Pogo pins actually aren't cheaper. The reason they probably opted this route is because even something like a db9 can wear out with repeated use, and at its heart these are toys meant for kids and kids don't treat things the best. Factor in they weren't really planning on these things lasting 10-20 years anyway and you have the situation in front of us.

If this hasn't completely turned you off to working on guitar hero controllers and you want a challenge, you should try putting in mechanical switches for the buttons. Love the video :-)

There's a capacitor in parallel with the battery, in order to pick up the slack if a violent movement causes a lost battery connection during operation.

So you’re saying I can blame the design for sucking at the game? Thanks, Matt!

Oh, something I actually know! The capacitor on the battery terminals is specifically a high-storage capacitor designed for motion controllers. The PS3 dualshock controllers did not have these, because they had an internal LiPo cell actually plugged in to the mobo, but wii remotes (AA powered) and wireless guitar hero controllers (also AA powered) were prone to such violent shaking, that the batteries would momentarily compress the springs and disconnect, so the job of the capacitor is to keep the juice flowing juuuust long enough that the bluetooth connection isn't lost :)

I love how this channel’s theme has become “why capacitors are terrible”

Fun fact: “DB-9s” are actually DE-9s. The form factor of the connector corresponds to E, but the misnomer is so widespread that it’s probably not worth correcting, and the name stuck. A B size connector would be found on something like a DB-25.

I have an offbrand guitar that uses a regular HDMI plug as the connector in the neck. always thought it was super cool

This is so cool! Love to see this issue tackled while still keeping the neck detachability. Also thanks for the shoutout to the CH community!

Really nice to see these more frequent uploads. Always look forward to what you make

Ironically I remember when game stores were begging people to take their excess guitar controllers at any price. They weren’t in demand at all. I guess just enough time has gone by for the supply to finally dry up.

'A bit thick for my taste' MattKC setting himself up for another YTP

Using a DB9 plug is actually a really elegant solution! It's videos like that that make me wish I'd taken the time to really learn soldering and electronics. I can program, sure, but electronics troubleshooting is a whole other ballgame!

I worked a goodwill as incoming production. we had a list of things so cluttering up all the stores that to always throw. the guitars controllers where number two behind copies of fifty shades of gray

Very clever idea to use a db9 connector for this. The de facto standard way of deleting the old pogo connectors has just been simply hardwiring the neck. It's very simple and reliable, but the only real drawback is sacrificing the detachable neck capability. The Guitar Hero hardware modding scene has been trying many various different connector types to find a simple and easy replacement connector to retain the ability to detach the neck, I'm not sure if they've tried this connector type yet or not. Thanks for making this excellent video!

@2:50 - That brown ‘sh*t’ is actually adhesive. It’s there to prevent the cable from moving around and breaking the wires. Coincidentally, it’s also corrosive to electronics. If you suspect that one of the wires is broken, don’t automatically assume that it’s not, just because of the adhesive. If you need to replace the adhesive, use an adhesive that isn’t corrosive. Regular silicone caulk contains acetic acid, which is very corrosive. Distributors sell a special adhesive for electronics, but it’s pretty expensive. What I’ve found that works well, and isn’t corrosive, is automotive RTV gasket sealer. It’s also available at any auto parts store. E6000 adhesive works very well, too.

seeing you open up that guitar hero controller reminds me of how my uncle used to tear apart controllers before and rebuild them as whese weird Frankenstein's monster controllers. he stuck an actual guitar head on an SG Guitar Hero Controller and threw away the whammy bar.

I resurected my GH3 controller by actually adding solder on top of the existing pads, this increasing the pressure. It still works great after years of abuse.

6:38 You had to make me see that accursed coin again didn't you, riffing on the video myself wasn't enough lol

Been subscribed for a while and was not expecting this video. Very cool to see! We need more guitar modders out there ;)

I needed this video about 10 years ago 😂. Thanks though, it was fun to watch.

MattKC is back! I kept randomly stumbling across your content until I eventually gave in and subscribed and ever since I’ve been surprised by how often I was blessed with new content

Holy CRAP this could be a game changer for top players who have to constantly mod or buy guitars all the time

This is the ultimate fix and I will be doing this to my main guitar very soon! :D Good video man! For those who aren't this comfortable with soldering, keep reading. Another fix that I have been doing is to just put a 3mm coating of solder onto the pads on the neck and then clean the solder with alcohol and coat it in grease so the pins don't scrape too much on the solder and it doesn't get exposed to oxygen, which makes the solder last a very long time. This also ensures that your pads never get worn out, only the solder. I fixed 3 of my Les Pauls that way and they have lasted me years and are all still good :) Hope this post could help someone looking for a really simple solution. Parts needed for this modification: Torx T10 Screwdriver / bit. $4 Soldering iron and solder kit from AliExpress. Take care!

