Fret Fix Product Information

This page has technical information for the Fret Fix. To place an order for the Fret Fix, visit the Product Store page.

Description

The original fret buttons on the Rock Band guitars are made of silicon rubber “domes” with carbon pads on them that make contact with bare metal traces on the circuit boards when you press a fret button. These types of buttons are typically also used in things like TV remotes, and over time the carbon pads wear out, the traces on the circuit board get corroded, or the silicon rubber domes break.

The Fret Fix is a set of replacement circuit boards that have the same form factor as the original boards, but instead of the rubber dome switches it uses long-life, mechanical switches with tactile feedback (meaning a subtle click that you can feel when you press a button). The switches are the same switches used in the Strum Fix, just in a smaller package.

Features

  • Features momentary, snap-action, tactile feedback, mechanical switches which replace the rubber “dome” switches on the original.

  • Double-side, plated-thru PCBs are higher quality, thicker and less prone to flexing than the originals .

  • Includes 2 PCBs — 1 for the main fret buttons, one for the smaller “solo” buttons.

  • Includes snap on spacers to set correct distance from boards to fret buttons (only needed on some guitars).

  • Installation is reversible - you can re-install the original PCBs (requires re-soldering the wires).

Compatible Guitars

  • Most RB1 “Strat” guitars*

  • RB2, RB3 and RB4 “Strat” guitars.

  • Rock Band Beatles guitars (Fender, Gretsch, Hofner).

  • Fender Precision Bass Replica

It is NOT compatible with the “Jaguar” guitar. Unfortunately the design of the electronics on the Jaguar make it difficult to replace the fret buttons.

Installation

Installing the Fret Fix circuit boards requires basic soldering tools and skills. You will need to de-solder the wires from the existing boards and re-soldering them to the new boards. There are 6 wires that go to each board.

The guitar neck has to be opened up to replace the fret boards — this requires taking the guitar body apart (just like when installing a Strum Fix), and then taking the neck apart. It’s not difficult, but there are a lot of screws to undo so the whole process can take about a half-hour or so.

Installation Instructions (Google Doc) - Includes schematics. These are a work in progress, so please check back for updates. You can also leave comments in the document.

Schematics

v5 Solo board schematic

V5 main board schematic