Rock Band 3 looks pretty awesome!

Jonman wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

For those having trouble finding 360 MIDI adapters, I wandered onto the Rock Band forums earlier today and a number of people mentioned they'd gone into their local Best Buy and BB had had one MIDI adapter for each system on the shelf. So, I went to the BB right up the road, and they had . . . one for each system on the shelf. Now have my 360 adapter, awaiting the glory of the Squier strat.

Good reminding. I'll swing by BB on my way home today. Anyone got any idea of when BB are going to start shipping the pre-orders on the Strats?

I had a vague promise of sometime between 3/1-3/8, but nothing definite.

My first impressions with Pro drums leaves me upset that you can't use the high-hat pedal for keeping time or for extra hits; it just changes the sound for the high hat cymbal.

You can use it for a second bass pedal, but that is goofy, since the config for it gives you the option of high hat or bass pedal.

SuperDave wrote:

My first impressions with Pro drums leaves me upset that you can't use the high-hat pedal for keeping time or for extra hits; it just changes the sound for the high hat cymbal.

You're upset that it doesn't let you cheat?

I tend to take issue with keeping time on the hi-hat pedal, unless it fits with the song. I'll stomp along with my foot just beside or at the base of the pedal instead.

Anyone got a line on the MIDI Pro adapter or 360? I can't find one for love nor money.

Jonman wrote:

Anyone got a line on the MIDI Pro adapter or 360? I can't find one for love nor money.

Mine came from Amazon a couple weeks ago, I would just place an order with them and let them worry about when it's getting back in stock.

Certainly something you want to do to get in line while you look elsewhere. I placed my order at Amazon at the end of December and I'm still waiting for it.

Jonman wrote:

Anyone got a line on the MIDI Pro adapter or 360? I can't find one for love nor money.

They've been out of stock on Amazon for ages. No luck at Best Buys? I just got lucky walking in and seeing they had one.

Jonman wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Anyone got a line on the MIDI Pro adapter or 360? I can't find one for love nor money.

They've been out of stock on Amazon for ages. No luck at Best Buys? I just got lucky walking in and seeing they had one.

Nah, I went into one locally - the nearest one that is in stock is an hour's drive away. Seems like kind of a c*ck up on Mad Catz's part.

I'd say more than "kind of"; these things have been in scarce supply for months. Suffice to say, I'm hoping the strat doesn't have the same problems. I'll be hitting some of the local BBs tomorrow looking for one on the shelf and canceling my pre-order if I find one. I figure the corporate HQ is about 15 minutes from my house; that means we get the good stuff, right?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Anyone got a line on the MIDI Pro adapter or 360? I can't find one for love nor money.

They've been out of stock on Amazon for ages. No luck at Best Buys? I just got lucky walking in and seeing they had one.

Nah, I went into one locally - the nearest one that is in stock is an hour's drive away. Seems like kind of a c*ck up on Mad Catz's part.

EDIT - BestBuy.com looks like it has them in stock now - it didn't a couple of days ago

In fairness to Mad Catz, I can see them looking at the Midi Adapters as a low demand item, at least until the Squier launched. I wouldn't have imagined there would be so many folks who'd want to use a full keyboard or e-drum kit aside from what was already out there.

I got the strat!

I was backordered on BestBuy.com, said it wouldn't be shipped until 3/22. Per the BB website, every store said no stock until 3/22, when you could do in-store pickup. I thought, "Hey, they said they had no MIDI adapters and they had one, I'll just run up to the store up the road and check it out". They had one in stock, and it is now MINE. I am disgustingly excited. Of course, this means they're shipping stock to stores rather than filling pre-orders, which does seem pretty crappy. That being said, if you're waiting, Best Buy might have one on the shelf. I've already canceled my pre-order.

Going to try it out pretty soon. First thought is the neck is mighty chunky, but this is less than surprising considering the electronics they had to pack in there.

AWESOME.

*high five*

*insanely envious stare*

I'm vacillating between the two.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Of course, this means they're shipping stock to stores rather than filling pre-orders, which is complete BS.

FTFY.

I'm very curious to find out what you think of it though. I've barely played any guitar, so I'm not really looking to buy one of these, but if I were to consider it in the future, it'd be nice to know how it plays.

I'm waiting to pick up a used one from Craigslist on the cheap after some soccer mom's bratty kid makes his fingers bleed for the first time.

Daddy want. Daddy will wait.

Minarchist wrote:

I'm waiting to pick up a used one from Craigslist on the cheap after some soccer mom's bratty kid makes his fingers bleed for the first time.

Hm, good call. I really want one too, but couldn't justify the price to my wife. I'll hold out for when they show up used after people give up the first time they have to form an F barre chord.

Gravey wrote:
Minarchist wrote:

I'm waiting to pick up a used one from Craigslist on the cheap after some soccer mom's bratty kid makes his fingers bleed for the first time.

Hm, good call. I really want one too, but couldn't justify the price to my wife. I'll hold out for when they show up used after people give up the first time they have to form an F barre chord.

Gnaaa. My fingers cried out just from you mentioning that. This is what I was working on the last time I practiced.

ahrezmendi wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Of course, this means they're shipping stock to stores rather than filling pre-orders, which is complete BS.

FTFY.

I'm very curious to find out what you think of it though. I've barely played any guitar, so I'm not really looking to buy one of these, but if I were to consider it in the future, it'd be nice to know how it plays.

Well, I have five other "real" guitars, but four of those are acoustics (which is what I play almost exclusively); my electric sits unloved in a gig bag in the closet. I just prefer acoustic and find it much more rewarding, and one of the reason's I'm so pumped about the Squier is that it's going to get me to start playing electric and doing something other than strumming in weird tunings.