I remember we had to put a little piece of folded paper in between the neck and the body to make the connection work. Good ol' days

Rs232 connections are actually still widely used in the IT industry especially with networking as there is network equipment that uses that connection. This includes Cisco network equipment. Other devices that still use them including AV equipment like projectors and AV splitters/hubs that are meant to be used in rack mount. Servers are also known to have them as well

you make it look so simple. mounting the new connectors securely at the correct distance and alignment to get a good connection seams like it would be the most frustrating part. but you just click the buggers in. was it really that simple

Wonderful video! The Clone Hero community has been leaning towards hard-wiring it (especially if you look into the custom guitars that some modders make). I've always wanted a solution like what you did, so it's amazing to see this proof of concept done justice.

Its always a gem when he uploads any new video. The repair process is awesome to watch

Guitar Hero for me was a gateway to learning real guitar, it teaches basics of rhythm and song structure/layers. Good stuff, very fun.

Really enjoying seeing more on your channel! I love the mix of both hardware and software

I was just watching some of your older vids and this popped into my notifications, a welcome surprise!

every single one of my guitar hero guitars suffered from this issue, i probably went through like 4 as a kid lmao. one of the ways it was "fixed" was by just duct taping it as far down as possible, but it doesnt matter. i was a kid and those pins broke from me slamming the guitar, or throwing it down, whichever one.. I didn't realize how fragile the things were.

10:53 That reference definitely caught me off guard! 😂

love to begin my birthday with a mattkc video. i’ve always wanted to rebuy the guitar hero stuff because i love rhythm games and old 2000’s crap so this already has peaked my intrest. keep up the good work my guy :)

Very interesting! I never thought of COM ports as such versatile connectors. I don't have Guitar Hero, but will probably use this trick in tinkering project to connect sensors to a Raspberry Pi.

Was having a rough night at work, and arrived home in a pretty terrible mood, but your new video really cheered me up, a lot more than I was expecting 😅 i love your sense of humor, and thank you for saving my night!

A lot of the time the C6 capacitor goes out on these Les Paul guitars. So if your guitar only blinks and won't sync, get yourself a soldering iron and some 10V 220 uf capacitors. It's time consuming but if a moron like me can do it most of you can too.

Amazing, this video unearthed something that plagued me daily over a decade ago but I hadn't thought about it since then, what an awesome fix btw

Wow, the DB9 connector definitely took me by surprise. I was expecting one of the fancy modular power supply plugs but the DB9 is a very cool idea and a nice throwback. Great mod man!

I've been hoarding my two good controllers, one Kramer with the same crappy design as this Les Paul, and another old style one, for PS2, wireless. Good to know they might finally be worth something.

Would you ever consider letting people send you their boards and doing this for them? Could maybe be a bit lucrative and help out the Guitar Hero community a lot!

dang, I actually really wanna try this, I have 2 of those les paul guitar controllers sitting in my living room collecting because of this exact issue and it'd be really cool to have them working again

I don’t have a clue about 90% what you talk about in your videos but that doesn’t stop me watching every time. They’re fascinating

Other than making the video much more interesting, why would you want to keep the neck removeable? I assume that design detail was only necessary to keep the original packaging more compact. Seems like soldering the pogo pins in place would have been 50x faster...

Could be worse, last night I got so drunk that I threw up on my mouse and super expensive Xbox Series controller and had to take both apart and wash them off and had to take the controller apart multiple times because I would forget a button and because of how finnicky the design is since for some reason all high-end electronics are hard to repair.

I really like this idea, I would say a dremel rotary tool would help in carving out the plastic to fit those db9 connectors without having to trim them, also likely giving them better support in the chassis.

Awesome! While moving I found my two Les Paul Guitars, they're dirty (given to me) and need a good clean but also have the same issue as described.

Matt is love. Matt Is life

Is it weird that I actually like the old serial/DB9 ports more than USB? Their so simple to work with for controlling things. no drivers to install just send data to the right port

Aayyy! I help out with clone hero dev and I'm the artist who wrote Moonhunter. I've watched you for a while and it's cool to see you doing CH stuff! Hope your guitar is rock solid from now on!

