A couple of Rockband questions...

1 - I don't have an Xbox so I can't help you there
2 - The Rockband guitar's strumbar is near silent, but I feel it's too springy and gets tough to keep strumming after a while
3 - There's a dongle for the guitar just like in GH3
4 - You can buy the guitar by itself. It's currently $60 on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Art...9585535&sr=8-1). Nyko has a guitar that's supposed to work with GH3 and RB, also for $60 (http://www.amazon.com/Playstation-Fr...9585535&sr=8-2).

If you shop around you can find the whole bundle for around $150 pretty easily, so I'm not sure why you'd buy just the game and guitar for $120

The drums are the most fun part of the game.

I got my 2nd guitar from GameStop for $59.

Has anyone tried the guitars from theantcommandos.com yet? they show promise.

DLC is the same; Live gets new content on Tuesdays, and Thursdays on PSN if I'm not mistaken.

And yes you're doing yourself an injustice by not getting the bundle to play around with the drums.

1- As far as I know, they are DLC content is released the same week. Though, a few days later because XBL updates their store a few days ahead of PSN. There are exceptions sometime, but for the most part are the same week.
2- I don't have GH3, but I did notice that the Fender guitars' strum bar wasn't as springy or clicky as past GH guitars I've played with. My sister/brother-in-law don't like the Fender, mostly for that reason. They said the Fender feels cheaply constructed. I, on the other hand, like the silent strum bar and high fret keys on the Fender.
3- Dongle. I almost didn't buy the set because of this, especially since the PS3 version does not come with a USB HUB, but the PS2 and Xbox 360 version did. The reason, supposedly, is that the PS3 has more USB ports than PS2 or 360. I was forced to buy a USB hub, because unplugging my kb and mouse and reconnecting seemed rather impractical. Especially when you're creating your characters/band.

Another thing about using the USB hub that is particularly annoying, is that the equipment takes over the first 4 controller slots. The mic is usually assigned to 1, so you can use your controller to play any other game. But, if you want a 2nd person to play, you have to reassign the controller to controller 2, because some games will not recognize controller 5 as controller 2 automatically. But, once you do that, it disconnects something else. In my case, it's my drums. So, I have to unplug/replug my drums back in to reactivate it. Quite the pain in the ass.
4- Guitars by themselves are now available in most places. Picked mine up last week.

holy crap... i feel the complete opposite. after playing RB for a few months and then playing GH3 at my in-laws, my wife and i agreed the the GH3 guitar looks and feels like a cheap toy.

A good reason to get the whole package is that unlike GH. Rock band you can play with your friends/family instead of them just watching you play... great party game!!!

if you never unpack the drums or mike.... it's only $20. If you are adamant that you will never use them... there is always E-bay.

1)Yes, same DLC for both & nearly identical release schedules (+/- a few days). The 360 got their stuff a bit earlier recently because the PS3 was going through an overhaul of their online store.

2) The Fender's strum is very quiet, the note buttons make a light clicking sound. For people who have used the GH's "click" strumming sound as a crutch to time their strumming they will not like the Fender. An aftermarket strummer is available from Bytearts if you want more of a clicking sound. I love the flush keys of the Fender because I can easily slide from note to note during faster passages. IMO, a much better guitar. I have modded the tilt mechanism for better functionality (that's the one major gripe by most people but it is easy to fix).

3) It uses a dongle and you'll need 1 for each guitar.

4) Yes, the guitar is available (got another one for bass duties). I will say that the drums are a complete blast and the microphone is very popular at parties. IMO Rock Band's greatest strength is the group aspect of the game (multiple people playing multiple instruments + singing). If all you want to do is sit by yourself and play guitar, go buy Guitar Hero.

I'm in complete agreement with you. I have both guitars and its hard fro me to even pick up the GH guitar anymore.

Heres what I see as the main differences:
- The RB guitar is bigger and heavier
- The body has smoother edges so it doesnt cut into your strumming forearm.
- Theres two sets of buttons (big and small) ( small buttons great for fast songs or small musicians)
- The buttons are flush to the neck which are alot easier to move over on those really hard songs and
- The silent strum bar doesnt compete with the music.

only downside is that the overdrive switch doesnt seem to be as reliable.

.02
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Yeah, I've seen my sister/bro-in-law's GH3 guitar, and it does seem more cheaply constructed than the RB. I usually use the Fender if I'm playing RB at their place, since I prefer the strum bar, high fret keys, etc. I have yet to try the GH3 guitar.

My only annoyance with the RB guitar, is that I went through 3 RMA processes to get my guitar replaced (primary guitar that came with the game). My guitar is still kinda screwed up, and I actually decided to keep the 3rd guitar and send the 4th one back, because the 4th one was worse than the 3rd. I'll probably RMA it again soon, and I'm going to insist on a new one, since this is going to be the 5th guitar I'm getting from EA.

My extra guitar works great. Buttons don't sound broken and the tilt works.

Ive been using guitar controllers since Guitar Freaks for ps2. and honestly the fender is teh best one I've used. It may not be the best for everyone but as far as construction layout and comfort it works for me. the strummer feels more like a string and is a lot easier to keep a consistent rhythm for me. My launch fender is still going strong where as my GH3 controller suffered a loss in responsiveness from the green(dead) and blue keys(only 30% effective). Definetiely check out teh drums. Even with me playing 3 hours of GTA 4 in the past couple nights I've still ahd to squeeze in some RB before I go to bed.

Everyone wants to play the drums, myself included. It would be nice to not have to create a new character for each instrument, so when people trade instruments, we don't need to make 3 characters each.

I just called EA to get my packaged guitar RMAed. He told me that they don't send refurbished guitars. I find that highly unlikely, as I've noticed all of the guitars that I've had (minus the original packaged and stand-alone guitars) have green dots with initials on them on the back of the guitar.

To me, that looks like someone inspected/serviced the guitar.

I don't think my new guitar was a refurb, because it was completely void of any scratches.