Troubleshooting Rock Band guitar strummer issues
/If you are having problems with the strummer on your Rock Band guitar, whether you have a Strum Fix Plus installed are not, here a few troubleshooting tips to hopefully resolve the problem.
Try using the D-pad on your guitar to strum. The up/down buttons on the D-pad (the “directional”, 4-way button on the guitar’s body) can also be used to strum. Try pressing up and down on the dpad during a song to play notes and see if it works or not. This is a good way to test out the circuitry on the guitar and the connection to the console. If the D-pad works fine for strumming, but the strum bar doesn’t, then the problem is most likely with the strummer (or with the connection wires to the strummer).
If you have a Strum Fix Plus installed, double-check the wire connections to the Strum Fix Plus. Tug on the wires gently to make sure they are connected securely. Sometimes the wires may seem to be connected, but instead the screws that clamp the wire in place are just clamping on the wire’s insulation and are not making good contact with the wire itself, so you may need to disconnect the wires, strip a little more insulation and re-connect them. Do NOT over-tighten the connector screws or they can cut thru the wire. If you have the tools, it’s not a bad idea to solder the ends of the wires a bit.
Follow the wires from the strummer to the the circuit board on the guitar and make sure that the wires are connected properly. Most guitars have a plastic plug that connects all the wires from the strummer, the tilt sensor, and maybe some other components to the motherboard or to an accessory board — make sure that plug is fully inserted.
If you have a Strum Fix DUO, or a Strum Fix Plus from mid-2019, then on some guitars it may be necessary to swap the wires around to get the strummer working properly. You just need to disconnect one pair of wires and swap the two wires around (e.g. put the wire that was in the left side of the connector in the right side, and vise-versa).
Contact me at support@bytearts.com if you have any questions or need more help.