Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Premium Telecaster for Xbox 360 Review

Customer Ratings:

I finally decided it was time to retire my old Rock Band 1 guitar, with its palsied fret buttons and slackening strum bar, so I picked this up as a replacement. I don't know if this is representative of all the Rock Band 3 guitar controllers, but if so, I think it's time to take a step back.

1. The strum bar. It clicks. I don't care if I'm in the minority, I thought the silent strum bar of RB1 was a vast improvement. But the clicking I could probably forgive if it weren't also punishingly stiff. The click threshold is way at the top and bottom of the stroke, and you must push it absolutely all the way to register. My hand was starting to ache after about 15 minutes.

2. The buttons. Why don't they go all the way to the top of the neck like the old ones? Not that it's a deal breaker or anything, but why that design choice? It's just one more thing to screw up. Again, first impressions don't lie: they hurt, too. They're stiff and unresponsive and lack that positive 'clunk' when you push down on them, so I ended up pushing a lot harder than I had to, because I wasn't sure by feel when I was pressing them right.

3. The whammy bar. God, this thing. I'm all for authenticity, but the spring is so strong it'd need to be moored to a real full-size solid wood guitar not to be awkward. It takes actual conscious effort to work it. On top of that it's huge, and it only rotates about 180 degrees, and it's so stiff (I'm seeing a pattern here) that you can't brush it out of the way like the old ones.

And whereas the parts you're actually going to use are about as durable and ergonomic as the inside of a prison, the rest is cheap. The Xbox d-pad and start button are crummy, and the fancy 'touch sensitive' overdrive pickup thing is flaky and liable to go off if you breathe on it.

Two stars for being built like a g.d. tank, which I'm sure somebody somewhere will appreciate. But after playing on this thing for half an hour, my fingers had had enough and so had I.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I'm a Rock Band freak I have 2 Strat guitars, the drum set and "pro" cymbals, the keyboard with stand, and 3 USB microphones. I wanted this Telecaster-style guitar but it was always too expensive. When the price dropped I jumped at the chance and bought it. The first one I received would not sync with my Xbox (when you pressed the sync button on the guitar, the "X-light" wouldn't spin, just flash.) Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to exchange (just fill out a simple on-line form, and they give you a post-paid sticker to send the package back). My replacement arrived in a week and works fine.

First off, I bought the Tele in "butterscotch" with the pretend wood grain finish. I like the simulated wood grain but the color is very butterscotch-y :) I would have liked it to be a little lighter like a normal natural wood color ("blonde" as they call it in guitar catalogs).

The fretboard is great the action is buttery-smooth. The frets hinge on the left side of the neck so I think this guitar will only be good for right-handed players.

The strum bar is a bit of an issue. I don't mind the loud click (I usually crank my home theater system to "11" when I rock out) but the spring on the strum bar is very tight so it takes more effort to move it. You also have to push\pull the strum bar a further distance to get it to "click". On my Strats I've switched to using a real guitar pick (Dunlop Nylon .73mm) against the strum bar as it's easier for me to do the fast alternate picking that way. With the strum bar on the Tele it's too stiff to use the pick effectively. I may open up the guitar and see if I can adjust\replace the springs and\or move the magnetic switches in closer so that it activates easier.

The whammy bar is also very stiff and takes more effort to use it. On the plus side the whammy bar lever is tight and won't rotate down during a song like on my Strats (I'll go for a whammy and can't find the bar as it slipped down while I was playing).

The typical Start and Back buttons have been replaced by a knob and touch bar respectively. To activate the Start menu, you rotate a silver knob until it clicks (and you have to turn it fairly hard to get it to click). The back button is now a silver touch bar across the body of the guitar above the strum bar looks kind of like a "lipstick-style" pickup if you know what that is. You just touch it with your finger to activate the overdrive power or bring up the filter menu when selecting songs to play. I'm not used to using the touch bar to activate overdrive but with a little practice it may end up being better than tilting the guitar upward to activate overdrive (this method still works on this Telecaster, by the way).

Bottom line is that while it's a cool-looking guitar and has some nice features (especially the frets), the strum bar is too stiff to play fast with.

Best Deals for Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Premium Telecaster for Xbox 360

I must say I am completely sold on this players edition guitar. I am a seasoned adult rockband/guitar hero player. My friends and I get together every Thursday for our band meeting. We have tried many different post market guitars and this is the best one yet. The quality was apparent as soon as I opened the box lid. But, that was only the beginning of my satisfaction with this product. The strum bar and buttons are all tight as is the whammy bar. The overall feeling when playing is that it is more like an instrument than a toy. I have increased my scores significantly since changing from the original warriors of rock axe that I have been playing for over a year now to this madcats players edition product. I would definitely reccomend it to anyone wanting to upgrade their playing experiance.

Honest reviews on Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Premium Telecaster for Xbox 360

With whammy in a very convenient place, solo buttons apart from the normal ones, plays both rock band and guitar hero + good looks, what else would you want from it?

Only downside is it needs 3 AA batteries and whammy is making a squiking noise when you use it. Not a problem though!

4.5/5 for me!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Premium Telecaster for Xbox 360

Over all I have to say this is better guitar than the one that came with Rock Band. It's slightly heavier and going into over drive is so much easier by just tapping the touch plate. The strum bar is a little stiffer which actually is seeming to help when playing notes that are close together. The wammy bar is will not end up falling down over time due to the way it is constructed.

Now for the bad. The strumbar is louder than the standard guitar and can be a little distracting at first but you do get used to it. Second the start button is much harder to use not sure if that how its designed or if the guitar I recievedis partly defective.