, but it looks nice and it also gets the job done well.
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Look, feel, and price of a real guitar.
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| Review Date: January 6, 2010 |
| Reviewer: D. Hentze, United States |
| If you're a hard core "Guitar Hero" player, then this Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller is the controller for you. Unlike most cheap plastic guitar controllers, the Logitech looks and feels almost like a real guitar. Unfortunately, it also costs as much as a real guitar. Whether it is worth the price really depends on how seriously you take the Guitar Hero games. If you're a fanatic, then I recommend you go out and get one of these Logitech controllers. If you're only a casual player, I'd think twice about spending $200 on a toy guitar. Either way, the Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller is a quality, well built, well designed, controller. Perhaps the best guitar controller there is. One other note, as with many guitar controllers, it will not work with the original "Rock Band" game, but will work with "Rock Band 2". |
Finally, a "real" guitar!
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| Review Date: December 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: ichor, PacNW, USA |
Fantastic quality on this guitar! The heft, details, styling, and everything visual on this guitar makes you want to throw away your flimsy piece of plastic garbage posing as a guitar and finally get The Real Deal. While new to the Guitar Hero games, this guitar started up working in no time (there's nothing to really setup)...with Guitar Hero World Tour.
Would definitely recommend to any hard-core Guitar Hero person or anyone that wants to FEEL like they're holding a guitar (rather than the other plastic guitars that look like they're designed for toddlers.) Granted, the guitar won't really make you better at the game (I'm living proof), but at least I look cool if nobody is actually listening...
Awesome quality - great controller! |
More Of A Competitive Game Than A Musical Instrument
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| Review Date: February 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Martin A Hogan, San Francisco, CA. (Hercules) |
This was my introduction to Wii and my first reaction was to contact my friend Oliver who owns Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit - Wii to get his reaction. He often holds Wii party jams. First, he explained that its not a way to produce music on your own, but is a game and a competitive one. Comparing his plastic, less expensive Guitar Wii with this one was night and day. This model looks and feels like a real guitar. However, both guitars were equal in capability. We set up playing against each other. The strum bar is like a toggle bar and does make a bit of a 'click-clack', but it's not that noticeable when you are concentrating on the music. The Touch Sensitive Neck Slider/Fret buttons are nicely color-coded so you can hit the note(s) and strum at exactly the right time. Here's what I had not known. The song (Beatles, in this case) plays along and you hit the notes properly while strumming and you get points. If you miss the note, there is a minor "ach" sound that lets you know you blew that note. By the end of the song, we compared percentage points and of course, I sucked. Oliver is the expert here.
The `whammy' is nice, as it lets you add a little personal vibe to your playing, but its not extremely noticeable. Also, you cannot make your guitar sound louder than the rest of the music playing, which I thought might be cool to hear how you are doing.
It's purely a very sleek looking guitar for gaming purposes. It focuses on hand/eye coordination, which is something everyone (especially kids) will appreciate. Also, there are many variations on playing, depending on how easy or difficult you want to play a song with guitar or bass guitar. The Wii gaming program has a lot of options. Personally, I don't think I will get a lot of mileage out of this, but if you already have a Wii Guitar and like any Wii games, you'll definitely enjoy this. Taking the price (now decreased) into account, I'd suggest that only a real Wii musical game player would truly appreciate this.
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Very real feel
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| Review Date: June 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Wesley D. Warner, |
| After frequenting some brick and mortar stores seeing how cheap the original GH and RB guitar controllers are, I knew I wanted something better. There aren't a ton of options for the wii though. This seemed to be a good one to me as Logitech has a good reputation. We received it in a timely manner from the Amazon partner. Overall the product is well built. I have a two boys ages 4 & 6. They are not hard on toys by any stretch. Through the past month, we've played approximately once every other day for 5 songs worth. In this time, we've had no issues whatsoever with this controller. It feels very much like a real guitar while holding it. That being, it is quite heavy and solid. I'm very happy with the quality and finish, and would definitely recommend this product to others. |
Awesome for diehard Wii rockers
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| Review Date: April 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: M. Mills, East Coast, USA |
My family and I have had a blast playing with this Logitech wireless guitar. It works with both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and it's the perfect gift for diehard Wii rockers -- whether for your kids or yourself!
Logitech really went all out with this instrument. If you're seeking that authentic verisimilitude -- where you want to feel like you're playing a real guitar, made of polished wood and metal -- this is the way to go. Except for the fact that it is stringless and has multicolored fret buttons, it looks and feels like a real electric guitar. Its shiny white body and black pick guard is very sleek. This guitar has a solid heft to it and weighs about 5 pounds, unlike the standard Wii instruments, which are really just lightweight plastic toys. This guitar controller is definitely for older children and adults, who can handle the weight. (It of course comes with a shoulder strap.)
It was so easy to set up: just slide one of your Wii remotes in the molded cavity in the back of the guitar, plug the wireless attachment into the console, and turn your game on!
Besides the obvious resemblance to a real guitar, a few extra features make this controller worth the price for those who love to ROCK. First, the strum bar and fret buttons are so quiet, it's unbelievable! Second, the touch-sensitive neck slider makes some really awesome sounds that the standard Wii guitars just can't copy. Third, you can customize your playing with the whammy bar. Fourth, the bridge acts as the star power button and is right beside the strum bar, which I personally find more convenient.
I really haven't experienced any downsides to this instrument, other than the fact that its weight can become a little tiring if you play for extended periods of time. ;) I would heartily recommend this to any diehard Wii Rock Band/Guitar Hero aficionados! |
The best as it gets for a Guitar Hero controller.
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| Review Date: March 18, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Kiyo M., |
If you're a hardcore Guitar Hero fan, it's a no brainer. Stop thinking and put away those cheap plastic controllers and get this! I also have this guitar for the PS3. Personally, I love it in all black, but other than that, the build quality and feel is the same. However, for the Wii, the Wii controller connects inside the guitar and the navigation is an analog joystick as opposed to a d-pad. It's more convenient for the Wii because you just connect the controller and go. For the PS3, it needs to connect a USB dongle to the console.
As I mentioned in my PS3 guitar review, the strum bar is not really "quiet as a whisper". There is still a distinct sound when strumming; however, some may prefer that than not hearing anything like on the Rock Band controller. Overall, this high quality guitar definitely makes playing Guitar Hero a lot more fun. It's really hard to go back to the cheap guitars once you've been spoiled with this guitar. |
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