More Rock Band repairs

[gfish]

I broke the Rock Band drum pedal again last night. This time it was the plastic hinge knuckles that failed.







For the record, a 3" hinge from Lowe's fits perfectly. Correct width, correct pin diameter, just perfect all around.

The consensus is, next time it breaks it will be replaced with a real drum pedal. The Rock Band electronics is a simple little Hall effect switch, would be easy enough to add to some real hardware. Though I still want to try skipping the pedal entirely, playing with some magnets taped to my foot.

Comments

[encapsulate.livejournal.com]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-FD8-HiHat-Control-Pedal?sku=449919X

This, and a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter would put you back on the road. I imagine you could throw it out of a moving car and still use it.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the kind of thing we were thinking of. Though that one does some kind of velocity measurement, so I wonder if the output is some kind of PWM instead of on/off connectivity.

so, while I'm rereading "the design of everyday things"...

[adularia.livejournal.com]

Waaait. They built a pedal designed for excited drummers to stomp on and they gave it plastic hinges?

It's not made by Hewlett-Packard, is it?

Re: so, while I'm rereading "the design of everyday things"...

[gfish.livejournal.com]

The Rock Band hardware is somewhat lacking, yes. (The hinge pin was metal. That part hasn't failed yet.) I suspect it was a conscious decision to keep the price low to reduce the entry barrier as much as possible. Hopefully now that there is a proven demand there will be higher quality peripherals released.

Re: so, while I'm rereading "the design of everyday things"...

[encapsulate.livejournal.com]

I gotta say though, I'm impressed that the drums in all the Best Buys that I see seem to stay functional, considering the CroMags that must wander by them.

Re: so, while I'm rereading "the design of everyday things"...

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

The demo ones in Best Buys (at least when we first tried it out in a Best Buy) don't have kick pedals. Their special demo version of the game just does the kick drum part for you (so that you don't fail on it for lack of having that control.)