Fret Buttons not working? – Solutions here!
We had a few questions from visitors about their fret buttons not working. This is a troubleshooting guide to help you fix exactly that problem.
Obvious things first - make sure batteries are good and the controller is connected to your console!
Ideally you will have lots of friends who play Guitar Hero too ( if your friends do not play GH ditch them now and get some proper ones!), if this is the case you can borrow one of their guitars, swap the necks around and see if that makes the difference - This will confirm weather the issue is in the neck of guitar side of things.
If the different neck does not stop the problem then the first thing to do is check the connector inside the body of the guitar that the neck plugs into. This sits just inside the body of the guitar and should be well fixed into position and not full of dust - a tiny bit of movement is OK but if it is moving about a lot it is not making the connection to the neck properly and you are lucky if any of your buttons work! If this is fine then the problem either lies in the wiring inside the guitar or with the connection to your console - both of which are very difficult to fix so we shall leave there!
If the problem is in the neck of the guitar there are a few things you need to check see our troubleshooting video below
Download this video to watch later (wmv 6.5mb)
One thing to note with fret button problems is that they are not always traceable or fixable, due to the way the buttons work, if the board or connector is faulty then you really have no option but to buy another guitar as replacement of these parts if quite difficult.
If you have any questions about your fret button problems please post them here and we will try to help!
John Burton on Sat, 20th Jun 2009 3:23 pm
Thanks for the video. I have been trying to fix my guitar for ages. The frets were all working except the blue one. I did what you suggested and it worked. It seems the board had got some dirt or dust in there or something or the connector was not quite right. It gets a hard life!
Cheers again, you saved the day.
JB
PS Picked up a second hand PS3 dirt cheap via your site, wish I’d come here first as my other one cost an arm and a leg new.
Steve on Sat, 20th Jun 2009 8:39 pm
Nice one JB its a pleasure to help!
Dazhedley on Tue, 14th Jul 2009 9:48 pm
Hey i just got a new GHWT guitar off eBay. It seemed boxed and sealed like brand new, but hey can you trust eBay sellers? Anyway the Orange button does not work on this axe, ive tried giving it a clean and putting some paper behind to pack out the frets but still no joy. It seems to be if i hit the orange note hard it works for a few notes then dies again.
Any suggestions to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.
Steve on Tue, 14th Jul 2009 11:48 pm
Hi Dazhedley,
Once you have tried the basic steps, as you seem to have, there is not really a lot more that can be done short of changing the whole neck for a working one. As you brought it on eBay unless the seller described it as faulty you should be entitled to a refund but if you have been taking it apart and playaing around inside it that may be more tricky. Ebay does ahve a great number of excellent sellers on there (me included
) and if you go back to them and explain your problem you should be able to come to some kind of agreement
Good luck!
Martin Dann on Mon, 17th Aug 2009 9:10 pm
Just bought the solo guitar version of Guitar Hero World tour and have noticed a strange problem with it.
All buttons work fine on their own but when I try to play red and green together it doesn’t work.
Will I need to take it back to the shop?
Cheers
Martin
Steve on Mon, 17th Aug 2009 11:02 pm
Hi Martin
If your guitar is still under warranty I would advise taking it back if you can any problems like you describe would suggest faulty wiring on the circuit board
toffeeblue08 on Wed, 9th Sep 2009 8:28 pm
Hows it going? I’ve had my ghwt guitar for a while and recently the red button has stopped working…none of the methods above work and i’d say the warranty had passed anyway, any suggestions?
Steve on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 11:39 am
Hi Toffeeblue08
If you have tried the suggestions in the artical I am afradi i dont have anything else to suggest, maybe one of the other readers could help….
Wilsky on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 7:26 pm
I already have done everyting possible with my guitar controler… but the red fret button stil don´t work…
Any advice ?
Steve on Mon, 7th Dec 2009 10:20 pm
if you have done everything possible then there is nothing left to try i am afraid!
Acey on Wed, 30th Dec 2009 10:26 pm
When I play GHWT the first few minutes, everythings fine, but the green fret button dosent work after a while. All my other buttons work, but the green one dosent.
Is there anything i could do to fix it?
Steve on Sat, 2nd Jan 2010 11:40 am
Other than the suggestions we have given you here we cannot think of anything else to suggest – if anyone else has found any good tricks for this please add them to this thread for all to see!