I noticed that the pressure from the pins creates holes in the original contacts on the neck board. I just soldered over the holes and made new flush contacts, and then I applied some silver electrical connective grease for keeping the connection during movement. Worked better than I anticipated.

You could also potentially attempt to play "Gitadora" with this, which is essentially the Japanese counterpart with many differences. I really appreciate this video, very useful, especially because those Guitars will also work with the console of choice (360 in your case)

Also, the "shit" is probably just mastic adhesive... unless I'm missing an in-joke where you call adhesives "shit".

This makes me happy inside to see this game brought to light. You rock! Great fix!

God I love all these MattKC videos. 2022 will be a great year at this rate!

I'm trying to understand what the extra pins are for. 5 buttons, 1 ground, why 2 more? The Wii version has only 6 pins. And for that matter mine are still working fine, but I'll keep that in mind if it starts acting up.

That's why I go with the Wii version, there's even a program called WiiTar, so you're truly wireless, if you got a wiimote, which most true emulating people should have, didn't know the xbox version had such a bad neck connector, the wii's is very well built, It's sorta like a lightning connector

Ch developer here, suprised to see ch content on your channel been subscribed for a bit now. Thanks for the shout-out!

Windows exception audio got a good workout that episode 😂 another great vid 👍

If somebody would create a business around fixing Guitar Hero/Rock Band "inustrments" they would make a fortune

I got both my guitars for like, 10 bucks at some thrift stores

love ur videos matt! ur my fav youtuber and your videos are always very unique and interesting

I remember fixing this with cutting the pin part and the connector part hardwiring the cabels ( had hard time fitting everything back) then putting it together. Considering i was younger had 0 experience with solding I was pretty happy with the results

I did a similar mod to my les paul (plus many others) back in like 2007/8. I didn't have much on hand so just made due with a couple floppy drive power extensions (like to know how many others here have actually used those as intended lol) I started with a working corded guitar, and a broken wireless body I permanently mounted the neck to the body with epoxy, but cut away at the base of the back of the neck so that it could still open for service. Added weights for a more comfortable feel hanging from the strap. Mounted the mic input on top so it didn't get in the way anymore. And had a friend cast me clear epoxy buttons for the whole thing. Added LEDs to light up the neck buttons, strum bar, and the base of whammy bar. had a couple sticker bombed faceplates, 1 clean black and 1 clean aerosmith. Next I wanted to try something stupid that i didn't think would work. combine the 2 bodys i had. I turned the current wired connection into a mini-b to usb2.0 and then managed to find a way to mount in the batteries and wireless main board from the damaged wireless body. By adding 2 toggle switches that would control most of the grounds of the buttons, i need 2 xbox home buttons 2 joysticks and whammy only worked on wired mode. but i could switch from wired to wireless anytime i wanted with a badass looking and feeling fiddle. most of my mounting was done with cheap 2 part epoxy mixed with sawdust, i also used a type of plastic welder for lots of things. It heats up metal staples with an s profile to join edges, and i would use that to replace parts i didn't need to remove, cover holes, and on a couple pcb mounts where i soldered the staples to ground pads. this thing was a mess, but so much fun to build. It eventually began to decay, as did my passion for the game. I still love to jam out now and then, got a couple stock boys that still shred

I was hoping you'd look into everyone's favorite Wii guitar controllers in this. They're quite fascinating and surprisingly reliable

My guitar hero controller had the same problem right from the start. I jammed some plastics in there to add more pressure and it worked. I coudn't believe something would be relased in this state.

Very inspiring videos, nice to see someone capable doing what we dream of. Thanks!

Who remember Frets on Fire

Apparently that attachment group can be conductive and or corrosive, it's seen in older radios.

Great video! 2:51 “OMG! Who *DUN* in the guitar?!” 😂

Thanks dude for this video😁 I have this problem too by my Controller but didnt search for any solutions to fix it. I saw this video because it was on my yt start page... I used ducktape or this press technic (u mentioned at the start of the video) in the past but now i know what to do😁😁

Recently had purchased this guitar from a secondhand shop for Pennie’s and dollars. And at first the guitar didn’t turn on. So I cleaned the battery tab box and turned on and synced to my 360 with no problem. But another problem occurred, the fret buttons weren’t working. Check the connection, the wire was detached and from my understanding this fix is going to revive this les Paul back into shape! Thank you for your awesome videos mane! Now I am waiting for my DB9 connector to arrive in the mail and make this happen!