My general impression is it feels like a cheaply-made Strat. It's a bit on the heavy side, and the neck is expectedly fat. The neck and fretboard are also some kind of plastic-ish composite or some such, and it just feels kind of weird. Quite solid, though. I'm heading downstairs to give it a shot.

Oh, to my surprise, there was a MIDI cable included, so the one I'd bought from Amazon is now an extra. Oh well. Also has a strap.

I failed to pre-order, but if anyone stumbles across a guitar (and adapter), ping me.

A few more impressions after playing several hours last night:

-The notation is really goofy; I'm not sure why they just couldn't have done full tablature for power chords and such instead of their weird display thing. At one point I cursed when I saw some weird form and then noticed it was just a D chord, and I'm not sure why 2320xx would have been more oppressive to read than the wonky stuff they have in there.
-I got $60 in MS points for Christmas thanks to people actually ordering off my Amazon wish list, and most have been sitting there for quite a while. At least until last night, when I bought about 15 pro guitar upgrades. This is going to be a money sink for me.
-The tracking does work well, though there are times I swear I hit the stupid chord and it doesn't register. Make sure the string mute is engaged; you push down to click it and it bounces up to mute the strings. Not that I spent 15 minutes trying to figure that stupid thing out or anything.
-Nobody plays pro guitar for DLC, because I'm hitting the leader boards even getting in the mid-70% on Medium. As of last night, I was #120 or so on "Under Pressure" and #12 or so on "Head Like a Hole" (which is really boring on guitar). I will undoubtedly plummet downwards soon.

The reason I was so pumped for this is that I play guitar pretty much every day, but I'm incredibly messy and loose, and this thing actually is forcing me to think about accurate hand position and plucking individual notes. It's going to be one heck of a teaching tool.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

The reason I was so pumped for this is that I play guitar pretty much every day, but I'm incredibly messy and loose, and this thing actually is forcing me to think about accurate hand position and plucking individual notes. It's going to be one heck of a teaching tool.

Quiet you! I'm trying to wait on it a bit.

Enabling cannon, ready, and . . . fire!

More impressions. God, I love this thing. I was originally playing on Medium, which seems to by and large give you two-string power chords. I switched to Hard, and it's generally three-string power chords along with "real" chords (D, C, G, A, etc.), some six-fret barres, stuff like that. On Hard it starts to feel like "real" guitar to me. I still totally suck at picking individual strings, but there's enough chord stuff to where I can really get into it. I've played "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" about six times in the last 24 hours, and I'm getting noticeably better each time. I completely suck at "Foolin'" and "Under Pressure", but don't care.

Oh, and under Extras (I think), there's an option for "Chord Numbering", which dispenses with the game's weird little "show the chord root and little blue columns" thing and shows you actual tab (so your G chord shows as "320003" on the highway), makes it so much easier.

I play the guitar almost every day, but my fingers are killing me just because I'm having to place my fingers in radically different ways than I'm used to and I'm having to build new calluses. I just can't believe how incredibly well it works.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Enabling cannon, ready, and . . . fire!
I just can't believe how incredibly well it works.

AAAaaaa!! Why can't the pre-order from Best Buy already be at my house?! I was able to finally track down a MIDI Adaptor, but now I lack the guitar to use with it. I cannot wait for this to show up, playing guitar has been a goal of mine since I first played Guitar Hero 2.

Direct hit! Damnit, damnit, damnit. I have babby #2 on the way and am buying a house this month! Don't do this to me!

Although I do have that $100 BB gift card and $100 pre-paid credit card laying around....hmmm...

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Enabling cannon, ready, and . . . fire!

More impressions. God, I love this thing. I was originally playing on Medium, which seems to by and large give you two-string power chords. I switched to Hard, and it's generally three-string power chords along with "real" chords (D, C, G, A, etc.), some six-fret barres, stuff like that. On Hard it starts to feel like "real" guitar to me. I still totally suck at picking individual strings, but there's enough chord stuff to where I can really get into it. I've played "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" about six times in the last 24 hours, and I'm getting noticeably better each time. I completely suck at "Foolin'" and "Under Pressure", but don't care.

Oh, and under Extras (I think), there's an option for "Chord Numbering", which dispenses with the game's weird little "show the chord root and little blue columns" thing and shows you actual tab (so your G chord shows as "320003" on the highway), makes it so much easier.

I play the guitar almost every day, but my fingers are killing me just because I'm having to place my fingers in radically different ways than I'm used to and I'm having to build new calluses. I just can't believe how incredibly well it works.

Man I hope the american stores around here have one of these. There's a Best Buy, I hope they decided to import some guitars. The guitar doesn't come with the midi adapteR?

Grrrrrrrr, i played guitar for like 6 years non stop and gave it up a few years ago. I just don't think I can make the investment right now.

Happytime Harry wrote:

Grrrrrrrr, i played guitar for like 6 years non stop and gave it up a few years ago. I just don't think I can make the investment right now.

You never really give it up you just take breaks... long breaks in your case

Mex wrote:

Man I hope the american stores around here have one of these. There's a Best Buy, I hope they decided to import some guitars. The guitar doesn't come with the midi adapteR?

Nope. I understand the guitar has a MIDI cable, and can be hooked up to an amp, but you need the 40 dollar MIDI adaptor (unique to each of the three consoles) to connect it to your game.

My guitar is going to be waiting for me when I get home, but the MIDI box is still a couple of days out, so I'll post my review of how nice it looks until then.