PS2/360 Guitar Swap?

**Cliff** · Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 3002 Location: Springfield, IL

I am not planning on getting an Xbox 360 solely to play Guitar Hero on, but I am interested in playing on a Mini X-plorer controller. I know nobody can say with certainty yet, but, so far, is there any reason to suspect that the innards of Red Octane's PS2 Mini SG will NOT be able to be easily switched with those of the Mini X-plorer?

Basically, I wanted to switch guitar bodies with a friend who is getting GH2: X360.

**WolfDawg** · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 180 Location: Salem, Ohio

I would think that there's no reason why you couldn't gut it out and switch all the electronics. The 360 will have the extra button for X-Box live on it though, and I think it has the d-pad as well, if your buddy who you're swtiching with doesn't mind NOT having those buttons, you could just disconnect them.

**AkureiYJ** · Joined: 16 Mar 2007 Posts: 88 Location: Bondsville, Mass

If you want an X-plorer just get the Nyko wireless Frontman guitar.
I have one, it's even custom painted, check it out a few threads below.
No need to be swapping electronics.
Plus it's only $50, vs the $60+ most places ask for an official GH controller.

**Cliff** · Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 3002 Location: Springfield, IL

Cool, thanks guys. Yeah, I saw the Nyko guitar, and I guess people are saying it works alright. I was kind of hoping he'd be able to get an SG, too. I'll keep you posted on if I do the switch.

**adcurtin** · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 39

I'm gonna do the switch because the SG is much much better than the X-plorer, and I would rather have the good guitar on the 360. For the most part, converting the X-plorer to work with ps2 is very easy, the only difficult part is the start and back buttons. The conversion the other way is not so easy... all the extra buttons (d-pad, start, back, and guide) are on the same board in the X-plorer. What I am planning on doing it cutting that part out of the X-plorer and cutting the same shape out of the SG and mounting the buttons in the SG that way. I don't think it is possible to do the reverse with the start and select buttons without having another SG body. they whammy bar is the same electrical hardware and is very easy to swap, the strum part has the same screw locations and button locations. The fret buttons are slightly difficult, the screw holes are about 1-2mm closer together on the SG. What I did for that was to use a knife and take of a little bit in a screw hole on the 360 fret board to make it fit into the SG very well, and for the SG fret board into the X-plorer, i bent the neck very slightly to get it to fit (if you do this, start at the top when putting the back of the neck back onto the guitar), but you could also use a knife and make one hole bigger again. The X-plorer also has the headphone jack and the pedal jack, and I haven't figured out how I'm going to put those in the SG just yet, but I think I will do the same thing I did with the D-pad buttons. I was planning on just using the original fret boards from each and just de/resoldering them, but they wired the X-plorer retardedly, making that very hard/impossible to do (X-plorer uses 8 wires for 5 buttons [green button has 2 wires all to itself, other two pairs share a wire and have an independent wire], SG uses 6 wires for buttons [all share ground, then one wire for each]).