My concern is going to be strain relief from plugging and unplugging the guitar. On our mice, we had this big molded chunky plastic cover that you gripped on to remove, but here you're effectively removing by grabbing from the cord. If you can make the connectors attached to the plastic (instead of a loose press fit) then you'll have a longer lifetime before the connections break.

the DB9 is so triggering lol. nice tear-down video! gonna reference this when I fix up my 2 PS3 GH3 guitars later this week

I had one of these from when I was a kid and i had tied a shoelace on the strap pegs to tighten the connection between the neck and body. I might give this a try when I fix it up which I've been meaning to do!

amazing video, 10/10, also im glad you made a video about a game i play on the day to day!

Holy shit, this is the earliest I've been to a MattKC video

Love your videos glad to see youre being sponsored for it too :)

9:49 a good way to protect the wires from screws in the guitar neck would be to encase them in "spiral wrap." You should be able to find it in various electronic/build-your-own computer stores, or online electronics/automation stores. you would need the smaller size (about 1/4" OD) to wrap the wires into a cable that would fit into the neck, but once you've done that, not only is it easier to route the cables without strays picking their own route, but the wrap also provides extra protection if a screw has a 'near miss.'

I've been looking for a Wii guitar to get back into clone hero with after I gave mine to my mom. I saw one at an electronics store near me for $50 but I couldn't see if it was for the Wii or not, which I need for my adapter. This video encouraged me to keep looking

When you release the neck and smell where the pins are, 👌👌👌 real good electronic smell right there.

Yay an other upload! Keep it up Matt 🤘🙌

Did not know that's how the guitar controllers connected... what a pain. I was surprised when the neck just slid straight in to the guitar's dv9 because it looked a little askew and then it just clicks in so ahah

my god, those pogo pins were the bane of my adolescent, Guitar Hero obsessed existence. loved watching this!!

Strong flashbacks to desoldering the ribbon cable entirely and replacing it with a segment of Cat5 ethernet cable. In a pinch, you can also just drive a small screw into the lower frets while applying pressure on the neck to permanently attach it, which works nearly as well.

when one of ur fav YT'ers mention a game you work on, FeelsGoodMan

I made my own in boredom a few years ago with wood/copper, mechanical switches, and one of the random micro controllers I had laying around. Helps I'm a metal/wood working by trade and had the spare materials and workshop to do it all in. Still, it was pretty much all done by hand and if you didn't want it to weigh as much (bit less than a standard electric guitar, I used similar woods and techniques), you could always print parts, I guess. At that point I would just buy one and refurb it if need be if it's going to be plastic anyway.

I don't play Guitar Hero but I had a project in mind involving one of the controllers. Coincidentally, this was the exact controller I wanted to use, and the connector was something I was worried about failing. Well that's one less thing I need to experiment with. Nice.

Your videos are some primo awesome content.. can safely say you make and do some of the coolest tech related stuff on this platform.

But also this was VERY helpful. I have one of those with the exact same problem so I might have to try this method out.

Bought two wired X-Plorer Controllers (the Guitar Hero 3 ones) 12 years ago. Still work like new.

I haven’t played this in forever thanks for helping it works

3:26 I remember seeing an old video on how to take apart a ps2 that warned you about voiding the warranty. Just in case my 2nd hand 10+ year old ps2 still has a warranty.

Did this for a friend yesterday. Kept breaking my amateur solder connections but otherwise it was a solid fix! Instead of trimming down the connector, I melted some ridges into the plastic around the connector, which worked really well for holding it securely. Not sure if you secured the connector more off screen but it definitely wasn't holding still for us without help. Left it wobbling about in the neck, but it does line up well enough when it's held flat and once it's plugged in, it's not going anywhere.

What a great idea, nice one Matt!

"...and -oh my god WHO SH*T IN THE GUITAR???" has to be one of the most hilariously unexpected lines I've ever heard in a restoration video Matt. Thank you for that. XD

A Labyrinth reference! I knew I liked this guy. Also, nice work on the repair. I wish I still had my copy of Guitar Hero III and my wireless guitar controllers

Cool. Reconditioning a couple of commodore Amigas here. The a500 mainboard is a thing of beauty.

That was sick as hell Thank you very much